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An intriguing mixture of a fairy tale world and gritty modern New Jersey finds 11-year-old Augie fighting off bullies and trying to forge a bond with a Big Brother mentor he fears will make his life worse instead of better. The one respite in Augie’s troubled life is a strange book he discovers in a dusty corner of a Philadelphia bookstore, a book whose pages seem to come to life. The folktale "Donkey Skin" becomes the story-within-the-story, and narrator John H. Mayer has the perfect storyteller's voice to pull off the transitions. With pitch-perfect inflection and warmly inviting characterizations, Mayer invites listeners into both stories as they gradually knit together into one tale of standing up for oneself—and others. M.M.C. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2009]