BRANCHED A Comedy With Consequences

In this high-energy comedy delivered by an ensemble cast, 5-year-old Ben, portrayed with Bart Simpson-like intensity by narrator Joe Arden, is having a bad day. He was maybe a little too "positive and assertive" at school. His father is having an affair with his kindergarten teacher. And his mother has cut him off from breastfeeding. Plus, his baby sister is born with tree branches for arms and legs. Sounding like a crazed 1950s sitcom couple, narrators Lance Greenfield and Erin Mallon go appropriately over the top as Ben's parents desperately try to keep up with current child-rearing practices, parent/teacher conferences, and, of course, Brooklyn's outsized real estate market. Full of surreal observations and cutting social satire, this comic novel is lots of fun. B.P. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2021]