QUEER DUCKS (AND OTHER ANIMALS) The Natural World of Animal Sexuality

Schrefer’s nonfiction audiobook for teens is fascinating, frank, funny, and, above all, compassionate. Joel Froomkin performs the main narration, and it’s easy to imagine that his voice is the author’s, though he does make the curious choice to narrate chapter titles in an officious British accent. Dustin Ballard, Hope Newhouse, and Neo Cihi narrate interludes (illustrated in the print book) and Q&A interviews with scientists. Listeners will learn about the wide and varied spectrum of animal sexuality—and about how biases in scientific research have often hidden or omitted this variety. Schrefer is open about his own identity as a gay man, and he writes, "This is partly a book for lonely eleven-year-old Eliot.” Indeed, LGBTQIAP+ teens especially may find this to be an illuminating and comforting listen. J.M.D. 2023 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2022]