This debut novel is short, compelling, and bittersweet. It's two years after the Vietnam War has ended. Ten-year-old Matt Pin was airlifted out of his native country to "safety" in the U.S., but what he experiences here includes discrimination and nightmares of the life he left behind. Despite a loving adoptive family, Matt struggles. He is an ace Little Leaguer, but a teammate who lost a brother in Vietnam directs his anger at Matt. Narrator Tobias Wong reads with heart and humor. While the novel is written in verse, Wong's haunting delivery carries the story with the immediacy of first-person prose. His quiet narration pulls us in, so we listen almost holding our breath as Matt's devastating secrets are revealed.
Ages 10+Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2010
Duration: 2 hrs
Publisher: Scholastic Audiobooks
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
"Neither a master nor nigger be," Tall John admonishes "47" early and often in this young adult novel, which is part mystery, part historical fiction, and part science fiction. In one of his final performances, the late, great Ossie Davis has left us with a treasured gift. He becomes "47," a fourteen-year-old slave on the Corinthian Plantation in the year 1832. Davis's wonderful gravelly voice lends a touch of realism to this surreal story. The novel, Mosley's first for young adults, has enough complex layers to keep adults involved. Listen as a family--the story may inspire some interesting discussions on freedom and the dynamics of the master/slave relationship.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2005
Duration: 6 hrs, 15 mins
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
In a graceful blending of fact and fiction, Cooper creates a cast of quirky royals who've fallen on hard times. It's 1936. The Nazis are becoming a world force, and 16-year-old Princess Sophie is stuck in the family's "fortified house," on an island kingdom in the middle of the Bay of Biscay, halfway between France and Spain. Emma Bering offers a sweet narration of Sophie's journal entries about highly “un-aristocratic” drudgery, romantic daydreams, dark suspicions, and the surprise presence of some very real Nazis. Bering's childlike voice adds charm to Sophie's spirited observations of her tomboy sister, Henry; brother, Toby; handsome Simon; and brilliant cousin, Veronica. Once young listeners overcome the story’s lengthy exposition in the early parts, they'll find themselves caught up in a thrilling adventure.
Young AdultPub Date: Jan. 12, 2010
Duration: 8 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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