This audiobook generates so many emotions--outrage, disbelief, shame, frustration, and, occasionally, hope--but narrator Adenrele Ojo, with her rich voice and impeccable pacing, navigates us through them. We meet Dasani when she is 11 years old and living in a moldy, overcrowded, and dangerous New York City shelter with her parents and seven siblings. NEW YORK TIMES reporter Andrea Elliott's research explores the discrimination in employment and housing experienced by Dasani's ancestors; the addiction struggles of Dasani's parents; the innate intellect of Dasani herself, which is held back by societal and personal challenges; and the often inexplicable and maddening bureaucratic decisions within the child welfare system. Ojo maintains the flow and never falters in distinguishing between the author's narrative and the authentic speech of the myriad characters.
Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
Duration: 21 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9780593147306
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Kozol’s shocking exposé of inequities in the funding of our public schools contrasts white suburban schools with those serving black and Hispanic populations. Interviews with students, teachers, and school administrators add eloquent testimony to Kozol’s disturbing presentation of facts. Narration by Jack Winston is clear and brisk, but the pace is unrelenting, with little pause for transition between scenes or chapters. Winston’s cool, detached voice contrasts with Kozol’s impasssioned and outraged message. The sheer repetition and magnitude of Kozol’s damning evidence is numbing; the narration gives no relief. Powerful medicine, most easily taken in small doses. Music signalling tape changes is jarringly inappropriate.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 8 hrs
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
An absorbing drama.
Reena Dutt takes listeners to Cleveland Heights, where Sam disappears the morning after a fight with her wife, Aliya. Umrigar’s text immerses listeners in both women’s experiences, switching perspectives deliberately. Dutt evinces grief, terror, and rage (alas, often conveyed in clunky figurative language) as Sam and Ali navigate this cataclysm, which is complicated by their status as a mixed-race, queer couple. Dutt’s voice for Ali is grave and deliberate, and for Sam, lighter but still firm. Secondary figures are also carefully characterized; the lead investigator and Ali’s Indian Muslim father are particularly well realized. Dutt’s attention to detail extends to the pronunciation of Ali’s name: correctly South Asian in the mouths of those who know her well, broadened to a nasal “alley” by Americans who don’t.
An absorbing drama.Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2026
Duration: 11 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781668655023
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2026
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