Sam
A Novel
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Sam
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Narrated by:
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Rebecca Lowman
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By:
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Allegra Goodman
About this listen
READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY • “I’ve been an Allegra Goodman fan for years, but Sam is hands down my new favorite. I loved this powerful and endearing portrait of a girl who must summon deep within herself the grit and wisdom to grow up.”—Lily King, New York Times bestselling author of Writers & Lovers
NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE • What happens to a girl’s sense of joy and belonging—to her belief in herself—as she becomes a woman? This unforgettable portrait of coming-of-age offers subtle yet powerful reflections on class, parenthood, addiction, lust, and the irrepressible power of dreams.
A VOGUE AND REAL SIMPLE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
“There is a girl, and her name is Sam.” So begins Allegra Goodman’s moving and wise new novel.
Sam is seven years old and living in Beverly, Massachusetts. She adores her father, though he isn’t around much. Her mother struggles to make ends meet, and never fails to remind Sam that if she studies hard and acts responsibly, adulthood will be easier—more secure and comfortable. But comfort and security are of little interest to Sam. She doesn’t fit in at school, where the other girls have the right shade of blue jeans and don’t question the rules. She doesn’t care about jeans or rules. All she wants to climb. Hanging from the highest limbs of the tallest trees, scaling the side of a building, Sam feels free.
As a teenager, Sam begins to doubt herself. She yearns to be noticed, even as she wants to disappear. When her climbing coach takes an interest in her, his attention is more complicated than she anticipated. She resents her father’s erratic behavior, but she grieves after he’s gone. And she resists her mother’s attempts to plan for her future, even as that future draws closer.
The simplicity of this tender, emotionally honest novel is what makes it so powerful. Sam by Allegra Goodman will break your heart, but will also leave you full of hope.
©2023 Allegra Goodman (P)2023 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“Allegra Goodman has written a wonderful coming-of-age story. In Sam, the heights our heroine reaches are not so dizzying, but that she ascends at all is a reason to cheer.”—The Wall Street Journal
“Sam is original, full of heart, and makes you think and feel. A coming-of-age tale for all ages.”—Good Morning America
“A sensitive portrait of life lived along the poverty line in modern-day America. Allegra Goodman offers a . . . sympathetic reflection on the struggles of a girl’s life. Anyone who has ever been the focus of a child’s impossibly inflated regard will feel alternately charmed and gutted by [Sam].”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post
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Story4 out of 5 stars 455
Gail Baines is having a bad day. To start, she loses her job—or quits, depending on whom you ask. Tomorrow her daughter, Debbie, is getting married, and she hasn’t even been invited to the spa day organized by the mother of the groom. Then, Gail’s ex-husband, Max, arrives unannounced on her doorstep, carrying a cat, without a place to stay, and without even a suit. But the true crisis lands when Debbie shares with her parents a secret she has just learned about her husband to be. It will not only throw the wedding into question but also stir up Gail and Max’s past.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Simple, Enjoyable, performed 5 stars
- By PM on 02-14-25
By: Anne Tyler
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The Chalk Artist
- A Novel
- By: Allegra Goodman
- Narrated by: Orlagh Cassidy
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 37
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 36
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Story4 out of 5 stars 36
Collin James is young, creative, and unhappy. A college dropout, he waits tables and spends his free time beautifying the streets of Cambridge, Massachusetts, with his medium of choice: chalk. Collin's art captivates passersby with its vibrant colors and intricate lines - until the moment he wipes it all away. Nothing in Collin's life is meant to last. Then he meets Nina....
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5 out of 5 stars
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another great novel from a really fine writer
- By Ken L. on 07-21-17
By: Allegra Goodman
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The Cookbook Collector
- A Novel
- By: Allegra Goodman
- Narrated by: Ariadne Meyers
- Length: 15 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 350
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 140
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 137
Heralded as “a modern day Jane Austen” by USA Today, National Book Award finalist and New York Times best-selling author Allegra Goodman has compelled and delighted hundreds of thousands of readers. Now, in her most ambitious work yet, Goodman weaves together the worlds of Silicon Valley and rare book collecting in a delicious novel about appetite, temptation, and fulfillment.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Just MAHvelous!
- By Pamela Harvey on 08-16-10
By: Allegra Goodman
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Intuition
- By: Allegra Goodman
- Narrated by: Kathe Mazur
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 112
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 46
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 45
Sandy Glass, a charismatic publicity-seeking oncologist, and Marion Mendelssohn, a pure, exacting scientist, are codirectors of a lab at the Philpott Institute dedicated to cancer research and desperately in need of a grant. Both mentors and supervisors of their young postdoctoral proteges, Glass and Mendelssohn demand dedication and obedience in a competitive environment where funding is scarce and results elusive.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Disappointing
- By Baby on 10-11-06
By: Allegra Goodman
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Isola
- A Novel
- By: Allegra Goodman
- Narrated by: Fiona Hardingham, Allegra Goodman
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 801
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 780
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 780
Heir to a fortune, Marguerite is destined for a life of prosperity and gentility. Then she is orphaned, and her guardian—an enigmatic and volatile man—spends her inheritance and insists she accompany him on an expedition to New France. That journey takes a unexpected turn when Marguerite, accused of betrayal, is brutally punished and abandoned on a small island.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Magical and marooned
- By Gaylene Knowles on 03-13-25
By: Allegra Goodman
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Camp Zero
- A Novel
- By: Michelle Min Sterling
- Narrated by: Graham Halstead, Greta Jung, Emily Tremaine
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3 out of 5 stars 78
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 67
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Story3 out of 5 stars 67
In remote northern Canada, a team led by a visionary American architect is breaking ground on a building project called Camp Zero, intended to be the beginning of a new way of life. A clever and determined young woman code-named Rose is offered a chance to join the Blooms, a group hired to entertain the men in camp—but her real mission is to secretly monitor the mercurial architect in charge. In return, she’ll receive a home for her climate-displaced Korean immigrant mother and herself.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Too close to zero
- By jluna on 04-17-23
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Three Days in June
- A Novel
- By: Anne Tyler
- Narrated by: J. Smith-Cameron
- Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 485
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 455
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Story4 out of 5 stars 455
Gail Baines is having a bad day. To start, she loses her job—or quits, depending on whom you ask. Tomorrow her daughter, Debbie, is getting married, and she hasn’t even been invited to the spa day organized by the mother of the groom. Then, Gail’s ex-husband, Max, arrives unannounced on her doorstep, carrying a cat, without a place to stay, and without even a suit. But the true crisis lands when Debbie shares with her parents a secret she has just learned about her husband to be. It will not only throw the wedding into question but also stir up Gail and Max’s past.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Simple, Enjoyable, performed 5 stars
- By PM on 02-14-25
By: Anne Tyler
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Junie
- A Novel
- By: Erin Crosby Eckstine
- Narrated by: Angel Pean
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 113
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 108
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Story5 out of 5 stars 108
Sixteen years old and enslaved since she was born, Junie has spent her life on Bellereine Plantation in Alabama, cooking and cleaning alongside her family, and tending to the white master’s daughter, Violet. Her daydreams are filled with poetry and faraway worlds, while she spends her nights secretly roaming through the forest, consumed with grief over the sudden death of her older sister, Minnie. When wealthy guests arrive from New Orleans, hinting at marriage for Violet and upending Junie’s life, she commits a desperate act.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Captivating. Exquisitely beautiful.
- By Lisa D on 04-20-25
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The Waters
- By: Bonnie Jo Campbell
- Narrated by: Lili Taylor
- Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 187
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 173
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 173
On an island in the Great Massasauga Swamp—an area known as “The Waters” to the residents of nearby Whiteheart, Michigan—herbalist and eccentric Hermine “Herself” Zook has healed the local women of their ailments for generations. As stubborn as her tonics are powerful, Herself inspires reverence and fear in the people of Whiteheart, and even in her own three estranged daughters. The youngest—the beautiful, inscrutable, and lazy Rose Thorn—has left her own daughter, eleven-year-old Dorothy “Donkey” Zook, to grow up wild.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Worse Book Of New Year
- By Steve B. on 01-13-24
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We All Live Here
- A Novel
- By: Jojo Moyes
- Narrated by: Jenna Coleman
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 942
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 909
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 908
Lila Kennedy has a lot on her plate. A broken marriage, two wayward daughters, a house that is falling apart, and an elderly stepfather who seems to have quietly moved in. Her career is in freefall and her love life is . . . complicated. So when her real dad—a man she has barely seen since he ran off to Hollywood thirty-five years ago—suddenly appears on her doorstep, it feels like the final straw. But it turns out even the family you thought you could never forgive might have something to teach you: about love, and what it actually means to be family.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Sad
- By C. J. Kromminga on 02-12-25
By: Jojo Moyes
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The Death of Us
- A Novel
- By: Abigail Dean
- Narrated by: Claire Skinner, John Hopkins
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 4
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 4
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Story5 out of 5 stars 4
Together, Edward and Isabel move to London. They are young and in love, occupied by friends, work and fun. But late on a spring evening when they are thirty years old, their home is invaded by a serial killer. In the wake of this violation, each tries to come to terms with a night that changed everything—and their marriage begins to crumble. Twenty-five years later, their tormentor is caught, and Edward and Isabel reunite for his sentencing. Isabel has waited years for the man who nearly ended her life to be brought to justice. Edward has tried to think about anything else.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Abigail Dean understands human psychology like so many authors try to do but fail all the time!
- By Jennifer on 04-19-25
By: Abigail Dean
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Broken Country
- By: Clare Leslie Hall
- Narrated by: Hattie Morahan
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,182
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,112
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,112
Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager—the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent storytelling
- By A.E.C. on 03-15-25
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Amazing Grace Adams
- A Novel
- By: Fran Littlewood
- Narrated by: Claire Skinner
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 325
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 287
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 286
Grace Adams gave birth, blinked, and now suddenly she is forty-five, perimenopausal and stalled—the unhappiest age you can be, according to the Guardian. And today she’s really losing it. Stuck in traffic, she finally has had enough. To the astonishment of everyone, Grace gets out of her car and simply walks away. Grace sets off across London, armed with a £200 cake, to win back her estranged teenage daughter on her sixteenth birthday. Because today is the day she’ll remind her daughter that no matter how far we fall, we can always get back up again
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3 out of 5 stars
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Cannot trust Jenna Bush
- By Juliel J on 09-09-23
By: Fran Littlewood
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Pictures of You
- A Novel
- By: Emma Grey
- Narrated by: Kristy Best, Nic English
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 170
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 168
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 168
From the author of the global breakout bestseller The Last Love Note comes the story of a young woman struggling to piece her life back together in the wake of a tragic accident, and the man who gives up everything to help her. When Evie Hudson wakes in an unfamiliar hospital room, she thinks she’s fresh out of a teenage party with her best friend, Bree. Except, Bree isn’t around anymore and high school was years ago. Evie had just survived the crash that killed her husband, Oliver—whom she can't remember either.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Intricate, thought provoking but still a fun ride.
- By cnrkrc on 12-01-24
By: Emma Grey
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This Is a Love Story
- A Novel
- By: Jessica Soffer
- Narrated by: Marin Ireland
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 95
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 92
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 92
For fifty years, Abe and Jane have been coming to Central Park, as starry-eyed young lovers, as frustrated and exhausted parents, as artists watching their careers take flight. They came alone when they needed to get away from each other, and together when they had something important to discuss. The Park has been their witness for half a century of love. Until now. Jane is dying, and Abe is recounting their life together as a way of keeping them going: the parts they knew.
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2 out of 5 stars
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A waste of time — not worth the credit
- By E. Zimmerman on 03-12-25
By: Jessica Soffer
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The Comeback
- By: Ella Berman
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 500
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 445
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Story4 out of 5 stars 443
Grace Turner was one movie away from Hollywood’s A-List. So no one understood why, at the height of her career and on the eve of her first Golden Globe nomination, she disappeared. Now, one year later, Grace is back in Los Angeles and ready to reclaim her life on her own terms. When Grace is asked to present a lifetime achievement award to director Able Yorke - the man who controlled her every move for eight years - she knows there’s only one way she’ll be free of the secret that’s already taken so much from her.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Outstanding!! The Grit and The Marrow!
- By Ryan Mauricio on 08-21-20
By: Ella Berman
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Banyan Moon
- A Novel
- By: Thao Thai
- Narrated by: Cindy Kay, Catherine Ho, Elyse Dinh
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 203
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 178
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Story4 out of 5 stars 178
When Ann Tran gets the call that her fiercely beloved grandmother, Minh, has passed away, her life is already at a crossroads. In the years since she’s last seen Minh, Ann has built a seemingly perfect life—a beautiful lake house, a charming professor boyfriend, and invites to elegant parties that bubble over with champagne and good taste—but it all crumbles with one positive pregnancy test. With both her relationship and carefully planned future now in question, Ann returns home to Florida to face her estranged mother, Huơng.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Mean Girls / Soap Opera, But Sans Fun
- By Ignatius on 08-26-23
By: Thao Thai
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The Three Lives of Cate Kay
- A Novel
- By: Kate Fagan
- Narrated by: Marin Ireland, Tessa Albertson, Genevieve Kingston, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 964
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 947
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 947
Cate Kay knows how to craft a story. As the creator of a bestselling book trilogy that struck box office gold as a film series, she’s one of the most successful authors of her generation. The thing is, Cate Kay doesn’t really exist. She’s never attended author events or granted any interviews. Her real identity had been a closely guarded secret, until now.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The little golden nuggets woven in the story.
- By gigi price on 01-18-25
By: Kate Fagan
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Swift River
- By: Essie Chambers
- Narrated by: Shayna Small, Janina Edwards, Robin Miles
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 86
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 81
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Story4 out of 5 stars 81
It’s the summer of 1987 in Swift River, and Diamond Newberry is learning how to drive. Ever since her Pop disappeared seven years ago, she and her mother hitchhike everywhere they go. But that’s not the only reason Diamond stands out: she’s teased relentlessly about her weight, and since Pop’s been gone, she is the only Black person in all of Swift River. This summer, Ma is determined to declare Pop legally dead so that they can collect his life insurance money, get their house back from the bank, and finally move on.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Such promise!
- By Cate on 01-23-25
By: Essie Chambers
What listeners say about Sam
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Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 02-13-23
I Have Never Wrote a review for a BOOK
Goodman writes about child growing up in a dysfunctional family and how success is achieved with determination. Sam’s life is a reflection of her parents, but she surpasses loss with her desire to succeed. Most of the story, is parallel with her drive to climb rocks. What a metaphor! Even the narrator, reflects her determination in the cadence and rhythm of her speech. I wasn’t addicted at first, but everyday I need to listen to see how Sam was doing. Teachers should read this one.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Tammy L. Tichenor
- 04-25-23
Loved it!
I wish all my students that didn’t fit in could listen to it. People that don’t relate must have had perfect families, because this exposed what so many single parents and children go through. It reminded me of my own mom busting her ass to provide for her kids.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 07-27-23
Coming of age
A lackluster coming of age story. Wish it had a stronger message. Felt like the story was missing a climax.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Suzanna
- 12-26-24
Coming of Age
This book started out a little slow for me but I really enjoyed it. Sam navigates a childhood/adolescence/early adulthood marked by deprivation and loss. What stands out is the character development---all of the people in this story felt real, flawed but doing their best. I was drawn into the story and was loathe for it to end
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazonian
- 01-20-23
Great story
This book follows a girl from youth until she grows into adulthood. Great story of a girl figuring life out with lots of complex relationships and emotions along the way.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Aarika and Brian
- 07-04-24
Great writing but missing
Loved the story and how it followed Sam but the ending didn’t feel fulfilled I loved everything but the way it ended.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 01-10-23
Young girl coming of age.
Recommend this book! It was on Laura Bush’s reading list for month of January. Interesting characters.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kira
- 01-22-23
Easy listen, good reader.
this was my very first audible book, the reader did a wonderful job. easy listen.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 01-13-23
A Book Of One Determined Girl
A story about a young girl that fights against adversity and parental addictions. Sam is strong and finds her strength in rock climbing.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- eric
- 02-17-23
Don’t know what all the hype was about
After hearing so much from celebrity book clubs and immediately got this book. The story is nothing special. I kept waiting for big turn but it never happened. It’s just ok and nothing special.
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