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Title details for Made in the U.S.A. by Billie Letts - Available

Made in the U.S.A.

by Billie Letts
Cassandra Morris
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
Lutie McFee’s history has taught her to avoid attachments...to people, to places, and to almost everything. With her mother long dead and her father gone to find his fortune in Las Vegas, fifteen-year-old Lutie lives in the godforsaken town of Spearfish, South Dakota, with her eleven-year-old brother, Fate, and Floy Satterfield, the three-hundred-pound ex-girlfriend of her father. While Lutie shoplifts for kicks, Fate spends most of his time reading, watching weird TV shows, and worrying about global warming.
As if their life were not dismal enough, one day, while shopping in their local Wal-Mart, Floy keels over and the two motherless kids are suddenly faced with the choice of becoming wards of the state or hightailing it out of town in Floy’s old Pontiac. Choosing the latter, they head off in search of a father who has no known address, no phone number, and no particular interest in the kids he left behind.
Alternately heartbreaking and life-affirming, MADE IN THE U.S.A. is the story of two gutsy children who must discover how cruel, unfair, and frightening the world is before they finally find a place where they belong.  

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    July 1, 2008

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781415956212
      • File size: 258509 KB
      • Duration: 08:58:33

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from April 28, 2008
      In a second Letts title where a pivotal event occurs at a Wal-Mart (the first was the author's bestseller Where the Heart Is
      ), two long-neglected kids have to fend for themselves—and quickly. After their father's ex-girlfriend, Floy, who is their guardian, drops dead at the chain's Spearfish, S.D., megastore, 15-year-old Lutie McFee persuades her 11-year-old brother, Fate, to take off in Floy's Pontiac to their long-gone dad's last known address, a fleabag hotel in Las Vegas. There, they discover discouraging secrets about their father's whereabouts. Lutie gets fake working papers and a string of dead-end jobs. But with the threat of foster care looming, Lutie and trivia-mad Fate are soon at the mercy of child predators. Letts (whose son Tracy won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama) manages this potentially maudlin or lurid material with a frank lyricism, delivering a heartbreaking tale about love, loss and survival that will stick with the reader long after the last page is turned.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from June 2, 2008
      Letts's tale of two children who set out on a voyage to find their father after his hefty ex-girlfriend, the children's guardian, falls dead in a Wal-Mart, is a moving coming-of-age tale. Cassandra Morris is amazingly strong in her delivery, giving a tremendous performance in which her fresh voice is perfectly suited for 15-year old Lutie. Her reading is clear and well paced, and her habit of rushing her words at times serves as an endearing character trait; she can do no wrong here. Her performance is a genuine one that will move audiences with its honesty and passion. A Grand Central hardcover (Reviews, Apr. 28).

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Two orphans on the run from foster care--15-year-old Luttie McFee and her 11-year-old brother, Fate--are put through a wringer of hard times and painful lessons. Narrator Cassandra Morris affects a high-pitched, adolescent whine for Luttie that matches her fierce personality. A nerdy, clipped tone characterizes Fate. When the children take off for Las Vegas in search of their long-lost father, they find instead only people aiming to take advantage of them--until they're rescued by a guardian angel. This is a story of children in jeopardy whose voices will stay with the listener for a long time. R.O. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from July 28, 2008
      Letts's tale of two children who set out on a voyage to find their father after his hefty ex-girlfriend, the children's guardian, falls dead in a Wal-Mart, is a moving coming-of-age tale. Cassandra Morris is amazingly strong in her delivery, giving a tremendous performance in which her fresh voice is perfectly suited for 15-year old Lutie. Her reading is clear and well paced, and her habit of rushing her words at times serves as an endearing character trait; she can do no wrong here. Her performance is a genuine one that will move audiences with its honesty and passion. A Grand Central hardcover (Reviews, Apr. 28).

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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