The Boys Upstairs

By: Jane Lebak

Narrated by: Ryan Prizio

Jay Farrell, a crippled priest, has begun housing homeless boys in his rectory. Once a street kid himself, he was riding the rocket-train to a lifetime in prison until the day he drove over a land mine in Iraq. Today he works at an inner-city parish, running a soup kitchen and struggling to manage an impoverished church.

With temperatures below zero and falling a few nights before Christmas, Jay's estranged brother, Kevin, dumps three more children on his front porch. Kevin, a cop who can't believe in God after all the evil he's seen, hasn't spoken to Jay in years, but he knows Jay will at least give the kids a place to stay. It isn't over yet, though. As they work together to meet the children's needs, they must confront the long-buried emotions that have divided them so long.

The Boys Upstairs examines the real gift of the holiday season and how hope can transform the ones society condemns as not worth saving.

©2010 Jane Lebak (P)2014 Jane Lebak

Second chance

What made the experience of listening to The Boys Upstairs the most enjoyable?

This is more of a Christmas Story

What did you like best about this story?

It's a story of love and caring for the less fortunate kids, forgiveness and accepting that God has a plan for everyone and realizing that we are given a second chance and accepting this blessing

What about Ryan Prizio’s performance did you like?

He did a good job but there is always room for improvement. It was a little bit hard to distinguish whose dialogue he is reading.

A tale of unwanted kids or a tale of 2 brothers?

The physically disastered brother is an agnostic soldier turned effective priest. The other brother is a cop who resents the possibility of a real god and has a partner who has seen God's workings. Between these camps is an impoverished parish and the throwaway kids whose lives are well worth saving from the streets, including the sudden addition of 3 little ones who keep escaping the system so that they can stay together. Real people. Real needs. Real hope for each. A tale well written and well worth your time.
Ryan P does a fine job of audio interpretation of the author's work, and has a good voice for this work.