Listen, the middle-grade book and Sourland Mountain Series Book 2

Synopsis: In order to play more music in the future, Gwilym first has to deal with the past. Thirteen-year-old Gwilym Duckworthy’s favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. It’s a day he spends with his family and friends playing football and taking part in a scavenger hunt. He is thankful for his good life. But this year, his mom calls him out of the blue wanting to reconnect with him, forcing Gwilym to deal with the complicated feelings of her leaving his family when he was just three-years-old.

Gwilym has decided he wants to learn how to play the trumpet, and when his mom tells him she’s going to be in town with her jazz band to play two nights at Princeton University, he wonders if she somehow knows about his musical dreams. Gwilym has been asked by her to meet with her alone, giving him an opportunity to find out more about his mom and why she left his family. Why did she only contact Gwilym, and what does she want from him now that so many years have gone by? Listen delves into the issue of parental abandonment and reveals how through music and forgiveness a family can discover they are more alike than they thought.