SYNC Titles from Past Seasons

Finn, the epileptic son of a famous sci-fi writer, lives on the site of the catastrophic Mulholland Dam failure. Narrator Kirby Heyborne’s measured, carefully enunciated narration reflects the contemplative nature of this 17-year-old, who measures time in the distance the Earth travels: 20 miles per second. Finn is reserved, but his loyal friend for billions of miles has been... Read More

Narrator Amanda Dolan plunges listeners into the disturbing first-person narrative of 17-year-old Mira, who is attempting to survive in the Warsaw Ghetto and keep her mother and sister alive. Immediately, Dolan reveals the terrible mix of fear and desperation that sends Mira sneaking into the Polish markets to buy and smuggle food back into the despairing ghetto. In an emotive... Read More

Robin Miles provides a solid narration for investigative journalist Dashka Slater's balanced account of the traumatic intersection of two Oakland teens' lives. This is a work of nonfiction in which many individuals are presented, both as Slater observes and analyzes them and through their interview responses. Since Slater includes the personal expressive styles of the... Read More

Narrator Robin Field magnificently captures the tone and rhythm of Mark Twain’s classic novel. Most challenging for any narrator is the reproduction of the dialects, dramatic emphasis, and accents that are essential to the story, which on the surface is merely a journey down the Mississippi but, in truth, explores the coming-of-age of an “uncivilized” boy. Added reverb to some... Read More

In a gravelly voice, Ralph Cosham becomes the voice of Dr. Watson as he narrates 12 of his adventures with Sherlock Holmes. Dashing round London and the English countryside, Watson and Holmes search for villains, deceivers, and the perpetrators of crimes both physical and psychological. Cosham brings these immortal tales to life once again, replete with details both significant... Read More

Four of the Holmes canon's more memorable tales are read with skill and style by David Timson. The classical actor and British television performer manages the accents and characters skillfully. Naxos provides a handy booklet of liner notes listing the contents, musical selections, a short biography of Conan Doyle, and historical background essays for each of the four stories.... Read More

This full-cast narration of a young adult science fiction adventure is, despite minor flaws, pure fun. Hero/narrator Matt (David Kelly), a cabin boy on a lighter-than-air liner in the book’s Jules Vernesian world, finds adventure and romance among pirates and mysterious flying creatures on an uncharted island. Kelly’s voice is irresistibly likable and engaging, though he does... Read More

Nigeria and the world of the Leopard people come to life with Yetide Badaki’s engaging multi-accented narration. Sunny Nwazue is Igbo and American, albino, and about to discover she is magic. Badaki smoothly switches between Sunny’s and her friend Sasha’s American accents and the voices of her new Nigerian friends, cheeky Chichi and solemn Orlu. Chapters start with briskly read... Read More

What a delight to hear Michael York's rendition of this classic. His distress at Alice's predicaments humanizes a character who has become a near stereotype over the decades. Listeners experience Alice's surprise as she tumbles down a near-endless hole, nibbles and drinks tidbits that make her grow and shrink, and meets one absurd personage after another. York's elegant accents... Read More

Colleen Delaney has mastered leading a cast narrating nonstop sci-fi thrillers. The Generations Trilogy features groups of teens who awaken after centuries of sleep to an unknown world filled with dangerous creatures. Delaney delivers the narrative and portrays Em Savage as she becomes the leader of a ragtag gang of survivors. Bradley Smith portrays Bishop, a chest-thumping... Read More

Narrator Meredith Mitchell twists listeners into knots with Cristin Terrill’s time-loop adventure. Her smooth voice calmly describes the torture that Em and Finn undergo as they attempt to time travel away from their captor, “the Doctor,” to undo his work, which ruins the future. Mitchell captures the emotional anguish Em feels as she struggles to reconcile the Doctor’s past... Read More

Stiefvater’s dreamy novel has a huge cast of characters, and narrator Thom Rivera gives each one a distinct voice. In 1962, a disc jockey fleeing fame and a teenage hitchhiker with a hole in his heart arrive in Bicho Raro, a tiny desert town where a family of Mexican-American saints offers miracles to those who need them. Rivera’s female voices are not as smooth or natural as... Read More

Laughter and applause fill this theatrical look at American history from the perspective of a Mexican who is cramming for his citizenship test. Policeman Juan José, who fled on foot to the U.S. to escape corruption and drug wars, is haunted by Teddy Roosevelt, Sacajawea, Bob Dylan, Jackie Robinson, Violet Pettus (an African-American nurse during the 1928 flu pandemic), Emmett... Read More

Bartimaeus, a five-thousand-year-old djinni, possesses abilities far beyond those of an extraordinarily talented magician. Simon Jones excels at projecting the personality characteristics of someone who has seen and done it all: sarcasm, facetiousness, and dry wit. Jones’s narration easily balances this cynicism against his portrayal of Nathaniel, an 11-year-old apprentice... Read More

James Patterson's facile writing and Evan Rachel Wood's expressive, wide-eyed reading make this entrée for the teen audience a remarkable success. A group of bird-kids, genetically altered with avian DNA, and led by Max, have escaped from the experimental "school" and must survive the perils of other mutants as they save the youngest member of their flock. Wood has all the... Read More

Theseus Cassio Lowood's extracurricular activities include ghost hunting and tracking down his father's demonic killer. Narrator August Ross's voice reflects Cas's youthful inexperience as he travels to Thunder Bay, Ontario, to exorcise "Anna Dressed in Blood," a ghost who is out for vengeance. Ross uses a spectral-sounding bass for Anna that matches her ghostly presence. But... Read More

While most are familiar with Anne Frank’s diary, fewer remember the courage of the people who helped her family. Otto Frank’s employee, Miep Gies, coordinated the hiding place and worked through her own exhaustion and terror to keep the family safe and supplied with food and company. Barbara Rosenblat speaks with Gies’s own voice, bringing an impeccable Dutch flavor to her... Read More

Colleen Winton captures the charm of Anne Shirley in this delightful edition for a new generation of listeners. Anne is an orphan who is mistakenly sent to Green Gables farm—and soon wins her way into the hearts of everyone in Avonlea. Winton brings the perfect amount of wide-eyed wonder and spark to Anne. As Anne finds herself in many adventures throughout the story, Winton... Read More

The challenge of taking a play created for the stage and translating it to the audio format may seem daunting, but this production does just that—exceptionally well. The use of sound is outstanding—seagulls caw, swords clash, and crickets chirp to indicate sea, battle, and night scenes. The actors speak close to the microphone to convey the play's asides, and transitional music... Read More

This audiobook is a rare treat that offers a peek at the past yet remains relevant today. When first published in 1873, Jules Verne's novel represented merely a dream for most people. Despite the quantum evolution of transportation since then, the book is still delightful--from Phineas Fogg's initial bet to the final culmination of his adventure. Michael Prichard's delivery is... Read More

David Timson masterfully narrates this entertaining mystery in which two formidable opponents match wits. Famed English detective Herlock Sholmes is initially called to Paris to investigate the disappearance of a blue diamond. The prime suspect is Arsène Lupin, the legendary gentleman thief and master of disguise, who was introduced in 1905 by French author Maurice Leblanc.... Read More

Author/narrator Kendall Coyne shares her story of determination and perseverance as she pursued her passion for hockey in spite of the hardships in her life. At a young age, Coyne was drawn to hockey, and she and her family worked hard to make her Olympic dream become a reality despite financial obstacles. She suffered multiple injuries during her time on the ice but remained... Read More

Cassandra Campbell draws out the combination of innocence and wariness that characterizes 16-year-old Lucy. Lucy has survived the plague that killed her parents and great numbers of others, destroying the world as she knew it. After living on her own for many months, she meets Aidan, who helps save her from the Sweepers. She decides to leave her solitary refuge in Central Park... Read More

Beginning with the story of Jumbo the elephant and his keeper, Emma Donoghue’s ASTRAY is a collection of stories about immigrants and emigrants—those who have moved to, from, and within the United States and Canada. Rather than a straight rotation through narrators, each narrator is assigned the story or stories that are best suited to his or her skills. The casting is... Read More

This 1912 novel is a fictional autobiography of an unnamed biracial man, with lessons and observations that are still fresh today. Alan Bomar Jones performs in a smooth voice. He adopts cultured, barely inflected tones for the narrative and the protagonist's dialogue, while using strong Southern and New York accents for the dialogue of other African-Americans. Jones's... Read More

Robin Miles narrates the eerie journey of a traveling carnival in the Depression-era South. Eliza has the ability to communicate with animals. When an alligator wrestling match goes awry, she steps in to prevent disaster. Afterward, the owner invites her to join the carnival, and she's eager to go, not knowing that evil resides within it in the form of an ancient demon who is... Read More

A full cast works together seamlessly in this charming magical adventure. As the story’s narrator, Tavia Gilbert is crisply engaged, and she’s spirited as young Bee, the baker’s apprentice. Kenneth Cavett, with his rich and resonant voice, is a standout as kindly baker Master Bouts, and Robin Miles is a hoot as pirate captain Zafira Zay. The care in the production is... Read More

Napoli’s genius in recrafting folk and fairy tales into young adult novels shines in this retelling of “Beauty and the Beast.” This lush novel begins at a leisurely pace in Persia before Prince Orasmyn, trapped by an ancient curse in the body of a lion, desperately makes his way to the traditional French manor house setting. Robert Ramirez delivers a clear, carefully paced... Read More

Narrator Kevin Collins is eminently likable as Ethan Wate, a teenager trying to navigate the loss of his mom and emotional distance of his dad, the intriguing new girl at school, and the increasingly mysterious goings-on in his small Southern town. Even better, Collins is just as convincing as the town's cast of characters, including love interest Lena, caretaker Amma, best... Read More

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar narrates his deeply engaging memoir, which includes the events that shaped his life from early childhood to the beginning of his fame on the basketball court. Though he's not a professional narrator, his distinctive voice adds immense value to the listening experience. Abdul-Jabbar's level, low-key delivery creates the sense that he's chatting about his life... Read More

In 2015, the picture book I AM JAZZ, by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings, about a transgender girl, was No. 3 on the American Library Association’s Top Ten Banned Books. Now Jazz Jennings gives voice to her story in a new way by narrating what she calls her memoir on growing up transgender. Jennings’s youthful enthusiasm and her acute memories of the difficulties posed by... Read More

The dramatic story of a legendary warrior and the monsters he confronts takes a new, somewhat modern, turn in this audio performance. At first, Rosalyn Landor’s voice sounds traditional, with its clipped British accent and no-nonsense pace. However, the way she phrases the majestic syntax makes this a more accessible version of the seminal classic. The males who populate the... Read More

Emily Klein quickly convinces listeners of the harsh reality and perceptive viewpoint of Lina, an artistic 15-year-old Lithuanian. Klein’s evocative inflections mirror Lina’s family’s confusion and fear as they’re woken by Stalin’s soldiers and loaded onto cattle cars labeled “Thieves and Prostitutes,” which are headed to a labor camp in Siberia. Klein doesn’t hold back from... Read More

An ensemble of voices delivers this candid collection of interviews with gender-nonconforming teens who struggle to be accepted. The diverse compilation of narratives presents two trans feminine, two trans masculine, and two nonbinary young people. Tanya Eby voices author Susan Kuklin, narrating in a neutral yet respectful tone that allows the more emotional content conveyed by... Read More

JD Jackson and Joy Sunday take turns narrating 18 short stories from the world of Wakanda, written by authors of the African diaspora. The stories cover a variety of characters from T'Challa to Shuri, and even Killmonger. Jackson and Sunday breathe life into the short but complex works brimming with cameos and unique perspectives on the Black Panther mythology. The stories are... Read More

If you haven’t encountered Rudolfo Anaya’s classic 1972 novel in another form, there could hardly be a better introduction than this fluid performance by Robert Ramirez. Tony Marez is a bright Mexican-American boy growing up in the late 1940s in a family full of contradictions. His father’s people are wanderers; his mother’s are farmers. His mother hopes Tony will be a priest,... Read More

Blink and Caution, both separately on the run, get caught up in a kidnapping by dint of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This gripping crime story is told in alternating points of view—second person for Blink and third person for Caution—a technique that is especially effective in the audio format. Running through Blink's mind is the abusive voice of his stepdaddy,... Read More

Katherine Kellgren’s coarse accents put us on eighteenth-century London streets, where Mary Faber’s family has died of “pestilence,” leaving the bawling child to scavenge on her own. Kellgren brings out Mary’s feisty nature, showing us how she and her mate, Charley, negotiate begging and danger with self-confidence. By the time Mary’s protector is killed, Kellgren has us... Read More

Prepare for the extraordinary. Narrator Dan Bittner does an exceptional job guiding listeners through this compelling novel of love and beauty, identity and power. His narration flows like a river, interweaving the stories of brothers Finn and Sean; their Polish immigrant boarder, Roza; and the small town of Bone Gap, where they live. When Roza suddenly disappears, Finn is the... Read More

This captivating story of America's "simultaneously conspicuous and invisible" population is powerfully rendered by an ensemble of narrators representing voices from all over Latin America. Like families before them, the Riveras immigrate to the U.S. in search of a better life for their daughter, Maribel. Though Maribel is the catalyst, it is Alma, her mother, and Mayor, her... Read More

This full-cast production creates a compelling audio experience exploring gender identity and sexuality. When an accident mutilates one of a pair of twin baby boys, his parents consult a doctor who convinces them to raise their son as a daughter. Bobby Steggert gives the standout performance in the role of the titular boy as both a child trying to understand life and an adult... Read More

Narrator Paul Michael passionately conveys the painful but ultimately uplifting story of David Ring, who developed cerebral palsy at birth after having been declared dead and deprived of oxygen for 18 minutes. The remarkable story is flawlessly recounted by Ring's friend David Wideman, who intervened when classmates at Ring’s new school were beating him. Michael brings... Read More

Narrator Sophie Amoss gives voice to a headstrong amateur sleuth in this intriguing historical whodunit. On New Year’s Eve, 1929, a debutante is found murdered outside of the Cloak & Dagger, a speakeasy and LGBTQIA haven in New Orleans. The main suspect is Marion, the club’s headlining drag performer. But Millie, the club owner’s niece and Marion’s best friend, is determined to... Read More

The lucid and accessible discussion of the connection between fascism and lying made by Argentine historian Federico Finchelstein comes to listeners through the equally clear and agile narration of Edoardo Ballerini. International in scope and spanning the twentieth century’s infamous fascist leaders and their followers—Argentina’s Lugones, Spain’s Franco, Italy’s Mussolini,... Read More

Audiobook enthusiasts of Victorian literature will love hearing this romantic story of a Chicago vintage bookseller, Lucy, who ends up in love and tours literary haunts in the English Lake District with her lover's grandmother. Lucy primarily has a Midwestern accent but sometimes uses English phrases and pronunciations because her deadbeat father was English. Creating the... Read More

Imagine an inner city high school English classroom. Eighteen sullen teenagers wonder what school can give them. One student decides a poem, not an essay, is the way to share his insights about the Harlem Renaissance. A wise teacher grabs the teachable moment, instituting “open mike poetry slam Fridays” once a month, and a roomful of at-risk students gets excited about school.... Read More

High school sophomore Justin walks the narrow line that allows him to have some friends while avoiding conflict with the popular bullies who inhabit every school. When he’s assigned to a project with the new boy with a shaved head and outsized clothing, Justin worries that he’ll be unable to maintain his invisibility. What follows is a burgeoning friendship as Justin learns... Read More

Chiara Atik's play is performed with flair by a vivacious cast of talented actors. The play intertwines three subplots involving pregnancy and childbirth. One features hilarious posts on a message board for "December moms," and another is about the tender but comical interactions between a midwife in 1790 and a first-time mother. The play's centerpiece tells the story of... Read More

Marisol Ramirez’s narration moves fluidly from English to Spanish as she depicts 17-year-old Nora Lopez and her family. Nora’s bilingualism is only one way she aids her Cuban immigrant mother, who speaks very little English. And that’s not the only lack of communication in their home. Nora is continually criticized by her mother while her younger brother Hector, despite his... Read More

In the great tradition of classic animal stories, Jack London's CALL OF THE WILD, read by William Roberts, is a wrenching story. From the peril Buck the sled dog faces in the Arctic to the suffering he endures under brutal masters, listening to his adventure is no tame experience. Roberts has a voice that could have belonged to one of this era's gold panners. He sounds like a... Read More

Will Carter is a 14-year-old trying to find his way through his freshman year. He stumbles through that coming-of-age time with school, friends, peer pressure, parties, sports, an older sister, bullies, grown-ups, and, yes, girls and sex. He's too cool, not cool enough, immature at times, savvy at others. Brent Crawford's story is laugh-out-loud funny and occasionally poignant.... Read More

Cantankerous Mrs. Tupper has been kidnapped. But her boarder, 14-year-old Enola Holmes, is hot on her trail, drawing on her art of disguises and deductive powers, usually attributed to her brother, Sherlock. Katherine Kellgren’s spirited narration transports listeners along the cobbled streets and back alleys of London. Fluid accents and tonal shifts between characters make... Read More

High adventure, survival on a small cay in the Caribbean, and friendship between a boy and a man are the stuff of Theodore Taylor’s enduring tale. When their ship is torpedoed by a German submarine while leaving Curaçao, young Philip, a cat, and Timothy, a West Indian man, find their lives converging as they seek rescue. Michael Boatman is a fabulous narrator. His narration... Read More

Left for dead, with only snatches of memory, Calexa moves into a suburban cemetery crypt--the only place she feels safe while unraveling the mystery of her attempted murder. From the gentle pattering of rain on freshly dug soil to the blaring sirens of police cars, no sound is missing from this shadowy opening to a graveyard trilogy. Youthful Emlyn McFarland portrays Calexa... Read More

At 16, Chanda has a life in a sub-Saharan African township filled with heartbreak and disappointment. Her father and older brothers have been killed in a mining accident. “Stepfather” #3 is an alcoholic womanizer who leaves the teen to make funeral arrangements for her baby sister. Chanda gives up her dream of getting an education to become caretaker to her own dying mother and... Read More

A reimagining of the classic Christmas story, adapted by narrator Alison Larkin, treats the listener to Dickens's holiday tale--with one change. In this version, the iconic Ebenezer Scrooge is a woman. Larkin's performance skills are superb. She provides an engaging romp through nineteenth-century London at Christmas. Her spirited style infuses the production with flair and... Read More

Peter Berkrot narrates this delightful timeless tale. Herbie Bookbinder is an overweight, clever, and eternally optimistic denizen of the Bronx in 1928. All he wants from life is to be a regular guy with his pals and to win the affections of Lucille, his red-haired crush. Berkrot's narration has a faintly old-fashioned style that suits both the era and the episodic nature of... Read More

Being a "classic" doesn't automatically make a story good, and one can't listen to the second-rate Jack London dog story and four predictable O. Henry stories that make up three of this collection's four sides without wondering how many of our classic authors would find a publisher today. William Roberts is an excellent reader, and given a true classic, like Bierce's... Read More

This 2009 National Book Award winner introduces listeners to forgotten Civil Rights heroine Claudette Colvin, who (nine months before Rosa Parks) refused to give up her own Birmingham bus seat. Channie Waites superbly narrates a text that offers both cogent explanations of history, including especially informative sidebars, and first-person accounts of those who witnessed the... Read More

Cleopatra Selene, the 16-year-old daughter of Egypt’s greatest rulers, Cleopatra and Mark Antony, begins a new life in Rome at her captor’s palace, with twin brother Alexandros and younger brother Ptolly. As they encounter palace intrigue, foreign religions, and cruel treatment, Selene mourns her parents and grows into a woman as beautiful and irresistible as her mother.... Read More

To reveal almost anything about the way events in CODE NAME VERITY unfold would spoil the book’s many twists and turns and revelations. It all begins with Maddie, a young pilot, and Queenie, who are both part of the British war effort during WWII. The audiobook is its own revelation—narrators Morven Christie and Lucy Gaskell bring Queenie and Maddie to vibrant life, and... Read More

During the summer of 1800, Gabriel, a blacksmith, a literate man, a loving husband, and a slave, planned a rebellion in Virginia. He organized more than one thousand slaves before being betrayed, captured, and hanged. JD Jackson’s warm baritone voice guides listeners through this harsh narrative. He differentiates between the story and the original historical documents... Read More

This compelling audio collection of 15 #ownvoices short stories explores the realities of immigration and its abundant facets. The works are written by YA authors who are immigrants or the children of immigrants. Listeners will meet characters experiencing supposedly random police stops, making space for family displaced from a tumultuous home country, and continually being... Read More

Tandy Angel and her three brothers are unnaturally gifted—they’re also the prime suspects when their parents are found dead in their penthouse. Emma Galvin narrates in a rapid, even voice that accentuates Tandy’s intelligence, focus, and flat affect. Galvin softens her tone in periodic confessionals in which Tandy addresses the listener, relating troubling gaps in her own... Read More

Fourteen-year-old Madeleine and 15-year-old Elliot live in two different worlds—from which they communicate to each other by letter. Madeleine is being homeschooled in Cambridge, England. Elliott is a farm boy from the Kingdom of Cello whose father was killed by a purple storm (or he ran off with the physics teacher). The two find a crack between these two worlds in a parking... Read More

Stone’s historical work describes what it meant to serve in WWII as an African-American soldier. JD Jackson’s performance melds with the text, further strengthening a solid piece of nonfiction. His pacing matches the moment, whether describing incidents of discrimination or the exhilaration of training to become the first black paratroopers. He highlights emotional peaks with... Read More

This affecting novel is based on the life of the author's grandfather, Fred Allen, a musical prodigy who suffered unspeakable neglect in a Georgia mill town before escaping to New York City to chase his dreams. Allen Cheney reads with the sincerity and flair needed to honor this story of community support, love, and Southern family culture. He's a likable narrator who makes it... Read More

Helgerson's novel is reminiscent of Mark Twain's Mississippi adventure stories. In 1849, Zebulon Crabtree is 12 years old when his parents send him by riverboat to St. Louis to begin a dreary life as a tanner under his uncle's tutelage. On the boat he meets Chilly Larpentaur, a river gambler who promises to teach him the fine art of cardsharping and shady deals. They’ll teach... Read More

In this reimagined story of “Beauty and the Beast,” Nyx’s father has spent her whole life prepping her to marry and then sacrifice herself to destroy the Gentle Lord, the demon who rules their land. Elizabeth Knowelden narrates with an accent befitting Nyx’s education and privilege, and she uses sharp enunciation to convey Nyx’s resentment as she moves into the Gentle Lord’s... Read More

Narrator Gabe Wicks evokes both old-fashioned Appalachian hospitality and barely concealed menace in this suspenseful story. The audiobook's unnamed narrator invites the listener to sit a spell as he slowly unfolds the story of what happens when four teenagers bring the wrath of a supposed witch down on their sleepy town. Wicks paces the story perfectly by maintaining an... Read More

Khristine Hvam portrays a confident, inquisitive, and grounded young woman who lives an ordinary life by day but a far from ordinary life at night. What does Karou, a 17-year-old girl with naturally blue hair and tattooed palms, do when she’s not in art school in Prague? She travels through portals, running errands for the chimaera (half-human, half not) she calls family. As... Read More

Charlotte Parry and Christian Coulson’s narrations, coupled with eerie musical snippets, set an ominous tone that draws listeners into this horror story involving two teenage girls. The story includes police reports, psychiatric evaluations, “video footage,” and diary entries surrounding the mysterious fire that claimed the lives of several students at Elmbridge High. Though it... Read More

Before the United States government's efforts to conserve paper for the war effort affected both their size and print runs, pulp magazines enjoyed their heyday. First published in the mid-‘30s, DEAD MEN KILL is the only zombie story written by Hubbard. The voice actors are adequate to the task but many times sound like they're reading off the script instead of speaking... Read More

This bold depiction of a 14-year-old Sherlock Holmes succeeds splendidly. He's as fascinating as Doyle's brilliant creation. Holmes's fans will see how he acquired his vast knowledge and developed into the man he became. Narrator Dan Weyman excels in introducing an intelligent, warm yet shy boy. Sherlock's streetwise friend, Matty, is tough yet sweet, perfectly complementing... Read More

In this Chinese-inspired fantasy, narrator Nancy Wu makes Princess Hesina’s reluctance to be heir to the throne fully believable. When her father is murdered and Hesina becomes queen at age 17, Wu transforms her as she learns to focus on the well-being of her subjects while also finding out who killed the king. Wu maintains a well-balanced pace through the extensive... Read More

Urrea’s book conveys the ambiance of the border between the U.S. and Mexico and the human cost of U.S. immigration policy. The story revolves around the gruesome events—now more than a decade old—that resulted in the deaths of 14 Mexicans who were trying to walk into the U.S. across the desolate Sonoran Desert. Urrea is scrupulously evenhanded in his treatment of U.S. officials... Read More

Roxana Ortega and Christian Barillas dramatize the alternating voices of siblings from Juarez, Mexico. Ortega reads the part of questioning, curious Sara, a newspaper journalist. Sara writes devotedly about the plight of Las Desaparecidas, the disappeared girls, after her best friend, Linda, vanishes without a trace. Ortega makes clear Sara’s commitment to her news stories,... Read More

With the talented Andrew Eiden and an ensemble of other actors narrating, this novel makes the most of the audiobook format. High school senior Danny Wright’s National Guard unit is called in for crowd control at a protest in Boise, and Danny’s gun accidentally fires. Twelve people end up dead, and the state of Idaho verges on civil war with the U.S.A. Narrator Eiden’s... Read More

Brandon Batchelar and Jason White's narration is so powerful that it may make listeners want to join the author in his quest for justice in a faraway land. When Los Angeles lawyer Jim Gash hears about children who are falsely accused of crimes and imprisoned for years without a trial, he believes his discovery is Divine Providence, so he travels to Uganda to effect change. As... Read More

The first sounds one hears in this smart, brash, slightly twisted coming-of-age comedy are the wonderfully rinky-dink thunder and cheesy organ music of “The Saturday Night Horror Movie,” hosted by Dr. Cerberus, a local TV show that Franklin Robertson finds is the only sanity in his crazy world. Franklin, played with aplomb by Simon Helberg, is trying to navigate his adolescence... Read More

The setting is old London in the reign of Victoria. And our hero is 17-year-old Dodger. Dodger is a “tosher,” a boy who makes a meager living roaming the sewers under London’s streets searching for coins and treasures. One rain-soaked night he rescues a mysterious young woman from the clutches of deadly thugs. With the help of historical figures such as Charles Dickens and... Read More

Amal Abdel-Hakim is a 17-year-old Australian-Palestinian-Muslim who’s asking the same question all teens ask: How do I fit into my world?. She’s bright, pretty, popular, and she’s just decided to wear the hijab—the headscarf—full time. How this changes Amal’s life is recounted in serious and hilarious detail and narrated with authenticity by Rebecca Macauley, who manages both... Read More

Narrator Chris Patton gives a persuasive performance in this detailed examination of the provenance, pervasiveness, and power of food flavorings. Patton’s narration is as irresistible as the man-made chemical flavorings that are reported to be taking over the taste of “real” food and to be the real cause of our nation’s obesity epidemic. Patton’s modulated voice smoothly... Read More

Narrators David Horovitch, Jamie Parker, Joseph Kloska, and Alison Pettitt and cast adopt the identities of the well-known characters of Bram Stoker’s classic: Jonathan Harker, Mina, Lucy, the Count, and others. As the story is told in a series of diary entries and letters, Dracula himself comes off as both charming and caring—until his true form is revealed. Highlights of this... Read More

Narrator Natasha Soudek brings believable teenage angst to a Peter Pan retelling that combines the magic of Neverland with the consequences of real life. The story follows two siblings living in London as they try to move on with their lives after Peter returns from Neverland. Soudek smoothly shifts between the voices of the two main characters, giving Peter a low pitch and... Read More

Listeners will stay captivated until the shocking end of this ethically charged whodunit. After racy pictures of a teacher go viral, three students working on a project together are suspected: Drew, the charming jock; Mouse, the nerdy computer whiz; and Jenna, the wholesome girl turned outcast after risqué photos of her went public. But each denies leaking the photos. A skilled... Read More

Robin Miles perfectly renders the miraculous story of a boy who could "see with sound." When Ben's eyes were removed at age 2 because of a rare cancer, his mother encouraged him to "see" with his senses of smell, touch, and sound. She soon overheard Ben make clicking sounds that alarmed her. The doctors said Ben had mastered the rare art of human echolocation, which taught him... Read More

Set in tsarist Russia, this story combines historical fiction and folklore and is told by a self-proclaimed “unreliable scribe” who writes from within a tower prison. Narrator Michael Page creates two girls—an earnest and believable Elena and a youthful, cultured Ekaterina—one peasant, the other privileged, yet so alike that their lives are exchanged with little notice. Great... Read More

Ten years after the U.S. has been devastated by biological warfare wrought by China, Stephen and his family survive by scavenging the American landscape. Dan Bittner skillfully embodies the teen as tragedy strikes and Stephen must suddenly fend for himself. Ending up in a real town for the first time ever, Stephen experiences conflict between his distrust of strangers and his... Read More

There's a magical quality to Katherine Kellgren's voice that works well with this aptly named novel. She has both a softness and an edge in her tone that perfectly capture the strong-willed yet romantic Sunday Woodcutter, the powerful seventh daughter of a seventh daughter. For Grumble, the talking frog soon-to-be prince who wins Sunday’s heart, Kellgren speaks with a comical... Read More

L.A. Theatre Works' "radio theater" production of Ibsen's classic play about environmental contamination, science, dissent, and hypocrisy offers a well-rounded audio theater experience. Very little in Ibsen's original work requires theatrical action, and, when it does, the LATW cast--including Richard Kind, Rosalind Ayres, Gregory Harrison, and Josh Stamberg--and the production... Read More

Once Genie Lo’s only concerns were college applications—that is, until the ancient Chinese Monkey King leapt upon her Silicon Valley school desk in the form of the scandalously handsome rebel Quentin Sun. Narrator Nancy Wu uses ample snark and deadpan humor as Genie balances her quest for the Ivies with Quentin’s quest to harness her newfound superpowers to defeat an army of... Read More

This steampunk homage to PETER PAN pits German marauders against young survivors of war and a deadly virus that decimated the adult population. On the run in Everland (postwar London), Gwen may be "the immune"—the key to the world’s survival. Fiona Hardingham and Steve West narrate chapters, alternating between the points of view of Gwen and Hook, the German captain. West, as... Read More

Amy Rubinate invites listeners to enter the inner and outer worlds of 16-year-old Samantha McAllister. Rubinate conveys Sam’s anxiety as she curries favor with a clique-ish set of friends and their mean-girl leader. She dramatizes Sam's inner struggles as she hides her compulsive behaviors, finding her stress relieved only by competitive swimming and comforting discussions with... Read More

The members of the male-only Explorers Club have faced many adventures, but none as challenging as admitting their first female member. Their manners prove about as appropriate as their skills at exploring as they offend their new member, Phyllida, as well as become ensconced in a confrontation with the British military and a possible invasion of a native tribe in Africa. This... Read More

With bright-sounding innocence, Sarah Drew portrays an American zoologist working in Australia who makes the discovery of a lifetime when she finds that the endangered carnivorous marsupial the tiger quoll may still exist in the wild. However, to save the species she may have to make a deal with the devil--a timber baron, portrayed by American actor Seamus Dever, who sports a... Read More

Narrators Khristine Hvam and James Fouhey are well cast in their dual narration of the interwoven story of Lane and Sadie. In the not-so-distant future, a virulent strain of tuberculosis is sweeping the U.S., and the two teens have been confined to a residential facility. James Fouhey portrays the newly arrived Lane, defining him by his drive, wit, and innocence. In contrast,... Read More

A slender but entertaining play fictionalizes the Piltdown Man hoax, the supposed “missing link” of human evolution that, 40 years after its discovery, was revealed to be a fake. Scenes from 1914, the year of the discovery, alternate with scenes of 1953, the year of the debunking. The cast and direction are superb, ably concentrating on character and human conflicts rather than... Read More

In Volume One of the Ascendance Trilogy, Charlie McWade enacts the sometimes brutal transformation of Sage from roast-stealing teen orphan to prince and ruler of Carthya. McWade’s haughty tones for the ambitious regent Bevin Conner, who grooms the young orphan, contrast well with his thuggish portrayal of Conner’s creepy underling and with his depiction of the working-class... Read More

Narrator Brian Nishii showcases his versatility with a lively and entertaining performance of this contemporary retelling of THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV. For 35 years, the Chao family has successfully run an Americanized Chinese restaurant in Haven, Wisconsin. Nonetheless, they are still viewed as outsiders and subjected to racism. Nishii nails his characterization of the abrasive... Read More

Don’t look for happy endings in these five fairytale-themed stories. Instead they offer thoughtful contemporary impressions of classic works. In “The Prince and the Troll,” narrator Rebecca Lowman’s lilting voice and endearing laugh are captivating—as the prince discovers. Kimberly Woods is authentic in “Hazel and Gray,” a frightening cautionary tale based on “Hansel and... Read More

Narrator Angela Dawe adds a snappy tone to this fast-paced story, providing a spicy backdrop for the painful experiences of Fat Angie. Angie, mocked and bullied by peers, has recently learned that her soldier sister, the only one who seems to understand her, has been captured in Afghanistan. Now, Angie is facing the fallout from her response to that development--a failed, very... Read More

If it’s been a while since you tackled Goethe’s FAUST—like, forever—don’t wait a moment longer. John R. Williams’s sparkling English translation is delightful, full of wit and delicious rhymes, and would be reason enough to fling yourself at it, but this full-cast production more than doubles the pleasure. The actors play it as if we were all Faust and hell were going to be a... Read More

Enter a chilling, twisted future in which one’s every thought and movement is directed and regulated by the “feed,” a computer chip implanted in the brain. This dystopia is seen through the eyes of teenagers: some who embrace the feed and revel in its unbridled consumerism, and one who rails against society’s rampant ignorance and banality. David Aaron Baker’s superb use of... Read More

Narrator Will Collyer delivers an animated performance of this audiobook inspired by C.S. Pacat’s graphic novels. Nicholas, the illegitimate son of an Olympic fencer, barely claims a spot on his high school’s fencing team. Collyer’s depiction conveys Nicholas’s eagerness to fit in among his elite peers despite his poor background. After a narrow victory against another school,... Read More

Jorjeana Marie masterfully narrates this story of mothers, daughters, and fractured relationships. After spending nearly three years in a mental institution against her will, Cassie O'Malley is not sure how to move forward with her life. Marie's narration pulls the listener into Cassie's frame of mind as she attempts to re-enter the world. Cassie spirals between self-reflection... Read More

Leonard Peacock is a complicated character, and narrator Noah Galvin quickly conveys his disturbing emotions. On his eighteenth birthday, a day his mother forgets to remember, Leonard plans to kill his former best friend and then himself. There’s drama in the situation, and Galvin portrays Leonard’s quick changes from hot, vengeful anger to cold, sarcastic distance as well as... Read More

Narrator Carl Rigg uses his extraordinary vocal talent to infuse this collection of Conan Doyle's most suspenseful stories with a sense of danger and horror. There is exactitude to Rigg's delivery that engages the listener both intellectually and emotionally, creating empathy with the characters and their plights. As Rigg employs an authoritative tone for the descriptions, he... Read More

Narrator Chloe Dolandis keeps the tension high in this creepy YA thriller. Sia Gianopoulos has diving in her blood. After a charter dive goes wrong and the boat is wrecked by a monstrous creature, Sia washes up on an island with a handful of survivors and a lot of questions. Dolandis nails the pacing that is key to this type of story. The mystery plays out slowly enough to... Read More

Jim Weiss, noted for his spirited, thoughtful storytelling for children, tries something different with this very adult classic. He does it well. Though initially his reading seems affected, caricaturing rather than characterizing, the listener is quietly swept up, especially after Dr. Frankenstein creates his monster. From that point on, Weiss reads with a slight European... Read More

Simon Vance narrates this no-frills production of what is widely regarded as the first science-fiction novel ever published. FRANKENSTEIN may be one of the most oft-recorded novels of all time, but this version is certainly a fine one. In fact, it's hard to imagine one better. Simon Vance's regal English accent provides the perfect tone for this early-nineteenth-century moral... Read More

When 12-year-old Taemon loses his psi, the power everyone in the city has to move objects with their minds, he’s banished to the “dud community” to live among the powerless. Narrator Nick Podehl is an excellent choice for this dystopian story. His timing keeps up with the fast pace of the story without feeling rushed. His portrayal of Taemon changes as the character does,... Read More

Capably performed by the inimitable Dion Graham, this history of the Black Panther Party (BPP) opens with stories of its founders and the organization itself and closes with the BPP's collapse and the future of its key players. A coda pulls together the BPP's place in the freedom struggle for BIPOC in the US, and an author's note explains the selection of materials included.... Read More

The full cast that presents this anthology, published in partnership with We Need Diverse Books, does a remarkable job of bringing to life stories by some of today's best-known YA authors. These slice-of-life pieces provide not only mirrors but also windows on issues of race, sexuality, and urban life. Listeners will be intrigued by Gene Luen Yang's comic "Paladin/Samurai,"... Read More

When five peculiar children, Poppy, Dash, Dylan, Marcus, and Azumi, are trapped in an eerie house, they must work together to find a way out. Narrator Dan Bittner uses a slow pace to keep listeners on edge throughout the story, especially when the children find out that they're not alone--they're with the ghosts of orphaned children from the past. Bittner creates a unique and... Read More

Karl T. Wright takes the mic, supported by Imani Parks and P.J. Ochlan, in this tale of a haven turned hellscape. For teen protagonist Jay and the other resident workers—mostly people of color—the Karloff Country theme park and resort has been an oasis from the destabilizing effects of climate change. Wright expertly evokes Jay’s growing horror, shared by listeners, as he... Read More

When teenaged Zarin and Porus are found dead in a car on the side of a highway in Saudi Arabia, their community is abuzz with speculation and gossip. As their ghosts watch the investigation unfold, listeners are taken through their lives in a series of flashbacks. Told through multiple perspectives by four narrators—Firdous Bamji, Neil Shah, Soneela Nankani, Lameece Issaq—the... Read More

Narrators Lauren Ezzo and Brittany Pressley create distinct, powerful portraits of 18-year-olds Biddy and Quincy, special education students who are placed in the same home. Biddy’s tenderness is lyrically expressed as she finds images to express her emotions. Quincy is sarcastic, sassy, and scornful of her new roommate. The unique gifts and strength of these characters are... Read More

Karla Souza (who plays Laurel on "How to Get Away with Murder") creates a pitch-perfect, youthful narration of Cammi, an ultra-privileged teen whose life is transformed. When Cammi's Mexican telenovela superstar mom moves the family to the U.S. to play a maid in an American television show, Cammi's new friends at progressive Polestar Academy assume Cammi is an immigrant kid on... Read More

While participating in a field trip that a young class is told not to mention to anyone, their teacher disappears. What happened that day? And whom can the kids talk to? Kate Rudd has the perfect voice to narrate the innocence, wonder, and confusion of a classroom of young girls as they try to figure out what has happened to their teacher. Rudd’s emotional narration captures... Read More

Narrator Kyle McCarley deftly defines each character's voice in this harrowing dystopian novel. Fourteen-year-old Sam and his friends are trying to survive after everyone over the age of 14 mysteriously vanishes from the world. Their situation becomes dire when power struggles emerge among leaders, and some of the kids discover magical powers that soon make them targets for... Read More

With a photographer's eye for honest detail and a musician's ear for the era's language and dialogue, John Steinbeck's Dustbowl epic of displacement, heartache, and hope became both a touchstone and lightning rod in American literature as soon as it was published in 1939. The novel continues to resonate and L.A. Theatre Works's full-cast performance of Frank Galati's Tony... Read More

Oh, the complications of being a teenager! Falling in love with your two best friends, one female, one male, then accidentally unleashing a plague that causes the end of the world. Philip Church narrates Smith’s novel with blunt tones, presenting a Vonnegut-like tale with straightforward prose. It works perfectly. The outlandishness of people turning into giant, murderous... Read More

In this medieval fantasy, Ismae is marked by a blood-red stain, which predicates that father sell her nuptials as if she were a prized pig. But her wedding night reveals that she’s been chosen by Mortain, god of death, to be his vengeful assassin. Narrator Erin Moon ably handles this twisty tale of intrigue. She smoothly delivers French pronunciations and medieval vocabulary as... Read More

With its meandering paragraphs, colorful character names, and engrossing plots, Charles Dickens's masterpiece is magical in the audiobook format. Anton Lesser's performance is especially notable for its blend of the traditional and contemporary. He captures young Pip's transformation from downtrodden lad to society gentleman with all the typical trappings of Dickens's... Read More

Great literature can pose problems for narrators. If the book is a classic, the pitfalls are that the listener has a preconceived notion of how the book should sound and, perhaps, how the characters themselves should sound. It is, thus, heartening to listen to Michael Page's narration of Dickens's tale. He sheds new light on the text and shows off his collection of... Read More

The 1925 trial of science teacher John Scopes was a defining moment in the debate over evolution and creation and the source of some of America’s finest literature and theater. This new theatrical production compares favorably with its esteemed predecessors. With Sharon Gless narrating and providing detailed historical background, the production aims to be historically... Read More

Physical items from WWI inspired this collection of 11 short stories, but no visuals are necessary to bring these powerful generation-spanning tales to life. The listener will recognize the accents of Scots, Aussies, African-American, French, Irish, and English characters as six different narrators (one per story) reveal uniquely personal tolls of war through the eyes of... Read More

What an amazing science writer and explorer Mary Roach, the author of STIFF, has become! Here she fearlessly delves into more taboo terrain, turning the topics of chewing, swallowing, digestion, and elimination into a fascinating biological adventure. Narrator Emily Woo Zeller complements Roach's bizarre details, witty style, and humorous attitude word by word. Zeller is... Read More

Jon Scieszka again proves his expertise in humor and hooking boys on reading by choosing 10 hysterical stories, many of them written by the funniest children’s book writers in the field. The audio adds top names in narration. Their timing and tones make each story, whether slapstick or slightly disgusting, even stronger. The range of hilarity is wide. There’s Jack Gantos’s... Read More

This American-accented HAMLET is a churning, turbulent production with many fine moments resulting from its fast pace. This energy may inevitably lead to a few missed opportunities for quiet and meditation (or for the listener to have a respite), but the overall effect is satisfying. The greatest range is shown by Emily Swallow as Ophelia. Stacy Keach is also... Read More

In a barbershop, two boys learn what they need to do to grow up to be good men and positively contribute to society. Part psychology, part in-your-face reality, the willingness of this barber to go out of his way to protect the young in his path should be appreciated by young adults. Peter Francis James's narration captures the low-income neighborhood perfectly, with characters... Read More

This topical L.A. Theatre Works presentation of the stage play about the effects of concussions suffered by football players captures a dual challenge: How do you study the impact that hits have on players, and can you prevent them? Veteran actor Ernie Hudson shines as the volatile, opinionated father of a woman whose football-playing husband has recently died. Scott Wolf... Read More

Priya Ayyar’s narration brims over with all the conflicting emotions of first love in this heartwarming YA romance. Nishat is an Irish-Bangladeshi teenager who has just come out to her parents. When a school competition pits her henna business against her new crush’s, she suddenly finds herself dealing with the aftermath of coming out, her school’s homophobia and racism, and... Read More

In his introduction, author Walter Dean Myers explains that his collection of poems about Harlem was inspired by SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY. The poems in HERE IN HARLEM were made to be performed—listeners hear a chorus of voices from different eras and walks of life, full of joy and sorrow, pride and pain as they shed light on the African-American experience. Thirteen talented... Read More

Narrator Michael Crouch demonstrates a wholly satisfying range of teen and adult voices in his performance of Katie Henry's dialogue-rich debut novel. Each of the five boys and girls in the eponymous club, along with assorted family members of various ages, receives a distinct and consistent tone and pitch, making it easy to recognize every speaker in the moment. Although moods... Read More

When Ten Boom's close-knit, deeply Christian Dutch family, who lived over their watch shop, became involved in the Dutch resistance after the Nazi invasion, the consequences were dire. Bernadette Dunne gives Ten Boom a slightly worn voice, which works well for a story told in retrospect. Dunne also indicates other characters with ease and suppleness. She manages to convey the... Read More

Moments before Earth is destroyed, Ford Prefect, an alien who’s been incognito for 15 years while researching a newer edition of THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, rescues his friend, Arthur Dent. The two stow away on a passing spaceship, and their adventures begin. Ford and Arthur encounter ex-hippie Galaxy President Zaphod Beeblebrox; Marvin, the morose robot; and a slew... Read More

Dan Bittner’s narration develops the unique personality of 17-year-old Ben, a secondary character in Konigsberg’s earlier book OPENLY STRAIGHT. At the end of that story, Ben has pushed away Rafe, his best friend with whom he had a brief lover relationship. In this follow-up, Bittner quickly reveals Ben’s intelligence and introspection. His delivery continually contrasts Ben’s... Read More

Narrated by award-winning voice actors, HOPE NATION offers a respite from the turmoil of current events with uplifting messages written by well-known young adult authors from various walks of life. In this collection of honest essays, listeners find that the people penning the words are just as vulnerable as everyone else but are willing to share their experiences with those... Read More

Cherise Boothe anchors this production with her performance as world-weary Jennica, a teen we meet when she tries to save her schoolmate, Tariq Johnson, after he’s shot in broad daylight. In the wake of Tariq’s death, a full cast alternates between points of view as diverse as that of the shooter, who believed Tariq was armed, and that of the Reverend Alabaster Sloan, who comes... Read More

The author, a descendant of the Puritan minister Cotton Mather, reads her fictional first-person narrative based on her family history. Mather makes clear the unfriendly reception that 15-year-old Sam receives when she moves to Salem with her stepmother. For unknown reasons, she is the target of the "ancestors," girls who are descended from the Salem witches. As narrator,... Read More

In this riveting dystopia story of a fascist United States, rebellious districts are punished by the government with the annual Reaping. Each district provides a child at the Reaping to fight to the death against the other districts' children in the Hunger Games, based on the Greek myth of Theseus. The story’s heroine, Katniss, already hardened by a lifetime of poaching to feed... Read More

God slaps the New Orleans Superdome like a drum as he sings a hurricane song called Katrina in this riveting young adult novel. Between the authenticity of the writing and narrator Jacob Norman’s laid-back, youthful delivery, listeners will be convinced they're eavesdropping on the characters in this novel. Miles, a high school sophomore, and his pop and uncle are forced to... Read More

If you’re a brilliant 15-year-old girl, why be a cheerleader when you can be a spy? Cammie Morgan is enrolled in Gallagher Academy, a secret CIA school whose 7th-10th-grade girls are fluent in 14 different languages and take classes in covert operations. Narrator Renée Raudman is as gifted as any Gallagher girl as she jumps into their boots to romp through the raucous yet... Read More

Narrator Nan Gurley convincingly portrays Casey Cox as she flees in shock after discovering the murder of her boyfriend, Brent Pace. Pace was investigating the supposed suicide of Cox's dad, a cop, and the possibility that some of Shreveport's police are dirty. The gripping chapters alternate between the kind, resourceful Cox, who goes on the run, and PTSD sufferer Dylan... Read More

Thirteen-year-old Noah believes he shares one heart with his twin sister, Jude, but jealousy and secrets threaten their relationship. Dual narrations by Julia Whelan and Jesse Bernstein distinguish both protagonists, articulate their changing personalities, animate minor characters, and reveal dramatic truths. When Jude resumes the story at age 16, the two barely speak. Jude... Read More

Roxana Ortega and Christian Barillas return to narrate the conclusion to Stork's previous book, DISAPPEARED. Having escaped the cartel in Mexico and illegally entered the United States, Sara, voiced by Ortega, has applied for asylum and awaits in a detention facility for a decision on her status. Ortega conveys Sara's frustration as her faith in the U.S. justice system wanes... Read More

Emily Durante conveys the loneliness and exhilaration of Evie Johnson, a student at Wildcliffe Abbey School. Evie quickly develops a secret friendship with a local boy named Sebastian. For most of the story, listeners will ponder the delicious question of whether Sebastian wants to date Evie—or kill her? Meanwhile, a ghost from 1882 leads Evie to mystical powers. Durante evokes... Read More

Polish teenager Irene Gut endured harrowing depredations during the German occupation of her country, which only served to inspire her to risk her life further to rescue Jews from the death camps. All this she tells to writer Jennifer Armstrong, who tells it to us in the first person. Having boiled down incidents and personalities into simple clichés, Armstrong makes the tale... Read More

The author's message on human trafficking is grave, so Nicol Zanzarella treats it accordingly in her narration. However, the organization of the book itself challenges her effectiveness. Repetition may be an effort to reinforce details, but it also has the potential to desensitize some listeners to the horror contained in the narratives. Also, while Zanzarella infuses those... Read More

Narrator Adenrele Ojo guides listeners on a journey of love, loss, and family as the coming-of-age stories of mother and daughter Marilyn and Angie are told 18 years apart. In the present day, teenaged Angie sets off on a road trip with her ex-boyfriend to look for answers to her mother's past and her African-American roots in California. Ojo taps into the tension as the exes... Read More

Narrator Adenrele Ojo brings a strong delivery to this unusual story. In Alabama, Toya attends a mostly white high school, where she’s bullied by fellow black students. The establishment of this context is crucial, for the story quickly shifts into a fantastical tale. Toya prays to Jesus to become white. When He answers her prayer, she’s transformed into a glamour girl “as... Read More

After surviving breast cancer and the terrible treatment necessary to eradicate it, the author moved across the country to start a new life. There, she met, by happenstance, a Somali woman struggling to raise five daughters in an alien country. Thebarge decided to help them. These are the girls of the title. Narrator Kirsten Potter has an assured, gentle voice that captures the... Read More

Kate and Mary Romero live in present-day El Paso, but their father, a minister, has isolated them from modern temptations, including the Internet. When he dies unexpectedly, the teenagers are left alone to cope with the outside world; take care of their mother, who is in a persistent vegetative state; and decide on their futures. Narrator Carrington MacDuffie's expressive... Read More

Orphaned, unattractive, and poor, the noble Jane Eyre overcomes her shortcomings through persistency of character and virtue. This production enlivens the classic with eloquent, expressive narration by Wanda McCaddon. She demonstrates a strong command of British accents, which she ably employs for the large cast of characters. She also includes convincing French phrases from... Read More

Opening with the sounds of a crisp blues guitar and a car on a lonely gravel road, L.A. Theatre Works performs the off-Broadway adaptation of this classic 1960s story. A black California homicide detective is passing through a backwater Alabama town that just happens to have had a murder. The performances deliver all the tension, humor, and grit of the original novel and film.... Read More

A family struggling to make ends meet has their lives torn apart when their 9-year-old son, Johnny, decides to retaliate against a school bully. Dion Graham is up to the challenge of narrating this well-done story, set in the 1960s in California. Graham has to shift between various characters, including the boy and his parents, Tennessee transplants. He gives African-American... Read More

Myers's posthumously published novel, set in the 1840s, tells the story of William Henry Lane, a free black dancer known as Master Juba. Incorporating the Irish step dancing he saw around him as a child in Brooklyn with African and minstrel styles, Juba developed what came to be known as tap dancing and was celebrated in London, as well as New York, until his early death at 27.... Read More

Part of L.A. Theatre Works’ The Play’s the Thing series, this production is a stellar example of the ensemble’s talent. There’s a perfect balance between human voice and background music/sound effects. The all-American cast provides a fresh and equally professional approach to this classic, which is typically performed by British actors. In addition, the production quality is... Read More

Bill Homewood narrates this classic tale of mystery and suspense with a pace like a marching army. He uses emphasis and pauses to build tension in this world of danger and intrigue. His expertise in performing accents and creating characters with sublime ease makes the story come alive. The tension in his voice matches the growing conflict between the hunted and the hunters.... Read More

Narrator Michael Crouch delivers an intense performance of a teen thriller that demands the listener's attention until the very end. One year after his best friend, Connor, was the last victim of a serial killer, Mac stumbles upon a clue. Drawn into the search, and with the help of his new, very attractive friend Quill, Connor discovers that the killer couldn’t have been a... Read More

Narrator Rebecca Yeo brings this YA fantasy to life with deft characterizations. Ren is a near-immortal being who collects the souls of the dead and walks among the living and the magical creatures of the world as she travels from England to Japan in search of her mother. The story includes characters from all around the globe, and Yeo delivers their accents and occasionally... Read More

Narrator Michael Crouch’s portrayal shows the many facets of 16-year-old Vic’s sorrow. Vic’s father’s death and his mother’s new relationship leave him feeling alone in coping with his Moebius syndrome, which paralyzes his face. Miserable Vic runs away with his father’s urn and meets Mad and three other homeless kids who are cared for by Baz, a kindly young Congolese woman.... Read More

Being transported in time to the antebellum South would hardly be the first choice of a young black woman of the 1970s--even if it's to save the life of the slaveholder who otherwise might never grow up to be her ancestor. This may seem farfetched to some, but it provides the framework for a poignant and thought-provoking novel about slavery, survival and human nature. Kim... Read More

Piper Goodeve's talents are showcased in this young adult fantasy. Charged with safeguarding a portal to the Otherworld, Jack has dutifully performed his job for hundreds of years. Things change when he crosses paths with the young witch Ember O'Dare. When Ember slips Jack's protection and finds her way into the Otherworld without his help, he leaves his post to save her.... Read More

Narrator Tavia Gilbert captures every facet of Rachel Corrie's journey from middle school in Olympia, Washington, to her death at 23 beneath a bulldozer blade in Palestine. Rachel's parents released this collection of their daughter's poems and journal entries to fulfill her wish to be a published author and to let the world know her for more than her tragic death. The family's... Read More

April 1963 found Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., jailed in Birmingham, Alabama, for his leadership role in a Civil Rights protest there. Eight local religious leaders publicly admonished him for his participation, saying that it was particularly unseemly for a clergyman. The eloquence of the response King wrote from his cell, in which he defended "nonviolent, direct action"... Read More

Phoebe Strole's earnest, hopeful portrayal of Hasidic Devorah Blum creates a compelling duet with Leslie Odom, Jr.'s, passionate, eager depiction of Caribbean nerd Jaxon Hunte. When Devorah and Jax are trapped in a Brooklyn elevator during a hurricane, an unlikely love blossoms, and they find themselves wrangling with heavy societal and cultural obstacles. Dual narrators are an... Read More

In Cory Doctorow’s latest YA thriller, Marcus, a 17-year-old hacker, finds himself imprisoned by the Department of Homeland Security after a massive terrorist attack in San Francisco. In a sign of the times, the U.S. is becoming an Orwellian police state, and Marcus is the only one who can set things right. Kirby Heyborne is the perfect choice to narrate. His youthful voice... Read More

Perfectly inhabiting spoiled Amy, sensible Meg, noble Beth, and forthright Jo, narrator Kate Reading interprets Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel with a blend of seriousness and humor. The story of four Massachusetts sisters and their beloved mother awaiting their father’s return from the Civil War, Alcott’s book about the real and imagined dramas of childhood has been popular... Read More

De la Peña’s apocalyptic adventure story, which starts off on a cruise ship and ends with a tsunami on a disease-ravaged island, will have listeners hanging on for dear life. As Shy, a Mexican-American crew member, reels from one disaster to the next, narrator Henry Leyva excels at dialogue. He brings to life the voices of the crew and passengers aboard the luxury liner,... Read More

The world has seen plenty of Holocaust memoirs. But as the number of survivors and witnesses grows smaller, the need to remember through first-person stories like this one remains important. Ben Lesser’s personal story of his experiences before, during, and after the Nazi Holocaust balances his descriptions of horror, tragedy, and degradation with a message of hope and an... Read More

"People are poems," writes Lonnie C. Motion on the first page of this story, which is composed of the character’s poetry. If this is true, then author Jacqueline Woodson and narrator Dion Graham are epic. Together they bring the character Lonnie (aka Locomotion) to life. Episodes of his story are vividly depicted: the searing pain of the fire that took his parents, the sweet... Read More

Frank Beddor’s imaginative tale is definitely not your grandmother’s ALICE. Herein, Wonderland is an alternate universe, the source of all creativity in our world. On Princess Alyss Heart’s seventh birthday, her Aunt Redd seizes power in a bloody takeover. Alyss escapes to Victorian England. Outstanding as always, Gerard Doyle mirrors Alyss’s fury at the Reverend Dodgson (Lewis... Read More

A plane crashes on an uninhabited tropical island during wartime. A group of schoolboys--the sole survivors--form their own society, an experiment that quickly descends into chaos and death in Golding’s classic allegory. Listening Library recently rereleased this historic 1976 recording, and the timing could not be more apt. As CNN keeps viewers on edge with the latest military... Read More

The creator of Sherlock Holmes delivers a classic adventure fantasy in this tale of a trip by journalists, scientists, and adventurers to investigate rumors of dinosaurs on a mysterious plateau deep in a mythical South American jungle. Much fun and over-the-top adventure ensue. The author is ably supported by Glen McCready, who delivers a reading very much in the... Read More

These eight selections are by the celebrated Vermont faculty wife who wrote memorably of the macabre amid the mundane. "The Lottery," her most famous tale, is certainly not the least of these superb short stories. Carol Jordan Stewart reads them with clarity, if not with depth. Her unadorned style complements the author's literary character, despite her weak delivery of the... Read More

Narrator Pat Young delivers this audiobook about our senses and how we interpret them. Sixteen-year-old Will, blind from birth, enters a mainstream public school for the first time and, in rapid succession, finds a strong coterie of pals, discovers friendship with a bright and troubled girl who is a photographer, undergoes experimental surgery on his eyes, and faces losing his... Read More

Billie Fulford-Brown narrates this contemporary British coming-out story. Eighteen-year-old Georgia has never kissed anyone, much less dated, had sex, or fallen in love. In fact, she's never truly wanted any of those things. As she begins her first year at Durham University, however, Georgia can't surrender her dream of a "normal" university experience—romance included. It's... Read More

In one of Shakespeare’s shortest plays, a Scots noble, inspired by witches, murders to become king and then loses himself in brutality. James Marsters and Joanne Whalley, as Macbeth and his Lady, are both quite good, if rarely exciting or remarkable. Whalley hits that mark more often. There are, by turns, some flatness and overacting in the lesser roles. There’s too much forced... Read More

In this 1992 L.A. Theatre Works live performance, Tony Award winner David Cromer and the irrepressible Shelley Berman (1925-2017) created a wonderful chemistry between a shy rabbinical student who is searching for the perfect mate and an old-style Yiddish matchmaker who possesses a large envelope full of prospects. Always full of heartwarming wit and comic detail, these ace... Read More

This remarkable audio history begins with Nelson Mandela's voice proclaiming on a crackly recording his five immortal words:"I am prepared to die." The words were uttered when he gave a four-hour speech testifying at his own trial in 1964. Throughout this compelling history, Desmond Tutu is accompanied by multiple voices and newsreels in support of Mandela's life story. Music... Read More

In the classic American novel LITTLE WOMEN, the father is more of a presence than a character. He’s serving in the Union Army at the beginning and comes home to recuperate from illness later on. Author Geraldine Brooks has taken the patriarch of the March family and spun an entire story. It is set in the Civil War, and flashbacks help flesh out the back story of his... Read More

In the first of a new series called The Ravenwood Saga, narrator Jaimee Draper sets a tone of solemnity as the Great House of Ravenwood awaits the changes of young Lady Selene. Draper adds intensity as Selene suffers pain while receiving her gift of dreamwalking. More horrific, Selene learns that entering others' dreamscapes might mean their deaths. Draper introduces Damien,... Read More

Sallot Leon, a thief, steals a poster announcing open auditions for the Left Hand—the volunteers who function as the queen’s assassins. Sal goes to the auditions, hoping to be able to join the group—but not to become an assassin. Sal wants revenge. Narrator Deryn Edwards credibly depicts Sal and the characters they encounter. A gender-fluid character, Sal has has had to be... Read More

This audiobook hurls listeners into the heart of a hurricane. Morgan Fairbanks narrates Sophie March’s struggle to survive a hurricane in her Outer Banks, North Carolina, home with help from her former crush, Finn. Sophie is no stranger to hard times; it hasn’t been long since the car accident that left her sister with brain damage and sent her guilt-racked father packing. Finn... Read More

Frankie Corzo's delivery is beautifully suited to Stork's spirited narrator and strong characters in this story of loss, hope, and fighting for yourself in trying times. After Vicky Cruz attempts to end her life, she finds herself in the Mental Disorders Ward of Lakeview Hospital. Electing to stay and seek treatment, Vicky soon meets people who accept her as she is, and finds a... Read More

“Looking on oneself as something alien, forgetting the sight, remembering the gaze,” wrote Kafka, perhaps presaging his most famous tale, in which a workaday traveling salesman wakes one day to find he is now a huge dung beetle. Kafka expertly portrays the vagaries of the human heart--all of its sad glory and tinny selfishness--in a recording that the gifted Martin Jarvis... Read More

Narrator Henry Leyva introduces listeners to Danny Lopez, a 16-year-old of mixed Anglo and Mexican heritage with a great fastball. Danny has remained with relatives instead of going with his mother and her new boyfriend to San Francisco. Leyva ably voices Danny's past difficulties with fitting into the prep school he has just left and his current desire to fit into his Mexican... Read More

Victor Bevine's steady narration brings an air of gravitas to this compelling story, which focuses on the 1955 murder of Emmett Till. While visiting his grandfather in Mississippi, 16-year-old Hiram is horrified to discover that a childhood friend may have been involved in the brutal slaying of 14-year-old Till. Bevine deftly conveys Hiram's tortured thoughts as he agonizes... Read More

Narrator Imani Parks portrays an African-American teen named Claudia who is learning-challenged. At school, Claudia has always been buoyed by her best friend, Monday Charles, but now, at the beginning of a new school year, Monday is missing, and only Claudia seems to notice. In a story that contains many time shifts, Parks's emotive narration aids the transitions that recall... Read More

Kenneth Williams--best known from the British "Carry On" films--gives an extravagantly theatrical performance of Waley's adaptation of a Chinese classic (JOURNEY TO THE WEST), matching the fantastic world of the story, filled with Chinese deities and monsters and Monkey's larger-than-life shenanigans. Williams provides many character voices, some rather silly, rolls his r's,... Read More

What if you were 16 years old, on trial for felony murder, and your degree of guilt had become confused within your own mind? How would you discover the truth? Monster, winner of the first Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature, is written as the screenplay that prisoner Steve Harmon creates during his incarceration and trial, in an attempt to... Read More

Seventeen-year-old Hester feels drawn to Ezra, and as she investigates her family history, she learns why. Digging into resources at the Plymouth Library, she learns of an ancestor who was said to be a mermaid, who gave up her life in the sea to marry a human. Narrator Katherine Kellgren smoothly moves between the 1870s and current time. Her talent with accents is put to good... Read More

Ray Porter narrates in a "you-are-there" style that is well suited to this sweeping story of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Sheinkin focuses on Daniel Ellsberg's discovery and disclosure of government lies and mismanagement in Southeast Asia spanning more than two decades. Porter skillfully suggests the speech patterns and cadence of a variety of characters, including Vietnamese... Read More

Richard E. Grant introduces listeners to Reverend Clement, vicar of St. Mary Mead, and his neighbor, Miss Jane Marple. The weathered male voice narrating this first Miss Marple mystery may surprise some listeners, as later episodes are often told from the spinster sleuth’s point of view. Grant does his best with the male characters, delivering the various accents that help... Read More

Through the empathetic performances of two narrators, we meet gay Arizona high schoolers Jordan and Max, and their families and friends. Joel Froomkin brings high-strung energy to Jordan, who has a poetic sensibility and a slacker attitude. As confident jock Max, Anthony Rey Perez has an authentic, natural-sounding charm. Jordan's mom is behind on their mortgage, so she... Read More

Nick Podehl and Amy Rubinate share the narration of this National Book Award finalist, a fictional account—based on true events—of five Alaskans who attend a Catholic boarding school in the 1960s. The characters experience forced separation from family members and eradication of their language as they become illegal test subjects in a military experiment and suffer other... Read More

Dion Graham’s soft voicing of 13-year-old Samuel brings out all the heartache in his young life. Near the end of the Civil War, the free black orphan is sold into slavery by the priest in charge of the orphanage where he lives, condemning him to a life of hardship. This is a time when slaves are being pushed ever harder in order to maintain the lives of their owners. Graham’s... Read More

Newly graduated from England's Swanbourne Academy for Poor Bright Females, prim and very proper Miss Penelope Lumley is hired as a governess for three children living at Ashton Place. The 15-year-old Penny takes it in stride when she discovers the children were raised by wolves and communicate only in barks and growls. Katherine Kellgren's outstanding interpretation sets just... Read More

Rory leaves her small town in Louisiana to spend a year at a boarding school in London at the same time that a Jack-the-Ripper copycat killer starts dumping victims in her new neighborhood. Narrator Nicola Barber brings this mystery to life with her dramatic reading and nimble management of Rory’s Southern drawl and a variety of British accents. The decision to convey Rory’s... Read More

Narrators Almarie Guerra and Samuel Maria Gomez deliver candid and sobering performances in this contemporary retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice story with Afro-Latinx characters. Pheus is a charming boy from the Bronx who often serenades the local neighborhood girls. When he spends time with Eury, a disturbed girl who survived Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, he learns she... Read More

Nine voices weave a complex tapestry of horror and hope in an all-too-believable dystopian future. All the different narrators are somewhat confusing at first. However, they soon hit their stride and become an unparalleled cast. By 2140, sea levels have risen 50 feet. New York is still a vibrant city with horribly uneven income distribution, and all the angst that goes with it.... Read More

Kate Simses serves up a vivid, utterly believable portrayal of a family separated by the newly erected Berlin Wall. Young Gerta, her mother, and her older brother, Fritz, are trapped by the constant scrutiny of the East German border police, while her father and younger brother are unable to return from the West. Listeners will feel the complete despair in Gerta’s voice as life... Read More

Greg Watanabe, Kurt Kanazawa, and Joy Osmanski give riveting, emotional performances in this L.A. Theatre Works adaptation of the 1957 novel by Japanese-American author John Okada. After spending years in internment camps and prison, a Japanese-American who had said no to both a loyalty oath and serving in the U.S. military during WWII (hence, the term “no-no boy”) finally... Read More

This classic depiction of Black family life in Kansas in the 1930s is narrated with grace and skill by Jaime Lincoln Smith. The work brings the struggles and challenges of early-twentieth-century Black American experience to life, complete with Hughes's skillful use of dialect and prose. Smith deftly switches into period diction and local accents, voicing each family member so... Read More

Emily Woo Zeller’s dynamic narration draws listeners into this story of secret identities and learning to be your own hero. In a not-too-distant future, WWIII and related disasters triggered genetic mutations in some people. Now superheroes fight villains across the North American Collective. Jessica Tran may not have inherited superpowers from her parents, but she has just... Read More

Narrator Norman Dietz does not disappoint in this comical and oftentimes poignant collection of seven Mark Twain short stories. He’s as comfortable with delivering the rustic speech of Jim Smiley, the notorious bettor who gets hoodwinked in the title story, as he is with portraying an exasperated Adam as he copes with Eve in the Garden of Eden in "The Diaries of Adam and Eve."... Read More

On October 6, 1998, Matthew Shepard, a gay 21-year-old student at the University of Wyoming, was viciously beaten, tied to a fence, and left to die. Author Newman’s intimate reaction to this tragedy, a heartrending collection of 68 poems, is narrated by an outstanding cast. The narrators expertly carry the weight of the poems, excelling on verses that combine more than one... Read More

Aristotle admired OEDIPUS TYRANNOS as the pinnacle of tragic art. Indeed, aside from its fine poetry and Freudian undertones, it is a taut, suspenseful detective story. It is up to King Oedipus to ferret out and purge the town of whoever murdered his predecessor. This British production is a tad too reverential and somewhat pretentious. No accommodation is made to the sightless... Read More

Narrator Julia Whelan's skills as a narrator beautifully serve Jay's romantic and inspired riff on the fairy tale. She capably creates and maintains highly differentiated voices for half a dozen characters--two of whom have major narrative roles as well as dialogue between them. A princess named Isra is condemned by local politics to sacrifice her life for the perpetuation of... Read More

Mawi Asgedom brings authenticity to the narration of his memoir, whether he's telling stories of the hardships his family endured while escaping a war or talking about moving to a new country and overcoming difficulties in assimilating there. Illuminating the lessons he learned from his father, his faith, and his culture, Mawi provides a vivid picture of a young man who faces... Read More

Eighteen-year-old Emma meets Galen Forza on a Florida beach and considers his handsome perfection out of her league. Their meeting is no coincidence. Prince Galen believes Emma is not a human but a Syrena (mer-person) like him. Fighting a forbidden attraction to Emma, Galen puzzles out her human origins while dealing with underwater politics that might pair Emma with his... Read More

Narrator Sofia Bunting Newman moves confidently through a range of accents and languages to tell the story of Slava Lenski, a girl we meet during her childhood in Poland in the early days of WWII. While Newman captures a sense of place and its people, she reads more than she performs, a questionable choice in a story so full of emotion as listeners hear about Slava’s family... Read More

You see the book’s title, and you make certain assumptions. It’s a classic. It’s uniquely English. And it will capture (or recapture) your imagination as only great books can. If you’ve never read it, let this version be your introduction. If you’ve already experienced it in print, then indulge yourself in a terrific audio experience. From the very start—and I mean the first... Read More

Nowhere is Dickens’ anger at Victorian “political economy” more evident than in this stinging rebuke, and reader Martin Jarvis mitigates none of the sting. It’s evident in the unctuous voice of Fagan, the brutal voice of Bill Sykes, the pomposity of Mr. Bumble, the pleading of Nancy, but above all, in the innocent hope of Oliver himself. With his precise but subtle reading of... Read More

British narrator Pearl Hewitt introduces listeners to the mysterious Olivia Brownlow, a London-born debutante whose high-society friends are unaware of her untraditional upbringing. Hewitt characterizes Olivia with graceful and elegant tones as she mixes with elite crowds. When Olivia ventures into the dark London nights as Ollie, a kindhearted boy who looks after a group of... Read More

MacLeod Andrews offers such an enthusiastically engaging narration that it almost doesn’t matter that the subject of this audiobook is fascinating and compelling in its own right. It explores where exactly our food comes from and what its ecological, economic, political, and social implications are. In this Young Readers Edition, the editors have toned down some of the more... Read More

Taylor Markham, an Australian high school student, spends her senior year trying to make sense of her personal history in this well-crafted coming-of-age story. The plot builds smartly as connections are made and seemingly unrelated pieces slot into place. Rebecca Macauley guides and compels the listener as the narrative jumps back and forth in time and switches point of view.... Read More

This is not an autobiographical look at an entire life; rather, it spans just a few months as the author approached his 10th birthday, as he prepared to emigrate from Iran. Kazerooni does an admirable job narrating his own work, lending a variety of voices to the people who come in and out of his life at this pivotal time. A kindly hotel owner has a tired, accented... Read More

ONCE is the story of children in the Holocaust, poignant and powerful without being frightening or graphic. With his gentle and utterly alive manner, Gleitzman reads the tale of Felix, a Jewish boy who runs away from the convent where his parents had him hidden and roams the countryside with an orphaned girl until they find their way to the cellar of a print shop in the Warsaw... Read More

Mark Turetsky's intense voice propels listeners through this futuristic mystery, in which a young man discovers a sanctuary for children where things may not be as they seem. A vivid grasp of imagery is essential to the success of Turetsky's delivery as the protagonist of this tale has synesthesia, and his unique view of the world shapes the listener's perception of the unusual... Read More

Rafe, who’s been out since he was 14, escapes labeling by leaving Colorado for a private boy’s school in New England. From the first, Pete Cross’s narration describes the high spirits of Rafe and his family. His loving mother is overly involved and well intentioned. His father is jokey as he records this big event. Rafe teases his parents affably as he prepares for his great... Read More

This production is perfect for both Shakespeare aficionados and newcomers alike. Chiwetel Ejiofor's Othello conveys the character's love, sadness, and murderous jealousy as if it were his own, all against a backdrop of Ewan McGregor's conniving and undeniably creepy Iago, who whispers his treachery into the listener's ear when all other characters fade from the scene. While... Read More

André Santana and Neo Cihi narrate this dual-perspective queer fantasy romance. Crest is a “mer” who is heading off on their month-long journey. The purpose is to experience life as a human before deciding whether to remain on land or return to the sea to begin adulthood as a mer. When they arrive on land, in a human body with a new human name, Crest meets a human lifeguard... Read More

This story of adolescence involves sports, the quest for popularity, first love, and all the accompanying emotions. Jonny and Kyle are neighbors in a New Jersey town where sports and tradition are everything. Their lives are a study in contrasts—Jonny's dad has left his family while Kyle is a sports hero with a comfortable home. Narrator Todd Licea is spot-on as the book opens... Read More

Narrators Medalion Rahimi and Jeff Marlow capture the complex relationship between a shy, intense, and extremely intelligent 17-year-old Muslim student and her high school science teacher. She draws him out of his middle-aged doldrums into a swirl of excitement and discovery as they work to design an experiment that will measure the effects of love on the teenage body and mind.... Read More

If you’re in the mood for a heart-pounding morality tale, this is the book for you. This seventeenth-century classic has survived all these years for many reasons, not least of which is that it portrays Satan as a sympathetic hero. Narrator Simon Vance is equipped with a forceful British accent, which he uses to accentuate the text and bring the story to life. His subtly... Read More

Having interpreted Inspector Ghote and assorted Anglo-Indians in the Keating mysteries, Sam Dastor is an obvious choice to narrate Forster's novel about colonial India. Dastor's performance is outstanding. A huge cast of characters of all classes and nationalities comes vibrantly alive as he takes the voice of each. Yes, but how does his interpretation compare to that of... Read More

The door between the human and faery worlds has been closed since the end of the Smiling War in Victorian England. The surviving humans and faeries are living in a precarious peace when children—changeling children—begin to go missing. A thrilling tale of mystery and suspense, Stefan Bachmann's debut novel is populated by memorably named characters and punctuated by descriptive... Read More

Narrator Humphrey Bower brings Georg Mark’s childhood in Nazi Germany to life with precise German accents and phrases. As Georg becomes George to escape Nazi persecution, first in England and later in Australia, Bower presents realistic characterizations with English and Australian accents. The voices Bower creates for Georg’s Australian foster family, the Peaslakes, make them... Read More

Benjamin A. Onyango narrates this poetic origin story of the Gikuyu people of Kenya in a knowing tone that resonates. This mythical tale, rendered in musical verse, defies genre. Onyango inhabits Ngugi, the chronicler of the story of Gikuyu and Mumbi, who become the mothers of the 10 Gikuyu clans. This tale of adventure and creation depicts clashes with ogres and epic... Read More

This classic audiobook, reimagined on film in the late 1990s, tells the story of two storms that combine off the Atlantic Coast to form one monster gale, and its catastrophic effect on one fishing ship. Narrator Richard M. Davidson's deep, authoritative voice effectively captures the book's mood, and his diction and tone allow listeners to easily follow all of the action. He... Read More

Barry and Pearson spin the tale of how an orphan of indeterminate age with no last name will become Peter Pan. Onboard the decrepit old ship Never Land, Peter and his friends endeavor to save an old trunk containing a powerful magic substance from a crew of pirates. Jim Dale gives a one-man performance that is truly astonishing. He creates distinct voices for all the... Read More

Dorian Gray is one of Wilde's most iconic characters, referenced consistently in any number of contemporary art forms. Loyal to this tradition, Greg Wise offers a timeless narration of this audiobook. His classic British voice--elegant and erudite--moves languidly between formally proper and ironic. Wise is the quintessential narrator of this type of novel; his laconic style... Read More

James Chen’s narration captures the life-changing school year of Danny Cheng—a Chinese-American teen who is living in Cupertino, California. Danny is overflowing with both youthful optimism and the anxiety of his upcoming high school graduation. Like most teens, Danny sees his friends as his world. Chen's heartfelt narration will make listeners feel a part of his group of... Read More

Author Martino, also publisher of Listen & Live Audio, was a wrestler and coach, and his experience is apparent in this story. Two students from very different backgrounds, Ivan Korske and Bobby Zane, are training for the New Jersey State Wrestling Championship. Narrator Mark Shanahan captures student/ coach relationships, the journey to the finals, and the pain that Bobby and... Read More

Julia Whelan's impassioned narration enhances the author's story of an alternate reality. In this world, citizens are divided--living either by day or by night. Seventeen-year-old Soleil Le Coeur is a "smudge"--someone relegated by law to live under the veil of night. Sol fakes an injury as part of her plan to give her dying grandfather one last gift--to hold his... Read More

New Zealander Saskia Maarleveld is the perfect narrator for the Down Under story of Verity Wolf. While Maarleveld’s accents provide a strong sense of place, she’s also skilled at evoking the warm relationships that are the story’s strength. Verity has a poetic gift and a best friend who sees her talent. Maarleveld depicts the closeness they’ve had since meeting at age 7.... Read More

Thirty-eight stories of life in the Old Country and in the new are read in their newest translation into English. Born in Russia, Reisen wrote Yiddish tales of shtetl life in Eastern Europe and immigrant life in the teeming city of New York before WWII. David Skulski narrates the introductory biographical sketch and the 38 stories in a gravelly voice that draws listeners in.... Read More

It’s hard to imagine a reader delivering his audience so completely to a foreign locale as Humphrey Bower does in this coming-of-age novel based in South Africa. Unfolding against a backdrop of the most pernicious racism, the story follows the growth of the poor young white boy, Peekay, whose growth to adulthood parallels his country’s struggle toward justice. Americans in... Read More

Twain’s classic story of the poor street urchin who changes places with Edward Tudor, Prince of Wales, and almost ends up being king is brought to life by Steve West’s wonderful performance. His smooth delivery flows easily through the flowery, unfamiliar syntax of the King’s English, engaging the listener in a way the printed word cannot. Skillfully balancing the humor,... Read More

"Do you believe in magic?" Answer that after you've listened to the first title in Stiefvater's new Raven Boys series. Narrator Will Patton takes you into a world of psychic powers, legends of the Welsh King Glendower, and the ley lines (mystical energy fields) that transect a sleepy Virginia town. Patton inhabits young Blue Sargent, who is raised in a family of psychics but... Read More

Michael Crouch and Nicole Wood share the narration of this gothic ode to the power of creativity. Crouch portrays a teenaged Edgar Allan Poe, who longs for the day he can leave Richmond, Virginia, and his overbearing foster father behind. Just as his goal is within sight, his Muse steps from the shadows to upend all his plans. Crouch infuses his narration with all the fervent... Read More

Fans of the classic graphic novel series Tintin will enjoy this biographical audiobook about its creator, Herge. Listeners will learn about his lower-middle-class childhood in Belgium, his experience as a teenage illustrator for a Boy Scout magazine, and his years as the illustrious and sometimes controversial originator of the beloved boy reporter. With his hefty catalog,... Read More

In this dark psychological novel of love, secrets and betrayal, a young, naïve woman marries the dashing Maxim de Winter and returns to his legendary estate at Manderley. There she must confront not only her own insecurities, but also the disturbing memory of Rebecca, the first Mrs. de Winter. Anna Massey, an experienced British actress, reads smoothly, capturing the innocence... Read More

Phoebe Strole, Michael Crouch, and a talented full cast narrate the Grand Prize winner of HarperCollins’s audio drama contest. Strole and Crouch give authentic-sounding youthful voices to funny and determined teens Alex Dassan and Jeremy Beekman. The ambitious pair, who are obsessed with doing everything they can to achieve the perfect futures they imagine for themselves,... Read More

In this re-release of a well-known classic, Frank Muller creates a world made for audio. His performance lifts the words from the page and turns them into flesh-and-blood characters with aches and torments. Each accent fits the character, and each character sounds authentic. Union soldier Henry Fleming faces his first battle and runs away. Muller turns Henry’s shame at his act... Read More

The second-person point of view can be distancing, but January LaVoy creates such a visceral world for 16-year-old Bisou that the space between listeners and characters fades. In one dramatic evening Bisou experiences the pleasures of sex, her first menstruation, memories of the blood that ended her mother's life, and the terror of a stalking classmate who has taken the form of... Read More

Kyla Garcia masterfully narrates the story of Lucia, a 14-year-old social butterfly living a placid life in 1960s Cuba. When communists invade Lucia's sleepy town, everything changes. First, their freedoms disappear, one by one. And then, their neighbors begin to disappear. Escape to the United States becomes the only solution, so Lucia and her brother, Frankie, make the... Read More

Colfer’s new science fiction series provides narrator Maxwell Caulfield a tableau of characters with which to demonstrate his formidable talents. The FBI has created a Witness Anonymous Relocation Program to transport high-profile witnesses into the past to trial. Teenaged Chevron, a magician turned assassin, and her assistant, Riley, end up in Victorian London. There they... Read More

Levi, an Australian 17-year-old, is sent to live with his father in Maine in the hope that the change of scene will jog him from a deep depression in the wake of his girlfriend’s death. Will Lasley narrates the story with aplomb, offering genuine emotional range in lieu of accents for the American and Australian teens. Levi's mutism, one manifestation of his depression, is... Read More

Narrator Leighton Pugh gives all the interlocutors in Plato’s most important dialogue their own voices. But only Socrates, who does almost all the talking, comes across as a full person: intelligent, moderate in temper, genial, accommodating to his fellows but someone who commands respect and attention. Pugh also distinguishes the minor characters adequately and switches among... Read More

Adventure nonfiction, whether set in the mountains or at sea, provides some of the most entertaining reading and listening. The nine selections in this collection are taken from climbing books, magazines, and personal writings. All the readers let the suspense come from the narrative itself, and there's action aplenty--a dramatic rescue on Switzerland's Eiger in the 1960s, a... Read More

Warning: This is not a tale for the squeamish. The seventh son of a seventh son, Tom Ward is sent off to apprentice himself to "the Spook," who has for years taken care of the evils in the county--boggarts, witches, and ghosts. Evan Welch gives a gripping and compelling rendering of each role--from the arrogant Old Gregory to the confused and sometimes not too swift... Read More

Jennifer Ikeda offers up a crisp, complex narration of a novel that features royalty, drama, and intrigue. Princess Marie is the heir to the throne. Aelwyn is a magician who will serve the kingdom. But both girls desire a different path, so they devise a dangerous plan in the hope of changing their fates. In a rich and engaging narration, Ikeda blends voices and accents to... Read More

In 1996 Baz Lurmann's film ROMEO + JULIET reimagined Shakespeare's play in a contemporary setting. The appeal to teens was high, and this BBC Radio dramatization from 1999 shares many of the same elements. The soundtrack includes zooming Vespas and squealing tires—very much the sounds of a modern Verona. The cast is young and the cadences brisk, but attention is paid to the... Read More

Caroline Feraday's brisk narration moves this swashbuckling romance along with a vigorous cadence and tone. If it's true that history repeats itself, 18-year-old Sophia Bellamy is in the thick of it. In a dystopian future, the earth's magnetic poles have shifted, wiping away all technology and returning Paris, now the "Sunken City," to a political hellscape. Fierce and... Read More

Rose Justice, a young American pilot ferrying planes in Britain as part of the Air Transport Auxiliary during WWII, finds herself captured and sent to Ravensbrück women’s concentration camp—but that’s far from the end of the story in Wein’s important novel for young adults. Sasha Pick narrates in Rose’s American accent for most of the audiobook but also delivers... Read More

His mother's untimely death forces 16-year-old Joey Crouch to travel from Chicago to a small town in Iowa to live with Harnett, the father he has never known. Incessantly bullied by teachers and students, Joey discovers the awful truth behind the foul odor that permeates the shack he shares with Harnett. Far from being the "Garbage Man's" son, as his classmates believe, Joey... Read More

Author/narrator Tim Wynne-Jones's story begins with Bee's presence at her boyfriend Donovan's hospital bed in the ICU. She finds herself alternating between fury and horror that she seems to be the only one who refuses to believe he tried to commit suicide by throwing himself in front of a car after murdering his father. She needs to find out what really happened. Wynne-Jones's... Read More

Narrator Ariana Delawari gives voice to the youthfully uncertain Janna, a Hijabi teen and self-described misfit. An excellent student, she's active in the youth group at her mosque but uncomfortable with both of her divorced parents and resentful of her mother's affection for her older brother and his “saintly” girlfriend. As she tries to overcome having been sexually assaulted... Read More

Narrator Jennifer Araya’s heartfelt and determined performance will have listeners rooting for aspiring teenaged chef Isa as she joins an intense cooking competition in France. Araya has an ear for the various Spanish, French, and English accents of Isa’s international competitors and supportive family members. The competition is ruthless, but Araya keeps her performance... Read More

Author Agnes Borinsky delivers a thoughtful performance of her debut novel about a teenager who is discovering their gender identity. Alex, who is portrayed in an introspective tone, tries to discover their genuine self. Growing up in Baltimore, Alex struggles with heteronormative expectations, striving to feel like a "real boy" in the eyes of his peers and family. Then, a... Read More

Small-town life can be rough, even in easygoing California, and 16-year-old Monty Sole experiences it up close—not only as the daughter of two moms but also because of her interest in the unexplained mysteries of the world (like psychic powers). Narrator Rebecca Lowman's soft tones and youthful cadence highlight Monty's struggles to understand the high school social scene,... Read More

Narrator Donada Peters gives a sense of immediacy to this classic 1850s novel featuring Hester Prynne, an unmarried young mother who must wear an embroidered scarlet "A," denoting her commission of adultery. Peters's portrayals of the matrons who wait outside the jail for Hester's appearance set the tone for 1642 Boston--a place of cruel judgments, whispery gossip, and... Read More

Julie Teal carefully narrates the story of principal Anna Essinger, a woman of unflinching spirit who was determined to save the children in her school in Nazi Germany. With impeccable English that shifts effortlessly to flawless German, Teal creates a well-paced depiction of “Tante Anna,” whose prescient decision to move her school and students beyond Nazi reach—from... Read More

At what point does love become obsession? Australian natives Eloise Oxer and Paul English coax every bit of charged emotion from this complex tale, which tells of the strange wives of the men on fictional Rollrock Island. Oxer uses a high-pitched voice for the crafty sea witch Misskaella, who cackles, mocks, and grieves in equal measure as she discovers she has brought a woman... Read More

In a smooth narration, Ron Butler tells the story of how the artists, actors, camouflage experts, sound designers, and other specialists of the U.S. Special Troops of WWII worked together to trick the Nazis into thinking they were facing troops, men, and equipment that were a cunning fabrication. Butler’s recounting of outlandish and detailed ruses used to outwit the enemy is... Read More

Wanda McCaddon delivers a delightful narration in this production of Austen's beloved first novel. McCaddon's characterizations are as lively as they are exact: From impetuous Marianne to the reserved Elinor; from dashing, willful Willoughby to the long-suffering, noble Colonel Brandon, her reading beautifully captures Austen's vivid creations. McCaddon's deep understanding of... Read More

Holter Graham and Saskia Maarlevald team up to narrate this French-inspired fantasy. Reid has dedicated his life as a chasseur to hunting down and burning all witches. Lou escaped her coven two years ago and has been in hiding ever since. When their paths cross, leaving them both in a compromising position, their only choice is holy matrimony. Maarleveld gives Lou a breathy,... Read More

This YA fantasy celebrates Japanese folklore and the legend of the Kitsune. Subtle cultural influences abound in the descriptions, but what really brings the atmosphere to life are the slightly accented performances of narrators Emily Woo Zeller and Brian Nishii. While Joy Osmanski’s portrayal of main character Yumeko is sweet and earnest, making her more relatable, her... Read More

The blend of fantasy and aspects of feudal Japan makes this story rich and original. Marriott’s wonderful characters and use of folklore gain further authenticity through Amy Rubinate’s performance. She gives the diversity of homelands that are part of the novel’s setting full credibility with a variety of accents and inflections. The main character, Suzume, lives in a world... Read More

Anika Noni Rose's narration rolls with every twist and turn in this fantasy, creating a variety of voices, moving flawlessly between English and Spanish, and bringing to life the main character. Sierra's summer project, painting a mural on an abandoned building in her Brooklyn neighborhood, shifts into a mystery that leads her to her magical heritage. Rose focuses listeners on... Read More

When we first meet Rosa, the shawl is wrapped around her toddler, Magda, as she and her niece, Stella, are being marched somewhere. Yelena Shmulenson gives just the subtlest tinge of accent to this section so that before the text clarifies what is happening, you are guessing—Eastern Europe? The Nazi years? In the main body of the story, Rosa is an old woman retired to Miami... Read More

L.A. Theatre Works' dramatization of this late-eighteenth-century play remains strikingly relevant today with its satirical digs at sexism, class consciousness, and upper-crust wealth. James Marsters and Joanne Whalley lead the cast in an uproarious comedy of manners that is reminiscent of Shakespearean follies of mistaken identity, all the while championing womanly guile and... Read More

As if high school weren’t already hard enough without adding werewolves to the mix! This earnest teen romance is presented alternately from Grace’s point of view and from Sam’s, so Jenna Lamia and David Ledoux trade off narrating duties. It’s an effective technique for the audio format. At one point in the story, Grace describes Sam and "the soft, sad shape of his lips, looking... Read More

Narrator Chloe Dolandis gracefully meets the challenge of delivering a story that unfolds in oral English, American Sign Language, and finger spelling. At 17, Maya has been profoundly deaf for only four years, so her observations and thoughts as this gentle teen romance develops from her viewpoint are in standard English. Mainstreamed for her last year of high school, Maya's... Read More

Twylla lives in a castle among those who consider her the human embodiment of a goddess. Narrator Amy Shiels brings concern and angst to Twylla's voice as she expresses her distrust of the royal family she's been raised in. This slowly unfurling YA fantasy takes a while to get rolling. Twylla is unable to touch anyone—if she does, the person will die—and when she starts to fall... Read More

Andrew Maraniss's latest sports-focused biography centers on baseball player Glenn Burke. Having played in the 1970s, Burke is remembered for two things: He was gay at a time when the gay liberation movement was in its infancy, and he is credited as the inventor of the high five. Kevin R. Free approaches the narration of this audiobook with dignity and an engaged tone. That's... Read More

With poignant grace, Keiko Agena, June Angela, and Suzy Nakamura lead a stellar cast, playing three Japanese-American sisters who find hope, heartache, and hard-won humor when they return to their family farm in California after four long years locked away in a Japanese internment camp during WWII. They had planned to pick up where they left off, but their father and mother are... Read More

Displaying an impressive array of vocal ability, Golden Voice narrator Soneela Nankani does double duty breathing life into the characters Rani and Ria. They are a princess and an orphan who, due to their identical appearance, swap places to save their home from war. Rani's tone is imperious and decisive, while Ria's is softer and more timid. Nankani's spicy inflections of... Read More

This production is exactly the reason young adult fantasy fare can work so well as audio entertainment. Narrator Rupert Degas will be known to fans of Philip Pullman as Pantalaimon in the audios of His Dark Materials, and he does a bang-up job here as well. This is dark comic fantasy, and Degas’s timing and complete grasp of the main character’s personality couldn’t be better.... Read More

A tale of colonialism, murder, and cannibalism might seem sensationalized, but this audiobook-in-verse about the ill-fated 1846 journey of Donner party is grounded by multiple perspectives. Leading the cast is Bahni Turpin, whose smooth performance as the omniscient narrator, Hunger, is all the more chilling for its grim, merciless edge. While other individual voices stand... Read More

Tobias Sartorius returns to his hometown after serving a sentence for the murder of two girls. His return initiates a series of events that reopens old wounds, uncovers secrets, and eventually results in history repeating itself. As Inspector Pia Kirchhoff and D.S. Oliver von Bodenstein investigate events, the listener is introduced to a list of characters that is jam-packed... Read More

This stunning novel by the gifted McCormick centers on 13-year-old Lakshmi, who lives with her family in the mountains of Nepal and is tricked into a life of prostitution. Raw, bitter, honest, and unnerving, the story comes to life in a vivid and personal performance by Justine Eyre. With a pitch-perfect tone that is as unrelenting as the story, Eyre delivers a stellar... Read More

This novel-in-verse, written by Kwame Alexander with Mary Rand Hess, sings with the despair, hope, and love that wash over 17-year-old Blade, a budding musician. Alexander’s affection for Blade is obvious through his narration. He wrings every drop of emotion from a poignant story of a teen who is missing his mother, who died years ago, and battling his father, a broken-down... Read More

In this YA memoir, Julissa Arce tells the story of her childhood in Mexico and her teen years as an undocumented immigrant in the U.S. Her heartfelt delivery makes the audiobook sound like a friend revealing her hidden tragic past. Before she became a vice president at Goldman Sachs, she was the youngest daughter in a family that prized education. Her parents worked tirelessly... Read More

Listeners will quickly realize that Du Bois's classic treatise on life in a post-slavery U.S. society still has resonance today. Du Bois examines how black progress was systematically obstructed for two generations after the abolition of slavery. He also discusses the unique and creative ways in which African-Americans must negotiate a system that regularly dehumanizes them and... Read More

Narrator Johnathan McClain offers a propulsive reading of Adam Makos's true story of tank warfare during WWII. This young adult adaptation of Makos's bestselling work takes listeners behind enemy lines, focusing on 21-year-old American tank gunner Corporal Clarence Smoyer of the 3rd Armored Division and 17-year-old German tank crewman Private Gustav Schaefer. Both are caught up... Read More

A novel that mixes a colorful and quirky cast (including a Marxist dragon) with music as a form of magic makes for a perfect adaptation into an audiobook. And GraphicAudio adds all the necessary flourishes. Jonathan Merriweather has been transported from his life as a law student into a medieval world of magic, where he unknowingly has great power as a Spellsinger. Terence... Read More

Listeners follow a documentary-style play as the tragedy of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill unfolds. On April 20, 2010, British Petroleum's flagship drilling rig exploded, collapsed, and spread millions of gallons of crude oil into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana. Earlier, tension over safety, the limits of technology, and company politics had... Read More

Narrator Nicola Barber shines in this gory thriller, which takes place in the Victorian era. The wealthy Audrey Rose works alongside her obsessive uncle and his handsome know-it-all apprentice in a forensics lab while a gruesome murderer terrifies London. Barber's cool tone perfectly reflects the dreary setting and will have listeners squirming as she depicts the grisly details... Read More

Lauren Fortgang expertly narrates this audiobook, the first in a new dark fantasy series. Trinity lives in a community safeguarded by wardens, gargoyle shape-shifters that keep everyone safe from demons. When word reaches her clan that a mysterious force is wiping out demons and wardens on the outside, Trinity and her new companion, Zayne, must master their secret powers for... Read More

Can a first day at a new high school get any worse? Chase Masters is dropped off to stay at a winter circus compound by his father—a storm chaser. But soon, after a bus crash, Chase and two new friends find themselves pursued by a deadly hurricane through a Florida preserve. Ramón de Ocampo steadily narrates horrific events that range from electrocution to gators and escaped... Read More

Stevenson's most often dramatized and distorted novella gets its umpteenth audiobook reading from the talented Scott Brick. Although his British accent is a wee bit shaky, he doesn't disappoint. He narrates in his wonted American voice with particular attention to atmosphere and delivers his British characters with personality and a reserve that lends appropriate gravity to the... Read More

Narrator Graham Halstead deftly meets the challenge of re-creating the meeting of Charlotte Holmes and Jamie Watson, the great-great-great-grandchildren of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. This first of a trilogy is told from the perspective of Jamie. It takes murder to bring the two together when they are accused of killing a classmate. Halstead skillfully captures the... Read More

Narrator Tara Sands deftly presents the sad and challenging life of 17-year-old Mercy Legowski-Gracia, who is Puerto Rican and Polish. Nicknamed Sugar because of her size and love of sweets, she lives in New Hampshire in a rundown house with her mother, who's so obese she can't leave her bed, and her abusive brother, Skunk. Sands convincingly renders "Mama," whose bitterness... Read More

With a poet’s passion, Kwame Alexander narrates his novel-in-verse about high school friends Noah and Walt. Alexander’s strong connection to his characters shines in his enthusiastic delivery and clear distinctions between the boys’ personalities. Noah, cautious and reserved, pines for a girl who sees him only as a pal; Walt, vibrant with jazz running through his veins, wants... Read More

Simon Prebble is the perfect narrator for Charles Dickens’s complex saga of love, betrayal, and self-sacrifice during the French Revolution. Beginning in 1775 and continuing through the storming of the Bastille by French peasants to its inevitable outcomes, the story of Charles Darnay, Sydney Carton, and Lucie Manette is given new life in Prebble’s truthful characterizations.... Read More

This is a gorgeous introduction for young listeners to fine literature, a vastly different time and culture, and enchanting music. Narrator Toby Stephens is dazzling as he presents three of the best-known tales: “Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp,” “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves,” and “The Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor.” He skillfully renders the text—be it stupendous description,... Read More

Rich-toned voice actor Richard Rohan narrates this action-adventure set in 2046 New Avalon, Earth. Elaine Yuko Qualter, who portrays Cory Kagami, also known as Caprice, puts forth an overly dramatic performance in a thrilling fight between good and evil. Cory, a Japanese tokusatsu enthusiast turned armored superhero, and her stoic Tangent Knight Peacekeeper friends battle... Read More

One of the climactic moments of the twentieth century, the fall of the Berlin Wall marked a period of new hope and freedom, the end of the Cold War. Reporter Romesh Ratnesar recounts details of the negotiations between the Reagan administration and the Soviet Union that led up to the reunification of Berlin. He specifically covers Reagan's famous speech at the Brandenburg Gate.... Read More

This engrossing production brings together five audio documentaries teens recorded about their own lives in the mid-90s juxtaposed with recordings that revisit those same people, now adults in their early 30s. Individual voices explore and humanize issues such as mental illness, substance abuse, and teen pregnancy. As a teen, Amanda’s assertiveness and self-assurance shine... Read More

On an uncharted, storm-swept island, the magician Prospero uses his powers and those of the flighty spirit Ariel to wreck the ship of his wicked brother, Antonio, stranding its crew and passengers. Meanwhile, through more magic, Prospero's daughter, Miranda, has fallen in love with Ferdinand, son of the of king of Naples. This 2001 BBC Radio 3 production starring the late... Read More

Anna Bentinck’s narration shows how a classic comes alive when voiced by just the right performer. Her voice is a delight as she breathes life into a broad cast of characters. Tess’s parents pressure her into a world she has never known, a world of wealth and privilege darkened by malicious intent that changes the young woman's life forever. Hardy’s novel is gripping from its... Read More

Neville Jason’s performance makes Tevye’s Yiddish wit, wisdom, and melancholy utterly believable. Tevye, whom listeners will know from the popular musical Fiddler on the Roof, recounts the tales of his family’s daily life under the iron fist of the Russian tsar. Jason makes Tevye more than a milkman, but rather a philosopher of commonsense with a keen eye for irony. With... Read More

Narrator Roy McMillan takes one of Stevenson's best horror stories and wraps his vocal cords around it with a reedy English accent that brings the dramatic sequences to a stunning conclusion. McMillan ably portrays the two friends who went to medical school together, studying under a doctor of questionable ethics. The duo's meeting, years later, in a bar leads to the story's... Read More

The combination of outstanding sound effects (ghostly laughs, a fainting housekeeper, a speeding carriage) and Rupert Degas's expert performance guarantees that listeners are in for a treat. After hearing about its resident ghost, an American family nevertheless takes up residence in a haunted mansion. Degas performs American and English accents to perfection. To the ghost he... Read More

Narrator Caitlin Davies reflects the terrible confusion of 18-year-old Zofia, who has recently been liberated from Gross-Rosen concentration camp in Germany. She is haunted by memories of her younger brother, Abek, who may be her only family member still alive. Davies's narration doesn't hold back on emotions as the story reveals Zofia's past hell, broken present, and future... Read More

Okonkwo, driven by blinding ambition, finally overcomes his father’s legacy of shame. Or does he? In the Ibo village of Umuofia at a time when the tribe is intact, the gods are respected, and planting yams is a man’s principal responsibility, Achebe tells, above all, a man’s story. Like Okonkwo’s life, it is clean, hard and beautiful, but finally painful when the orderly,... Read More

Narrator Jacqui Du Toit’s tone changes from bright and naïve to stunned and pained as 13-year-old Naledi witnesses her brother’s crime. That event makes it clear why she feels the need to betray him years later. Du Toit’s accent reflects the novel’s South African setting. You can hear young Naledi’s coy grins as she details her sheltered family life, which includes running a... Read More

A young artist finds his voice in THIS BOY’S LIFE, and narrator Oliver Wyman reproduces his adolescent tone with remarkable verve and clarity. Tobias Wolff’s 1989 memoir of his early life with his submissive mother and the violent men who either stalk her or marry her is strangely humorous and extraordinarily brave in its naked portrayal of abuse and conflict. Wyman captures... Read More

Bahni Turpin’s heartfelt narration highlights the determination of a family as they encounter the painful realities of the criminal justice system. Seventeen-year-old Tracy Beaumont’s father, an innocent man, has been sentenced to death, and although her family is exhausted with worry, they remain hopeful that the truth will come out. Then things go from bad to much worse when... Read More

Author Kimberly Drew has a timely message to share in this audiobook about her path from art historian and creator of the innovative blog @blackcontemporaryart to social media manager at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and activist. Aiming her work at a young adult audience, Drew addresses listeners in a precise yet informal narrative that clearly delineates her perspective on... Read More

Narrator Kathleen Gati deftly captures the tensions of the harrowing 1956 Hungarian Revolution in this powerful audiobook. The murder of 18-year-old Csilla Tisza's parents weighs heavily on her as she counts the days until she can escape from Budapest. Government oppression and scrutiny by state security push her and new friends Azriel, an angel of death, and Tamás, a man who... Read More

Celebrated actress Miriam Margolyes takes listeners on an extraordinary journey through the looking glass. With talent as deep as Lewis Carroll's imagination, Margolyes portrays everything from a bleating sheep shopkeeper to Humpty Dumpty. The familiar characters sound just as they ought to—Alice is innocent and polite, the Red Queen demanding and shrill. Minor characters get... Read More

Narrator Jason Culp relies on careful modulation to convey this nuanced, comprehensive examination of a dangerous time in twentieth-century history—the period of the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Culp delivers the words of famous leaders such as Stalin, Kennedy, and Reagan with slight accents or impressions. To varying degrees, both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R.... Read More

Maggi-Meg Reed flavors her nonfiction narration with lilts that lend drama to the story of the Thompson submachine gun (Tommy gun) in America in the 1920s and '30s. Reed first turns her attention to John Thompson, a Spanish-American army officer who believed the military needed a more efficient weapon during WWI. Later, Reed notes the inventor's dismay when the weapon finds its... Read More

History as melodrama. This exciting production, recorded before a live audience, dramatizes the WASHINGTON POST's struggle with the Nixon administration over the publication of the Pentagon Papers. Much of the dialogue is lifted straight from the historical record. Whether or not this is accurate history, it certainly makes excellent theater, reminiscent of the agitprop... Read More

Some narrators have an intangible star quality. Their voices say, “Listen to me! I have a wonderful story to tell.” Gerard Doyle is such a narrator. His facility for accents and characterizations and his ability to set time and place by just the slightest vocal nuance make it almost impossible not to listen to him. The morning after the Greek invasion of Troy via the Trojan... Read More

Take a well-read classic filled with larger-than-life characters and pair it with a master narrator. Voilà—you’ve got a brand-new classic. Alfred Molina’s narration is like pulling up a chair next to a fire on a chilly night and being chilled all over again by Stevenson’s tale of piracy on the high seas. Molina’s portrayals are perfection. He’s a careful observer in his... Read More

Betty Smith’s sentimental favorite documents Francie Nolan’s childhood and coming-of-age in a poor but loving family in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in the first half of the twentieth century. Kate Burton’s narration makes the story feel more dated than timeless, and her accents push the boundaries of authenticity. Still, she communicates the universality of Francie’s childhood... Read More

Listeners will appreciate the warmth and gumption that narrator Bahni Turpin brings to this startling story of injustice, inspired by the author’s real-life reporting. Teenager Trell Taylor is determined to reinvestigate the case that led to her father’s wrongful conviction for murder. Trell enlists the help of a misanthropic investigative journalist to revisit witnesses and... Read More

In Kafka’s iconic novel, bank functionary Josef K., arrested on unspecified charges, is swallowed up by a bizarre legal system with incomprehensible motives and purposes—a mix of Carrollian absurdity, Eastern European oppression, and nightmare. Rupert Degas’s voice acting is understated and telling. His tones are varied and expressive, but appropriately grayed or minor keyed,... Read More

Be prepared to be lured into an audio mystery that kicks off a trilogy. Narrator Kate Rudd breathes life into protagonist Stevie Bell, a quirky student at elite Ellington Academy. Stevie is an inquisitive and articulate true- crime lover who is determined to solve a murder and kidnapping that occurred on campus in the 1930s. The story alternates between past and present and... Read More

Mela Lee’s narration shines as Cole’s realistic young adult story about fitting in at a new school illuminates our nation’s inability to face our history of white privilege. Lee honors the cultural ethnicities of the various characters, helping the savvy listener to recognize the unconscious biases we must face in order to move forward. She gives Shania a timid, young voice as... Read More

Shakespeare's romantic comedy is directed by Nicolas Soames. Disguised as a boy, Viola, a shipwrecked maiden, enters the service of Duke Orsino, with whom she falls in love. He, however, loves Olivia and sends Viola to woo her for him. The cast makes the play easy to follow and has fun with the complications and the comic characters, Sir Andrew Aguecheek and Sir Toby Belch, the... Read More

In 1944, 19-year-old American pilot Henry Forrester is shot down over France. Narrator Elizabeth Wiley impeccably inhabits the young man as he copes with this terrifying situation. The Virginia farm boy often hears his abusive father's voice in his head, which ultimately helps him survive. Wiley’s true-to-life German and French accents, characterizations, and performances of... Read More

Narrator Phil Fox weaves facts and anecdotes with aplomb as he delivers the biographies of brothers Vincent and Theo van Gogh. Fox’s delivery is crisp and precise, a style that goes well with the present-tense writing. The audiobook has the structure of a walk through an art gallery, and Fox helps listeners enter the scenes. This dynamic biography includes imaginative... Read More

Julia Whelan narrates this chilling account of a teen member of the evangelical Church of America at a time when widespread disasters have ravaged the country. Whelan depicts 16-year-old Vivian Apple’s dread as she counts down the minutes to Rapture day. With sharp wit and momentary abandon, Vivian escapes her good-girl image to party with her wild, impetuous BFF, Harp.... Read More

McKenzie Fetters's nearly breathless narration is a perfect match for this fast-moving can't-put-it-down YA mystery. Fetters's quick-paced performance intensifies the nonstop twists and turns. Early on, Nyla learns she is not who she believes herself to be. Her mother, a member of the monied King family, is up against the clock to save a lifelong friend from death row for a... Read More

The book behind the award-winning movie opens with the tale of the original whale rider, immersing the listener in the sweep of Maori culture at the heart of this remarkable story. The new young whale rider takes her rightful name, Kahu. The girl-child’s story is told by her uncle Rawiri: her breaking of the male chain of descendants, her rejection by her great-grandfather, her... Read More

Narrator Graham Halstead soars as he uses his versatile voice to portray multiple characters in this poignant and sometimes painfully honest young adult novel. Halstead's talent is on full display as he delivers varied accents in a story about about culture, religion, and fear of the unknown. As the sins of the main character's extremist father surface, a Houston community... Read More

Teenaged Dimple Shah is focused on winning Insomnia Con, an intense summer app-development program. To her dismay, she finds herself partnered with straitlaced Rishi Patel, the boy her parents have arranged for her to marry. Narrators Vikas Adam and Sneha Mathan create a rapid-fire repertoire through alternating chapters as these two unlikely teens work together--and realize... Read More

A privileged Johannesburg student falls head over heels for a girl from the other side of town. The only problem is that she is Black and he is white and they live in apartheid-torn South Africa in 1976. Contributing a spot-on South African accent, narrator Patience Mpumiwana leads a quartet of fresh voices in providing distinct characters, clarity, and cultural grounding for... Read More

Hayaat, a 13-year-old Palestinian girl, has a disfiguring scar from an incident of violence that killed her best friend. Her family tries to make sense out of the chaos they live in, suffering heartache yet clinging to hope. Narrator Kellie Jones never allows bitterness toward Israelis to creep into Hayaat's tone, instead presenting a bright youngster with an adventurous,... Read More

On September 15, 1963, a bomb exploded in the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Felicia Bullock narrates with a gentle, subtle voice that complements the text and captures the emotions involved in the author’s account. She was 14 years old at the time and had just left the church’s bathroom. Four little girls were killed. She survived, and the Civil Rights... Read More

Two accomplished narrators, Elizabeth Wiley and Heather Henderson, recount the chronicle of the White Rose, a cluster of German students who opposed Hitler in 1942 and 1943. The focus is on Hans and Sophie Scholl, siblings of the author. Both narrators are articulate and polished as they engage listeners in the hopeless but courageous struggle of this resistance group. Five... Read More

Narrator Alex McKenna depicts the transformation of Wren Clemens, a 14-year-old teen who is sent to wilderness therapy camp. McKenna, nimbly navigating this complex protagonist, highlights Wren's faults and strengths with tones of misery, regret, resilience, and grace. Wren comes to life as McKenna vocalizes the teenage girl's search for the self she has left behind. With a... Read More

Author Schiff seeks to portray the historical figures involved in the Salem witch trials as the real people they were. Narrator Eliza Foss makes them come alive for the listener. Foss resists the urge to cackle or to sound incredulous during this objective examination of the so-called witches. While her voice suits the tone of the work, her reading is not dry. She modulates her... Read More

Standout English actor Julian Rhind-Tutt narrates these early Terry Pratchett gems with a gentle, timeless, settled-in feel. There are also glee and winks in Rhind-Tutt's voice when he reads about cowboys and trolls, three men in a submarine in a bathtub, and, of course, a witch riding a vacuum cleaner who catches the amorous eye of a local magician. Pratchett was just a... Read More

Wilkie Collins’s novel, like many British mysteries that succeeded it, unfolds slowly as listeners get to know the various characters who play a part in the story. This involved tale of greed, subterfuge, disappointed love, and stoic loyalty is told from several points of view. Ian Holm renders each remarkably well—not by assuming different identities or by contorting his voice... Read More

The life of groundbreaking nuclear physicist Lise Meitner (1878-1968) is given voice by narrator Sandy Rustin. Marginalized by sexism, Meitner, an Austrian Jew, struggled to pursue the field she loved, eventually earning her colleagues' respect and a partnership with chemist Otto Hahn in Berlin. Nazi policies stripped her of her position, then forced her to flee. In exile, she... Read More

Simon Bubb's whimsical narration ideally sets the stage for three of Lewis Carroll's classic works. The collection includes ALICE IN WONDERLAND, ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS, and A TANGLED TALE, an interesting collection of short stories centered on mathematical problems. Bubb lends a range of vocal characterizations to the many eccentric characters of Carroll's creation.... Read More

This story, written by a former American soldier, features an Afghan girl named Zulaikha who dreams of learning to read, marrying well, and living a peaceful life. Narrator Ariana Delawari reads with a slight lisp to reflect Zulaikha’s cleft palate. Delawari’s narration strongly conveys the timidity and strength Zulaikha has developed from living with this defect, the constant... Read More

Carolyn Seymour conducts a graceful dance over the stormy moors in her performance of this dark, complex novel. Readers who kept a safe distance from the gruff Heathcliff in other versions of the book may fall for his tormented soul in this production. Seymour’s rendition of this iconic character makes Heathcliff a simultaneously loathsome and lovable figure. From Mr. Lockwood,... Read More