Author Martino, also publisher of Listen & Live Audio, was a wrestler and coach, and his experience is apparent in this story. Two students from very different backgrounds, Ivan Korske and Bobby Zane, are training for the New Jersey State Wrestling Championship. Narrator Mark Shanahan captures student/ coach relationships, the journey to the finals, and the pain that Bobby and Ivan endure as they face death and divorce amid the everyday activities of high school. Most fascinating is the grueling training required of wrestlers. While Shanahan successfully conveys both loss and triumph, he excels in portraying the story’s two very different coaches--their methods, personalities, strengths, and weaknesses.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2005
Duration: 8 hrs
Publisher: Listen & Live Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Rich language, relatable feelings, and powerful storytelling unite in this successful audiobook.
Acevedo moves listeners with her dramatic plot, poignant emotions, and fresh images as she soothes with her rhythmic, lyrical narration. Seventeen-year-old Liliana’s impulsiveness has landed her in the juvenile justice system. After Lil returns home and faces a court appearance, Acevedo conveys her shame for bringing turmoil to her loving Indigenous Salvadoran and Afro-Dominican family. Lil chafes against legal constraints that demand she live life cautiously, often against her own intuition, as she returns to school without her best friends or the support of her beloved older brother, Aldwin, who is away at college. Lil is worried about Aldwin’s instability, and this care puts her in a precarious position.
Rich language, relatable feelings, and powerful storytelling unite in this successful audiobook. (Verse fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2026
Duration: 5 hrs, 51 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063574236
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2026
Pabon breathes life into this story of a father and son desperate to connect.
After the death of his beloved mother, Miles is spending a year with his estranged father, Jake. Jake owns a failing art house movie theater, and he’s pinned his hopes on convincing a famous Spanish director to show her latest film there. Jake and Miles set off on a trip through Spain, searching for the director and rebuilding their relationship along the way. Timothy Andrés Pabon's pronunciation of Spanish words and phrases brings authenticity to descriptions of the food, traditions, and landmarks. His emotional portrayals of a broken teen and a yearning father who reach for yet miss each other will simultaneously break listeners' hearts and give them hope.
Pabon breathes life into this story of a father and son desperate to connect. (Fiction. 13-17)Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2026
Duration: 5 hrs, 19 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217348589
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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