The Sweetheart of Prosper County

Suzy Jackson delivers an engaging performance as she tells the story of 15-year-old Austin Gray, who wants nothing so much as to be the Sweetheart of her small Texas town's Christmas parade. To help achieve this goal, she asks for a chicken for Christmas--a Black Rosecamp bantam rooster named Charles Dickens, to be exact--in order to join Future Farmers of America and attempt to win first prize at the fair. Jackson deftly navigates the emotional waters of teenage life. Austin's father died when she was young, and she suffers almost daily cruelty from an imaginative bully at school. Jackson also gives a satisfying portrayal of Austin's adolescent ingenuity. K.O. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

October 5, 2009
Austin Gray is sick of being an overlooked ninth-grader in her small Texas town (“I was just tired of feeling less-than, tired of waving back and being passed by”). Six years after losing her father, Austin endures endless taunting by the school bully, Dean, and unintentional alienation by her overprotective mother (still unwilling to broach the subject of her husband’s death) and her best friend, Maribel (“We were parallel friends going through life together but in two different worlds”). Overdue for a moment in the spotlight, Austin decides to raise a spirited Black Rosecomb Bantam rooster (which she names Charles Dickens), with the intention of winning a prize in the Future Farmers of America contest and being the star of the annual Christmas parade. Alexander’s debut is marked by a colorful supporting cast, fresh dialogue and Southern personality, which contribute to an entertainingly theatrical vision of smalltown life. The strong but precarious mother-daughter bond is well paired to the themes of finding inner strength and self-acceptance and letting go of the past. Ages 12–up.