Right by My Side

· Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Kevin R. Free and Leon Nixon
Audiobook
6 hr 56 min
Unabridged
Eligible
Ratings and reviews aren’t verified  Learn More
Want a 10 min sample? Listen anytime, even offline. 
Add

About this audiobook

Marshall Field Finney was named after a department store and dropped like a hot potato when his mother suddenly packed up and left.  Now Marshall lives with his hard-drinking father in a crackerbox house and rides a yellow bus through beautiful St. Louis County to his mostly white suburban school.  Caught at a crossroads, Marshall is desperately searching for something to believe in.  At stake is only the rest of his life.

In this extraordinary novel, David Haynes tells the heartrending story of Marshall's journey through a broken world, where his father's new girlfriend, a poem by Yeats and a white teacher with big plans for her favorite students all seem to have the power to change him.  And as Marshall struggles to make sense of his life, the haunting letters begin to arrive from his runaway mother: "We are linked tighter than fine gold chains.  Who knows when we'll next be together--"

A tale of the ties that bind and the ties that fall away, Right by My Side is a cry from the heart, and a masterful novel of love and awakening by one of America's most gifted young writers.



Winner of the ALA's 1994 Best Book for Young Adults Award as well as the Minnesota Voices Project Award, Right by My Side is the heartrending story of 15-year-old Marshall Field Finney. When his mother suddenly takes off to find herself, Marshall is left with his hard-drinking father. Every day, he makes the long journey to his affluent, mostly white suburban high school. Caught at a crossroads, he is searching desperately for something he can hold on to. At stake is the rest of his life.



Just as Marchall begins to find a few signs that give him hope for his futures, he receives a series of haunting letters from his mother, who reminds him that they are "linked tighter than fine gold chains." A heartwarming tale of the ties that bind--and the ones that fall away--Right by My Side is a masterful novel of love and awakening by one of America's most gifted young writers. -->

About the author

David Haynes is the author of seven novels for adults and five books for younger readers. He is an emeritus professor of English at Southern Methodist University, where he directed the creative writing program for ten years. Since 1996 he has taught regularly in the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. Several of his short stories have been read and recorded for the National Public Radio series Selected Shorts. His seventh and most recent novel is A Star in the Face of the Sky. He currently serves as Board Chair of Kimbilio.

Rate this audiobook

Tell us what you think.

Listening information

Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can read books purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.