Christmas on Mill Street: A Novel
By: Joseph Walker / Narrated By: Joe Barrett
Length: 3 hrs and 18 mins
What’s this? Yet ANOTHER wonderful audiobook for my Christmas-HUZZAHs?!?
This sounds like an old geezer (kiiiiinda) telling us all a story about a very special Christmas way back in the day. Actually, that day would be the year of 1962, and it starts with the Walker family newly moved from Arizona to Utah. Young Joe Walker is pretty big for his age, gangly, a tad pudgy, and he’s desperately trying to fit in with the other kids in the neighborhood. Which is pretty tough as these guys have spent their entire lives playing with each other, going to school together, spending holidays together.
Which is why, during Halloween trick-or-treating, Joe (Who’s Mom would NOT let him go as Fidel Castro!) is anxious to prove his mettle. To the point where he suddenly finds himself declaring that, come Christmas, he WILL get a Flexible Flyer sled, and he WILL use said sled to navigate Mill Street all the way to the bottom, going as far as he can, as fast as he can. The other boys jeer at him, tell him of the many wipeouts, and then? Joe KNOWS they’ll hold him to his word, and he KNOWS he’s spoken just a taaaaad rashly.
The story then goes on to cover just how life is within the Walker family, and it’s awesome. It’s filled with cringeworthy Thanksgivings (Why are we inviting the creepy old lady who yells at everyone in Church to dinner? Doesn’t she eat children?) and with doing EVERYthing in one’s power to get on Santa’s Nice List (Which is terrrrrribly hard when you’ve already got two strikes and are DESperately trying not to get that third one… until you do). Soon Joe is trying to do Nice things to counterbalance all those Naughty X’s, but soon he’s just so danged tickled that Christmas is coming that we, the listeners, are plain and simply delighted for him.
This family, that has a gazillion and six kids, is used to making do and handing things down. So when Joe sees the rusty old sled that Dad’s “fixed” (And Dad should NEVER be allowed to fix things!), he’s pretty downcast. But then his brother, on a hiLARious Christmas Eve dare, has him shouted at… AND dreaming of what his Christmas present might be.
On and on it goes in a heartfelt manner with narrator Joe Barrett doing an absolutely fanTAStic job. I do so love that man as he’s done one of my favorite Vietnam POW nonfiction books. I’d heard him stumble in an Anne Tyler (No longer available in any audiobook vendors? Whaaa?!?), so I’ve been kinda wary of him doing fiction, but he was sooooo much fun here with his portrayal of an earnest, easily freaked out kid, who kinda sorta just blurbs out the most damning nonsense, stuff that’ll get him in so much trouble. And he does NOT wanna get in trouble, does NOT wanna accidentally cause himself devastating and deadly injuries. Bravo, Mr. Barrett!
This was SUCH a pleasure of a story, and it comes with itty bitty lessons about feeling outcast, about maybe judging others too quickly, about maybe thinking before speaking.
And at just over 3 hours? Oh goodness, you mightn’t be able to make Pandemic Sourdough Bread, but you sure as heck can make Christmas cookies!
Mmm… Cookies and Laughter. Just what 2020 needs!
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.