Find Layla

A Novel

By: Meg Elison

Narrated by: Jesse Vilinsky

A neglected girl's chaotic coming-of-age becomes a trending new hashtag in a novel about growing up and getting away by an award-winning author.

Underprivileged and keenly self-aware, SoCal fourteen-year-old Layla Bailey isn't used to being noticed. Except by mean girls who tweet about her ragged appearance. All she wants to do is indulge in her love of science, protect her vulnerable younger brother, and steer clear of her unstable mother.

Then a school competition calls for a biome. Layla chooses her own home, a hostile ecosystem of indoor fungi and secret shame. With a borrowed video camera, she captures it all. The mushrooms growing in her brother's dresser. The black mold blooming up the apartment walls. The unmentionable things living in the dead fridge. All the inevitable exotic toxins that are Layla's life. Then the video goes viral.

When Child Protective Services comes to call, Layla loses her family and her home. Defiant, she must face her bullies and friends alike, on her own. Unafraid at last of being seen, Layla accepts the mortifying reality of visibility. Now she has to figure out how to stay whole and stand behind the truth she has shown the world.

©2020 Meg Elison (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Such a great listen!

I listened to Find Layla in one sitting, because I just couldn't stop. This was an incredibly moving novel, and I definitely teared up in several places.

Layla is a fourteen-year-old girl with a six-year-old brother, and she has been taking care of him and herself for as long as she can remember. Her mother, while there, isn't really present. Though they have an apartment in a complex where her mother works as the property manager, their apartment is not a safe place to live. Though they have power at times, it is intermittent based on when their mother happens to pay the electric bill.

Layla does the best she can, but she's fourteen. At school, she is in the gifted program and does really well in her classes, excelling in science because she wants to be a scientist someday. However, she has been the victim of some major bullying at school by other students. Though her teachers suspect that not all is right at home, no one suspects the true extent of the problem. Until someone finds out.

Suddenly, Layla's life is suddenly being turned upside down, and she is struggling.

This book deals with some very tough issues, and I would absolutely suggest that parents either read this book with their kids, or make sure to talk about it with them as they're reading it.
Despite the tough issues, though, I think it is absolutely worth reading. Layla is such a strong young woman who inspires so much compassion. Even in the face of a terrible home life and all the bullying at school, she still has plans; she knows how to make her life better and is just waiting until she graduates high school and turns 18 to put the plans into action.

Listening to the audiobook, narrated by Jesse Vilinsky, was tough. She did such a wonderful job with the narration, imbuing so much feeling into the story that I felt like I was inside the story. The voice she used for Andy was so full of innocence that I found myself smiling at his parts, even as I was tearing up. And that ending. Oh, man. That ending.

Long story, short. This book is absolutely worth reading or listening to.

So Sad but a Great Book

Makes me feel fortunate for my childhood and to think twice before judging others on how they look.

Amazing!

I’m blown away by the authors ability to emote and to talk about painful and complex issues in a realistic way. The story resonates with my own experience as a teen (years ago) in a way I haven’t found before, and so I’m really glad I found it, as difficult as it was to read and remember. The narrator is perfect and expresses emotion wonderfully.

Heart wrenching

Well written. Excellent narration. Will listen again, just one of those stories to hear again

This will stick with me

My husband makes fun of me because I listen to a lot of YA books. This one will haunt me. As a mom, a sister, a daughter, a friend. I think this book has something we can all learn from. The narration was great too. So much emotion in all the right places.

Raw and amazing

Find Layla was a raw and amazing story. Wow, that's great writing and fantastic narration! Made me cry, laugh, and many times left me speechless.

Remarkable Story

This story line of this book is riveting, and the narration is exceptional. I felt as though I knew this girl.

Find Layla

Meg Elison does an excellent job with her characters and their personas. The story is riveting and you cannot wait to find out more. The end makes you want to know more about Layla and how she proceeds towards her favored career.

Great performance!

The story was unique and interesting, and the reader did an excellent job. I enjoyed it.

Heartbreaking

Meg Ellison crafts gripping portraits of teenager Layla, her brother Andy, her mother, and a cast of characters that include school cyber bullies and social workers. I entered Layla's world and suffered to see the infrahuman conditions she lived in and marvelled at her scientific mind. It's a heartbreaking story of a survivor. It should be a full feature film.