New Reviews: Children

British Nigerian actor Wunmi Mosaku ushers listeners into a sinister "land of wonders" inspired by--and darker than--Lewis Carroll's Alice stories. Afia, 16, who longs for adventure, impulsively follows an itinerant market vendor into the forbidden forest that encircles her home of Dafra. There, she encounters wonders aplenty--along with terrors. Mosaku modulates between a... Read More

When a girl and her father move from one apartment to another, she becomes homesick and is overcome with emotion. This production of Stead's first picture book is performed by Stephanie Richardson. As the daughter tells her story, Richardson's choice of a high pitch for the girl results in a squeaky timbre at times. But the girl's disappointment is palpable each time her secret... Read More

In her latest audiobook, Perkins celebrates diversity and the fun and adventure of making new friends and learning a new language in an unfamiliar place. Stacy Gonzalez's narration fills young Lissie's voice with nervous excitement as she travels far from home with her father and grandmother, worrying about how she'll communicate when everyone else speaks Spanish. Gonzalez... Read More

Ferdelle Capistrano enlivens this biography about WWII Filipina resistance fighter and Hansen disease survivor Josefina "Joey" Guerrero. Capistrano deftly manages the action of Joey's story, along with the many explanatory passages scaffolding it. She adds a visceral tenderness when Joey describes her reverence for Joan of Arc and the deplorable conditions people with leprosy... Read More

Emily Rankin narrates the story of Lucretia Sanderson, a teen who's recently moved to a Maine island with her mother. They're both seeking solace after her father's accidental death. Using varied accents and intonations, Rankin makes the tension and class differences between the island folk and the summer people apparent. She balances that tension with Lucy's glorious... Read More

Katharine Chin skillfully narrates this middle-grade adventure, capturing all the characters' voices. Natalie "Cincinnati" Lee has stolen her 135-year-old grandfather's diary, which contains details of all the treasures he has taken. In an effort to break the family curse, Cincinnati is determined to repatriate the relics mentioned in the diary. As she grapples with the first... Read More

This short performance by Mark Sanderlin will surely charm listeners. A crow, who only responds in caws, sits on a telephone pole and squawks up a storm, refusing to move whenever his animal neighbors ask him to come down. He ignores Squirrel, Hummingbird, Rat, and Bat as they ask him to play or spend time with them, and none of them can understand why he's so cranky. But... Read More

Timothy Andrés Pabon narrates the story of Danilo with heartfelt emotions. In 1989, in the wake of the US military invasion of Panama, Danilo's neighborhood, El Chorillo, is destroyed. Recently abandoned by his father, Danilo tries to be strong for his mother and sister. When a baseball recruiter offers him a scholarship to play in California, Danilo is torn between his bright... Read More

Ramón de Ocampo and Victoria Villareal throw themselves into the portrayal of two dozen kids and a couple of dogs, who are spending the day at a New Jersey beach. First, we hear the voices of siblings Jackie and Simon as they run on the empty beach. Later, the beach becomes crowded with people of varied classes and ethnicities. De Ocampo portrays a Cuban teen idol who is trying... Read More

Author Neil Sharpson narrates his first picture book, an apparent nonfiction work about animal classes. There's a curious undercurrent of edginess that Sharpson strengthens into a predominant tone with the repeated refrain: "Don't trust fish." Not only do fish defy categorization, they eat "poor innocent crabs who are just trying to have a nice time in the sea." This is only... Read More

Timothy Andrés Pabon and E.J. Lavery narrate this tender exploration of grief. Two years after his older sister disappeared while surfing, Kai Sosa still struggles to find a sense of normalcy. He earns a place on the elite swim team his sister had once dominated but worries that he will let the team down the way he fears he let Cali down. Pabon voices Kai with increasing... Read More

Joey Florez juggles the many facets of this audiobook. Depicting seventh grader Alex Ramirez, a neurodivergent student, Florez honors both the character and the verse format of the story. He gives his narration a definitive rhythm. Periodically, Ramirez uses fluid Spanish that reflects Alex's heritage and adds another rhythm to the narration. Alex has been in an SC... Read More

Sarah Moon's middle-grade audiobook evokes the joys of summer vacation and the growing pains of adolescence. Avi Roque portrays the four children of three LGBTQ+ families who rent a house together every summer during Provincetown's Family Week. But this year, not all is well: Avery's dads are getting divorced, Mac flunked seventh grade, and twins Lina and Milo are struggling... Read More

Michelle Weisborn vividly portrays Evie Steinberg. Weisborn's youthful tone reflects Evie's delight when she moves to Southern California and discovers that Dara, her BFF from summer camp, goes to her new school. Weisborn also captures the anxious yet determined feelings of the seventh grader who demands perfection from herself after messing up her father's cryptozoology work.... Read More

Katie Anvil Rich brings her joyful narration to this children's book about two girls from different backgrounds who form a close bond. Each summer, 7-year-old Native American Piper goes to visit her cousins on their tribal land. Once back home, she forms a friendship with her new Indian neighbor, Sumi, who is 4. The two grow close over the next year, so when Piper learns her... Read More

Joy Harjo, the first Native American poet laureate in the U.S. and only the second to be named to three terms, provides a soothing rendition of her new work. Generations of a family welcome a baby girl, providing her with advice, asking her questions, and telling her about her relatives and the world around her. As the verse is spoken directly to the girl, Harjo adds soothing... Read More

Renika Williams-Blutcher's uncanny ability to project a wide range of emotions and attitudes brings this combination of historical fiction and fantasy to life. Rowan isn't happy to spend the summer with her Aunt Monica in New York City even though she's enjoyed these vacations in the past. This year she wants to stay home and grieve the death of her father. Williams-Blutcher... Read More

Mesmi Chu narrates this fantasy infused with Chinese folktales. A lion couple and their cub, Jin, guard the Old City Gate, the entry to their unseen world of stone spirits, Gongshi, who protect the modern city's residents. Jin shirks that responsibility; he resents his father's devotion to duty and the Sacred Sphere that binds their worlds. Chu highlights Jin's selfishness with... Read More

Narrator Cassandra Morris deftly portrays Evey, an anxious preteen who is living in an alternative Savannah, Georgia, where ghosts stalk the streets, perceived only by children. Reeling from having been abruptly dumped by her former best friend, Evey joins the Ghost Scouts, an organization dedicated to keeping the unquiet dead under control. As she struggles to connect with her... Read More

Kate Coventry sounds fully believable as she narrates this bewitching story featuring a talking goldfish, a plant, and a spider. Listeners meet feisty Jillian, whose parents ignore her while they concentrate on their antique shop; grumpy goldfish Toasty; braggart plant Ivy; and brave spider Arthur. Most enjoyable are the critters' amusing arguments as they try to outwit each... Read More

Listeners will be entranced by the melodic and articulate voice of narrator Angel Pean as she recounts the miserable upbringing, rewarding career, and personal relationships of Lorena Hickok, who was known by many as "Hick." This audiobook reveals not only Hick's ambition for excellence in her writing and journalism career but also the love and admiration she shared with First... Read More

Elena Rey ably voices a bustling cast of humans and monsters in this sequel to THE SCHOOL FOR INVISIBLE BOYS. Here, 12-year-old Kairos agent Sam Osborne takes center stage when he's assigned to find the papers of a deceased operative. Embedding in Seattle with his family, Sam assumes the identity of a Texas cousin, a device that allows Rey to slip nimbly between accents. She's... Read More

Candace Fitzgerald narrates the story of Addy, a 12-year-old from a remote mountain town who has studied her whole life for this one summer at a survival camp. But when a superstorm knocks out the power of the whole county and a flash flood destroys the one bridge out of town, she might not be able to get to camp in time. What's more important--taking care of her traumatized... Read More

Yoinks! Prepare to get "meta" with this hilarious mash-up of comics, prose, poetry, and real-life author rivalry. In a thinly disguised reference to themselves, award-winning authors/narrators Jerry Craft and Kwame Alexander portray fifth-grade rivals who plan to compete in their school's annual story contest. K is a writer; J is a comic book artist. You can probably guess the... Read More

Jaunty music, heavy on bassoon, begins this audiobook, as narrator Fabian Cook, Jr., welcomes listeners to Kittybunkport, Maine, a coastal town populated entirely by scaredy-cats. When the town's lighthouse goes dark, Chowder, full of false bravado, and Crackers, openly timorous, are volunteered to take their lobster boat out to investigate. Narrators Sean Kenin Elias-Reyes and... Read More

Euan Morton, who narrated the first in this duology, concludes it with the strength it deserves. Story and narration find new depth as 13-year-old Max, a German Jew trained by British spies, returns to Berlin amid the horrors of the Nazi regime. His official mission? Infiltrate the heart of radio propaganda. His personal mission? Find his parents. Morton's narration has an... Read More

E.A. Castillo brings enchanting charm to this captivating adventure. After a misstep, Maggie is sent to the Midwatch Institute. Pleasantly surprised and a little mesmerized by the reality of the orphanage, Maggie and her fellow first-year students embark on intriguing class schedules. The girls quickly discover that the school is engaged in solving mysteries and keeping the... Read More

Karissa Vacker strengthens this audiobook with her depictions of sadness and confusion as fifth-grader Pearl sinks into depression. Vacker captures the dismal messages in Pearl's brain, nasty communiqués from mean inner voices. Vacker also depicts caring family members and friends who note Pearl's changed behavior and worry. Vacker conveys Pearl's healing with the aid of a... Read More

Harrie Dobby transports listeners to the 1850 Edenic garden of a British earl and into the perspective of 13-year-old orphan Scilla. Scilla has escaped a workhouse in the guise of a boy and is fearful of being discovered. Dobby balances this fear with her enraptured responses to the earl's lavish, nurturing garden and her desire to learn all she can from the head gardener, Mr.... Read More

It's impossible to hear Erin Moon's delivery of this affecting story without experiencing the same emotions as its first-person protagonist. Bea is a middle-grade student in a small school who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. When a shooter enters the building, she becomes tragically aware of her disadvantaged situation. This novel in verse recounts in present tense... Read More

Listeners are presented with the roiling and realistic emotions of 13-year-old Elspeth Culpepper, who finds herself in the middle of the 1776 Siege of Boston. Narrator Phoebe Strole does a masterful job presenting the characters and their difficulties--from Elspeth's Loyalist master, who is forced to leave Boston, to the various members of the family for whom she becomes a... Read More

Young listeners are in for a treat with this story of a grieving boy who moves with his recently widowed mom into a seventh-floor New York City walk-up with a magical wish-granting mail slot. In short order Oliver is wishing for ever pricier consumer goods to impress the kids at the snobby private school he attends on scholarship, thanks to his mom's job as a custodian there.... Read More

Eric Yang's spirited performance and ease in creating multiple characters make this audiobook a joy to listen to. Californian Rick Kotani, who loves baseball, expected to spend the summer pitching for his team. Instead, he winds up in Oregon, with his mom, who's looking after his Japanese grandfather, who still has spunk but isn't safe living independently. As Rick's Grandpa... Read More

In a way that is relatable for children, American Civil Rights activist Ruby Bridges shares her experience of being the first Black child in an all-white elementary school in New Orleans during the 1960s. Narrator Grace Capeless has a bright, youthful tone as she tells Bridges's story of the heartfelt relationship she had with her teacher, Mrs. Henry, and the disappointment of... Read More

This tender Christian story introduces Sarah Tilghman, who lives on a farm in the late 1800s. Narrator Jessica Schleigh portrays Sarah as a happy child who is trying to understand why her baby brother died. As an Easter gift and an expression of his concern for Sarah's sadness, her father catches a rabbit to surprise her. When Schleigh portrays the frightened rabbit, named... Read More

A full cast dramatizes Janey's fourth-grade year, during which she's homeschooled aboard her parents' sailboat as they travel the Caribbean. There's much Janey likes about their peripatetic life, but she misses regular school, especially Rae, her best friend from third grade. But when they anchor in St. Thomas, she meets Astrid, a slightly older--and slightly dangerous--girl... Read More

Benedict and Sheinmel's YA historical fiction, set in the early 1900s, introduces 12-year-old orphan Lainey Phillips. Billie Fulford-Brown gives Lainey a believable voice as she struggles to grow and learn at the harsh Sycamore Home for Orphaned Children. Mrs. Holsapple's cruelty and disdain for her orphans comes through in every syllable she spits out in contrast to the oily... Read More

Rebecca Stern cheerfully narrates this illustrated biography of scientist Barbara McClintock (1902-1992), whose pioneering work on maize genetics helped form our understanding of DNA. Stern's playful narration of McClintock's early life portrays her as a tree-climbing, baseball-playing child who grew into a determined young woman who was willing to ignore norms so she could... Read More

Narrator Marwan Salama captures the nautical adventures of Mabel, a mouse who lives a quiet life in a house belonging to a man and his young son. Mabel and the boy watch as the man carefully builds a model ship piece by piece, day after day, in the window of the house. Mabel dreams of being its captain and going on seafaring adventures. Finally, the man takes his prized model... Read More

Melody Muzljakovich perfectly conveys the challenges confronting girls today. Listeners meet 5-foot-10-inch-tall reserved seventh-grader Stevie Crumb and her petite, bubbly best friend, Arianna. Muzljakovich realistically introduces Stevie's basketball-obsessed family, who dismiss Stevie while catering to her brother, Ryan, who's vying for a scholarship. When Stevie joins her... Read More

Daniel Nayeri narrates his novel, which transports listeners to Iran in 1941. He balances passages describing a neutral country overrun by the Anglo-Soviet invasion with the experiences of the main characters, recently orphaned Babak, age 13, and his sister, Sana, age 8. To prevent their separation, Babak steps into the role of their father, a teacher of nomads. Nayeri... Read More

Golden Voice Soneela Nankani expertly channels her inner middle school child with her narration of this story about five children and their summer after sixth grade. Each is isolated in their own way. They meet at their local library and, soon after, decide to start a cookie-baking business. Nankani captures the inner lives of kids at that age: hiding uncomfortable truths,... Read More

Mack Gordon embraces the anger and frustration of seventh-grader Finn, whose father, a 9/11 hero, died during the Covid pandemic. Gordon reserves especially intense sarcasm for Finn's overdue poetry assignments and his attitude toward the reparation he must perform for vandalizing a notable hiking trail: In one summer he must hike 46 Adirondack High Peaks. Gordon's narration... Read More

Dara Rosenberg excels at narrating this emotional audiobook, which begins as seventh-grader Becky is dressing for her older sister Sara's funeral. Rosenberg leads listeners from the sad "Now" chapter to the lighter "Before" chapters, when Becky secretly "borrows" her mother's credit card to get her beloved older brother a gift. The theme of secrets is introduced against the... Read More

Frankie Corzo narrates the story of 13-year-old Dorani Gutierrez, a champion of justice whose mother dies suddenly and tragically. Practically overnight, Dori must leave her Florida friends for a Wyoming horse ranch. There she's unfamiliar with both the weather and the aunt she's to live with. At the ranch, Dori encounters a damaged horse, Sunshine, whom she recognizes as a... Read More

Sarah Agha's narration is a marvelous match for this parable, which takes place in an alternate 21st-century London ruled by tyrants. Agha deftly expresses the questioning nature of a young ghetto dweller named Adam Alhambra, who is used to being mocked for his Muslim faith. When he escapes a robber through a hidden doorway, Adam meets a Tyger, who sends him on a mission to... Read More

Narrator Krysta Gonzales adds emotional depth to this moving story about finding the courage to speak up. Fifth grader Daisy Jackson, dubbed "weird, sad, and silent" by two classmates, spends her time alone. After lashing out at her mother's abusive boyfriend, Daisy becomes withdrawn; she "invisiblizes" herself, befriends a stray cat, eats lunch with the school librarian, and... Read More

Kathleen McInerney's narration is gentle and sweet in this adaptation of the novel THE WILD ROBOT into a picture book. Music ranges from bright to apprehensive in this story of Roz, a robot who washes up on an island, learns to live like the animals, and raises a gosling named Brightbill. Tension occurs when Brightbill must migrate and Roz cannot, but McInerney never conveys a... Read More