Audiobook6 hours
Niagara Motel
Written by Ashley Little
Narrated by Tom Picasso
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
About this audiobook
Set in the early 1990s, Ashley Little's follow-up to her award-winning novel Anatomy of a Girl Gang introduces readers to eleven-year-old Tucker Malone-the only child of a narcoleptic touring stripper-who believes his father is Sam Malone, the Boston barkeep who regularly appears on Tucker's TV screen. He and his mother move from motel to motel until, one night in Niagara Falls, his mother is hit by a car after falling asleep in the street. Tucker is sent to live in a youth group home where he meets Meredith, a pregnant sixteen-year-old with hopes of her own; he convinces her to join him on a road trip across the border to America in order to find his father, which takes them from Boston to the west coast. Along the way they encounter some of the most notorious criminals of the 1990s, and arrive in Los Angeles just as the Rodney King riots are unfolding. His cross-country search becomes an epic depiction of mid-90s America at a crossroads as seen through the eyes of a boy, for whom finding his father is the one thing that will make him whole. Told in spare, straightforward prose, Niagara Motel is a biting chronicle during the rise of mass-media in the decade that defined the MTV Generation, and the bittersweet story of a young boy who must learn hard lessons on his way to becoming a man. Ashley Little is the author of Anatomy of a Girl Gang, winner of the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and longlisted for the Dublin IMPAC Literary Award.
Related to Niagara Motel
Related audiobooks
A Promise Kept: The Muscogee (Creek) Nation and McGirt v. Oklahoma Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSummary, Analysis, and Review of Kathryn Miles' Quakeland Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Copper Princess Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrederic Remington and Charles Marion Russell: The Life and Legacy of the America’s Most Iconic Western Artists Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTales of the Enchanted Islands of the Atlantic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSuppressed: Confessions of a Former New York Times Washington Correspondent Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn Exile and Other Stories Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Stage Robbery: Marshal Spur and the Outlaw Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Brown Bullet: Rajo Jack's Drive to Integrate Auto Racing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGidget: Origins of a Teen Girl Transmedia Franchise Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSmogtown: The Lung-Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chrysalis: Maria Sibylla Merian and the Secrets of Metamorphosis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBetween Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Florida Sketch-Book Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRedneck Riviera Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I Was A Playboy Rabbit and Other Adventures Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cherokee Civil Warrior: Chief John Ross and the Struggle for Tribal Sovereignty Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDon't Need The Whole Dog! Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Confessions of a Shanty Irishman Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMovies and Hollywood Short Story Collection, Volume 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSnow: A History of the World's Most Fascinating Flake Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDaniel Webb: Hoes Parade at the Rose Bowl Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsComing to the Stage: Season 4 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5No Thoroughfare Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFlatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFlight of the Reindeer: The True Story of Santa Claus and His Christmas Mission Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jermaine Fowler: Give 'Em Hell, Kid Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe California People: Native People, Native Lands Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Fish Has No Word For Water: A punk homeless San Francisco memoir Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Literary Fiction For You
Demon Copperhead: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Poisonwood Bible Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: A Hunger Games Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Remarkably Bright Creatures: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alchemist Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stardust Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tom Lake: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bell Jar Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hunger Games Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Leave the World Behind: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Covenant of Water Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Parable of the Sower Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Measure: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Yellowface: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Man Called Ove: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Picture of Dorian Gray: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Name of the Wind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Road Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The House in the Cerulean Sea Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Dutch House: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Song of Achilles: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flowers for Algernon Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Kindred Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Future Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Niagara Motel
Rating: 4.249999875 out of 5 stars
4/5
8 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Niagara Motel by Ashley Little is a quirky, sometimes heartbreaking, but strangely charming story of an eleven-year-old boy set in1992. It's highly recommended.Tucker Malone, 11, is the only child of Gina, an unreliable narcoleptic mother whose occupation is stripper and, occasionally, escort. For his whole life, the pair has been moving constantly from one place to another in Canada. After making their way to Niagara Falls, they stay at the run-down Niagara Motel. Gina is sure this will be her big break - until she falls asleep in the street and is hit by a car. Tucker manages to find her at the hospital, but, due to Gina's long recovery for her injuries, he is put into Bright Light, a group home for teens - the only place that has room for him.There he meets Meredith, a pregnant 16 year-old. The two decide to secretly go on a road trip to Boston to find Tucker's father. Tucker believes that Sam Malone, the bar tender on Cheers, is his father; obviously, this is not true. Then, after the car they "borrowed" breaks down, the two decide to hitchhike to California to meet Ted Danson, the actor who plays Sam Malone. Their travels put them in contact with a motley group of people, many of whom you'd recognize as infamous during this time period. They arrive in Los Angeles just as the Rodney King riots are unfolding.The story is written through Tucker's point-of-view in a straightforward, matter-of-fact manner that is indicative of a preteen boy. Tucker is a great character, positive, and accepting, despite the struggles he has encountered in his life. His inner strength is resolute. His cherished possessions are in a shoe box. He and his mom travel light. His beloved little plastic dog broke my heart (I teared up just typing this). The ending is a bit unbelievable, but so is his road trip in general, so I just rolled with it.There is something in this novel that just appealed to me. It is well-written, well-paced and compelling. I like Tucker. Little had me caring about Tucker and wishing the best for him. The people he meets on his trip are a bizarre assortment of characters that you should recognize, many for their future evil deeds. Tucker's firm belief that he can find his father is touching. The end of the book, during the riots, is horrifically violent.Disclosure: My advanced reading copy was courtesy of the publisher/author.