A WORK IN PROGRESS: An Audible Best Book of 2023!

It’s getting toward the end of the calendar year (hard to believe, I know!), and at the end of the year, all the Best Of lists begin to come out. And just a couple weeks ago, A Work in Progress appeared on a pretty big one.

That’s right: the book was chosen as an Audible Best Book of 2023! Of course, I share this honor with the hugely talented Eric Yang, the narrator of the audio version of A Work in Progress, who delivered a gut-wrenching (but ultimately hopeful and uplifting) reading of my words.

At the beginning of this year, several months before A Work in Progress published, Eric was on a list of narrator candidates that my publisher sent me. I listened to samples of everyone’s previous work — and Eric quickly emerged as a frontrunner. When I sent him a handful of poems to read from the book, we got back a five-minute audio file. But I knew after just five seconds that Eric was it. I opened up my email as I continued listening to Eric’s reading, and well before the five-minute mark, I’d fired off a note asking my publisher to please offer Eric the job. And Eric — he did not disappoint. His performance is absolutely incredible, and I am so, so pleased that he has received this recognition as well.

Here’s what an Audible editor said about the book — and Eric’s performance — on their Best Of list:

When I saw an anti-fatphobic audiobook aimed at middle-grade boys, I was thrilled! When I downloaded and listened to it, I was gobsmacked. Jarrett Lerner lays bare the embarrassment and shame a kid feels realizing that others’ views of him affect how he views himself. Because the protagonist is looking back from a safe, adult perspective, the story is appropriate for young readers, and the influence of a character who positively shifts Will’s self-image triumphs in the end. It’s Will’s pain, however, narrated by Eric Yang, that makes this story—and the redemptive arc—exceptionally satisfying for any listener.

Thank you to Audible for their kind words and for honoring A Work in Progress in this way. Thank you to Eric Yang for all of the work he put in to crush his reading like he did. And thank you to my wonderful, brilliant team at Simon & Schuster, for doing countless big and small things to help make my work shine.

Click HERE to check out more of Audible’s Best Of picks, and whether or not you’ve read A Work in Progress yet, I encourage you to go and take a listen to Eric’s reading the book. He’ll knock your socks off.

~ Jarrett