Pay Attention, Carter Jones
by Gary Schmidt; read by Christopher Gebauer
Middle School    Recorded Books    Rev. 1/19
5 CDs    5.18 hrs.    978-1-9800-1047-0    $15.99

Having been bequeathed to sixth-grader Carter’s household by his deceased grandfather, English butler and “gentleman’s gentleman” Mr. Bowles-Fitzpatrick appears at the door on the first day of school. He brings order to a chaotic home and introduces Carter to the game of cricket, which becomes a metaphor for how to come to terms with death and loss. The audiobook performance amplifies characterization and pacing: the butler is voiced in a posh, heightened English accent that brings his penchant for proper grammar and manners to life; narrator Carter is portrayed with enough adolescent snark to balance the slow-
simmering realizations about his family that boil over in an emotional climax.

From the July/August 2019 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.