They’ll Never Catch Us

Gr 9 Up–Stella and Ellie are sisters who are only 14 months apart. They share a gift and a love for cross-country running. However, their very different personalities reveal a host of secrets that divide them as well. High school junior Stella lost her college scholarship offer from Georgetown and gained a reputation for resorting to anything, including violence, to win. Though high school sophomore Ellie is attracting the attention of college scouts, she’s preoccupied with the consequences of a summer love affair with a fellow runner. When a talented new girl threatens the sisters’ dominance on the team, they befriend her in different ways, but when she goes missing, Stella and Ellie are suspects in her disappearance. Three well-characterized narrators bring the compelling audiobook to life in first-person narratives: Jesse Vilinsky as Stella, Phoebe Strole as Ellie, and Kristen Sieh as Raven. Vilinsky’s clipped voice reflects Stella’s personality: stark, angry, and remote. Strole voices Ellie in a youthful, innocent, more expressive way that masks a hidden strength. Sieh is perfect as Raven as she rationalizes her actions. Most of the characters are white, the sisters are Jewish, one character is Korean American, and there are a couple of gay characters.