SAVE ME A SEAT

Using two narrators is the perfect way to deliver this story, told as the alternating first-person recollections of two fifth-grade boys. Vikas Adam is the voice of Ravi, a recent immigrant from India, and Josh Hurley is the voice of Joe, a boy with auditory processing disorder (APD). Hurley creates a kind character in Joe, speaking softly in a measured voice, which makes it all the more heartbreaking when the listener discovers that Joe is the target of bullies. Fluent in Hindi, Adam provides a perfect accent for Ravi, the smart and confident boy who also becomes the butt of jokes because of his accent and Indian lifestyle. Coming from lands oceans apart, the boys find common ground in the resource room of Einstein Elementary. L.T. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2016]