"Narrator Piper Goodeve brings emotional depth to Louisa Wade, an 18-year-old who returns to Rustin, Alabama, for her great-uncle George's funeral. Having recently come out as gay, Louisa plans to return to college immediately, but inheriting George's gay bar, the Frisky Cricket, derails her plans. Determined to save the bar, which she sees as a haven for the local LGBTQ+ community, Louisa fights to prevent its sale to Rustin University's football program. Much to her chagrin, she finds the football coach's daughter, Aubrey, attractive despite their initial personality clash. With an expressive narration, Goodeve deftly captures Louisa's conflicting feelings about her family, relationships, and life in general while bringing the rest of the cast to life with subtle vocal differentiations.
Goodeve's engaging performance makes this coming-of-age story compelling. (Fiction. 14-18)"
