The Agony of Bun O'Keefe
Read by
Amanda Arcuri
Release:
10/24/2017
Runtime:
3h 57m
Unabridged
Quantity:
There's an abundance of humour both subtle and overt, and a shattering of stereotypes and tropes. . . . This is a book that grabs readers by the heart and the head.
Starred Review, Quill & Quire
Winner of Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design – Prose Fiction, 2017
Among shortlisted titles for Amy Mathers Teen Book Award, 2018
Among shortlisted titles for Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People, 2018
Among shortlisted titles for Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards, 2018
Winner of Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards, 2018
Winner of White Pine Award, 2019
Little Miss Sunshine meets Room in this quirky, heartwarming story of friendship, loyalty and discovery.
It's Newfoundland, 1986. Fourteen-year-old Bun O'Keefe has lived a solitary life in an unsafe, unsanitary house. Her mother is a compulsive hoarder, and Bun has had little contact with the outside world. What she's learned about life comes from the random books and old VHS tapes that she finds in the boxes and bags her mother brings home. Bun and her mother rarely talk, so when Bun's mother tells Bun to leave one day, she does. Hitchhiking out of town, Bun ends up on the streets of St. John's, Newfoundland. Fortunately, the first person she meets is Busker Boy, a street musician who senses her naivety and takes her in. Together they live in a house with an eclectic cast of characters: Chef, a hotel dishwasher with culinary dreams; Cher, a drag queen with a tragic past; Big Eyes, a Catholic school girl desperately trying to reinvent herself; and The Landlord, a man who Bun is told to avoid at all cost. Through her experiences with her new roommates, and their sometimes tragic revelations, Bun learns that the world extends beyond the walls of her mother's house and discovers the joy of being part of a new family -- a family of friends who care.
It's Newfoundland, 1986. Fourteen-year-old Bun O'Keefe has lived a solitary life in an unsafe, unsanitary house. Her mother is a compulsive hoarder, and Bun has had little contact with the outside world. What she's learned about life comes from the random books and old VHS tapes that she finds in the boxes and bags her mother brings home. Bun and her mother rarely talk, so when Bun's mother tells Bun to leave one day, she does. Hitchhiking out of town, Bun ends up on the streets of St. John's, Newfoundland. Fortunately, the first person she meets is Busker Boy, a street musician who senses her naivety and takes her in. Together they live in a house with an eclectic cast of characters: Chef, a hotel dishwasher with culinary dreams; Cher, a drag queen with a tragic past; Big Eyes, a Catholic school girl desperately trying to reinvent herself; and The Landlord, a man who Bun is told to avoid at all cost. Through her experiences with her new roommates, and their sometimes tragic revelations, Bun learns that the world extends beyond the walls of her mother's house and discovers the joy of being part of a new family -- a family of friends who care.
Release:
2017-10-24
Runtime:
3h 57m
Format:
audio
Weight:
0.0 lb
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780735264588
Publisher:
Penguin Random House
Praise