Of Foster Homes and Flies
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Narrated by:
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Michael C. Gwynne
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By:
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Chad Lutzke
About this listen
A neglected 12-year-old boy does nothing to report the death of his mother in order to compete in a spelling bee. A tragic coming-of-age tale of horror and drama in the setting of a hot New Orleans summer.
©2016 Chad Lutzke (P)2016 Chad LutzkeListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"Lutzke is firing on all cylinders. It's a lean, mean, emotional machine. Coming-of-age presented in a fresh direction. Bearing tremendous emotional weight and heart. It made me cry." (John Boden, author of Jedi Summer and Dominoes)
"Disturbing, often gruesome, yet poignant at the same time, Chad Lutzke's Of Foster Homes and Flies is one of the best dark coming-of-age tales I've read in years. You'll laugh (sometimes when you know you shouldn't), you'll cry, you'll find yourself wondering how soon you can read more of this guy's work. Highly recommended!" (James Newman, author of Midnight Rain, Ugly as Sin, and Odd Man Out)
"Of Foster Homes and Flies by Chad Lutzke is a lovely addition to the coming-of-age subgenre. He creates in the character of Denny an authentic young man with passions and foibles, someone easy to relate to and root for. The novella hits all the right notes you expect out of a coming of age tale, while also providing a plot that has originality and surprises." (Mark Allan Gunnells, author of Flowers in a Dumpster and The Summer of Winters)
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The Kaufmans have always considered themselves a normal, happy family. Curtis is a physics teacher at a local high school. His wife, Kathleen, restores furniture for upscale boutiques. Daniel is away at college on a prestigious music scholarship, and 12-year-old Olivia is a happy-go-lucky kid whose biggest concern is passing her next math test. And then comes the middle-of-the-night phone call that changes everything.
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Inaccurate
- By CCB on 03-10-15
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What Happened to My Sister
- A Novel
- By: Elizabeth Flock
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Nine-year-old Carrie Parker and her mother, Libby, are making a fresh start in the small town of Hartsville, North Carolina, ready to put their turbulent past behind them. Violence has shattered their family and left Libby nearly unable to cope. And while Carrie once took comfort in her beloved sister, Emma, her mother has now forbidden even the mention of her name. When Carrie meets Ruth, Honor, and Cricket Chaplin, these three generations of warmhearted women seem to have the loving home Carrie has always dreamed of. But as Carrie and Cricket become fast friends, neither can escape the pull of their families' secrets.
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Breathtaking
- By Pink Amy on 03-11-24
By: Elizabeth Flock
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Looking for Alaska
- By: John Green
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words - and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet François Rabelais called the “Great Perhaps”. Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young, who will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps.
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I am concussed dot-dot-dot
- By Bren McKenna on 10-01-19
By: John Green
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The Undoing of Saint Silvanus
- By: Beth Moore
- Narrated by: Shannon McManus
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Only God knew why Jillian Slater agreed to return to New Orleans on the news that her father had finally drunk himself to death. It's not like they were close. She hadn't seen him - or her grandmother, the ice queen - in almost 20 years. But when Adella Atwater, the manager of her grandmother's apartment house, called and said her expenses would be paid if she'd fly in for the burial, a free trip to New Orleans was too intriguing to resist.
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Classic Beth, highly recommend!!
- By Susan on 12-22-16
By: Beth Moore
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The Art of Crash Landing
- A Novel
- By: Melissa DeCarlo
- Narrated by: Johanna Parker
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Mattie Wallace has really screwed up this time. Broke and knocked up, she's got all her worldly possessions crammed into six giant trash bags and nowhere to go. Try as she might, Mattie can no longer deny that she really is turning into her mother, a broken alcoholic who never met a bad choice she didn't make. When Mattie gets news of a possible inheritance left by a grandmother she's never met, she jumps at this one last chance to turn things around.
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Unlikable character
- By RueRue on 09-18-15
By: Melissa DeCarlo
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Please Ignore Vera Dietz
- By: A. S. King
- Narrated by: Lynde Houck
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Vera’s spent her whole life secretly in love with her best friend, Charlie Kahn. And over the years she’s kept a lot of his secrets. Even after he betrayed her. Even after he ruined everything. So when Charlie dies in dark circumstances, Vera knows a lot more than anyone - the kids at school, his family, even the police. But will she emerge to clear his name? Does she even want to? Edgy and gripping, Please Ignore Vera Dietz is an unforgettable novel: Smart, funny, dramatic, and always surprising.
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Moving, disturbing, and humorous
- By Julie on 08-26-11
By: A. S. King
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Kissing Games of the World
- By: Sandi Kahn Shelton
- Narrated by: Myra Platt
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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What if the one person you can't bear to be with is also the one person you can't bear to be without? Jamie McClintock is a free-spirited artist and single mother who has at last found peace and freedom sharing a farmhouse with an elderly man and his young grandson. But when the old man dies suddenly her idyllic country life comes to a halt as the old man's estranged son, Nate, returns to claim the house and his child.
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Great Writer, Great Narrator ! Loved it!
- By Ms. Critic on 05-30-09
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Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance
- A Novel
- By: Ruth Emmie Lang
- Narrated by: Piper Goodeve, Peter Berkrot, Cassandra Campbell, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Stopping a tornado was the first of many strange events that seem to follow Weylyn from town to town, although he doesn't like to take credit. As amazing as these powers may appear, they tend to manifest themselves at inopportune times and places. From freak storms to trees that appear to grow over night, Weylyn's unique abilities are a curiosity at best and at worst, a danger to himself and the woman he loves. But Mary doesn't care.
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An Accidental Wonder!
- By Brandy Pendergrass on 02-16-18
By: Ruth Emmie Lang
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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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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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We Now Return to Regular Life
- By: Martin Wilson
- Narrated by: Will Ropp, Whitney Dykhouse
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Sam Walsh had been missing for three years. His older sister, Beth, thought he was dead. His childhood friend Josh thought it was all his fault. They were the last two people to see him alive. Until now. Because Sam has been found, and he's coming home. Beth desperately wants to understand what happened to her brother, but her family refuses to talk about it - even though Sam is clearly still affected by the abuse he faced at the hands of his captor.
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Mundane and predictable.
- By Mark on 10-27-17
By: Martin Wilson
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A Good Idea
- By: Cristina Moracho
- Narrated by: Alex McKenna
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Finley and Betty's close friendship survived Fin's ninth-grade move from their coastal Maine town to Manhattan. Calls, letters, and summer visits continued to bind them together, and in the fall of their senior year, they both applied to NYU, planning to reunite for good as roommates. Then Betty disappears.
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An absolute must listen/read!
- By Mel on 03-05-17
By: Cristina Moracho
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The Meaning of Maggie
- By: Megan Jean Sovern
- Narrated by: Therese Plummer
- Length: 5 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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As befits a future President of the United States of America, Maggie Mayfield has decided to write a memoir of the past year of her life. And what a banner year it's been! During this period she's Student of the Month on a regular basis, an official shareholder of Coca-Cola stock, and defending Science Fair champion. Most importantly, though, this is the year Maggie has to pull up her bootstraps (the family motto) and finally learn why her cool-dude dad is in a wheelchair, no matter how scary that is.
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Wonderful narration
- By M. Jackson on 04-17-24
What listeners say about Of Foster Homes and Flies
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- FanFiAddict
- 03-23-20
A Gripping Coming of Age Tale
This was my introduction to Lutzke’s writing and will certainly not be the last piece of fiction by this author that I’ll read. Though short in pages, Of Foster Homes and Flies is a gut-wrenching, unflinching tale of neglect, love lost, and the seemingly bleak light at the end of the tunnel. Lutzke packs a ton into such a short piece.
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- Shannon
- 06-16-22
Great story!
Great narrator and a really good story! This is the second short story I’ve listened to by this author and I enjoyed both thoroughly! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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- Chris Miller
- 08-20-19
A perfect novella...
An incredibly powerful coming-of-age story that sticks with you.
This was the first thing I’ve read by Chad Lutzke, it will NOT be the last. At first, I was trying to figure out just what the genre here was. By the time it ended and I was wiping the tears from my eyes and literally saying “THAT WAS AMAZING” out loud to an empty room, I realized the best way to define this book is “emotional horror”.
There are no creeping boogeymen, no monsters, not even any real human villains, other than we get the impression that the boy’s mother may well have been one of sorts. But the way this builds the tension up to a fever pitch as the boy is hoping to place or win the coming spelling bee while his mother rots in their living room takes you to places of childhood fear and angst that all happen on an emotional level. It was truly brilliant.
The prose was perfect for this. I really felt like I was reading a memoir written by a child, but without any lack of sophistication on the writing front at all. It just connects to you the way your kid’s story might if they were pouring their heart and soul out to you. Masterful seems too trite, but I guess I’ll use it, because that’s what this was.
Not a word is wasted in this brief–but perfectly executed–masterpiece. Every note rings true, and I can’t imagine a single person not adoring this, regardless of taste. It’s that good.
The narration was as good if not better than ANYTHING I've ever heard, and I listen to about 100 audiobooks a year. It's as perfect as the book.
Don’t miss this one. I finished this days ago, and I cannot stop thinking about it. I’ll likely revisit this one several times, which is not something I do very often. 5/5-stars.
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- TK
- 10-20-20
Pop Tarts of the Blueberry Variety
What a wonderful little book. The story line, the characters, everything comes together perfectly. It will keep you wondering what will happen next. It is a very fast read but it has so much to offer.
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- Spooky Mike
- 01-19-21
Wow, sad but moving story
I was really surprised by how much of a great story can be packed into such a short book. This was an excellent coming of age story that really makes you stop and think about family and what is important in life. For some it could just be getting a ribbon from the spelling bee, for others it could be having a loving family. Personally I think it is all about pop tarts, but that is me. Besides how great the story was, the writing really impressed me. I felt like I was able to smell the decay and hear the flies buzzing around. One aspect that I think really worked for the story was the timing. Obviously it had a small town feel, but also had a 1980s vibe that reminds me of simpler times. Michael C. Gwynne did a great job with the narration. I really liked his voice and how he told the story. He really breathed life into it. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Rowland
- 05-21-19
Loved it...
being from N.O. I could actually visualize some of the areas mentioned in the story. Really enjoyed this coming of age tale.
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- Amazon Customer
- 01-02-21
Excellent!
I was on the edge of my seat for the protagonist the entire read. A great story!
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- G. Parlee
- 11-09-20
tragic
Sad little story, failry well written and fairly well read. Will look for more from both author and narrator.
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- Mistsofjade
- 09-20-20
🌟This Story Did Fly💫💥
A young boy lives alone with his alcoholic mother & finds himself alone with the one goal of completing the yearly school spelling bee. When things take a turn for the worse he's forced to grow up fast & hide a secret.🤫🤐
A story with sadness, hope, friends & creepy some too.😱🤢
I was actually pleasantly😍surprised, because many books that I have gotten free tend to either: 1. Have awful narration or
2. Be an awful story....or both. This story, though short was actually really good and very different than any other short story I've read or listened to.
🌠The narrator was great & easy spoken. Delivery of all the proper emotions where needed was perfect for me. He made it very easy to get attached to the main character and even relate to at times.
The writer was great!🤩 The development of each character was well done, not to much & not to little. The story was not drawn out & long winded, making it very easy to listen to and even get attached to the characters in one way or another.
Very well done in every way! ⭐👍
No, I was not asked nor told to do this review & yes I got the book for free...BUT I did NOT have to do a review, because if I didn't I could lose my account.
I did this review because the narrator & author DESERVED my review & because, like I said....Rarely do I find a free book that I can actually give a great 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 to!!
5 star for narrator & yes, I recommend him for any book reading. 👍🤩
5 star for story & yes, I recommend the author's (Chad) other stories. 👍❤
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- Jason Begly
- 02-04-21
Of Foster Homes and Flies
This was a good story. It was not really horror in the traditional sense, but it was a dark coming-of-age tale. I didn't know what to expect and it kept me guessing which was odd for a book that is not really written with that in mind. I liked the characters and I enjoyed how the story unfolded. It was strangely believable.
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