Narrator Dion Graham shines bright in this YA prequel, set 17 years before the events in THE HATE U GIVE. Narrating in the first person as Maverick, Graham is tasked with delivering internal and external dialogue. We hear the fast-paced, sometimes frantic, thoughts of a Black teenage boy in way over his head—dealing drugs in order to help his mother take care of his family. In those moments, Graham sounds like a poet, and the rhythm of his narration carries listeners away. When Maverick speaks aloud, his tone changes, depending on whom he is speaking to. When Graham slips between the internal and external voices, listeners feel as though they are living inside this emotionally fraught, well-paced audiobook. Listeners should plan on setting aside a full day because once they start listening, they won’t want to stop.
(Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
Duration: 8 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063043817
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Muñoz’s narration allows glints of humor and family love to balance the horrors of trauma.
Narrator Javier Muñoz’s voice is light, almost giddy, as he describes the loving, joyful, book-filled family life of 17-year-old Mexican American twins Emma and CheChe. The story is told from the perspective of CheChe, who relishes his good life. After CheChe’s El Paso high school is attacked and he is shot and loses a leg, Muñoz’s narration changes dramatically. Sounding slower, subdued, and saddened, CheChe tries to comprehend the shattering of his idyllic life. Listeners will be struck by the sweetness of CheChe’s developing relationship with Placido, his first boyfriend, and the evolution of his path to healing.
Muñoz’s narration allows glints of humor and family love to balance the horrors of trauma. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
Duration: 10 hrs, 56 mins
DD ISBN: 9781668185834
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2026
Eloquent and hauntingly spare.
Freeman performs her novel in verse with a sensitivity to lines and rhythms, carefully conveying the immense spectrum of feelings in this poignant audiobook. The unnamed narrator, in her junior year of high school, is counting the days until she can escape a fragmented family where she feels invisible. The concise writing accentuates the rapid-fire drama as her parents take her allocated tuition funds to support her brother in rehab. Freeman expresses the desperation and despair that drive the heroine to apply for and receive a scholarship to study in Norway, even though she knows none of the country’s culture or language. Freeman describes a caring Norwegian family, a first love, and the places and people that help the protagonist discover true belonging.
Eloquent and hauntingly spare. (Verse fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2026
Duration: 2 hrs, 33 mins
DD ISBN: 9781668184332
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2026
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