Last Summer on State Street
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Narrated by:
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Shayna Small
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By:
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Toya Wolfe
About this listen
- PEN Open Book Award finalist
- Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year Award winner
- Stephen Curry Underrated Literati Book Club Pick
Named a Best Book of Summer by Good Housekeeping, Chicago Magazine, The St. Louis Post Dispatch, Chicago Tribune, Veranda, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Publishers Weekly, and more!
“[A] powerful novel.... Tragic, hopeful, brimming with love, Wolfe’s debut is a remarkable achievement.”—New York Times Book Review
For fans of Jacqueline Woodson and Brit Bennett, a striking coming-of-age debut about friendship, community, and resilience, set in the housing projects of Chicago during one life-changing summer.
Even when we lose it all, we find the strength to rebuild.
Felicia “Fe Fe” Stevens is living with her vigilantly loving mother and older teenaged brother, whom she adores, in building 4950 of Chicago’s Robert Taylor Homes. It’s the summer of 1999, and her high-rise is next in line to be torn down by the Chicago Housing Authority. She, with the devout Precious Brown and Stacia Buchanan, daughter of a Gangster Disciple Queen-Pin, form a tentative trio and, for a brief moment, carve out for themselves a simple life of Double Dutch and innocence. But when Fe Fe welcomes a mysterious new friend, Tonya, into their fold, the dynamics shift, upending the lives of all four girls.
As their beloved neighborhood falls down around them, so too do their friendships and the structures of the four girls’ families. Fe Fe must make the painful decision of whom she can trust and whom she must let go. Decades later, as she remembers that fateful summer—just before her home was demolished, her life uprooted, and community forever changed—Fe Fe tries to make sense of the grief and fraught bonds that still haunt her and attempts to reclaim the love that never left.
Profound, reverent, and uplifting, Last Summer on State Street explores the risk of connection against the backdrop of racist institutions, the restorative power of knowing and claiming one’s own past, and those defining relationships which form the heartbeat of our lives. Interweaving moments of reckoning and sustaining grace, debut author Toya Wolfe has crafted an era-defining story of finding a home—both in one’s history and in one’s self.
"Toya Wolfe is a storyteller of the highest order. Last Summer on State Street is a stunning debut."—Rebecca Makkai, New York Times bestselling author of The Great Believers
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On his first night in his new home, Warren spies two figures in the grass outside; when he screws up the nerve to confront them, they disappear. The next day he encounters ghosts of a different kind: In the face of the teenage girl he meets at a comics convention, he sees the mingled features of his white father and his black mother, both now dead. The girl is his daughter, and she thinks she's white.
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Teen lit with heavy erotic imagery
- By Itinerant T on 08-26-15
By: Mat Johnson
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Darling Days
- A Memoir
- By: iO Tillett Wright
- Narrated by: iO Tillett Wright
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Born into the beautiful bedlam of downtown New York in the eighties, iO Tillett Wright came of age at the intersection of punk, poverty, heroin, and art. This was a world of self-invented characters, glamorous superstars, and strung-out sufferers, ground zero of drag and performance art. Still, no personality was more vibrant and formidable than iO's mother's. Rhonna, a showgirl and young widow, was a mercurial, erratic glamazon. She was iO's fiercest defender and only authority in a world with few boundaries and even fewer indicators of normal life.
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Can’t wait for more from this Author!
- By Team Hobson on 07-24-19
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All We Have Left
- By: Wendy Mills
- Narrated by: Shiromi Arserio, Amy Melissa Bentley
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Now: Sixteen-year-old Jesse is used to living with the echoes of the past. Her older brother died in the September 11th attacks, and her dad since has filled their home with anger and grief. When Jesse gets caught up with the wrong crowd, one momentary hate-fueled decision turns her life upside down. The only way to make amends is to face the past, starting Jesse on a journey that will reveal the truth about how her brother died. Then: In 2001, 16-year-old Alia is proud to be Muslim....it's being a teenager that she finds difficult.
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Powerful!
- By Amazon Customer on 08-11-21
By: Wendy Mills
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X
- A Novel
- By: Ilyasah Shabazz, Kekla Magoon
- Narrated by: Dion Graham, Ilyasah Shabazz
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Malcolm Little's parents have always told him that he can achieve anything, but from what he can tell, that's nothing but a pack of lies - after all, his father's been murdered, his mother's been taken away, and his dreams of becoming a lawyer have gotten him laughed out of school. There's no point in trying, he figures, and lured by the nightlife of Boston and New York, he escapes into a world of fancy suits, jazz, girls, and reefer.
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Very well written
- By jeff on 06-29-15
By: Ilyasah Shabazz, and others
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Born Bright
- A Young Girl's Journey from Nothing to Something in America
- By: C. Nicole Mason
- Narrated by: Robin Eller
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Born Bright, C. Nicole Mason's powerful memoir, is a story of reconciliation, constrained choices, and life on the other side of the tracks. Born in the 1970s in Los Angeles, California, Mason was raised by a beautiful but volatile 16-year-old single mother. Early on, she learned to navigate between an unpredictable home life and school, where she excelled. By high school, Mason was seamlessly straddling two worlds.
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Solid Book
- By Daryl on 11-06-16
By: C. Nicole Mason
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Rabbit
- The Autobiography of Ms. Pat
- By: Patricia Williams, Jeannine Amber
- Narrated by: Patricia Williams
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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One of five children, Pat watched as her alcoholic mother struggled to get by on charity, cons, and petty crimes. At age seven, Pat was taught to roll drunks for money. At 12, she was targeted for sex by a man eight years her senior; by 13, she was pregnant. By 15, Pat was a mother of two. Alone at 16, Pat was determined to make a better life for her children. But with no job skills and an eighth-grade education, her options were limited. She learned quickly that hustling and humor were the only tools she had to survive.
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Amazing story but dry reading
- By SpazzyMaggee on 11-03-17
By: Patricia Williams, and others
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Dear Zoe
- A Novel
- By: Philip Beard
- Narrated by: Cassandra Morris
- Length: 4 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Beard's stunning debut is an epistolary novel written from 15-year-old Tess DeNunzio to her little sister Zoe. After Zoe's accidental death on September 11, 2001, a day so many others died, Tess' family is numbed by their personal tragedy. Already acutely aware of her odd place in a home where her mother and stepfather now have children of their own, Tess begins her letter as a means of figuring out her own life, from her two-hour-a-day hair and makeup ritual to her complicity in Zoe's death.
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keeps you listening.
- By nas on 10-18-09
By: Philip Beard
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Breaking Night
- A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard
- By: Liz Murray
- Narrated by: Liz Murray
- Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Liz Murray was born to loving but drug-addicted parents in the Bronx. In school she was taunted for her dirty clothing and lice-infested hair, eventually skipping so many classes that she was put into a girls' home. At age 15, Liz found herself on the streets when her family finally unraveled. She learned to scrape by, foraging for food and riding subways all night to have a warm place to sleep. Then, when Liz's mother died of AIDS, she decided to take control of her own destiny.
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unbelievably inspiring
- By Amazon Customer on 03-17-12
By: Liz Murray
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Always Running
- La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A.
- By: Luis J. Rodriguez
- Narrated by: Luis J. Rodriguez
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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By age 12, Luis Rodriguez was a veteran of East L.A. gang warfare. Lured by a seemingly invincible gang culture, he witnessed countless shootings, beatings, and arrests, then watched with increasing fear as that culture claimed friends and family members. Before long, Rodriguez saw a way out of the barrio through education and successfully broke free from years of violence and desperation.
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Book for all educators
- By Heather M. Vitz on 03-15-15
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The Turner House
- By: Angela Flournoy
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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The Turners have lived on Yarrow Street for over 50 years. Their house has seen 13 children grown and gone - and some returned; it has seen the arrival of grandchildren, the fall of Detroit's East Side, and the loss of a father. The house still stands despite abandoned lots, an embattled city, and the inevitable shift outward to the suburbs. But now, as ailing matriarch Viola finds herself forced to leave her home and move in with her eldest son, the family discovers that the house is worth just a 10th of its mortgage.
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The narrator's performance made the difference.
- By KT on 06-11-15
By: Angela Flournoy
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Vivian Apple at the End of the World
- By: Katie Coyle
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Seventeen-year-old Vivian Apple never believed in the evangelical Church of America, unlike her recently devout parents. But when Vivian returns home the night after the supposed 'Rapture,' all that's left of her parents are two holes in the roof. Suddenly, she doesn't know who or what to believe. With her best friend Harp and a mysterious ally, Peter, Vivian embarks on a desperate cross-country road trip through a paranoid and panic-stricken America to find answers.
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juvenile
- By emily on 12-16-19
By: Katie Coyle
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Burn Baby Burn
- By: Meg Medina
- Narrated by: Marisol Ramirez
- Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Nora Lopez is 17 during the infamous New York summer of 1977, when the city is besieged by arson, a massive blackout, and a serial killer named Son of Sam who shoots young women on the streets. Nora's family life isn't going so well either: her bullying brother, Hector, is growing more threatening by the day, her mother is helpless and falling behind on the rent, and her father calls only on holidays. All Nora wants is to turn 17 and be on her own.
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Couldn't finish listening to this book.
- By Mathis on 12-03-17
By: Meg Medina
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The Secret Side of Empty
- By: Maria E. Andreu
- Narrated by: Eileen Stevens
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
What's it like to be undocumented? High school senior M.T. knows all too well. With graduation and an uncertain future looming, she must figure out how to grow up in the only country she's ever called home... a country in which she's "illegal". M.T. was born in Argentina and brought to America as a baby without any official papers. And as questions of college, work, and the future arise, M.T. will have to decide what exactly she wants for herself, knowing someone she loves will unavoidably pay the price for it.
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Heavy topics handled well but just fell short 4 me
- By AudioBookHoe on 07-30-17
By: Maria E. Andreu
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What listeners say about Last Summer on State Street
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Elizabeth K.
- 02-09-23
A tender story about growing up amins very difficult surroundings
It’s a wonderful book. I loved how completely different all the girls were but still a group of friends
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- Amazon Customer
- 05-07-23
Engaging
Very real being from the Southside. Annoyed with the mispronunciation of DuSable, please fix that!
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- Katy
- 08-30-22
Excellent.
This coming of age story was fantastic, albeit heartbreaking. The author did a wonderful job of showing the struggles that POC in Chicago faced in the late 90’s and likely still gave today. Highly recommend.
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6 people found this helpful
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- KB
- 10-19-22
Favorite New Author Award!
I read Last Summer on State Street soon after it was published after seeing it mentioned on several award lists. It was so good I didn’t want it to end. Its portrayal of family, friendship, and home was both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. Here’s hoping the author’s next book is already in the works!
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2 people found this helpful
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- CHIOMA HUNTER
- 06-24-24
Phenomenal!
This was a great listen, very good “coming of age” novel. The things that some have survived in their short lifetime is truly amazing
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- Susan Schultz
- 05-20-23
Heartbreaking truth beautifully told
Thank you, Ms. Toya for the gift of your writing, your voice and yiur ability to bring to life your deep knowledge of the people and the city.
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- TMD
- 05-24-23
Real Experience in Public Housing
I always wanted to know what it was like to have lived in the public housing projects. This book gives that experience. It shows how insidious gang life and drug culture can be but more importantly shows just that anyone who lived, or still lives, in public housing is a person with many of the same needs and perspectives on life that anyone else has. While I used to think of people who live in public housing as having super human abilities to withstand the challenges, it’s tragic to see the need for basic things safe public spaces, quiet and community. This book also brings across the innately human beauty of the resilience needed to survive sometimes. It makes me wonder why it has to be so difficult in the first place. Thanks
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- Courtney Francis
- 12-12-23
I can't say enough!
I absolutely loved this book. Although the main characters were teenagers for most of the book, this is not a teenage book. I kind of view it as historical fiction. But the history is accurate and the characters are nicely-developed throughout the book. Although I am not a native to Chicago, I have lived in Chicago for most of my adult life. It was refreshing to read about that monumental summer through the eyes of people who lived there, albeit fictional.
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- Des
- 10-26-24
Easy listening
I would like for the author to be a lot more descriptive to allow the listeners to visualize the neighborhood and feel how the characters felt to see their neighborhood demolished. Overall,this was a great listen.
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- Amazon Customer
- 08-16-22
A Well Told Story
We all have childhoods, some happy and some sad, many tragic. This beautifully written fiction but not, tells the stories of some little girls all connected to families who influence everything. It fully captures the difference that family/mothers/fathers/siblings and community can make in a child’s life. Wonderfully told and the end, Well Done!
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11 people found this helpful