Dear Rachel Maddow

April 16, 2018
Brynn Harper, 17, a former honors student, has been relegated to the “blue room,” the place where the “applied” or academically challenged juniors go. Brynn is whip smart, but dyslexia and a difficult home life make it hard for her to excel at school. As part of an assignment to write to a “celebrity hero,” Brynn reaches out to MSNBC host Rachel Maddow. Brynn sees Maddow as a fighter for truth and fairness, and she begins to write drafts of diarylike emails to her, without the intention of sending them. Things get complicated for Brynn as she finds herself challenging injustice during a school election while juggling a new romance, an ex-girlfriend who may be using her, and an increasingly dangerous home situation. In her debut novel, Kisner uses the epistolary format to portray the life of a girl who has very little parental support and is seemingly falling through the cracks at school. By writing in a first-person confessional style, Kisner allows her character to express herself with blatant honesty. She also shares other characters’ correspondence, offering additional insight into Brynn’s personality. Revealing Brynn to be an individual with realistic insecurities, biases, and complexities, Kisner playfully explores the very human manner in which a stranger like Maddow might come to feel like a friend and confidant. Ages 13–up. Agent: Catherine Drayton, InkWell Management.

Khristine Hvam does a stellar narration of this young adult epistolary novel featuring a quirky, troubled teen. After Brynn's older brother died from a drug overdose, her grades plummeted, taking her from honors courses to the applied academics classes located in the basement of her high school. When a class assignment requires her to write to a personal hero, she chooses Rachel Maddow. Saving the messages as drafts, her emails become a personal journal, describing emotional abuse from her mother and stepfather, political intrigue at school, and the aftermath of her brother's death. Hvam's portrayal of Brynn is spot-on, breathing life into the character's personality. Even with the serious subject matter, Hvam delivers an engaging performance. A.L.S.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine