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In Zanesville

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In Zanesville

By: Jo Ann Beard
Narrated by: Jo Ann Beard
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About this listen

From the acclaimed author of The Boys of My Youth, a “mesmerizing… beautifully written” debut novel that evokes the wrenching, exquisite moment just before we step into adulthood (Ann Patchett, Pulitzer-Prize finalist)

The beguiling fourteen-year-old narrator of In Zanesville is a late bloomer. She is used to flying under the radar-a sidekick, a third wheel, a marching band dropout, a disastrous babysitter, the kind of girl whose Eureka moment is the discovery that "fudge" can't be said with an English accent.

Luckily, she has a best friend, a similarly undiscovered girl with whom she shares the everyday adventures of a 1970s American girlhood, incidents through which a world is revealed, and character is forged.

In time, their friendship is tested—by their families' claims on them, by a clique of popular girls who stumble upon them as if they were found objects, and by the first, startling, subversive intimations of womanhood.

With dry wit and piercing observation, Jo Ann Beard shows us that in the seemingly quiet streets of America's innumerable Zanesvilles is a world of wonders, and that within the souls of the awkward and the overlooked often burns something radiant and unforgettable.

©2011 Jo Ann Beard (P)2018 Hachette Audio Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction

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Critic reviews

"Masterfully wrought...downright hilarious and often hold-your-breath-and-hope-for-the-best suspenseful. The restraint with which Beard deploys moments of tension and humor make each page glimmer."—Samuel Reaves Slaton, O Magazine
"A fierce, funny, brave, and bracingly honest new novel....Every bit as poignant and powerful as The Catcher in the Rye."—Julia Keller, Chicago Tribune
"An exuberant first novel....Beard has a knack for melding the funny and the sad, amplifying small moments into something big."—Susannah Meadows, New York Times
All stars
Most relevant  
See above. I half-read this book at the same time as listening to it (it's difficult to get hold of in the UK, so downloaded it, but then found a copy). I loved the audible version, which is enhanced by Jo Ann Beard's own narration. She has such a calming if melancholy voice. Her writing and her voice are mildly hypnotic. I didn't want the book to end. Recommend to anyone who has ever grown up.

Beautiful, funny, sad and achingly relatable

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