Folded Notes from High School

January 29, 2018
The year is 1991, when teens didn’t communicate through texts but through handwritten notes stuffed into lockers, desks, and mailboxes. In a novel that captures the lingo, fads, and teenage preoccupations of the period, actor and TV writer Boren makes a charismatic debut as he traces the ups and downs of Tara Maureen Murphy’s life through notes exchanged between friends and enemies. Although Tara is dying to get out of her “two-bit town” and study acting at NYU, she intends to enjoy her senior year, getting star roles in the school’s plays, being half of a “supercouple” with her hockey-player boyfriend, and reuniting with her best friend, who has been away for the summer. Things don’t go as she expects. Tara’s year is full of drama, but most of it occurs outside the theater. A brash, egotistical heroine determined to get what she wants at any cost, Tara suffers setbacks at every turn. Even if she doesn’t win readers’ hearts, she will make them smile with her conniving antics, sarcastic wit, and tremendous resiliency. Ages 12–up.

An ensemble cast of narrators gives each student in this 1990s high school drama a unique voice that reflects each character. The story is told through the notes passed between students. Sound effects, such as the opening of a note and the scratching of a pencil on paper at the beginning of each chapter, help set the scenes. Narrator Taylor Spreitler creates a striking voice for Tara, who dreams of becoming the star of the high school musical and eventually leaving her hometown as she strikes out for the big city. Teen listeners will be intrigued by a retro story that pinpoints the trends of the time but also finds commonalities with the ways students communicate and navigate the tumultuous years of high school today. M.D. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine