Audiobooks for Ages 12+

How do you create an amazing audiobook from an illustrated novel in which the vibrant art takes center stage? Author Jason Reynolds deftly narrates “Take One” of this collaboration between himself and mixed-media collage artist Jason Griffin. Together, they bring slam-poetry sensibilities to a brief yet evocative glimpse of an unnamed young Black narrator. His mother stays... Read More

Narrator Yetide Badaki’s dynamic voice returns with this story of Sunny, an Igbo and American albino girl with the juju needed to save humanity. Badaki enlivens Sunny’s character with a bright American accent and gives her friends varied Nigerian- and American-sounding voices. Continuing on from AKATA WITCH, Sunny, Chichi, Orlu, and Sasha are growing as scholars, pushing the... 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

Allan Corduner’s deep voice pairs well with the graceful, intelligent prose in this mesmerizing account of a girl whose life in Krakow, Poland, is altered forever by the encroaching horror of WWII. Seven years old when her father, a professor, is taken by the Nazis and too young to fend for herself, Anna is taken under the wing of the Swallow Man, an enigmatic stranger who... Read More

The narration of this stunning dystopian tale by Nick Podehl and Angela Dawe can only be described as outstanding. The second installment of Ness’s trilogy finds 13-year-old New World colonist Todd Hewitt and his friend, settler Viola Eade, at the mercy of self-proclaimed and manipulative President Prentiss. Together they must fight for their freedom and the preservation of the... Read More

Narrator Caitlin Kelly sensitively conveys the lush beauty of this award-winning fantasy novel, now available on audio for English-speaking listeners. Ten-year-old Elin's world is torn apart when her mother, a caretaker of giant war serpents, is executed for harming the animals in her charge. Elin escapes the aftermath of her mother's death and soon discovers her own talents... Read More

In this contemporary take on Perrault’s “Beauty and the Beast,” Chris Patton’s narration ably renders 16-year-old Kyle Kingsbury, a guy with looks, money, and peer adulation whose world is irrevocably altered when a witch turns him into a beast. Most characters are defined with pacing and inflection, among them Kyle’s distant and uncaring father and his compassionate—and... Read More

Charlotte Parry’s narration brings out the charm of this older children's rendition of this timeless fairy tale. Parry lends a dainty yet spirited voice to the young protagonist who, although plain, is nicknamed Beauty. Parry’s down-to-earth narration captures Beauty’s innocence as well as her determination to take her father’s place as the beast’s prisoner. By doing so, Beauty... Read More

Twelve-year-old Anita is growing up in the Dominican Republic. It is a bounteous tropical paradise replete with a loving extended family and many friends. Yet, as Anita tells her diary, she is increasingly aware of her world’s dangers for adults who disagree with the island’s dictatorial leader. When her own family escapes to safety in New York, the situation of those left... Read More

BEHEMOTH, which follows Westerfeld's LEVIATHAN, is the fiercest creature in the British navy. It's 1914 in this steampunk story, which includes events from WWI. Deryn poses as a boy named Dylan in order to be a midshipman for the English Darwinists. She meets and helps Alek, who's posing as a commoner because he's in danger as heir to the Hapsburg Empire. Narrator Alan Cumming... 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

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

Xanthe Elbrick reads with insight garnered from her narration of a previous book in this series (FIRE). She infuses the prologue of this installment with the confused feelings of Bitterblue’s childhood, in which she was caught between her father’s cruelty and mother’s comfort. Her father, who is gifted with special powers, uses them to control others. He’s also told marvelous... Read More

In alternating journal entries and letters, 16-year-old adopted siblings Emilia and Teo describe Ethiopia’s path to war with Italy in the 1930s and how it involved them in pilot training. Narrators Lauren Saunders and Maanuv Thiara detail the close friendship of Emilia and Teo in a story that also depicts Ethiopian race relations at that time. Listeners will need to give this... Read More

The vocal dream team of Bahni Turpin and Ron Butler delivers a poignant, funny, and ambitious YA anthology in which the brightest stars in YA fiction showcase a variety of black American teen experiences. Turpin confidently takes on the female-driven stories, while Butler settles in with the male points of view. Settings include camping trips, disastrous parties, and family... Read More

In 1868, a teenaged Sherlock Holmes is learning the ropes of detecting and deducing when his brother, Mycroft, is accused of murder. James Langton's expert narration brings out both the fun of seeing Holmes make mistakes and the tension of observing the boy and his mentor sift through clues to reveal the sinister plot to destroy Mycroft. Langton's consistent characterizations... 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

Include this audiobook from author Maggie Stiefvater and narrator Will Patton in your 2014 top-10 listening list. The story tells the next installment in Gansey’s quest to wake an ancient Welsh king, aided by his prescient friends Ronan, Adam, Noah, and Blue. Patton masterfully wends through Stiefvater’s mercurial plot, following the line of a story that consistently takes... Read More

This powerful Holocaust story is for mature, sophisticated teens and adults. Set in Nazi Germany, narrated by Death, it is 9-year-old Liesel Meminger’s story. Death watches as she steals the first of 14 books at her brother’s funeral, sensing they will feed her soul even before she knows how to read. Allan Corduner gives Death a strong personality with a dispassionate voice... Read More

Katherine Kellgren’s exuberant performance reflects Jacky Faber’s irrepressible personality in this eleventh installment of the Bloody Jack series. Here, Jacky finds herself in Boston among friends. Kellgren moves fluidly between singing, narration, and a cast of distinct voices and accents as Jacky copes with her shipping company’s financial problems and the absence of her... 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

Will Carter’s freshman year of high school just ended, and summer looks fantastic. He’s got a gorgeous, smart girlfriend, a close group of guy friends, and a chance to audition for a Hollywood movie being filmed in his hometown. Of course, the best-laid plans often go awry. Nick Podehl narrates with boundless energy and enthusiasm. He gives spot-on portrayals of wacky teen... Read More

This production fulfills the promise of the stunning debut in this series, THE HUNGER GAMES, in which a cruel contest required 24 young people to fight in mortal combat. Carolyn McCormick delivers the first-person narrative of Katniss, the heroine whose brilliant strategy in that book thwarted tradition and turned her and her partner, Peeta, into victors. McCormick's phrasing... Read More

Will Patton commands the text with a hint of immediacy tempered by the somberness of the moment. In this retelling of the assassination of Lincoln and the pursuit of John Wilkes Booth, this balance is essential as the narrative swings back and forth from depictions of a nation in mourning to the almost-wild-eyed machinations of the theatrical Booth. Patton is consistent with... Read More

Seventeen-year-old Briony Larkin believes she’s a witch who has destroyed her twin sister Rose’s mind and killed her stepmother. Her ability to commune with the mystical Old Ones of the Swampsea fills her with self-hatred. When handsome London bad boy Eldric arrives on the scene, Briony must reexamine what she has for so long assumed to be true. Billingsley’s richly atmospheric... 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

This dark twist on the vampire tale begins with Tana waking up in a bathtub in a house full of corpses. Christine Lakin's voice is chilling as she describes the scene. Tana’s shock is evident in Lakin’s dispassionate tone, which makes the character sound, appropriately, as if she were talking about someone else. Just before nightfall she escapes, along with her newly infected... Read More

Alexander’s lyrical free verse and Corey Allen’s musical narration are as magical a combination as this story’s pairing of basketball and poetry. Allen blends rhyming, hip-hop, and jazzy words into a melodic flow. His tones switch like a fast-changing crossover dribble as he narrates from the viewpoint of 13-year-old Jordan Bell, aka “Filthy McNasty.” Filthy crows with... Read More

With sass and song, Katherine Kellgren portrays Jacky Faber as schoolgirl and part-time tavern performer. Fighting off pirates in BLOODY JACK barely prepared Jacky for the battles she faces after being given the heave-ho as midshipman on the HMS DOLPHIN, losing her true love, and being sent to a Boston boarding school. Kellgren's terrific portrayal of Jacky’s reluctant... Read More

This entertaining audio production proves that the story of Cyrano de Bergerac stands the test of time. McCaughrean’s adaptation maintains the lyrical integrity of Edmond Rostand’s original play while making it accessible to today’s audience. Trevor Hill is perfect as Cyrano, the man with the unfortunate nose who declares his love for Roxanne through letters while hiding behind... Read More

In this moving audiobook, narrator Michael Levi Harris takes us into high schooler Darius Kellner's head--he's half Persian, he loves tea, he sees life through STAR TREK and LORD OF THE RINGS references, and, just like his dad, he's clinically depressed. Darius and his family live in Oregon, but they travel to Iran to visit his ailing grandfather. There, a new world opens up... Read More

Hunchbacked, shape-shifting Modo reunites with fellow spy Octavia in this second steampunk adventure in Slade’s series. As they seek to uncover the secret behind a monster that is wrecking ships at sea, their own ship is attacked, and Modo is thrown overboard. He then finds himself on a mysterious submarine and becomes embroiled in the lives of the underwater-dwelling Icarians.... 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

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

Eighth-grader Delia Douglas is a champion double-dutch jumper. She has great friends and gets good enough grades. She has a secret though; she can’t read, and she can’t hide it much longer as the proficiency tests loom ahead. She has to pass the tests to stay on the double-dutch team and become a freshman. What will she do? Two other suspenseful storylines keep this novel... Read More

Will Patton’s narration enriches this contemporary fantasy, helping to provide verisimilitude to the setting of Henrietta, Virginia, a town steeped in magic and mystery. His drawl adds authenticity as he hints at the social divide between the prep school boys and those less fortunate. And his softened tones add to the suspense as the crew of boys and their female companion,... Read More

Eleven-year-old Calpurnia Tate is growing up on a Texas farm with six brothers in 1899. She longs to learn more than what her mother is teaching her—proper comportment, cooking, and sewing. Callie has a raging curiosity and wants to know about everything from Darwin to Dickens. Thanks to her eccentric, educated grandfather, she discovers the science of the world around her. She... Read More

The author brings stellar research and nonfiction storytelling skills to the fate of Russia’s last imperial family, the Romanovs, including young Anastasia. Narrator Kimberly Farr adds energy and soul to their story, conveying a range of emotions as she recounts the highs and lows of the family’s life. She expresses contentment as the close-knit family enjoys their secluded... Read More

It's a testament to John Green's writing and Kate Rudd's narration that, in a book about teenagers with cancer, there are still plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. Green's teens are precocious and clever, and Rudd sells it, delivering every "or whatever" with perfect teenage inflection and fully inhabiting protagonist Hazel as she navigates the world with lungs ravaged by cancer.... Read More

In a far-future, post-technological London, where Piccadilly Circus has become Pickled Eel Circus and “blog” is a favored expletive, heroine Fever Crumb struggles to unravel her mysterious past and find her place in the changing world. Author Philip Reeve's gently British narration may well remind listeners of Neil Gaiman's reading of THE GRAVEYARD BOOK—Reeve demonstrates the... Read More

In this companion to GRACELING (2008), the Dells is a fantasy world filled with monster animals. Strikingly beautiful 17-year-old Fire, the last human monster, uses her ability to control minds to save the kingdom from warring factions. Narrator Xanthe Elbrick gives Fire a strong voice, which is softened as Fire gives voice to her conflict over how to control her unique gift... Read More

Narrator James Langton portrays 14-year-old Sherlock Holmes, ably capturing the qualities and quirks that the famed detective became so known for when he grew up. After his American sleuthing partners, Virginia and Amyus Crow, father and daughter, go missing, Sherlock and his friend, Matty, follow clues all the way to Scotland to find them. Their survival hinges on the... Read More

Philip Pullman has created a stunning alternate universe peopled by those who seem familiarly human and by miraculous creatures: daemons, armored bears, witches. But now something sinister is abroad in this strangely modern, strangely archaic world, and 12-year-old Lyra Belacqua must try to discover the truth. Into this complex scenario marches Pullman and a remarkable group of... Read More

Alan Cumming enthusiastically narrates the continuing airship adventures of Prince Alek, heir to Austria, and Midship(wo)man Deryn/Dylan Sharp as they fly from Istanbul to New York, intent on stopping WWI. Stops in Siberia, Japan, California, and Mexico afford ample opportunity to deploy a range of accents, and Cumming is remarkably skillful at alternating between Deryn's Scots... Read More

Kristin Cashore's well-developed characters are completely realized in this full-cast production. Chelsea Mixon portrays Lady Katsa, who was born with a horrifying "grace" for killing. Mixon's nuanced portrayal gives an inside view of the confusions that torment this "graceling." These conflicts increase after she meets Po, an empathetic graceling. Zachary Exton's depiction of... Read More

Senior year is over, and Lucy and her friends are planning to stay out all night and have an adventure. Lucy wants to find the elusive graffiti artist known as Shadow, while her friend Jazz wants to meet Shadow’s co-conspirator, Poet. Ed and Leo are out for adventure as well—a potentially criminal adventure—but that’s nothing new for the two experienced graffiti artists.... Read More

Starr is from a gang-ridden neighborhood but attends a private, mostly white, school. Differences between these worlds widen when Starr is the sole witness of the murder of her childhood friend by a white policeman. Bahni Turpin’s narration of this scene is poignant and horrific as unarmed Kahlil questions the officer’s stopping him and the officer becomes aggressive and shoots... 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

Fans of Alice Sebold's LOVELY BONES and Gabrielle Zevin's ELSEWHERE will be captivated by Gayle Forman's latest novel. Mia, a high school senior, is "gravely injured" in an automobile accident that took her parents and younger brother, Teddy. Kirsten Potter infuses Mia's voice with all the emotion, fear, and confusion of a soul hovering between "here" and "there," painfully... Read More

Labeled a pirate by the King of England and once again losing her beloved Jamie, series protagonist Jacky is lying low at the Lawson Peabody School for Young Ladies, a respectable finishing school for the daughters of American aristocrats. On a boat trip out of Boston Harbor, Jacky and her classmates are kidnapped by white slavers and stowed below decks on the bad ship... Read More

Poet Elizabeth Acevedo’s narration of her groundbreaking spoken-word poem resonates with love, understanding, and heartbreak. Originally titled “Hair,” the work achieved viral fame during her 2014 poetry slam circuit. With a thrumming rhythm and exquisitely placed pauses, Acevedo celebrates the beauty and import of Black hair. Her voice dips in sorrow as she notes that too many... Read More

Dougie isn’t taking his meds like he should as he continues to feverishly work on his model train town, constructed almost completely on matches. Dougie is beyond troubled, and Norm Lee’s performance of an obsessive teen in deep levels of delusion is nothing short of amazing. Lee gives Dougie’s “logical” explanations an aggressive edge that indicates someone hostile. Lee also... Read More

Using primary sources and reasoned conjecture, Mary Losure chronicles the difficult formative years of Isaac Newton. Narrator Steven Crossley has a professorial-sounding English accent but bubbles with reverent enthusiasm for his subject, sometimes with humor. In the age before the development of physics, the prickly and solitary young Newton worked tirelessly to use... Read More

The story of Keturah is a fable, a morality tale, and a sweeping romance tinged with fantasy and the super natural. It’s quite a combination, and the intrigue is heightened when Keturah meets Lord Death and the encounter results in a compelling bargain. Known in the village of Tide-by-Rood as a storyteller, Keturah recounts her dilemma with hope and courage as she tries to find... Read More

The first book of the Chaos Walking trilogy is a wild ride in a new world with some old problems. Patrick Ness built the world, but Nick Podehl pulls the listener into it through the embittered voice of Todd, a droll 13-year-old stuck in a community of men in which everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts. Now and then the book gives a sample of the audible cacophony. Todd... Read More

Marisa Calin seems to take supreme enjoyment in narrating this romp of a book. Calin captures Susan's frustration with her withdrawn, dreamy mother. The 18-year-old is eager to leave her country life for school in 1980s London. She also hopes to discover who her father is. Once there, though, she becomes overwhelmed by her discovery that she is somehow linked to London's... Read More

In this dystopian story, two teens who lead very different lives find themselves united in their quest for truth. The two narrators alternate sections of text from the point of view of each character. June, narrated by Mariel Stern, is a military prodigy from a rich sector, and Day, narrated by Steven Kaplan, is a street criminal on the run. As Day, Kaplan reads in a calm, even... Read More

In this alternate history of WWI, Aleksandar Ferdinand is on the run from his former allies, accompanied by four of his loyal men, including his overbearing fencing master, Count Volger. Alan Cumming does an expert Austrian accent, capturing the power of Count Volger and the confusion of Alek. So convincing are those characters and accents that his remarkable portrayal of Deryn... Read More

What a marvelous story! Narrator Lincoln Hoppe finds his way into this teen’s struggle with Asperger's syndrome with a soft hesitancy that's at once appealing and believable. Seventeen-year-old Marcelo must work in his father’s law office for the summer in order to return to the special needs school where he feels so comfortable. Dad is about to get more than he bargained for.... Read More

Fans will have high expectations for this ninth Jacky Faber adventure—and the Meyer/Kellgren team delivers. The story remains fresh, and Katherine Kellgren plays every part with gusto as the sailor/pirate Jacky escapes death yet again when she’s thrown from her ship during a storm in the South China Sea. Kellgren’s voice is integral to the part of Jacky, with her exasperating... Read More

For rousing exploits and acts of derring-do, listen to this fifth Bloody Jack adventure. Once again faced with imprisonment and hanging, the unsinkable Jacky Faber escapes to the American wilderness, where she takes on legendary braggart Mike Fink, steals his flatboat, and turns it into a showboat offering revival meetings, a medicine show, and gambling. As Captain Jacky makes... Read More

Scarlett O'Hara. Jo March. Jane Eyre. These classic fictional heroines embody female strength and courage. Now add Katniss Everdeen to that list. The teenage survivor of the annually televised "Hunger Games" and the even harsher survivors' reunion, the Quarter Quell, has become the poster child for a rebellion exploding across Panem, her dystopian world. Katniss finds herself... 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

When his mother falls ill, Conor is visited by a monster in the form of a walking yew tree. Jason Isaacs portrays the troubled teen in a deep voice that hints at the dark nature of the story. He injects sarcastic and suspicious tones into Conor’s voice as the boy battles the feeling of invisibility brought on by his “special circumstances” as his mother’s health continues to... Read More

Romeo and Juliet meet the MAYFLOWER in the final book of the Chaos Walking series. A scout ship has come from afar to find two teens separated by opposing forces on a new world in space. Now there's war, and three compelling narrators offer three points of view in this dark tale of revenge and redemption. The voices draw listeners in, obviating the need for the strange... Read More

A delightful Victorian mystery is skillfully narrated by Stephen Fry. During a robbery, the title character falls through a skylight, incurring severe wounds and scars that make him the subject of medical lectures held at the prison. During one of these talks, Montmorency overhears of a new sewer system installed in London. Upon release, he sets himself up as the wealthy... 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

Kamala Khan has a lot going on—overprotective parents, mean girls at school, and brand-new superpowers. Shanta Parasuraman sounds so natural as Kamala that, for the non-superhero inclined, it’s easy to just consider this an action-packed young adult novel. However, cameos by Iron Man and Captain America remind listeners that we’re in Marvel’s universe. The writing is snappy and... Read More

Katherine Kellgren turns 16-year-old magnet-for-trouble Jacky Faber into the most engaging, cheeky girl in YA literature. Kellgren's risk-taking heroine spills over with personality, ingenuity, wile, wit, and wisdom. This time, Jacky—former ship's captain, pirate, riverboat entertainer, wanted criminal, and faithful friend—is captured by the French and beheaded. Or so it seems.... 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

After a giant wave has hit his home island, Mau returns from the rituals for transitioning from a boy to a man to find that everyone has been washed away. Along comes Daphne, who was washed ashore after the ship on which she was traveling was caught in the same wave. Narrator Stephen Briggs deftly acts as guide as the building of a new nation begins in a time like the... Read More

Doug Swieteck, who has just moved to a new town and is struggling with an abusive father, is trying to figure out who he is. Lincoln Hoppe has no trouble finding a voice for the hero or accenting the novel’s dark, lyrical tone. The first-person point of view reaches out to involve listeners in the story, and Hoppe makes the most of these invitations. He captures Doug’s... Read More

This National Book Award finalist tells a quiet, somber story. Sam is a teenager with adult responsibilities. Her charming dad, a pastor, has all the answers to everyone else's troubles, but his professional commitments leave Sam to care for her alcoholic mother. Author Sara Zarr’s observant delivery evokes Sam’s feelings of self-pity and her sense of injustice. When a younger... Read More

Three gripping narrators come together in a transcendent performance. The story of three generations of an Iranian family starts with Moud, an out gay teen from America who is visiting Tehran. Scared of exposing his sexuality in a new culture, Moud explores his family history from his father’s political activism back to his own grandfather’s journey as a gay man. Vikas Adam’s,... Read More

In her sequel to LOCOMOTION, Woodson's format has moved from poetry to letters in this epistolary novel. "Peace, Locomotion" is the sign-off of 12-year-old Lonnie Collins Motion in his letters to his younger sister, Lili. They’ve been separated by the foster care system since the death of their parents five years earlier in a fire. Dion Graham's mellow narration of Lonnie's... Read More

Narrator Mitra Jouhari delivers an authentic coming-of-age story. Parvin is on a mission to get a date for homecoming after a summer fling dumps her because "she's too loud." Watching romance movies with her friends, Ruth and Fabian, Parvin theorizes that quiet women always get the man. While she attracts a few boys in her new persona, her Iranian aunt and new Farsi classmate,... Read More

Bahni Turpin's buoyant, enthusiastic portrayal of Autumn--the only girl on her high school wrestling team, and its star--stands in sharp contrast to Dominic Hoffman's steely formality as the overachieving Adonis, the wrestling team's manager. Adonis was born without legs and is confined to a wheelchair. In tone and pacing, Turpin captures the energetic Autumn's triumphs at... Read More

Narrator Dominic Hoffman serves as an outstanding educator while also capturing the voices of many of the victims of this tragedy. He also portrays Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, who became involved with their case. In 1944, on the segregated naval base in Port Chicago, California, 300 black sailors were killed and many others injured when the munitions they were... Read More

Immediately after the events of LEGEND, June and Day are on the run from the Republic. They manage to contact the rebel Patriots, who are are planning to assassinate the Republic’s new Elector. The rebels demand the duo’s help as payment for keeping them safe and for healing Day’s wounded leg. Mariel Stern and Steven Kaplan narrate in alternating chapters. Stern’s narrative... Read More

Katherine Kellgren's diligent research and tremendous talent shine through as she recounts the latest adventures of sailor Jacky Faber and her illustrious crew members, each with his own distinct voice and accent. In this installment, Jacky is just about to marry her true love, Jamie, when she is unceremoniously scooped up by Royal Intelligence and commanded to carry out a... 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

Young Sherlock Holmes returns in this transcontinental adventure. He travels to America with his friends Virginia and Amyus Crowe to foil a Confederate insurgency and rescue a kidnapped friend. Narrator Daniel Weyman handles the nonstop action with aplomb. He speeds up his pace as Sherlock escapes death on horseback, ship, and train. Characters have unique voices and... Read More

Joniece Abbott-Pratt makes a triumphant return to narrate this thrilling sequel to RAYBEARER. Tarisai is now empress of Aritsar, and reckoning with its disturbing legacy. She faces daunting tasks--first, to anoint a council of rulers and, then, to enter the Underworld to end the centuries-long practice of sacrificing children to appease its malevolent spirits. But Tarisai is... Read More

Jesse Nobess establishes a determined voice for high school sophomore Tre Brun. After losing his older brother, a basketball star, he finds his own passion for the game. Nobess captures Tre's emotions as he pushes himself to reach his maximum potential on the court, first at tryouts and eventually at the Minnesota State Championship. Tre feels pressure to succeed not only for... Read More

Narrator James Cosmo’s rich, raspy tones immerse listeners in the darkly humorous world created by debut novelist Martin Stewart. Wulliam, almost 16, dreads taking up the family mantle of riverkeep, clearing the mythical Danék of ice, debris, and corpses. But when his beloved Pappa is possessed by an evil spirit, Wull sets off on an epic quest to find a cure. Along the way, he... Read More

Narrator Cassandra Campbell reflects the tension and emotion in this excellent and accessible young adult history of the Women’s Suffrage movement. The authors clearly delineate the major players and turning points in the seventy-year struggle for women’s voting rights. Campbell subtly alters her voice to indicate the use of quotes from historical documents. The passion in her... Read More

Narrator Soneela Nankani provides just the right level of dramatic tension as the voice of Butterworth's young protagonist, Tash. In doing so, she propels this audiobook into a uniquely immersive experience. Living in Tibet and India, young Tash and her family are Buddhists who must keep in line with the occupying Chinese. Two words are forbidden: "Dalai Lama." Tash and her... Read More

How do you tell the story of the horrific suffering of an innocent child who grows up to become a hopeful woman? Two narrators use three distinct styles in telling this true story of Sachiko, a child survivor of the Nagasaki atomic bombing. In this third-person account, Katherine Fenton makes a vocal distinction between Sachiko's childhood memories of the bombing and her later... Read More

Francesca doesn’t really need saving, even though it seems her life is going down the loo. With the help of loyal friends, Francesca copes with being one of 30 female students at St. Sebastian’s (formerly, School for Boys), falling in love with one of the most irritatingly smug guys around, and dealing with her strong mother’s sudden breakdown. Rebecca Macauley pauses often,... Read More

Channie Waites's expressive narration further heightens the impact of Zetta Elliott's paean to Black girls and women. By turns gentle, melodious, animated, and dramatic, Waites matches her pitch and pacing to the themes in Elliott's poetry--microaggressions (like hair touching), brutality, enslavement, and resistance. In a reflection of the title, some poems take a hard look at... Read More

Steve West and Fiona Hardingham bring Stiefvater’s lyrical prose to life in this fantasy story about the island community of Thisby and its legendary traditions. With charming accents, West and Hardingham recount the island’s feverish devotion to its annual Scorpio Races, featuring unpredictable and dangerous “water horses.” Told from the points of view of 19-year-old Sean and... 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

After 40 years of peace between the kingdoms of Goredd and Dragonkind, there’s a threat from pro-war factions on each side. Sixteen-year-old musical prodigy Seraphina hides a dark, potentially deadly secret. She’s plagued by her mother’s visions, by strange creatures inhabiting her mental “garden,” and by her growing affection for a betrothed prince. Mandy Williams narrates... Read More

A listener might get lost in Hartman's rich, complex plot and detailed world-building if not for Mandy Williams's captivating narration. With the kingdom of Goredd on the verge of war, Seraphina travels to gather her fellow half-dragons and struggles to understand her own heritage and abilities. Williams sweeps us along on the journey, never stumbling over Hartman's invented... Read More

Narrator Michael Crouch projects both vulnerability and verve in 16-year-old Simon Spier’s voice as he copes with being blackmailed over his sexuality. At the same time, he slowly falls in love with an unknown classmate through email. With obvious respect for the character, Crouch smoothly navigates Simon’s shifts from wry self-deprecation to unbridled anger at his situation... Read More

Narrator Emily Woo Zeller immerses listeners in this fairy-tale- inspired fantasy. Shiori, who is uninterested in her arranged engagement, learns to wield forbidden magic from a shape-shifting dragon. After stumbling upon her stepmother’s secret, Shiori is exiled and cursed to remain mute—every word uttered means death to one of her six brothers, who have been transformed into... 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

Shaun Taylor-Corbett and Kinsale Hueston give lively, animated performances in this fantasy celebrating friendship and the power of storytelling. Hueston voices Nina, a Lipan Apache teenager who is fascinated by her great-great-grandmother's stories about the time when the human world was joined with the spirit world. Taylor-Corbett voices Oli, an animal-person from the spirit... Read More

Jason Reynolds wrote and now narrates a vital and compelling young reader’s remix of Kendi’s STAMPED FROM THE BEGINNING. Together, they have created essential listening for younger listeners, those who are raising them, and their teachers. Kendi himself narrates the introduction, setting a serious tone and clearly explaining segregationist, assimilationist, and antiracist... Read More

Narrator Andrew Bates employs a conversational tone and conveys the intensity of highly charged situations without overwhelming the storytelling. Finally reaching Portland, Maine, after a terrifying escape from their home on Pemberwick Island, 14-year-old Tucker Pierce and his friends are in for a shock: No one is there! They also make the astonishing discovery that SYLO, a... Read More

Jarrett J. Krosoczka’s second memoir, following HEY, KIDDO, recounts his experiences as a teen counselor at a camp for terminally ill children. Originally a graphic memoir, it becomes a powerful cinematic audio because of the coordination of more than 50 narrators, carefully selected music, and sound effects that enhance the action. Krosoczka portrays himself as an adult;... Read More

Living on peaceful Pemberwick Island, Maine, Tucker Pierce used to worry about football and girls. Now there’s a lot more to worry about as government SYLO soldiers quarantine the island and establish martial law, ostensibly to prevent a virus from spreading. Narrator Andrew Bates uses a conversational style to convincingly portray Tucker’s high school angst. Once the soldiers... Read More

M.T. Anderson narrates his own extensively researched work in a gentle, emphatic tenor, simultaneously methodical and sympathetic. Although his discussion focuses on Shostakovich's personal experiences, Anderson incorporates a great deal of historical information, using primary sources and detailed accounts of events to give listeners an immersive account of one of Russia's... Read More

Edward Herrmann’s authoritative voice lends weight to this young people’s adaptation of Meacham’s book THOMAS JEFFERSON: THE ART OF POWER. He sounds like the history teacher you always wanted, bringing history to life and breathing life and humanity into one of our most complicated and contradictory Founding Fathers. Whether he’s relating Jefferson’s belief in the high ideals... Read More

In 1832 thirteen-year-old Charlotte Doyle is sailing from Liverpool to Rhode Island to rejoin her family. Shocked to discover that the families who were to have been both guardians and companions will not accompany her, Charlotte embarks on a journey filled with terror and swashbuckling adventure. The first-person narrative makes this Newbery Honor book a wonderful choice for... Read More

Katherine Kellgren relishes Jacky Faber's escapades in this sequel to BLOODY JACK and CURSE OF THE BLUE TATTOO. This time the female teen orphan resumes male garb as a prank and, as a result, is impressed into the 1800s British Navy. Kellgren portrays the brutal captain who refuses to release the young woman from service and creates humor with the crew’s delightfully... Read More

As we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Marrin’s ambitious audiobook gives YA listeners historical context with which to understand this important chapter in history. Narrator Marc Cashman keeps the listener engaged throughout details of Japan’s history that explain how Pearl Harbor became a military target. Cashman’s delivery is evenhanded and... Read More

That the story told in this audiobook is one you think you know deprives it of none of its power. Winifred Conkling begins with 11-year-old Elizabeth Cady’s dismay in 1826 at realizing that her father will see her as less lovable and valuable than a son no matter what she accomplishes. It ends 94 years later with the cliff-hanger passage of the 19th Amendment. The fascinating... Read More

Thanks to Katherine Kellgren’s outstanding performance, Jacky Faber remains a sparkling heroine given to outrageous feats of derring-do. Believing herself pardoned, Jacky sails her sleek, well-armed ship, the LORELEI LEE, to London to finally marry her beloved Jaimy, whereupon she is unceremoniously arrested. Escaping the hangman’s noose, Jacky and 200 unsavory female prisoners... Read More

In the period of the Vietnam War, Holling Hoodhood starts his seventh-grade year at odds with his teacher, Mrs. Baker. Wednesday afternoons are their private time together, and the pastimes are many—from clapping erasers to dissecting various Shakespeare plays. Through Holling, his family, and his school compatriots, Schmidt takes clichés such as perfect families, battle-ax... Read More

Narrator Bahni Turpin delivers this audiobook about a mixed-race teen living in British-controlled Swaziland in the mid-1960s. Though Adele’s white father lives with his other family in South Africa, her popularity at her mixed-race boarding school is unquestioned due to the expensive gifts he lavishes upon her. When a new girl with higher social status comes to school, Adele... Read More

In Forman’s earlier book, IF I STAY, young Adam Wilde persuaded Mia to rouse from her coma after her family died in an accident. Since then, the pair have been out of touch, living on opposite coasts. She’s a cellist on the East Coast. He’s a dissatisfied West Coast rock star who’s about to depart on a European tour. As in the first story, this companion book takes place in 24... Read More

Katherine Kellgren is astounding, as always, as she narrates the twelfth and final book of this series. With such a nimble narrator, listeners will feel as though they’re hearing an entire cast performing men, women, and children with American, Irish, Scottish, and other British accents. Fans of the series know what to expect and won’t be disappointed as Jacky Faber continues... Read More