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Turning 16  By  cover art

Turning 16

By: Perie Wolford, Michelle Doering
Narrated by: Michael Pauley
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Publisher's summary

Sam never liked his birthdays because not a single one of them was happy... When he turned 1, he fell face-down into his birthday cake; when he turned 5, he broke his left arm and when he turned 7, he broke his right arm and his left leg; when he turned 12, his house caught fire. Now Sam is about to turn 16 and he is dreading the day. The only birthday wish he has is for Jake who is the Mr. Popular of Arcadia High to even acknowledge his existence, or better yet give him a happy-birthday kiss. But Sam knows that it’s not gonna happen. Or is it?

©2014 Perie Wolford (P)2014 Perie Wolford

What listeners say about Turning 16

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Love this...

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes because mainly this shows how much my high school love had found me and something like this has happened to my friend but not his birthday curse.

What did you like best about this story?

That Sam and Mitch ended up together.

What does Michael Pauley bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

That The unexpected happened by getting a birthday kiss from Jake and getting something better from Mitch

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes I Did Laugh and cry because i am away and miss my love

Any additional comments?

write more like this or something similar to this because i cant enough of this.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

This is a fun story and a great audio performance.

Turning 16 is the first book I've read by Perie Wolford; I was given a free Audible code for the story (I already owned the ebook) but no review was required. I really like books performed by Michael Pauley and I also enjoy a good New Adult/Young Adult story once in a while so I was happy to get to listen to this one.

Read the Publisher's Summary – it gives you the nitty-gritty; I'll tell you how much I liked it and why. It's a Michael Pauley performance so what's not to like? It's a really fun story and Michael did such a great job of capturing and expressing Sam's teenage angsty goodness. The story isn't angsty in the same way that books about more mature characters are but it sure brought back memories of high school drama and feelings. While I found the story be fun and kind of lighthearted, I'm sure that some of the things Sam struggled with were very real for a lot of kids.

Perie Wolford wrote a great story and Michael Pauley really brought it to life for me. There are more books in this series and I'm looking forward to reading and/or listening to them.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable

This is a cute story and there’s some pretty good writing done by the cowriters Perie Wolford and Michelle Doering.

What I appreciated about the story is that it was simple. There was an appropriate amount of situational angst, but no existential crisis used by the writers to power the narrative. It’s basically a story about a kid trying to find the appropriate and worthy focus of his growing emotional and physical needs.

I also appreciated that this was not a story involving a villain or a bad guy or girl brought in to add narrative tension. Because of the rather simple narrative and the limited amount of prose, there was little in the way of those typically tiresome male/male romance tropes. The main character was written in a very believable way. It was enjoyable to experience his world through his point of view.

As far as the things that I wish were better: Why do so many writers in this genre seem to have forgotten how public schools and their sports teams work? I can’t even list the number of sentences that, once read out to me, took me out of the story because the action being described was so improbable in the world that this book wants to inhabit. Dear Lord, is it that hard to write just another paragraph or two and get the process believable?

The other issue that cause me to roll my eyes a few times was some deus ex machina setups that allowed important plot points to occur as if out of the blue. Again, it’s just a matter of spending a little bit of time to lay the groundwork to make these things happen in a way that doesn’t cause foreheads to be slapped. At the end, the narrator specifically mentions the editor, Michelle Doering, was she on Ambien?

I got this 3-hour story as part of the Romance Package, so I’m not going to be overly picky about some of the literary achievements of this book. For what it was, it was an entertaining and largely satisfying listen while doing housework.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Super Cute!

Cute, sweet, hilariously funny short with a ton of heart. Beautifully narrated. Loved this, highly recommend!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

So Funny & Michael Pauley is Just Perfect!

So very, very funny. This series is my favorite Perie Wolford, he so gets the teen-scene of that time period. Just marvelous.

The audio is performed beautifully by Michael Pauley. His fans are definitely going to want to check this one out as he's seen quite a bit of growth as a narrator in the past five years. Bonus: he actually sings two songs!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Just as good the second time

I read the book a couple of years ago. This time I got to enjoy Michael Pauley bring the characters to life. How is this story not movie already!
Poor Sam. Just wants an uneventful birthday. Maybe next year...

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
Listener received this title free

"Happy birthday" curse or blessing

Sometimes events in life are bewildering to kids trying to become adults. Sometimes the adults are confused, too. But young love and hormones mix life up in ways no one can figure out until the end of the book, or in this case the audiobook. You might think you know what to expect.
High school can change lives in amazing ways. You just have to open your eyes and heart.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

I didn’t enjoy it

Not sure what was worse the story or the narration. All the character’s voices sounded the same. It was hard to follow who says what. Very disappointed here.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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A sweet coming of age

A realistic sweet and funny read! Sam has no luck on his birthdays and this year is set to be no different. A funny must read!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Sam and Mitch 1985

Absolutely fantastic! Lots of 80's references that made me smile. I laughed out loud throughout the story. Sam has to navigate friendships and runaway hormones while trying to figure out how to connect with his crush Jake. Mitch steps into the picture and things begin to go sideways. I loved the very John Hughes ending.

Audiobook: I loved Michael Pauley's reading. He consistently sounded like a 16-year-old boy from 1985 with perfect inflections on the vernacular of the era.

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