Jonathon Scott Fuqua has 3 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 3 narrators. The most-rated is In the Wake of the Boatman.
The Reappearance of Sam Webber
Summary
When eleven-year-old Sam Webber's father disappears without a trace, he and his mother are forced to relocate to a tough neighborhood, closer to her job. Unfamiliar with his surroundings and intimidated by the students of his new school, Sam recounts the sometimes frightening, sometimes delightful details of his life with touching, humorous sincerity. Living in a tiny apartment with a bedroom that feels like a closet and a closet that has been turned into a den, he is forced to deal with the legacy of depression that marked his father, and threatens to envelop him. The city remains a cold and unwelcoming place to Sam until he meets Greely, an elderly black janitor at his junior high. Through this unlikely friendship, Sam begins to heal, as well as confront the racism that surrounds his community, and his life. With afternoons of football in the park and greasy meals at the local Little Tavern, Sam discovers that friendship and warmth can rise in even the saddest times. Tracing a year in the life of an exceptional young boy, newcomer Jonathon Scott Fuqua leaves an impression that endures like a watermark. A masterfully written novel full of beautifully drawn, unforgettable characters, The Reappearance of Sam Webber is only the first from a top writer whose talented storytelling will touch every reader. The Reappearance of Sam Webber won the Alex Award. Co-sponsored by Booklist magazine and the American Library Association (ALA) Youth Services Division, the Alex Award is given annually to the 10 best adult books for children. The novel was also named to the New York Public Library's 2000 Books for the Teen Age list. The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) listed The Reappearance of Sam Webber as one of two novels in print, adult or YA, to deal with the issue of violence in youth. From January through April 2003, Sam Webber was part of Peoria, Illinois's "One City, One Book." School Library Journal named The Reappearance of Sam Webber one of the top five adult novels for young adults in 1999. Booklist named it to its editors' choice '99 for adult books for young adults. The novel has appeared on numerous summer reading lists.
©1999 Bancroft Press (P)2012 Bancroft Press
The Secrets of the Greaser Hotel
Summary
The Greaser Hotel is an eyesore even by eyesores standards. A long-forgotten place, it sits dilapidated and mostly vacant amid a sea of Baltimore vacancies. But this building, this former lap of luxury, is much more than it appears. The Greaser Hotel is a place of magic and of secrets peopled by masters of secret-keeping. And soon, for one kidnapped little girl, Allie to her friends and Allie Rat to her kidnappers it's about to become a place of the past. In a world of deep friendships, powerful magic, wicked deceptions, and devilish crime, a young girl must fight for her freedom and wrestle with the frightening truths of her past.
©2014 Jonathan Scott Fuqua (P)2015 Bancroft Press
In the Wake of the Boatman
Summary
Puttnam Douglas Steward isn’t having an identity crisis — he is one. To his father Carl, he’s a disappointment, and has been since the day he came home from the hospital. To his mother, he’s “Mama’s Boy”, and will forever be nothing less and nothing more. The Army thinks he’s a hero, having single-handedly saved his troops from an ambush when they stumble upon a major, unknown supply line in Vietnam, then exposing a major Soviet espionage ring in the US. His brother-in-law Survival, a career military man, thinks Putt’s weak — a mere cadet — no matter how high he rises in the Army’s ranks or how much national celebrityhood he achieves. Only Milton, Putt’s college friend and environmental activist, and Putt’s sister Mary see that something is deeply confused about Puttnam Steward. Yet neither of them knows that the only time Putt ever truly feels happy is when he wears a woman’s clothes and becomes, for a brief, fleeting moment, someone else. And they don’t know how much that disgusts him. Unable to escape the expectations of the people around him, Putt’s never quite reached a true understanding of himself. After he pokes a boy’s eye out with a rock at the age of six, he’s briefly proud for having done what his father had always taught him — stand up for himself — but his father responds with unalloyed hate. At 18, Putt proudly escapes Norfolk to study at the University of Virginia, but a drunken night at an off-campus bar forces him to question his own sexuality for the first time. As he drowns in expectations and disappointments, the matter of who he is — who he truly is — eludes him. Except for one thing: He’s a freak. He has to be. It’s the only answer that makes sense. And through it all, there’s his relationship with father Carl, the hobbyist boatman whose creations always find their way to the bottom of the river. A man who’s never been close with Putt, Carl feels nothing but disappointment in his son — disappointment he never feels or expresses about his daughter.
©2009 Jonathan Scott Fuqua (P)2020 Bancroft Press