Made in the U.S.A.

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.

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).

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