New Reviews: Young Adult

Greta Jung's narration quickly establishes the reasons for 17-year-old Korean American Winter Moon's sarcasm. Her tone becomes understandable when Winter's selfish, caustic mother comes into the picture. Jung also depicts Winter's tenderness toward her loving grandmother, Halmoni, and her heartbreak at Halmoni's death. These are only some of Jung's portrayals of complex... Read More

This romantasy unfolds through alternating chapters featuring Brenda, portrayed by Elyse Dinh, and Kat, portrayed by Emily Woo Zeller. The two meet when Brenda is desperate to find a working internet to use to submit her scholarship application before the deadline and wanders into a coffee shop owned by Kat's family. The shop, it turns out, is in an alternate universe that is... Read More

Jensen Olaya masterfully pronounces Filipino words while narrating cynical 17-year-old Lucia's search for community. Lucia dutifully attends her wealthy cousin's traditional Filipino debut but staunchly objects to her mother's expectation that she have one, too. A fancy debut is not her thing. Besides, she doesn't have enough friends to invite. Lucia joins her school's comedy... Read More

This is a captivating YA supernatural mystery, and the audiobook makes it even more immersive. Set in 1999, the story follows Freddie Gellar, a quirky teen who stumbles into a chilling murder investigation after mistakenly calling the cops on a rival school's party. With prank wars, dark secrets, and an eerie poem tied to a centuries-old curse, the suspense builds quickly,... Read More

This romantic young adult audiobook is tenderly narrated by Michael Crouch. After nearly perishing in an accident, Brennan awakens with a new craving for blood and no guidance whatsoever. Super-cute student librarian Cole is happy to keep Brennan's secret as he figures out how to be a vampire. Crouch's talent for authentically conveying characters' emotions creates scenes of... Read More

Narrator Ashley J. Hobbs brings vibrancy to this audiobook about the family you build with the people who know you best. Raised by her grandfather, Aaliyah craves a connection with her real parents, who left her as a toddler. When she secretly contacts her mother on Facebook, it sets off a string of events. Hobbs voices Aaliyah as a whip-smart but emotionally fragile young... Read More

Jayne Entwistle shows remarkable vocal versatility in this fantasy audiobook featuring Jack the Ripper and Medusa. While volunteering for the Salvation Army in New York City in 1888, Tabitha and her headstrong roommate, Pearl, attempt to help a woman escape from the brothel where she's forced to work. Entwistle narrates these segments in a generic American accent, a New York... Read More

Narrator Ali Stroker introduces teen listeners to Bliss, a high school influencer who is tackling misconceptions about wheelchair users. Stroker ensures that Bliss is seen beyond her disability through her exuberant broadcasts to her many social media followers. Lainey, voiced by Nora Hunter, is one of them. Hunter chronicles Lainey's increasing isolation as her brother moves... Read More

This audiobook was inspired by the forbidden love of the authors' grandparents in early-twentieth-century Korea amid its colonization by Japan. Their story, told in alternating chapters, combines history, folklore, romance, and magic. Julia Riew delivers the chapters of Eunji, a Korean girl who is trapped in her wealthy life. Joshua Hyunho Lee portrays Seung, who is trapped by... Read More

This audio gem from Indigenous authors features stories in which elders offer guidance to young Native Americans. Various Native voices introduce listeners to Sandy June's Frybread Drive-In, known as SJ's, which magically opens whenever a teen faces a social challenge--for example, fitting in. An elder cooks while listening to the teen's concerns and offers advice. In "Kathy's... Read More

This debut novel based on the author's German immigrant heritage takes listeners back to Pittsburgh as the country faces involvement in WWI and the devastating Spanish flu. Narrator Heidi Housh brings personalities to life, distinguishing individuals in the large cast. Madga is frustrated when she's forced to leave school before her senior year to care for her baby brother and... Read More

Compelling, emotional, and well researched, this audiobook brings to life the stories of four young people from abolitionist families. Using primary sources to highlight the tumult of the time period leading up to and during the Civil War, the coming-of-age story focuses on Lewis Douglass, son of Frederick Douglass; George Garrison, son of William Lloyd Garrison; Lucy McKim,... Read More

Isabella Star LaBlanc skillfully narrates this YA audiobook set in prehistoric Spain. From the time of her birth, Nahia has been expected to lead the Sea People. But when invaders threaten their hunter-gatherer way of life, she challenges the Headwoman, her mother, to move their people inland for safety. Nahia is punished for her audacity: stripped of her rank; apprenticed to... Read More

This engaging fantasy-romance audiobook features the deadly, fast-paced sport of phoenix racing. Seventeen-year-old Kel Varra is the leader of the underdogs, the Crimson Howlers. Forced to team up with her rival, Warren Coupers, Kel becomes caught in a high-stakes conspiracy involving a powerful tech mogul and her phoenix, Savita. The story mixes action, political intrigue, and... Read More

January LaVoy pulls listeners into a world in which motives are unclear. Jordyn, a first-year student at a historically Black college, finds her roommate's brother--just out of prison--sleeping on their couch. While he soon wows their friends with his outgoing personality, Jordyn senses that something about him is off, big-time. LaVoy's ability to shift seamlessly between cool... Read More

Isabella Star LaBlanc provides a superior narration of Boulley's third YA novel, this one featuring eighteen-year-old Lucy Smith. First-person chapters taking place in the past are interspersed with those in the present, moving forward chronologically until time is synced. LaBlanc portrays young, openhearted Lucy, who responds lovingly to her father's protective care. Later,... Read More

Natasha Hodgson's fluid narration integrates two alternating perspectives. She depicts 17-year-old Margo's confusion and vulnerability as her train trip to a Dublin boarding school instead lands her in New Davia, a parallel world in which time moves at different speeds--a phenomenon called skipshock. Hodgson also traces the shifting motivations of Moon, a traveling salesman who... Read More

Narrators Joshua Quinn and Christopher Hampton portray two Black teenagers in this queer romance novel. After his best friend unexpectedly leaves for the summer, hopeless romantic Kai, portrayed by Joshua Quinn, attends a sold-out concert by himself. Christopher Hampton's character, Elias, who has been sent to spend the summer with his uncle, decides to attend the same concert... Read More

Two narrators deliver this dual-timeline novel. Kenichiro Thomson's calm tone suits the first-person narrative of a contemporary teenager named Adam--even as he loses his first boyfriend, experiences turmoil at home over a new sibling, and deals with discomfort upon reading a disturbing diary he's discovered. Susan Momoko Hingley delivers the first-person diary entries of an... Read More

Gilli Messer narrates this YA thriller set in a dystopian future on Earth. Two hundred years after WWII, 18-year-olds around the world must report to government centers to have their past lives revealed. Sivon, who is unremarkable aside from her board-game skills, fears she'll be pronounced a bad soul. Instead, her unprecedented talent pushes her into the spotlight, and she... Read More

With meticulous diction and heartfelt passion, Ruffin Prentiss narrates a timely story that brings multiple critical social issues together in a riveting presentation. Just as he's about to get a coveted basketball scholarship for college, Ossie Brown's life is upended when he falls on the court and tears his ACL. As he tries to reinvent himself as a writer and scholar, the... Read More

Amalia Vitale's thoughtful and well-paced narration captures this darkly enchanted and emotional interpretation of SWAN LAKE. Odile has been raised by her father to steal the king's crown as an act of revenge. But neither of them planned on her growing connection to Lady Marie--or the king's murder. Vitale's quiet intensity suits Odile's guarded nature and allows moments of... Read More

A talented duo brings this action-packed historical fantasy set in 79 CE, right before the destruction of Pompeii, to its explosive end. Amin El Gamal portrays Loren, an earnest attendant at the Temple of Isis. Loren has prophetic visions featuring cynical thief Felix, who is depicted in a deep voice by Max Meyers. The two team up when Felix appears at the temple with a magical... Read More