Making Faces by Amy Harmon

Amy       

fiction

Everyone in town is surprised when Ambrose, the handsome star wrestler, decides to join the Army instead of taking advantage of wrestling scholarships. He and four friends go to Iraq but only Ambrose comes home--with physical and mental scars.  Meanwhile, Fern has had a crush on him forever and is not bothered by his altered face and, with the help of her cousin/best friend, tries to get past his barriers.

What a wonderful story! I adored the characters and their interactions in Making Faces. The skeleton of this story was exactly what I expected it to be.  But the muscles and sinews Amy Harmon attached to the skeleton were so impactful and touching. Harmon masterfully illustrated ways that people might deal with tough situations—single parenting, abandonment, teenage struggles, muscular dystrophy, athletic performance pressure, military life, death, disfigurement, and physical abuse.  I thought the story was heartwarming and sincere and looked forward to every moment I could spend time with these characters. The pacing was perfect.

I read this novel because I really liked another novel by this author (What the Wind Knows) and wanted to try another one. This was completely different! I’m going to read more of her novels!

The audiobook was extremely well narrated by Rob Shapiro. His voice repertoire wasn’t huge but his voice acting was some of the best I’ve heard and didn’t require a bunch of different voices.  I’m giving him an A+ for so compassionately bringing this story to life.