Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Defining Dulcie
    Defining Dulcie
    Defining Dulcie
    Audiobook3 hours

    Defining Dulcie

    Written by Paul Acampora

    Narrated by Jennifer Ikeda

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Paul Acampora makes his exciting debut in young adult fiction with this poignant tale of a girl coping with the recent death of her father. When her mother moves the family to California, Dulcie decides to drive her father's pickup truck back to Connecticut on her own. "An affecting, engaging family story, uniquely told ..." -Booklist, starred review
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJun 6, 2008
    ISBN9781436142014
    Defining Dulcie
    Author

    Paul Acampora

    Paul Acampora is an avid reader, an enthusiastic dad, and a ferocious fan of being human. His first novel Defining Dulcie received starred review from Publisher's Weekly, School Library Journal and Booklist, and was a School Library Journal Best Books of 2006 and a VOYA Top Ten. Paul lives in Allentown, PA with his wife and two kids.

    Related to Defining Dulcie

    Related audiobooks

    Children's Family For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Shanda

      Jan 1, 2024

      Shanda
      13 min read

    • Article

      Bloodlines and Bitter Syrup

      Sep 1, 2020

      Bloodlines and Bitter Syrup
      18 min read

    • Article

      Counter Waves

      Oct 23, 2020

      Counter Waves
      8 min read

    • Article

      Little House

      Jun 5, 2023

      On Monday nights our mother made popcorn and served it to us in mugs with milk poured over. My younger sister and I carried our mugs into the family room and ate the popcorn with spoons, like cereal. We were five and seven. Until we were allowed to s

      21 min read

    • Article

      The Problem with My Dachshund

      Dec 11, 2019

      The Problem with My Dachshund
      10 min read

    • Article

      My First Pet

      Feb 2, 2020

      My First Pet
      9 min read

    • Article

      Blood Oranges

      Jul 24, 2019

      Blood Oranges
      10 min read

    • Article

      ‘Toni, It’s Mum. There’s Been An Accident’

      Oct 13, 2021

      Edited extract from Lost & Found: My story of heartbreak and hope by Toni Street with Sophie Neville Like many teenage boys, Stephen loved sport and he loved hanging out with his mates. But he was happiest out on the farm with Dad. They were a tight

      11 min read

    • Article

      What’s In A Name?

      Dec 22, 2021

      What’s In A Name?
      9 min read

    • Article

      Love & Care

      Nov 26, 2019

      Love & Care
      6 min read

    • Article

      Death On The Limpopo

      Sep 16, 2019

      Death On The Limpopo
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Amazing Ranchero Slide

      Aug 26, 2019

      The Amazing Ranchero Slide
      5 min read

    • Article

      Heave’s Whisky

      Feb 27, 2024

      Heave’s Whisky
      7 min read

    • Article

      Survival Mode

      Jan 12, 2022

      Survival Mode
      4 min read

    • Article

      Guests

      Jun 15, 2019

      The month after our mother died, our father began bringing women home. It felt like a behind-her-back kind of operation. “I’m going to have a guest over tonight,” is what he would say. David and I stayed out in the living room, turned up cartoons, bu

      11 min read

    • Article

      A Last Look Around

      Dec 4, 2020

      A Last Look Around
      5 min read

    • Article

      My Dad Sold Fords

      May 1, 2023

      My Dad Sold Fords
      6 min read

    • Article

      Three Poems

      Jul 1, 2022

      one morning on her way the wife felt somethingnipping at her ankle. She bent to the dirt paththrough the dry grass between her husband’shouse and the city where she once lived. Andthere it was, a little fault, all alone and nippy.Whose fault are you,

      5 min read

    • Article

      Parent Opinions

      Mar 3, 2022

      Parent Opinions
      8 min read

    • Article

      Who Was My Mother?

      Sep 12, 2019

      Who Was My Mother?
      7 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Defining Dulcie

    3.5/5

    43 ratings6 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      I enjoyed this little book. It was a quick, sweet read. The ending wasn't what I was wanting, but overall I liked the book. What I love about Paul Acampora are the little bits of wisdom he puts all over the place in his books. Here was one of my favorites: "For the first time since Dad died, I felt a bright stab of unexpected happiness. Maybe it was the laughter. Maybe it was the fact that I was worried about somebody other than myself for a change." I love that! When my kids left home to go to college and they would call and be sad or depressed or homesick, I would tell them to go out and find someone to serve. That always takes you out of yourself and helps you to see your own problems with another perspective. I love how this author puts little tidbits like that in his books, and I hope that the kids who read these books pick up on some of those things. So even though I didn't love this book quite like I loved I Kill the Mockingbird , I definitely recommend it as a good story with a good moral.
    • 3/5
      This book was very fast paced... I was surprised how fast I plowed through it. It's about a teen girl whose beloved father dies in a janitorial accident. Her mother moves them from Connecticut to California to escape but Dulcie needs to be home because that's where she feels she belongs. She takes her dad's truck and escapes back to the east coast. For a book that has a truck on the front cover and a back description about a girl running away, the actual running away part only took one chapter!!! The rest of the book either takes place before or after her road trip (mostly after) and the majority of the book is about a friend she meets while on summer vacation. A friend who has a secret that she is dying to tell someone.
    • 4/5
      An adolescent girl loses her father in a freak janitorial accident. Because of their loss, Duclie's mom moves them across the US to California. Dulcie runs away, back to Connecticut where she started, and lives with her grandather. While she's there she meets a strange and wonderful new friend, Roxanne, who helps her learn about who she really is.
    • 4/5
      I give Kudos to Acampora for writing this book. I think that he did a very good job of depicting the feelings of a teenage girl that is distressed with the death of her father. Not all normal authors can do that. The book was not painful.It flew by kind of fast though in the sense of i picked it up and turned one page and then it was over. It was really nice to read though.It's not everyone's cup of tea but it's still a really good book. those that don't like to read things about people being depicted to the T then you won't like this book.
    • 4/5
      Sixteen-year-old Dulcie has a lot to deal with when her father dies in a bizarre work-related accident and her mother decides that they should move from their CT home to CA. Dulcie decides it's time she takes her life into her own hands and steals her father's '68 Chevy truck and returns back home to her grandfather. This is a refreshly touching story told with humor, imagery and symbolism. All high school students would enjoy this one!
    • 4/5
      When Dulcie's Father accidentally kills himself, it's a bit of a shock. When her mother decides to move them off to California, it's more than Dulcie is prepared to take. When she finds out her mother intends to get rid of her father's truck, she officially draws the line: she takes it and drives herself back to Connecticut.Upon arrival, she meets not her grandfather, as expected, but a girl she's never seen before standing in the flowers. Roxanne, who now works for Dulcie's grandfather, knows exactly who Dulcie is, and that her grandfather has been expecting her.The welcome isn't as warm as she had hoped. Turns out taking off and going cross-country as a teen worries your elders. But Frank does agree to let her stay. She even gets her old job back, though as punishment she will receive no pay for the summer. She also has to call her mother. This stipulation is easier to get around: she knows when her mother is going to be at work, and always makes sure to call when she won't be there.Back at work as a janitor, Dulcie makes fast friends with Roxanne, whom Frank has somewhat adopted, as it seems she's not necessarily well taken care of at home. The night Dulcie drops by with her to get fresh clothes on their way to dinner with Dulcie's suprise-visiting mother, Dulcie finds out just how bad Roxanne's home life is. This harsh glimpse at events causes a flurry of actions on multiple fronts, which almost lead to disaster.In the end, Dulcie, who's always known who she is, gains a greater understanding of relationships, friendships, love, and home. Roxanne, who's never had it great, adopts Dulcie's family. While perhaps no one's ended up quite where they expected, they all know they've found their place.An excellent book, worth reading again (and again).