The Real Education of TJ Crowley
Coming of Age on the Redline
Scriptbook and full-cast audio drama exploring conscience, community, and coming of age in a divided America.
A powerful read + listen experience for classrooms, libraries, book clubs, and community discussion — pairing a professionally produced audio drama with a companion Scriptbook designed to be read alongside the performance.
Winner of the 2025 Audie Award for Best Young Adult Audiobook, The Real Education of TJ Crowley helps readers and listeners engage difficult history through story, dialogue, and shared listening.
Direct Publisher Price: $19.99 (regularly $22.99)
Available exclusively through this site.
Bulk and educational orders available.
At a Glance
Formats
Trade paperback Scriptbook + audiobook companion (Blackstone Audio)
Best for
Secondary classrooms, libraries, book clubs, community groups, and adult learners
Core Themes
Moral courage • Conscience • Empathy • Belonging • The cost of silence
Setting
Wichita, Kansas — Summer 1968
Recognition
Audie Award Winner • IPPY Audiobook of the Year • AudioFile Earphones Award
About the Story
Set in Wichita during the turbulent summer of 1968, the story follows seventh-grader TJ Crowley as he navigates a divided neighborhood, a volatile home life, and a newly integrated school. When a Black family moves in next door, TJ is forced to confront inherited assumptions about race, loyalty, and belonging.
TJ’s journey is not about easy answers or dramatic heroics. It is about noticing contradictions, recognizing the humanity of others, and learning when — and how — to act when silence feels safer than integrity.
The story invites readers and listeners to sit with questions rather than rush to conclusions, making it especially powerful for guided discussion and reflection.
A Read + Listen Experience
This project combines two formats designed to work together:
• Full-Cast Audio Drama
Performed by a cast of 15 actors, with immersive sound design and original gospel music by the ARISE Ensemble. The production has been described by educators as “a movie for the ears.”
• Scriptbook Edition
The complete script as performed, allowing readers to follow dialogue, pacing, and structure while listening — with bonus materials designed for classrooms, discussion groups, and individual readers.
Together, the format supports:
Close reading and attentive listening
Pause-and-discuss moments at key scenes
Engagement across multiple learning styles
Learning Through Story
The Real Education of TJ Crowley portrays moral growth as a lived, uneven process — shaped by pressure, fear, loyalty, and the courage to see others clearly.
The story explores:
How assumptions are inherited — and questioned
What it means to recognize a neighbor as a person, not an idea
The personal cost of choosing integrity over silence
Rather than prescribing lessons, the story opens space for conversation about how moral understanding develops in real communities, under real pressure.
What People Are Saying
Industry & Award Recognition
“Performed by a gifted cast, this slice of our history stays with the listener.”
— AudioFile Magazine (Earphones Award)“The YA Audie winner The Real Education of TJ Crowley will sweep you away to the turbulent times of the Civil Rights Movement… Replete with a full cast and exceptional sound design.”
— Audible“Fast-paced, suspenseful, important, and revelatory.”
— Barnes & NobleEducators & Classroom Impact
“TJ Crowley led my students to ask mature, challenging questions about their own communities and moral choices. One of the best classroom experiences in my 17 years of teaching.”
— Amanda Harcus, Horace Mann Dual Language Magnet“This is a book that demands discussion.”
— Marguerite Penick-Parks, Ph.D., co-editor of Everyday White People“An invaluable classroom resource.”
— Jenna Chandler-Ward, Teaching While White
Where It’s Being Used
Classrooms & Schools
For teaching history, moral complexity, and ethical decision-making across English, social studies, and humanities courses.
Libraries & Book Clubs
For readers who want to engage difficult questions together. Discussion guides available.
Community & Civic Programs
For shared listening experiences centered on empathy, dialogue, and belonging.
Adult Education & Lifelong Learning
For readers who prefer narrative over abstraction when engaging social and moral questions.
Advisory Note
Contains historically accurate racially offensive language and depictions of racial injustice. Recommended for mature teens and adults in guided or facilitated settings.
Ordering Information
Direct Publisher Price: $19.99 (regularly $22.99)
Available through this page only.
Bulk orders, classroom sets, and volume pricing are available.
Educator discussion guides included with group orders.
About the Publisher
Grain Valley Publishing is an independent press committed to stories that foster empathy, historical understanding, and thoughtful dialogue. Through The Real Education Project, we support listening-centered education in schools, libraries, and community settings.
