Audiobook Review:
The Lonely Heart Of Maybell Lane by Kate O’Shaughnessy

The Lonely Heart Of Maybell Lane by Kate O’Shaughnessy

By: Kate O’Shaughnessy
Narrated by: Catherine Taber
Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 03-03-20
Language: English
Publisher: Listening Library

This sparkling middle-grade debut is a classic-in-the-making!

Maybelle Lane is looking for her father, but on the road to Nashville she finds so much more: courage, brains, heart – and true friends.

Eleven-year-old Maybelle Lane collects sounds. She records the Louisiana crickets chirping, Momma strumming her guitar, their broken trailer door squeaking. But the crown jewel of her collection is a sound she didn’t collect herself: an old recording of her daddy’s warm-sunshine laugh, saved on an old phone’s voicemail. It’s the only thing she has of his, and the only thing she knows about him.

Until the day she hears that laugh – his laugh – pouring out of the car radio. Going against Momma’s wishes, Maybelle starts listening to her radio DJ daddy’s new show, drinking in every word like a plant leaning toward the sun. When he announces he’ll be the judge of a singing contest in Nashville, she signs up. What better way to meet than to stand before him and sing with all her heart?

But the road to Nashville is bumpy. Her starch-stiff neighbor Mrs. Boggs offers to drive her in her RV. And a bully of a boy from the trailer park hitches a ride, too. These are not the people May would have chosen to help her, but it turns out they’re searching for things as well. And the journey will mold them into the best kind of family – the kind you choose for yourself.

Includes an original song introduced by the author.

Thoughts
I can’t emphasize how much I loved this book! I loved Maybelle (May), her friend Tommy, teacher Mrs. Boggs (Alice), and May’s mom Gemma! They were all interesting characters and I connected with each of them at some point in the book. I fell in love with poor Pickles, the badly mistreated, disabled dog that they ended up stealing so that he could be loved and taken care of the way he should be.

I loved that May recorded sounds! I take a lot of photos but think collecting sounds is a great way to hang on to great memories too and wish I had thought of that years ago. I may just buy me a recorder! I loved that May had the courage to do something that she was terrified of doing!

I loved that the book took place during a road trip in an RV! I love road trips and would love to go on one in an RV again!

This book is packed full of non stop adventure that made the listening time speed by. I’m really surprised so much happened in a 6 1/2 hour long book because it didn’t seemed rushed at all.

There was a nice mix of happy and sad, and May seemed older than her 11 years in her reactions to the bad that happened, and so did Tommy.

The relationships between May, Tommy, and Mrs. Boggs (Alice) grew over the time they spent together and I was glad when May realized Tommy wasn’t the bully she thought he was,  and when Mrs. Boggs started loosening up.

This book will be in my top favorites for this year! I ‘d love for there to be a sequel!

This book was the first I’ve read by this author, and it definitely makes me want to read more by her.

Catherine Taber did a great job with the narration!