Transfers

by Lucy Thurber

A new play by playwright Lucy Thurber. On Broadway 2018. Might not be published yet.

Focuses on two gifted students from the south bronx competing for a life changing scholarship from an elite university. During a campus visit the two are confronted with their shared past while trying to break through a system that seems determined to keep them on the outside.

Genres: Plays, Fiction, Audiobook, Contemporary

Audiobook

Published September 17, 2020

Reviews

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tranfers by Lucy Thurber is a play that has two college students trying to go to a high end University. They are traveling with a Counselor and we get to know them and their struggles. One is Latino and one is Black. There is limited openings in the school and in different areas. They are not competing against each other. When they get there they have an interview with different counselors and things go a lot differently than planned. Very emotional book.
It was an Audible Original.

[Jay DeMoir · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one really pulled on my heart strings and was SUPER relatable. At the end, numbers count more than experience to colleges. So, I totally could relate to that.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

An odd story that held my interest from the very beginning.

[Monique · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️ 3.5 stars ⭐️

[Krasimir Tsonev · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read more of mystery/crime type of books but I liked this one. If you are gonna like the story or not I guess it depends on the reader but the book itself is written really well. Awesome charters, setup etc. Also the Audible version consist of perfect audio design.

[Ina Mienie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a play about race, opportunity, and higher education. It paints a captivating picture of two young men from the South Bronx as they compete for their one shot to transfer from community college to an elite, ivy-league university in Massachusetts. Clarence, a gay African American bookworm, and Cristofer, a Latino wrestling prodigy, have worked hard to escape personal struggles and cycles of crime and violence plaguing their streets only to face a life-changing opportunity for which neither is prepared. Non-profit do-gooder David, does his best in the few hours he has to prep the boys for their interviews in a crowded motel room the night before, revealing past secrets and scars each carries with him. Lucy Thurber, displays her mastery at plot, dialogue, and character development so that when these young men face their interviews and the admissions committee debates their fate, we get to be in the room knowing who they truly are. The clarity and power of Ms. Thurber’s words are triumphant. Each character is shown to be so much more than who we think they are, constantly challenging us to grapple with their assumptions and question their loyalties. Painful, nerve-wracking, sad, and difficult, “Transfers” is intensely entrancing and relevant.

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

I randomly picked this free Audible story with my Audible membership and it illuminates the volunteer work I am doing right now. It's unfair that some people get a better education, better schools, and more opportunities solely based on their income. It's heartbreaking to see deeply deserving people not get the same chances in life. Listening to Transfers, I was upset that my favorite candidate for the scholarship wasn't chosen, but of course it's it's not fair. The system is broken in some many ways that reward the rich and punish people who work twice as hard.

I'm currently text-banking for Prop16 in CA, and anyone who said #BlackLivesMatter this summer and pledged to be an ally -- this is your chance to take direct action. By voting #YesOnProp16 and reinstating affirmative action, we can provide good jobs, better wages, and access to great schools for all Californians! http://VoteYesOnProp16.org

Proposition 16 is one obvious step we can can take right now. It goes straight to the heart of systemic racism.

[Krista Lukas · Rating 5 out of 5]

*spoilers* Transfers was a perfect, concise story. The characters had profound conversations, which could have been considered contrived, but they worked in the way that musicals work. The characters sing things that they would probably not otherwise say. Transfers centers around two boys competing for a spot at a prestigious university. One is a wrestler, one is a reader and writer. The wrestler is Latino and the reader and writer is African-American. The wrestler ends up getting the spot and the reader/writer does not. This is somewhat surprising because of the way they act toward the beginning of their time in the town. However, as the story goes on, I began to see how the wrestler had something to offer that the reader/writer did not. This seem to me unfair in a way, because the wrestler was not exactly appropriate in his language and demeanor. On the other hand, I saw how he had more than one thing going for him. I identified more with the reader/writer, Who is described as perfectly competent but not exceptional.

[Bill Hooten · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting, but disturbing book. Interesting, because it exposed this white, middle-class, southern, Christian to a life that he is all together unfamiliar with. Growing, by learning, is always good for someone that wants to know more. Disturbing, because their attitudes and languages don't fit my model; but, even more than that, it opened the thought process that their lives being lived out there that I have no connection with (and at my age, probably never will). The story was interesting, with some appropriate twists and turns and unexpected endings -- but the message of the story was the most important.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an interesting "listen". It was told from different perspectives. It is centered around two young men trying to get into an Ivy school on a scholarship. The book highlights the process of the application process through the lens of the inner city young men and the college representatives.
There is more than these men than what is in an essay. It delves into their inner thoughts and how people sometimes just want to be "seen".

[Felicia B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Audible freebie audio play.

Expectations subverted! The characters were deeper than expected in 5 scenes and the voice acting was great. I could visualize each of the characters and believe their motives and backstories. A surprisingly nuanced handful of characters and conversations.

[Hilal Tunçkol · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the conversations about the educational system and the message about equality and preudice given via two ypung man; one Black and one Hispanic, but the story itself didn't speak to me as mıch as I anticipated when I read the blurb.

[Moniqa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I give it a 3.5. Fantastic performances, kind of odd story structure.

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Audible Original. This is actually a play. Well acted, well written. Compassionate presentation of the material.

[Johnnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The characters are real and multilayered. It is hard not to get drawn in.

[Jennifer Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Felt like I was watching a play!! Very well written.

[Sylvie Rochon · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting full cast audiobook about two students from rough pasts vying for scholarships at a prestigious college.

[Angelika Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. It was interesting. Makes you really think about prejudice.

[Chambers Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great characters

[Eleanor Gravestock · Rating 3 out of 5]

The blurb’s praises hold true.

[Thalia Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ⬆️