The Carnival at Bray

By: Jessie Ann Foley

Narrated by: Erin Moon

It's 1993, and Generation X pulses to the beat of Kurt Cobain and the grunge movement. Sixteen-year-old Maggie Lynch is uprooted from big-city Chicago to a windswept town on the Irish Sea. Surviving on care packages of Spin magazine and Twizzlers from her rocker uncle Kevin, she wonders if she'll ever find her place in this new world.

When first love and sudden death simultaneously strike, a naive but determined Maggie embarks on a forbidden pilgrimage that will take her to a seedy part of Dublin and on to a life-altering night in Rome to fulfill a dying wish. Through it all Maggie discovers an untapped inner strength to do the most difficult but rewarding thing of all: live. The Carnival at Bray is an evocative ode to the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" generation and a heartfelt exploration of tragedy, first love, and the transformative power of music. The book won the 2014 Helen Sheehan YA Book Prize.

©2014 Jessie Ann Foley (P)2015 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

• Printz Honor Book, 2015

loved the book, but the Nirvana concert didn't actually happen?

I loved the lyrical descriptions of Bray and all the emotions of 16 and 17 year olds...taking me WAY back to my own teenage years. Music was as important to me as it was to Maggie (still is) and the transformative nature of it was depicted perfectly. My only complaint is that the Nivana show described didn't actually happen, Nirvana didn't play a live show in Rome, they played in Milan. A minor point, but it did jar a bit. Loved it all anyway.

Good story; Great performance!

The story held my attention- strong characters, excellent sense of place, and realistic plot. I enjoyed it. But I was really impressed by the narrator. She bounced between American and Irish accents and also sang beautifully at several points in the story. Well done!

Mesmerizing

This book is amazing! I listen in entirety within two days. I’m 43 and it brought back the feelings of being a teenager with family and school issues in the 90s. I felt sadness, anxiety, shame, and love in ways only a teen can while listening. It is very well written and read. I have listened to over 400 books since 2012. This is by far my favorite.