The Real Education of TJ Crowley
A BookClubz Book of the Month Selection
Winner of the J. Donald & Bertha Coffin Memorial Book Award
Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award
Winner of the Audie Award for Best Narration in Young Adult Books
Winner of the IPPY Award for Outstanding Audiobook of the Year
2025 Audie Award Winner - Best Young Adult Audiobook
AudioFile Earphones Award | IPPY Award
Wichita, summer 1968. The city's redline still runs down the middle of TJ Crowley's street. His father is gone. His brother is in Vietnam. His mother is unraveling. Then the Washingtons - a Black family with a daughter his age - move in next door.
TJ is thirteen, with a temper he can't control and a man from his mother's past who orders him to help build the fence between the two yards. "Stay away from them or you're grounded for life," his mother warns.
Then gospel music drifts through the fence. TJ has a choice to make.
A full-cast audio drama in three acts. Fifteen actors. Twenty-four roles. Original gospel music performed by the ARISE Ensemble. Co-produced by Audie Award-winning narrators Dion Graham and Tavia Gilbert.
"Performed by a gifted cast, this slice of our history stays with the listener." - AudioFile Magazine
"Easy to see why this one was the winner." - Audible
ADVISORY: Contains racist language and depictions of racial violence appropriate to its 1968 setting. Best suited for mature YA readers and adults.
Praise