THE SWEETHEART OF PROSPER COUNTY

Suzy Jackson delivers an engaging performance as she tells the story of 15-year-old Austin Gray, who wants nothing so much as to be the Sweetheart of her small Texas town’s Christmas parade. To help achieve this goal, she asks for a chicken for Christmas—a Black Rosecamp bantam rooster named Charles Dickens, to be exact—in order to join Future Farmers of America and attempt to win first prize at the fair. Jackson deftly navigates the emotional waters of teenage life. Austin’s father died when she was young, and she suffers almost daily cruelty from an imaginative bully at school. Jackson also gives a satisfying portrayal of Austin’s adolescent ingenuity. K.O. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2010]