Black Swan Green by David Mitchell (2006, Unabridged, Compact Disc)

Jason Taylor is a 13-year old boy, sensitive and observant enough to write poetry of a quality that belies his age, smart enough to keep that (and much else) under his hat and maintain a low profile to fit in with his peers, and still naïve enough not to fully comprehend a great deal of what goes on around him in the adult world. In the 13 chapters of this beautifully written novel, each one of which paints a significant moment in the last year of Taylor’s childhood, Mitchell, with an equal measure of humor and poignancy puts us into his protagonist’s head and lets us see his world again through adolescent eyes.

Mitchell has a fine ear for dialogue. As Taylor acquaints us with the pecking order in his school, his parents’ conversations and escalating arguments, his struggle with his stammer, his hero worship of his older cousin, the prejudice and ignorance of his adult acquaintances, his first crush and first serious ethical dilemma, every word rings true. This is complemented by reader Kirby Heyborne’s extraordinary ability to transmute the realistic dialogue into characters whose voices perfectly fit the words they utter.