The Martin Chronicles, John Fried
The Martin Chronicles, John Fried
List: $24.98 | Sale: $17.49
Club: $12.49

The Martin Chronicles

Author: John Fried

Narrator: Greg Baglia

Unabridged: 6 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/08/2019


Synopsis

A powerful and heartfelt coming-of-age novel that follows Martin Kelso as he grows up in 1980s New York and faces the magic of first experiences, as well as the heartbreak of hard-won life lessons.
Martin Kelso's comfortable world starts to change at the age of eleven. Girls get under his skin in ways he never noticed before. His cousin Evie, who used to be Marty's closest confidante--the one who taught him the right way to eat a pizza and how to catch tadpoles--has grown up into a stranger, mysterious and unpredictable. Marty and his best friends once inhabited fantasy worlds of their own making, full of cowboys and cops and robbers, where the heroes always won the day. But now, as neighborhood kids are attacked on their walk to school, they find themselves wanting to play a new game that better prepares them for real life.
As life changes quickly and Marty feels less secure with himself, the difference between games and reality, friend and foe, and right from wrong becomes much more difficult to distinguish. At the same time, this new world offers possibilities as exciting as they are frightening.
This poignant debut perfectly captures the intense emotion, humor, and earnestness of young adulthood as Marty, age eleven to seventeen, navigates a series of life-changing firsts: first kiss, first enemy, first loss, and, ultimately, his first awareness that the world is not as simple a place as he had once imagined.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader on January 21, 2019

4 nostalgic stars to The Martin Chronicles! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ A coming-of-age novel always gives me a sense of nostalgia, especially when set in a time period of which I’m familiar. The Martin Chronicles is set in 1980s New York. Martin “Marty” Kelso is eleven years old, and life is changing quickly. He f......more

Goodreads review by Katie on December 18, 2018

I like reading these type of coming of age novels because it's always a good reminder of both the good and bad parts of growing up. This book follows Martin Kelso living in 1980s New York City from the age of 11 thru his teenage years. This reads better more as a short story collection about the sam......more

Goodreads review by Kasa on October 16, 2018

Martin, a young New Yorker, coming of age in 90's era, lives on the upper West Side with his family. This novel takes the form of ten linked stories each illuminating a turning point in Martin's life as he navigates the familiar territories and minefields from seventh grade until he's on the thresho......more

Goodreads review by Scott on February 07, 2021

John Fried has an amazing knack for instantaneously inviting you into Martin's life through realistic and relatable slices of life. You will feel like you have always known Martin, and that is because you do know him.......more

Goodreads review by Jovana on January 24, 2019

A coming-of-age novel about a young boy growing up in New York in the 1980s. The novel follows Martin Kelso from age 11 to 17 as he transitions into young adulthood. Each chapter focuses on a specific time or event, particularly highlighting many of Martin's "firsts" in life: first kiss, first job,......more


Quotes

"Wise and winning, THE MARTIN CHRONICLES is a sumptuous evocation of those adolescent afternoons when every moment was equally fraught and full of possibility. A charming, marvelous debut." —Colson Whitehead, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning authorof The Underground Railroad

"A beautiful debut. THE MARTIN CHRONICLES transforms a series of adolescent snapshots into a raw, unforgettable mosaic."—Stephen Chbosky, New York Times bestselling author of The Perks of Being a Wallflower

"John Fried's debut is a funny, tender, honest coming-of-age story, brimming with heart. THE MARTIN CHRONICLES is about first love and family and loss, but also, set on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in the '80s, it's a nostalgic look into the past and, in the end, a love story about that specific place and time."—JuliannaBaggott, nationally bestselling author ofThe Seventh Book of Wonders

"Fried's lighthearted humor shines through...offers playful moments and an evocative atmosphere."—Publishers Weekly

"Fried infuses every page with warmth and wonder."—Booklist