The Elephant of Surprise
The Russel Middlebrook Series
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Josh Hurley
-
By:
-
Brent Hartinger
About this listen
Book 4 in the Lambda Award-winning Russel Middlebrook Series!
People aren't always what they seem to be. Sometimes we even surprise ourselves. So discovers seventeen-year-old Russel Middlebrook in The Elephant of Surprise, a stand-alone sequel to Brent Hartinger's landmark 2003 gay young adult novel Geography Club (which has now been adapted as a feature film co-starring Scott Bakula and Nikki Blonsky). In this latest audiobook, Russel and his friends Min and Gunnar are laughing about something they call the Elephant of Surprise - the tendency for life to never turn out as expected. Sure enough, Russel soon happens upon a hot but mysterious homeless activist named Wade, even as he's drawn back to an old flame named Kevin.
Meanwhile, Min is learning surprising things about her girlfriend Leah, and Gunnar just wants to be left alone to pursue his latest technology obsession. But the elephant is definitely on the move in all three of their lives. Just who is Wade and what are he and his friends planning? What is Leah hiding? And why is Gunnar taking naked pictures of Kevin in the shower?
The Elephant of Surprise includes Hartinger's trademark combination of humor and romance, angst and optimism. Before the story is over, Russel and his friends will learn that the Elephant of Surprise really does appear when you least expect him - and that when he stomps on you, it really, really hurts.
©2013 Brent Hartinger (P)2013 Audible Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Thing I Didn't Know I Didn't Know
- By: Brent Hartinger
- Narrated by: Josh Hurley
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Russel Middlebrook is 23 years old, gay, and living in trendy Seattle, but life isn't keeping up with the hype. Most of his friends have a direction in life - either ruthlessly pursuing their careers or passionately embracing their own aimlessness. But Russel is stuck in place. All he knows is that crappy jobs, horrible dates, and pointless hook-ups just aren't cutting it anymore. What's the secret? What does everyone else know that he doesn't?
-
-
Good, but sliding toward meh
- By Keith G on 01-16-18
By: Brent Hartinger
-
The Otto Digmore Difference
- By: Brent Hartinger
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Otto Digmore is a 26-year-old gay guy with dreams of being a successful actor, and he's finally getting some attention as a result of his supporting role on a struggling sitcom. But he's also a burn survivor with scars on half his face, and all indications are that he's just too different to ever find real Hollywood success.
-
-
I wanted to like it....
- By Jillian MacLeod on 02-20-20
By: Brent Hartinger
-
What If It's Us
- By: Becky Albertalli, Adam Silvera
- Narrated by: Noah Galvin, Froy Gutierrez
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Arthur is only in New York for the summer, but if Broadway has taught him anything, it’s that the universe can deliver a showstopping romance when you least expect it. Ben thinks the universe needs to mind its business. If the universe had his back, he wouldn’t be on his way to the post office carrying a box of his ex-boyfriend’s things. But when Arthur and Ben meet-cute at the post office, what exactly does the universe have in store for them? Maybe nothing. After all, they get separated. Maybe everything. After all, they get reunited.
-
-
Dull, meaningless slog
- By creatinine on 11-04-18
By: Becky Albertalli, and others
-
Pine Cove: The Complete Series
- By: HJ Welch
- Narrated by: Nick J. Russo
- Length: 59 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Welcome to Pine Cove, where true love lives happily ever after! This box set contains all six novels as well as all five companion short stories. Safe Harbor: Robin Coal needs a fake boyfriend for his high school reunion. He asks his housemate: A gorgeous, totally straight ex-Marine. What could go wrong? There’s only one bed, and Dair might not be so straight after all...When Robin’s past threatens their future, only Dair can save him.
-
-
Great characters, but can't finish
- By Janie.ohio on 05-01-22
By: HJ Welch
-
Something Like Summer
- Something Like..., Book 1
- By: Jay Bell
- Narrated by: Kevin R. Free
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Life isn’t easy for a gay teenager living in the nineties. Ben thought coming out was his best chance of finding love. Instead he ended up lonelier than before. After a not-so-accidental collision with Tim, an attractive athlete and artist, Ben is convinced that he’s met his soulmate. Their budding romance is soon tested by spreading rumors, the danger increasing along with their passion for each other until it pushes them to the breaking point.
-
-
More than meets the eye...
- By Donald on 10-05-13
By: Jay Bell
-
Jay's Gay Agenda
- By: Jason June
- Narrated by: Mark Sanderlin
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There’s one thing Jay Collier knows for sure - he’s a statistical anomaly as the only out gay kid in his small rural Washington town. While all his friends can’t stop talking about their heterosexual hookups and relationships, Jay can only dream of his own firsts, compiling a romance to-do list of all the things he hopes to one day experience - his Gay Agenda. Then, against all odds, Jay’s family moves to Seattle, and he starts his senior year at a new high school with a thriving LGBTQIA+ community. For the first time ever, Jay feels like he’s found where he truly belongs.
-
-
Jay is toxic AF lol
- By Semaj journee on 06-22-21
By: Jason June
-
The Thing I Didn't Know I Didn't Know
- By: Brent Hartinger
- Narrated by: Josh Hurley
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Russel Middlebrook is 23 years old, gay, and living in trendy Seattle, but life isn't keeping up with the hype. Most of his friends have a direction in life - either ruthlessly pursuing their careers or passionately embracing their own aimlessness. But Russel is stuck in place. All he knows is that crappy jobs, horrible dates, and pointless hook-ups just aren't cutting it anymore. What's the secret? What does everyone else know that he doesn't?
-
-
Good, but sliding toward meh
- By Keith G on 01-16-18
By: Brent Hartinger
-
The Otto Digmore Difference
- By: Brent Hartinger
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Otto Digmore is a 26-year-old gay guy with dreams of being a successful actor, and he's finally getting some attention as a result of his supporting role on a struggling sitcom. But he's also a burn survivor with scars on half his face, and all indications are that he's just too different to ever find real Hollywood success.
-
-
I wanted to like it....
- By Jillian MacLeod on 02-20-20
By: Brent Hartinger
-
What If It's Us
- By: Becky Albertalli, Adam Silvera
- Narrated by: Noah Galvin, Froy Gutierrez
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Arthur is only in New York for the summer, but if Broadway has taught him anything, it’s that the universe can deliver a showstopping romance when you least expect it. Ben thinks the universe needs to mind its business. If the universe had his back, he wouldn’t be on his way to the post office carrying a box of his ex-boyfriend’s things. But when Arthur and Ben meet-cute at the post office, what exactly does the universe have in store for them? Maybe nothing. After all, they get separated. Maybe everything. After all, they get reunited.
-
-
Dull, meaningless slog
- By creatinine on 11-04-18
By: Becky Albertalli, and others
-
Pine Cove: The Complete Series
- By: HJ Welch
- Narrated by: Nick J. Russo
- Length: 59 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Welcome to Pine Cove, where true love lives happily ever after! This box set contains all six novels as well as all five companion short stories. Safe Harbor: Robin Coal needs a fake boyfriend for his high school reunion. He asks his housemate: A gorgeous, totally straight ex-Marine. What could go wrong? There’s only one bed, and Dair might not be so straight after all...When Robin’s past threatens their future, only Dair can save him.
-
-
Great characters, but can't finish
- By Janie.ohio on 05-01-22
By: HJ Welch
-
Something Like Summer
- Something Like..., Book 1
- By: Jay Bell
- Narrated by: Kevin R. Free
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Life isn’t easy for a gay teenager living in the nineties. Ben thought coming out was his best chance of finding love. Instead he ended up lonelier than before. After a not-so-accidental collision with Tim, an attractive athlete and artist, Ben is convinced that he’s met his soulmate. Their budding romance is soon tested by spreading rumors, the danger increasing along with their passion for each other until it pushes them to the breaking point.
-
-
More than meets the eye...
- By Donald on 10-05-13
By: Jay Bell
-
Jay's Gay Agenda
- By: Jason June
- Narrated by: Mark Sanderlin
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There’s one thing Jay Collier knows for sure - he’s a statistical anomaly as the only out gay kid in his small rural Washington town. While all his friends can’t stop talking about their heterosexual hookups and relationships, Jay can only dream of his own firsts, compiling a romance to-do list of all the things he hopes to one day experience - his Gay Agenda. Then, against all odds, Jay’s family moves to Seattle, and he starts his senior year at a new high school with a thriving LGBTQIA+ community. For the first time ever, Jay feels like he’s found where he truly belongs.
-
-
Jay is toxic AF lol
- By Semaj journee on 06-22-21
By: Jason June
-
Straight Boy
- By: Jay Bell
- Narrated by: Kirt Graves
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I love him. And I’m pretty sure he loves me back...even though he’s straight. When I first met Carter King, I knew he was something special. I imagined us being together, and we are, but only as friends. Best friends! I’m trying to be cool with that, even though I know he has secrets, and there have definitely been mixed signals. I don’t want a crush to ruin what we already have. Then again, if there’s any chance that we can be together, it’s worth the risk, because Carter could be the love of my life. Or he might be the boy who breaks my heart.
-
-
**Spoilers**
- By JAlexH on 12-24-20
By: Jay Bell
-
Boyfriend Material
- By: Alexis Hall
- Narrated by: Joe Jameson
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Luc O'Donnell is tangentially - and reluctantly - famous. His rock-star parents split when he was young, and the father he's never met spent the next 20 years cruising in and out of rehab. Now that his dad's making a comeback, Luc's back in the public eye, and one compromising photo is enough to ruin everything. To clean up his image, Luc has to find a nice normal relationship...and Oliver Blackwood is as nice and normal as they come. He's a barrister, an ethical vegetarian, and someone who has never inspired a moment of scandal in his life. He’s perfect boyfriend material.
-
-
The right material!
- By Cranky Reader on 07-08-20
By: Alexis Hall
-
Pride High, Book 1
- Red
- By: Jay Bell
- Narrated by: Talia Carver
- Length: 14 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Perfect for mature teens and nostalgic adults, this LGBTQ+ series celebrates authentic intimacy, realistic relationships, and the beautiful chaos of growing up queer. Rewind to the nineties and join a group of teenagers as they try to figure out who they are, and who they want to love. Meet your new friends:
-
-
He did it again!
- By Stanley Craver on 11-28-22
By: Jay Bell
-
All That’s Left in the World
- By: Erik J. Brown
- Narrated by: Barrett Leddy, Andrew Gibson
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Andrew stumbles upon Jamie’s house, he’s injured, starved, and has nothing left to lose. A deadly pathogen has killed off most of the world’s population, including everyone both boys have ever loved. And if this new world has taught them anything, it’s to be scared of what other desperate people will do . . . so why does it seem so easy for them to trust each other? After danger breaches their shelter, they flee south in search of civilization. But something isn’t adding up about Andrew’s story, and it could cost them everything.
-
-
Fantastic story!💜
- By Tammy B on 03-15-22
By: Erik J. Brown
-
Spruce Texas Romance Box Set
- Books 1-3
- By: Daryl Banner
- Narrated by: Chris Chambers, Sean Crisden, Kirt Graves
- Length: 29 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This exclusive box set collection contains the first three books in the best-selling gay romance series, Spruce Texas!
-
-
loved it
- By Jordan Oocumma on 05-26-22
By: Daryl Banner
-
The Significant Brothers Collection
- By: E. Davies
- Narrated by: Greg Boudreaux
- Length: 37 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After zero-gravity heroics left astronaut Nicolas Rogers injured, his new job as a hermit — er, park ranger — seems perfect. Until he ends up babysitting rock star Deen Jayse, sent to the Smoky Mountains by his manager for image rehab. Behind their personas, they’re startlingly similar. Yet Deen can't just drop everything to go live in the mountains, and Nico can't abandon them. After a taste of being together, how can they face a future apart?
-
-
Sexually Explicit. Sweet. OTT
- By W.F. on 07-02-20
By: E. Davies
-
The Alpha's Son
- By: Penny Jessup
- Narrated by: Michael Mola
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Max Remus couldn't care less about finding his mate—unlike the rest of his fate-obsessed pack. He totally prefers hanging with his bestie, eating his dad's steak sandwiches, and drawing in his trusty sketchbook. But all that is about to change at the Blue Moon Festival—a summer camp where Elite Pack wolves go to find their mates. The festival is a rite of passage for every teen werewolf, and this year's festival will be one to howl home about. The alpha's son, Jasper Apollo, is attending for the first time.
-
-
I knew it was YA, but god DAMN.
- By kae-kae on 08-07-22
By: Penny Jessup
-
Hidden Scars
- Darby U Hockey Boys, Book 1
- By: Andi Jaxon
- Narrated by: Teddy Hamilton, Iggy Toma
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charles Preston Carmichael is the most infuriating man I've ever met. I want to sock the golden boy of college hockey right in the mouth. He enjoys telling me everything I'm messing up—publicly. And since he's my roommate for the next year, I can't avoid him. Yet there's something about him that makes me watch him. Something dark. A secret I want to uncover. When he returns from a weekend away, broken and haunted, I can't keep my distance anymore. He needs someone, and I'll be damned if it's not me.
-
-
Wow!! what a story
- By Nova on 10-13-23
By: Andi Jaxon
-
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
- By: Becky Albertalli
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: If he doesn't play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone's business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he's been emailing with, will be compromised.
-
-
Amazing, powerful, joyful book!
- By Jeff Adams on 04-10-15
By: Becky Albertalli
-
HIM
- By: Sarina Bowen, Elle Kennedy
- Narrated by: Teddy Hamilton, Jacob Morgan
- Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jamie Canning has never been able to figure out how he lost his closest friend. Four years ago, his tattooed, wisecracking, rule-breaking roommate cut him off without an explanation. So what if things got a little weird on the last night of hockey camp the summer they were 18? It was just a little drunken foolishness. Nobody died.
-
-
An amazingly pleasant surprise!
- By Nicholas Lynge Pedersen on 04-18-16
By: Sarina Bowen, and others
-
Turtles All the Way Down
- By: John Green
- Narrated by: Kate Rudd
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Aza Holmes never intended to pursue the disappearance of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Pickett’s son Davis. Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.
-
-
I hate to call it a trigger warning, but-
- By Lynnzee on 10-23-17
By: John Green
-
Kamikaze Boys
- By: Jay Bell
- Narrated by: Kirt Graves
- Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
My name is Connor Williams, and people say I’m crazy. But that’s not who I am. They also think I’m straight, mean, and dangerous. But that’s not who I am either. The stories people tell—all those legends they whisper at school—they don’t mean a thing. Only my mother and younger brother matter to me.
-
-
BEST BOOK IVE READ YET
- By Jen K. on 12-25-20
By: Jay Bell
Related to this topic
-
The Secret Side of Empty
- By: Maria E. Andreu
- Narrated by: Eileen Stevens
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
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.
-
-
Heavy topics handled well but just fell short 4 me
- By AudioBookHoe on 07-30-17
By: Maria E. Andreu
-
Will Grayson, Will Grayson
- By: John Green, David Levithan
- Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews, Nick Podehl
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, Will Grayson crosses paths with...Will Grayson. Two teens with the same name, running in two very different circles, suddenly find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, and culminating in epic turns-of-heart and the most fabulous musical ever to grace the high school stage.
-
-
Fun fast witty
- By Jody Ann Dagg on 09-16-24
By: John Green, and others
-
An Abundance of Katherines
- By: John Green
- Narrated by: Jeff Woodman
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton’s type is girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact. On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has $10,000 in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun - but no Katherines.
-
-
struggled to finish listening
- By Daniel on 03-11-20
By: John Green
-
We Now Return to Regular Life
- By: Martin Wilson
- Narrated by: Will Ropp, Whitney Dykhouse
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Mundane and predictable.
- By Mark on 10-27-17
By: Martin Wilson
-
This Is Why They Hate Us
- By: Aaron H. Aceves
- Narrated by: Alejandro Ruiz
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Enrique “Quique” Luna has one goal this summer—get over his crush on Saleem Kanazi by pursuing his other romantic prospects. Never mind that he’s only out to his best friend, Fabiola. Never mind that he has absolutely zero game. And definitely forget the fact that good and kind and, not to mention, beautiful Saleem is leaving LA for the summer to meet a girl his parents are trying to set him up with. Luckily, Quique’s prospects are each intriguing in their own ways.
-
-
Great Performance; Strange Obsession with White People
- By Legio Evocati on 02-21-23
By: Aaron H. Aceves
-
Loving Day
- By: Mat Johnson
- Narrated by: J. D. Jackson
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Teen lit with heavy erotic imagery
- By Itinerant T on 08-26-15
By: Mat Johnson
-
The Secret Side of Empty
- By: Maria E. Andreu
- Narrated by: Eileen Stevens
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
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.
-
-
Heavy topics handled well but just fell short 4 me
- By AudioBookHoe on 07-30-17
By: Maria E. Andreu
-
Will Grayson, Will Grayson
- By: John Green, David Levithan
- Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews, Nick Podehl
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, Will Grayson crosses paths with...Will Grayson. Two teens with the same name, running in two very different circles, suddenly find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, and culminating in epic turns-of-heart and the most fabulous musical ever to grace the high school stage.
-
-
Fun fast witty
- By Jody Ann Dagg on 09-16-24
By: John Green, and others
-
An Abundance of Katherines
- By: John Green
- Narrated by: Jeff Woodman
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton’s type is girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact. On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has $10,000 in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun - but no Katherines.
-
-
struggled to finish listening
- By Daniel on 03-11-20
By: John Green
-
We Now Return to Regular Life
- By: Martin Wilson
- Narrated by: Will Ropp, Whitney Dykhouse
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Mundane and predictable.
- By Mark on 10-27-17
By: Martin Wilson
-
This Is Why They Hate Us
- By: Aaron H. Aceves
- Narrated by: Alejandro Ruiz
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Enrique “Quique” Luna has one goal this summer—get over his crush on Saleem Kanazi by pursuing his other romantic prospects. Never mind that he’s only out to his best friend, Fabiola. Never mind that he has absolutely zero game. And definitely forget the fact that good and kind and, not to mention, beautiful Saleem is leaving LA for the summer to meet a girl his parents are trying to set him up with. Luckily, Quique’s prospects are each intriguing in their own ways.
-
-
Great Performance; Strange Obsession with White People
- By Legio Evocati on 02-21-23
By: Aaron H. Aceves
-
Loving Day
- By: Mat Johnson
- Narrated by: J. D. Jackson
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Teen lit with heavy erotic imagery
- By Itinerant T on 08-26-15
By: Mat Johnson
-
Starry Eyes
- By: Jenn Bennett
- Narrated by: Amy Melissa Bentley
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ever since last year's homecoming dance, best friends-turned-best enemies Zorie and Lennon have made an art of avoiding each other. It doesn't hurt that their families are the modern day, Californian version of the Montagues and Capulets. But when a group camping trip goes south, Zorie and Lennon find themselves stranded in the wilderness. Alone. Together. What could go wrong? With no one but each other for company, Zorie and Lennon have no choice but to hash out their issues via witty jabs and insults as they try to make their way to safety.
-
-
Great story
- By Allyn Sweetapple on 04-18-22
By: Jenn Bennett
-
Double Digit
- By: Annabel Monaghan
- Narrated by: Julia Farhat
- Length: 5 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To say eighteen-year-old Farrah Higgins—or Digit—is good at math is a laughable understatement. She’s been cracking codes since childhood, and is finally at home with “her people” at MIT in Cambridge. Her talents are so off the charts that her laptop is under surveillance by both the CIA and an ecoterrorist named Jonas Furnis. So when she thoughtlessly hacks into the Department of Defense’s database, she lands in serious hot water inside and outside the law.
-
-
Great Follow Up
- By Lifeisshort on 05-23-14
By: Annabel Monaghan
-
Vivian Apple at the End of the World
- By: Katie Coyle
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
juvenile
- By emily on 12-16-19
By: Katie Coyle
-
The Mystery of Grace
- By: Charles de Lint
- Narrated by: Richard Powers, Tai Sammons
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Grace, as her friends call her, has a Ford Motor Company tattoo running down her leg and grease worked deep into her hands. She works at Sanchez Motorworks customizing hot rods. Finding the line in a classic car is her calling. Now Grace has to find the line in her own life. Grace loves John, and John loves her, and that would be wonderful, except that John, like Grace, has unfinished business: He's haunted by the childhood death of his younger brother. He's never stopped feeling responsible.
-
-
interesting love story
- By Yuriko on 08-23-10
By: Charles de Lint
-
The Lost Husband
- By: Katherine Center
- Narrated by: Amy Rubinate
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Dear Libby, It occurs to me that you and your two children have been living with your mother for - Dear Lord! - two whole years, and I'm writing to see if you'd like to be rescued." The letter comes out of the blue, and just in time for Libby Moran, who - after the sudden death of her husband, Danny - went to stay with her hypercritical mother. Now her crazy Aunt Jean has offered Libby an escape: a job and a place to live on her farm in the Texas Hill Country.
-
-
wonderful story. narrator kind of a sad sack.
- By Susan Reynolds on 07-24-19
By: Katherine Center
-
Made You Up
- By: Francesca Zappia
- Narrated by: Amanda Ronconi
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Reality, it turns out, is often not what you perceive it to be - sometimes, there really is someone out to get you. For fans of Silver Linings Playbook and Liar, this thought-provoking debut tells the story of Alex, a high school senior - and the ultimate unreliable narrator - unable to tell the difference between real life and delusion. Alex fights a daily battle to figure out what is real and what is not.
-
-
A DISGRACE TO AUTHORS AND MENTAL HEALTH EVERYWHERE
- By Amazon Customer on 06-27-18
By: Francesca Zappia
-
Sprout
- By: Dale Peck
- Narrated by: Ted Coluca Jr.
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sprout Bradford has a secret. It's not what you think he'll tell you he's gay. He'll tell you about his dads drinking and his mother's death. The green fingerprints everywhere tell you when he last dyed his hair. But neither the reader nor Sprout are prepared for what happens when Sprout suddenly finds he's had a more profound effect on the lives around him than he ever thought possible. Sprout is both hilarious and gripping; a story of one boy at odds with the expected.
-
-
Excellent Coming of Age Story
- By marie on 07-17-13
By: Dale Peck
-
The Last Time We Say Goodbye
- By: Cynthia Hand
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The last time Lex was happy, it was before. When she had a family that was whole. A boyfriend she loved. Friends who didn't look at her like she might break down at any moment. Now she's just the girl whose brother killed himself. And it feels like that's all she'll ever be. As Lex starts to put her life back together, she tries to block out what happened the night Tyler died. But there's a secret she hasn't told anyone--a text Tyler sent that could have changed everything.
-
-
Such sweet sorrow
- By Lesaly on 04-26-15
By: Cynthia Hand
-
A Girl Named Digit
- By: Annabel Monaghan
- Narrated by: Julia Farhat
- Length: 5 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Farrah "Digit" Higgins may be going to MIT in the fall, but this L.A. high school genius has left her geek self behind in another school district so she can blend in with the popular crowd at Santa Monica High and actually enjoy her senior year. But when Farrah, the daughter of a UCLA math professor, unknowingly cracks a terrorist group's number sequence, her laid-back senior year gets a lot more interesting. Soon she is personally investigating the case, on the run from terrorists, and faking her own kidnapping - all while trying to convince a young, hot FBI agent to take her seriously.
-
-
Nails It
- By Lifeisshort on 05-16-14
By: Annabel Monaghan
-
Driftwood
- A Novel
- By: Elizabeth Dutton
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Dutton
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Los Angeles, California: Clem Jasper is a trust fund kid with a world famous rock musician for a father. When he dies suddenly (playing ping pong) she discovers he's left her a strange legacy: a series of letters that take her on a mysterious road trip around California. Ignoring her aunt's suggestion that she pitch the trip as a reality show, she embarks on her own to discover just what it was that her father meant her to find. What secret could be so powerful that he had to die before telling her?
-
-
I cried with this one,
- By Angela on 08-16-23
By: Elizabeth Dutton
-
Last Seen Leaving
- By: Caleb Roehrig
- Narrated by: Josh Hurley
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Flynn's girlfriend, January, is missing. The cops are asking question he can't answer, and her friends are telling stories that don't add up. All eyes are on Flynn―as January's boyfriend, he must know something. But Flynn has a secret of his own. And as he struggles to uncover the truth about January's disappearance, he must also face the truth about himself.
-
-
Best Book of 2016/Top 10 Contemporary Novels
- By Jeffrey veals on 01-05-17
By: Caleb Roehrig
-
Every Soul a Star
- By: Wendy Mass
- Narrated by: Jessica Almasy, Ali Ahn, Mark Turetsky
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Unlike the thousands converging at Moon Shadow to witness a total solar eclipse, Ally calls the isolated campground home. Bree shields herself in a cloak of good looks and popularity, but there is something within her no one suspects. And Jack, overweight and socially inept, finds himself on the verge of a startling possibility.
-
-
Yes I have listened to this book 3 times
- By Excelsior on 06-24-18
By: Wendy Mass
What listeners say about The Elephant of Surprise
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- JWatson
- 09-22-18
Alot of fun
Narrator is excellent. He makes the lead character, Russell, come alive. Russell's running narration is sweat, witty, insightful & occasionally overly dramatic (but in a hilarious way). I recommend this and all the Russell Middlebrook series
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michael burkheimer
- 04-09-21
such a great series truly one of the best.
loved every minute of this book such a greeat writer. Its truly a mesmerizing book and such a great love story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- PETATL1
- 02-17-22
Great stories!
I really enjoy The series, as well as the others that I’ve listened to! I want to follow Russell Middlebrook through his entire life, lol.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- SMC
- 06-28-24
Let me explain
I just binged this series. I loved this series which is why I read the whole thing so fast. I totally recommend this series. But I have a couple of complaints. Not big ones but they bug me enough to say something. First, all of these are way too short. Second, is Kevin. ⛔️ Spoiler warning ‼️ Kevin proves to not be so great early on. But it’s also pretty clear that is how we are supposed to think and if you actually look he is a good guy. All of that is fine. But here at the end of this last book Kevin should have gotten more. He is a secret protagonist throughout so he should have gotten his own section like Ming did so he could tell his story himself. And I am legit pissed he didn’t get it. But we have his story already now. So if you write another book to tell it, it will just be a rehash of what we already know. And that’s shitty. The 3 main characters are great. & I loved their stories. But Kevin’s was the one I was waiting to hear. And only getting the second hand tale as if it was almost an afterthought is rude.
I still loved all the books despite how short they were. But this Kevin thing is really disappointing. I re-read all the books I buy. Kind of a lot. Life sucks books are better. But it’s hard to escape into a story knowing you are going to be repeatedly disappointed by the same thing. Poor Kevin. And why the f didn’t Ming go back and hold him while he cried after she convinced him. It’s fine. I love the books. I’m going to reread them. Just it’s such a small change and it would have made such a difference.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Huge Golfer
- 01-12-15
Please write about their senior year one day!
Such a great ending. We've all grown up with Russel. It's hard to let him go. What a great character.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dustin89
- 07-19-15
Amazing!!
Amazing story! I hope there will be more! Kevin and Russell deserve happiness, even if it arrived a little too late lol
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Luke Worthington
- 05-22-22
Meh
If I am being really honest, this is my least favorite Russell Middlebrook book. While I was happy to return to the only Russel perspective, this one didn’t have as much punch as the other ones dead. I wasn’t too crazy about Russell falling in love with a homeless kid who ate out of dumpsters and what not.
Also, why can’t Russell be with a good guy like Otto but he lives nearby? All these recent boys tricking him and making him feel bad.
Overall this installment was OK. Hoping the next one is better.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!