New Reviews: Young Adult

Ariel Blake's measured narration steadies an audio account of an intense event that took place in 2017. Blake neutrally recounts the facts surrounding a popularity-seeking high school junior who copied racist, sexist social media and memes. His posts grew to dominate his liberal California high school, and the ugly situation spread to the shocked community. Blake's... Read More

A duet of narrators delivers the protagonists' alternating chapters and the time periods that influence them. Nile Bullock portrays Gibran, a Black senior at a predominately white suburban high school. Bullock expresses Gibran's fiery response when his request to attend the 1995 Million Man March is denied by his school. When he attempts to organize a protest, the school... Read More

Jade Wheeler and Kimberly Woods narrate this twisty YA mystery about a teen girl who is on the run with her mother. The mother is, at times, the picture of maternal love, and, at other times, the opposite. She can't stand the physical touch of her own daughter, Harlow. Wheeler gives listeners a vivid portrayal of this fractured mother-daughter relationship full of secrets. Her... Read More

Saskia Maarleveld's precise narration captures Nazi-controlled Amsterdam in 1943. There, this audiobook's heroine must move with caution and pretend confidence when she's rescuing Jewish babies and selling art forgeries to the Germans. Maarleveld's pacing is exact whether she is imbuing a suspenseful scene with tense emotions, increasing speed when rapid action demands it, or... Read More

Alaska Jackson differentiates the many characters, past and present, in this audiobook, especially the heroines who take center stage. Jackson clearly defines the courage of Blossom, the progenitor of a Black acting dynasty. In the Golden Age of Hollywood, Blossom is a trailblazing role model for female actors of color and generations later for her great-granddaughters, Hollis... Read More

Carlotta Brentan infuses this audio with all the emotional intensity it deserves. It recounts the childhood experiences of the author's grandmother, Rieke, in Holocaust-era Romania. Brentan's narration does full justice to the heroine's reactions to the complex personal and political upheavals she encountered. Brentan anchors us firmly in Rieke's feelings toward her family--her... Read More

Christian Banas narrates this romantic comedy. Transgender Noah is navigating a new school and a legal name change. Hoping to present as masculine, Noah joins the secret Borrow a Boyfriend Club, through which students can rent a boy as a date. In cold, curt tones, snooty Asher vets potential members, who cannot have a boyfriend or girlfriend. Although Noah scoffs at Asher's... Read More

James Meunier gives an absorbing performance of this twisty historical adventure. Will Hughes is a young actor who is making a paltry living on the stage in 1590s London. He's also living under an assumed identity; his real name is Elias Wilde, and his family rose up when Queen Elizabeth's soldiers stole their land. When Elias's friend, Christopher Marlowe, playwright and spy... Read More

More than 10 years have passed since listeners first adventured with Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Narrator Jesse Bernstein doesn't disappoint as he returns in this sixth installment. Percy is just trying to get through his senior year without incident, but if he wants to attend college, he must complete three quests to obtain the required reference letters from Mount... Read More

Karissa Vacker shines brightly as she immerses listeners in the world of professional chess. Mallory Greenleaf once loved chess but put it aside to help support her mother and sisters. Agreeing to play in one last tournament, she unknowingly defeats the current world chess champion, the infamous "Kingkiller," Nolan Sawyer. Nolan is intrigued and wants to cross pawns with... Read More

Ten distinguished writers contributed to this anthology of short stories with a theme of collections. The stories are as varied as the nine narrators who deliver them, but all have a dark tone. In two surrealist stories featuring Latine women trapped in bleak situations, Frankie Corzo narrates with an edgy tone of underlying power. Becca Q. Co helps listeners navigate a unique... Read More

Risa Mei gives an energetic performance of this young adult romance. Kiki doesn't have the best start at her new school. She retreats into War Front Heroes, an online game, in which she poses as a guy to avoid sexism. But when she finds out her online crush goes to the same school she does, she must choose between lying or coming clean about her online persona. Mei transforms... Read More

This funny and sweet queer retelling of Jane Austen's EMMA, set in a wealthy Southern California high school, may remind listeners of the 1995 movie CLUELESS. Narrator Drew Caiden is pitch perfect as smart, handsome, popular Emmett. He prides himself on being nice and, as one of his acts of niceness, attempts to find a boyfriend for his former hookup. Caiden ably animates the... Read More

Narrator Sarah Ovens shines while breathing life into this haunting narrative. Ovens's expressive voice and impeccable pacing create a vivid atmosphere as she guides listeners through Clara's perilous journey in the Forest Grimm. Ovens's storytelling prowess is evident in how she infuses these retold fairy tales with an eerie ambiance and captures the essence of each character.... Read More

Emily Woo Zeller brings passion to the thrilling conclusion of a duology about the exploits of an immortal assassin. Rosalind is in dire straits: She's been outed as a spy, and her partner has been kidnapped. With the eyes of the nation upon her, she uses a public relations tour as a guise to find her partner. Zeller's pacing keeps listeners on edge. As the threat of invasion... Read More

Avi Roque is the perfect narrator for this queer YA fantasy. Gem is a nonbinary teen just trying to survive high school in Gracie, Georgia. His life is upended when a new girl explains that the nightmares they've been having are memories and that they're the reincarnation of an ancient god--one of many who fled their home world long ago. Chaos and adventure ensue. The novel... Read More

Narrators Ariana Delawari and Vaneh Assadourian portray best friends Layla and Mira after a road trip mishap leaves them stranded in a motel. Their room is inhabited by a dark force, voiced by narrator Ramiz Monsef. The room wants Mira because she carries the burden of her brother's death; Assadourian's mature and measured voice works well for the mourning teen as she and Layla... Read More

Rob Shapiro balances a neutral tone and deep emotions as he recounts the horrific and sometimes miraculous experiences of Rudi and Gerta, two Jewish Slovakian teens who are trying to survive WWII. Shapiro captures the author's engaging writing style as he reveals Rudi's horrific experiences in Auschwitz and Gerta's secret activities as a member of the Slovakian underground.... Read More

Twenty years after ERAGON, Gerard Doyle's familiar and compelling voice returns to narrate MURTAGH. Galbatorix has been defeated, and now Murtagh and his dragon, Thorn, must face the consequences of their roles as his reluctant servants. Doyle's talent for accents and passionate battle sequences shines, complementing the author's vivid world. Murtagh's voice resonates with a... Read More

Narrator Quyen Ngo delivers an emotionally intense performance in this raw YA coming-of-age story about a complex Vietnamese American family. The year is 1999, and Jane Vu is a 17-year-old who is getting ready to leave for college. She's living in San Jose with her 7-year-old brother, Paul, and their abusive father, Phúc. Jane and Paul's mother abandoned them three years... Read More

Listening to PHOEBE'S DIARY, narrated by the author and artist, is like opening a time capsule from the mid-2000s. Amid pop-culture references like mix CDs and Myspace, drawn from her own diaries, Wahl delivers a charming and authentic look at her teen years. From first crushes to first kisses, from body image struggles to friendships and family dynamics, Wahl opens up as if... Read More

Jorjeanne Marie narrates the contemporary first-person story of 16-year-old Ivy, flavoring her narration with a mild Texas accent. Stronger than the accent are the emotions Marie projects as a teen who's become pregnant in a town of megachurches. Ivy's shame and distress at unjust accusations are balanced by the wry humor peppered throughout the story. Marie presents Lorenzo,... 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

David Levithan gives listeners another queer YA romance that's full of joy and the promise of a better world for LGBTQ youth. Ryan and Avery meet at a queer prom; they're a perfect match with their respective blue and pink hair. Narrator Jamie K. Brown's measured tone gives weight to the budding emotions between the boys. Listeners are invited along on their first 10 dates,... Read More

Tamika Katon-Donegal narrates a contemporary YA audiobook with a twist. Sisters Casey and Sutton have a contentious relationship that is fraught with arguments and mutual ill will. After Sutton disappears for weeks, Casey notices that when she returns, her mean-girl personality has changed. Casey soon realizes it isn't an act. Trying to figure out what happened to her sister,... Read More

Ana Osoria lends her wispy, elegant narration to this romantic adventure. Rosalinda is a young witch who was exiled to Sinner's Isle. Now of age, she plans to escape before the Offering, an annual tradition that casts the resident women into the hands of nefarious male visitors. She meets a charming pirate, Mariano, and they work together to escape before the Offering ends.... Read More

Raphael Corkhill takes on this ghoulish version of Victorian London in which violet-eyed mediums commune with ghosts under the jurisdiction of the all-powerful male-led Royal Speaker Society. Silas Bell, who is transgender, would rather perform a hysterectomy on himself than be married off as a violet-eyed breeder. And he has studied enough of modern medicine to know how.... Read More

Natalie Naudus takes listeners for a ride in this socially minded sci-fi thriller. Cass, a teen pickpocket, becomes embroiled in the political machinations of the Imperial Court when the emperor is assassinated. When Cass is framed for his murder, she joins forces with another outsider, Amaris, who belongs to a group of revolutionary outlaws. Naudus's careful characterizations... Read More

Saskia Maarleveld's brisk narration sweeps listeners into an atmospheric setting that blends fantasy and reality. Maarleveld portrays the dissatisfaction and resentment of literature-loving Effy Sayre, whose gender is holding her back at architecture school. Maarleveld shows Effy's pride and passion when she's selected to design a manor home honoring her favorite writer, who... Read More

Ariel Blake narrates this suspenseful thriller with a portrayal that illuminates its main character. Alina, a scholarship student at Edgewater Academy, has had her early entrance acceptance to Yale rescinded because of losing her temper. She's got just one opportunity to regain her place, and that's to compete in "The Finish," an invitation-only competition in which 12 girls... Read More

Listeners will feel all the action and angst of this young adult novel, narrated spectacularly by Jade Wheeler. Seventeen-year-old Ross Quest comes from a long line of internationally famous thieves. She is planning to leave "the life" when danger befalls her mother. Now she must join an international game of heists to save her. Complicating the game is the presence of her... Read More

Rebecca Lee portrays characters of various social classes as she narrates this Sapphic fantasy. When the queen dies, religious prophecy declares that 13-year-old Brianne is the new queen--although her bossy older sister, Elodie, believes Brianne is unfit to rule. In a Cockney-like accent, commoner Sabine wrestles with her "darkness," a depression-like affliction that speaks to... Read More

Four talented narrators voice a compelling story of teenagers who find community over a tumultuous week in their Canadian town. Jessie is excited to start a new job at Pink Mountain Pizza; narrator Aaliya Warbus's husky voice captures her seemingly flippant but truly thoughtful nature. Shaun Taylor-Corbett voices her co-worker Cam's dialogue with lighthearted humor but also... Read More

Narrators Chris Nelson and Justis Bolding's heartwarming and comical performance will have listeners immersed in the unlikely relationship between interns Oliver and Tilly as they trek across Europe on a business trip with Tilly's sister's start-up. Bolding's voice is quick and bright when portraying Tilly, a creative whose boundless energy is often stifled by her family... Read More

Jordan Fisher and Rebekkah Ross deliver the alternating points of view of this novel. Ross's initial edginess captures Eden's frayed nerves as she continues to recover from having been raped three years earlier. Still, right from the beginning, Ross also expresses Eden's inner strength and determination to heal. When she enters college and begins a nurturing relationship with... Read More

Mark Sanderlin's and Griffin Puatu's performances in this vibrant slasher story bring a high school queer club to life--as the club's members fight for theirs. Cole and Dearie, two gay friends, are living their best lives as they approach graduation. Enter Mr. Sandman, a serial killer who wreaked havoc decades ago, only to show up again, attacking anyone associated with the... Read More