The Real Education of TJ Crowley

Coming of Age on the Redline: An Audio Drama

De: Grant Overstake, May Wuthrich

Narrado por: Dani Martineck, Dion Graham, Tavia Gilbert, Johnny Heller, Kevin R. Free, Nicole Small, Michael Crouch, Kirby Heyborne, Ari Fliakos, Graham Halstead, Thérèse Plummer, Brittany Pressley, Peter Berkrot, John Wright, Sheila Brown Kinnard

2025 Audie Award Winner - Best Young Adult Audiobook

AudioFile Earphones Award | IPPY Award

Wichita, summer 1968. The city’s redline still runs down the middle of TJ Crowley’s street. His father is gone. His brother is in Vietnam. His mother is unraveling. Then the Washingtons—a Black family with a daughter his age—move in next door.

TJ is thirteen, with a temper he can’t control and a man from his mother’s past who orders him to help build the fence between the two yards. “Stay away from them or you’re grounded for life,” his mother warns.

Then gospel music drifts through the fence. TJ has a choice to make.

A full-cast audio drama in three acts. Fifteen actors. Twenty-four roles. Original gospel music performed by the ARISE Ensemble. Co-produced by Audie Award-winning narrators Dion Graham and Tavia Gilbert.

“Performed by a gifted cast, this slice of our history stays with the listener.” —AudioFile Magazine

“Easy to see why this one was the winner.” —Audible

ADVISORY: Contains racist language and depictions of racial violence appropriate to its 1968 setting. Best suited for mature YA readers and adults.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Will sweep you away to the turbulent times of the Civil Rights Movement…replete with a full cast and exceptional sound design.”

“The narrators of this fraught coming-of-age story are excellent…The gospel music of the Arise Ensemble enhances the listening experience. The audio drama has moments of remarkable verisimilitude: from the play-by-play announcing of a basketball game to the whirring of a helicopter in Vietnam. Performed by a gifted cast, this slice of our history stays with the listener. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”

“Puts the themes of To Kill a Mockingbird into overdrive…Unfinching…A novel for our times.”

“A deftly-crafted, thought-provoking, and solid work of YA historical fiction. Unreservedly recommended for both school and community library YA fiction collections.”

“Historical fiction at its finest.”

“The casting is perfect and the audio elements like music, choir, and sound effects give the story an authentic boost…[that] reminded me of old radio drama series but even better.”

“The excellent, fearless performances, especially Dani Martineck as TJ, Johnny Heller as Uncle Ray, and Dion Graham as Dr. Washington…vividly bring the grim truths of America’s legacy of racial oppression to life, but the light of kindness and hope is always shining in this moving story of change.”

“One of the most popular books in my classroom library. The questions it raises about race, class, and family resonate with young women and men encountering a world with injustice and conflict.”

“Brought to life by a series of finely drawn characters, the book offers readers, particularly teens, a chance to think about some of the most important issues facing our society today.”

“The perfect book to spur frank discussions about whiteness with teens and young adults, offering insights into the fear and hate of white supremacy and a model of how a white person can change and challenge what they think they know about race. This book will provoke meaningful discussions in the classroom.”

“Set in an explosive moment in America’s racial history, this coming-of-age story prompted me to consider my own moral courage. What choices would I have made if I were in TJ’s shoes? I was on the edge of my seat, turning the pages and rooting for TJ as he navigated his young life with increasing clarity.”

This production handled a sensitive topic with brilliance

Once I started listening to this audio drama, I could not stop. I wore my headphones at all hours of the day, even listening late into the night. The casting was perfect and the audio elements like music, choir, and sound effects gave the story an authentic boost. I loved it!

Perfectly cast!

This touching coming of age story, taps every emotion of the human experience! Well written and exceptionally directed, TJ Crowley gives the audience a bird’s eye view of race relations in small town America in the 1960’s. Dani Martineck embodied TJ with an incredible balance of vulnerability and pre adolescent conviction. From the phenomenal performances of the all-star cast to the soulful music, this production deserves all the praise and accolades coming its way!

Potential for Drama Series

Don't skip the Introduction! It gave important context to the events of this time period (and beyond) and let me know that the characters were inspired by real people from the historical novel that Overstake wrote, and the production script is adapted from.

This suspenseful, fast-paced story about two families broken by very different personal losses, and performed as an audio drama, was one of the richest, and most engaging listening experiences I've had in a while. Fifteen amazing actors, well-chosen sound effects, and haunting gospel music complimented and amplified a complex and compelling story.

The diverse cast of characters captivated me. Each of them, beginning with TJ and Ivy, his new Black classmate and neighbor, face difficult choices in circumstances beyond their control. As disturbing as the story can be, I had to keep listening. How would TJ and others meet the challenges in front of them? Would TJ be redeemed? How far would the violence go? The surprise ending is a cliff hanger and could be an exciting set up for continuing the story. Is this the first of a drama series to come? I hope so! -- Marlaina Deppe

Great Production on a Serious Topic

I thoroughly enjoyed "The Real Education of TJ Crowley." It was a wonderful listen. Although not the target audience, I found it very compelling and that it dealt honestly with the serious race issues we still have in this country.

Raw and Persuasive

This superbly produced audio-theater adaptation of THE REAL EDUCATION OF TJ CROWLEY makes an important contribution to contemporary narratives about race in American life and echoes concerns we hold for how to raise boys in a violent world.


Featuring a gifted cast of diverse actors, several of which I’ll name below, and led by the extraordinary Dani Marrteneck as the sensitive, volatile TJ, the story is set during the tumult of the late 60s.

Violence exists everywhere for TJ: in the alcohol fueled bigotry of his disturbed mother (Tavia Gilbert) and her new partner, a member of the KKK out for revenge (Johnny Heller); in the war in Vietnam where TJ’s brother Ronnie (Michael Crouch) serves in the infantry; and at his newly integrated middle school where well-meaning attempts to facilitate understanding fail to address the extent of simmering tensions in the classroom. When conflict inevitably erupts between students, adults turn to corporal punishment to bring them into line. Fortunately, the sports program, led by Coach Gordon (Graham Halstead) offers a surer path to cooperation, as the ambition to excel and succeed on the playing field helps mold students of all kinds into a team.

There is incident aplenty in THE REAL EDUCATION OF TJ CROWLEY, but ultimately TJ's halting efforts to rein in his own propensity for violence propel the story forward. When a loving black family (Dion Graham as Dr. Washington, Shayna Small as his daughter, and Sheila Brown Kinnard as his wife) move into the house next door, TJ establishes a moral compass as he slowly figures out whether they are friend or foe.

What brings all these narrative threads to life, and situates them within a particular historical era is the soundscape created by a talented production team. The sounds of the 60s -- radio broadcasts, police sirens, gospel music by the Arise Ensemble -- all lend further depth to the wonderful performances of the actors. Although a satisfying ending in many respects, I continue to ask myself, what next for TJ Crowley.
Mary Ann Frank