7 Listen-Alikes for Merci Suárez Changes Gears

Heartwarming Audiobooks about Friendship and Family

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Seven Listen-Alikes for Merci Suárez Changes Gears

Seven Listen-Alikes for Merci Suárez Changes Gears

Many readers and listeners loved Meg Medina’s MERCI SUÁREZ CHANGES GEARS. The audiobook, read by Frankie Corzo, was one of AudioFile’s Best of 2018, and the book won the 2019 Newbery Medal. There is lots to love about the confident, strong-willed sixth-grader Merci Suárez, and I was cheering for her as she navigated difficult changes in her close-knit extended family and school life. Curious listeners can watch our video to hear Frankie Corzo’s own insights into what it meant for her to narrate this story.

If you’re looking for more heartwarming audiobooks about friendship and family for ages 8 and up, here are a few of my favorite recommendations. Read more…

Sonja Cole
Sonja Cole
As a former middle school librarian and author of Booktalking Around the World: Great Global Reads for Ages 9-14, Sonja’s mission is to get kids excited about books.

5 Audiobooks about California Wine

Raise a Glass for California Wine Month

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California Wine Month

California Wine Month

Did you know that September is California Wine Month? If you’re lucky enough to live in California or have vacation time, you’ll be able to participate in special festivals, tastings, and tours hosted by the state’s vintners and growers. Late summer into early fall is also harvest time, so there’s lots of activity in the vineyards and wineries, and local restaurants and towns will be celebrating all things wine.

Can’t hop on a plane to California? Neither can I, but we can still participate in the celebrations wherever we live. My plan is to listen to a good audiobook set in the California wine world. I may, however, have to pour a glass of Napa Valley Cab to enhance the mood. Cheers and enjoy! Read more…

Candace Levy
Candace Levy
Candace is a full-time freelance book editor as well as a book reviewer and journalist. When she’s not working, you'll inevitably find her listening to an audiobook while cooking, walking, making lace, or taking photographs. She was honored to be the 2016 Audio Publishers Association's Audiobook Blogger of the Year.
http://www.bethfishreads.com/

YA Romance Audiobook Summer Roundup

5 audiobooks for every teen (and the young at heart)

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YA Romance Summer Roundup

YA Romance Summer Roundup

I’ve heard it said that, no matter your age, young adult books have something to offer you—whether you are yourself a young adult, you recommend audiobooks to teens, or you’re just a fan of YA audio. If you’re a teen, you may be listening for confirmation of your own experiences, or to step into someone else’s life for a moment. You’re also seeing how other people your age handle life problems and questions about growing up. After all, how many of us wish we had clever repartee—modeled after our favorite book characters—at the ready? For older listeners, we’re looking back and remembering, fondly or fearfully, our younger selves and measuring our pasts against the person we are now. After all, as Prudie says in The Jane Austen Book Club movie, “High school’s never over.”

I’ve collected five truly remarkable new young adult audiobooks. All romances—yay! And, whether your young adult reading experience began with Judy Blume’s FOREVER, Nancy Garden’s ANNIE ON MY MIND, John Green’s THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, or Sarah Maas’s COURT OF THORN AND ROSES, you’ll love reconnecting with the genre through these stellar audiobooks.  Read more…

Caitlin Augusta
Caitlin is a librarian from Connecticut who enjoys great narrators and happy endings. She has been reviewing audiobooks for Audiofile Magazine since 2006, and she has had the privilege of judging numerous Audie Award categories since 2009. Her favorite authors are Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, and whatever she's listening to right now!

Author Elizabeth Acevedo on the Power of Writing and the Magic of Narration

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Elizabeth Acevedo by Stephanie Ifendu

Elizabeth Acevedo by Stephanie IfenduAudioFile Magazine was delighted to feature an interview with author Elizabeth Acevedo in our June issue of the magazine. Also in June, Acevedo was honored with the Carnegie Medal, the annual British honor for new English-language books for children and young adults. She was the first writer of color to be honored with the award. Read Susie Wilde’s interview with Elizabeth Acevedo below.

Last year Elizabeth Acevedo’s novel THE POET X garnered, among other awards, the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, the Pura Belpré Award for outstanding Latinx literature, and the Printz Award for excellence in young adult literature. The audiobook, narrated by Acevedo, was an Odyssey Honor, an Audie Awards finalist in two categories, and an AudioFile Earphones Award winner. Her newest title, WITH THE FIRE ON HIGH, has already received three starred reviews. Read more…

AudioFile Editors
We're the editorial team at AudioFile Magazine!

5 Questions with Golden Voice Narrator Gerard Doyle

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Gerard Doyle

Gerard DoyleThis June has been an exciting month here at AudioFile Magazine as we continue to celebrate Audiobook Month and honor our Golden Voice narrators. If you haven’t already, take a moment to catch up on the blog posts, listen to our podcast, and follow us on Twitter so that you don’t miss a single moment of this month’s celebration.

I’m thrilled to introduce you to the talented Gerard Doyle in today’s Take 5 post. Did you know that Gerard was an immediate narrator star? He won an Earphones Award for his very first audiobook, A STAR CALLED HENRY. Since then, he’s given voice to dragons and wizards, detectives and killers, and many everyday people, both fictional and real. Read more…

Candace Levy
Candace Levy
Candace is a full-time freelance book editor as well as a book reviewer and journalist. When she’s not working, you'll inevitably find her listening to an audiobook while cooking, walking, making lace, or taking photographs. She was honored to be the 2016 Audio Publishers Association's Audiobook Blogger of the Year.
http://www.bethfishreads.com/

Audiobook Fan Goes Gaga for Golden Voices: Narrator January LaVoy’s Audiobook Mysteries

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January LaVoy and Ellen Quint
January LaVoy and Ellen Quint
January LaVoy (l) and Ellen Quint

One of the privileges of being part of the AudioFile team is the opportunity to rub elbows on special occasions with stars of the audiobook universe. Imagine being in a New York recording studio surrounded by the people who have thrilled you with their performances again and again. That was me this week at the reception in honor of our five new Golden Voice recipients who have joined this very special class of narrators. A full cadre of Golden Voices was there to welcome their fellow narrators.

Let me focus on new Golden Voice honoree January LaVoy. You can read more about January in the latest issue of AudioFile Magazine and in her narrator profile. January has recorded more than 200 audiobooks: biographies as diverse as ELIZA HAMILTON and QUEEN BEY (about Beyoncé and Jay Z); science fiction, including VERSION CONTROL; and, of course, mysteries. January has one of those voices you would follow anywhere. As with her Golden Voices colleagues, she can make any genre come alive for the listener. That takes true talent. Read more…

Ellen Quint
Ellen Quint
A mystery writer, audiobook reviewer and Audies judge. Ellen is currently the program chair of Sisters in Crime-NY and has published two crime short stories: Crossing the Line (Family Matters); Taking the Brooklyn Bridge Back (Where Crime Never Sleeps).

Thoroughly Satisfying Summer Listening

6 Audiobooks for Long Weekends and Beyond

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Summer Listening

Summer Listening

Memorial Day signals the start of the summer season—gardening, picnics, barbecue grills, swatting mosquitoes, splashing in the pool, fireworks, beaches, bike rides, sunburns, baseball, mowing the lawn. And, ahh—sipping lemonade while lying in a hammock listening to an audiobook. Today’s Audio Adventures celebrate summer listening experiences to sink into with your ears. Read more…

Aurelia C. Scott
Author and audiobook fanatic, Aurelia often falls asleep at night with earbuds still attached. She can also be found at www.aureliacscott.com.
http://www.aureliacscott.com

Authentic Voices: 8 Audiobook Memoirs

Robin’s Roundup May 24

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Audiobok Memoirs

Audiobok Memoirs

Audiobook listeners are fortunate in a number of ways. The recent stream of memoirs AudioFile has reviewed makes me think of a specific benefit of listening: hearing the authentic voices of the authors. Starting off with a memoir by a person you admire or want to know more about—Michelle Obama, Trevor Noah, Tina Fey—is a great “first listen” if you’re new to audiobooks. It’s also a way to savor the special intimacy and authenticity an author-read life story brings. In audiobook memoirs we get to hear a unique combination of voice and text. Let’s look at some recent audiobook memoirs AudioFile recommends. Read more…

Robin Whitten
Robin Whitten
Robin is the Founder & Editor of AudioFile Magazine. The AudioFile Blog is her newest project to offer new voices and recommendations for audiobooks.
http://www.audiofilemagazine.com

5 Questions with Gabra Zackman

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Gabra Zackman at the Audies

Gabra Zackman at the AudiesI’ve been listening to today’s guest narrator, Gabra Zackman, for almost 15 years, ever since I discovered her work via a young adult fantasy series. I was immediately impressed with her ability to create distinct accents for the imaginary worlds featured in those audiobooks. Over the years, I’ve come to especially appreciate Gabra’s ability to pick up on the author’s style and intent, whether it’s casual and light or action-packed and dramatic.

Gabra’s résumé covers the full range of genres, from fantasy to science and from short stories to sagas. When picking titles to highlight Gabra’s solo performances, I couldn’t help but be drawn to nonfiction. Some of my very favorite true stories were narrated by Gabra, and I’m including two of them here. Fiction fans, don’t fret—I’m recommending some Gabra-read audiobooks for you, too. Read more…

Candace Levy
Candace Levy
Candace is a full-time freelance book editor as well as a book reviewer and journalist. When she’s not working, you'll inevitably find her listening to an audiobook while cooking, walking, making lace, or taking photographs. She was honored to be the 2016 Audio Publishers Association's Audiobook Blogger of the Year.
http://www.bethfishreads.com/