Let Them Stare [Audiobook]
By (Author) Jonathan Van Ness
HarperCollins
HarperCollins
20th May 2025
Audiobook
United States
Young Adult
Fiction
Childrens / Teenage fiction: Fantasy
Childrens / Teenage personal and social topics: Self-awareness and self-esteem
Childrens / Teenage general interest: Mysteries and the unexplained
CD-Audio
From Emmy Award winner Jonathan Van Ness of Queer Eye and #1 New York Times bestselling author Julie Murphy comes a bighearted story about friendship, love--and discovering the secrets and beauty of your own hometown.
Sully is ready to get out of Hearst, Pennsylvania. With a fashion internship secured, the gender-nonconforming eighteen-year-old is trading in their stifling small town for the big city. Sully even sells their beloved car, to Bread--er, Brad--the most boring (and maybe only other) gay kid in town.
When Sully's internship goes up in smoke, they're trapped in Hearst with no cash--and no car. Desperate, they go to the thrift store, their personal sanctuary. There, they discover a vintage bag--like "put this baby in an airtight case at the MET" vintage. If Sully can authenticate it, the resale value would be enough for a new life in the city.
But when they begin to investigate, Sully finds themself haunted. Literally. With the ghost of Rufus, a drag performer from the fifties with no memory of how he died standing--no, floating--in their bedroom, Sully's summer has a new purpose: 1) help this ghostly honey unlock his past and move on and 2) make bank--after all, the Real Real doesn't take poltergeist purses.
With Rufus in tow, and Brad--who's looking pretty scrumptious these days--playing chauffeur, Sully delves into the history of the town they're so desperate to escape. Only to discover that there might be more to Hearst than they ever knew.
Jonathan Van Ness is an Emmy Award-winning television personality, three-time New York Times bestselling author, podcaster, comedian, celebrity hairstylist, and founder of JVN Hair. He stars on Netflix's Emmy Award-winning reboot series Queer Eye, where he shines as the hair guru and self-care advocate. He hosts the popular podcast "Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness." Julie Murphy is the author of four series of middle grade and young adult books, as well as four stand-alone novels, including Dumplin', now a Netflix original film. You can visit Julie at imjuliemurphy.com.