Lameece Issaq's youthful narration captures the first in a series featuring sixth grader Nadia. She returns from Egypt to reunite with her "Nerd Crew" of like-minded, culturally diverse friends who join forces to put together a museum project. At the story's center are Nadia's changing emotions--her incomprehension of a classmate's bullying, the comfort she finds from friends, and the hurt of experiencing microaggressions and learning that her peers have problems with her leadership style. Issaq adopts an accent when portraying Titi, a magical figure who emerges from Nadia's amulet to aid her problem solving. While the story's transitions between magical and realistic elements sometimes seem abrupt, the novel's depictions of prejudice and issues of identity will avidly engage listeners. Egyptian comedian and coauthor Bassem Youssef narrates several small bits.
(Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2021
Duration: 3 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9781338673296
Publisher: Scholastic Audiobooks
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Narrator Sunny Lu creates a passionate voice for seventh grader Luna in this coming-of-age realistic fiction. Luna leaves her introverted life behind when she becomes a bibliotherapist for her fellow classmates, recommending books to help them in times of need and eventually writing her own zines with the assistance of her best friend, Scott. Lu perfectly captures Luna's complex emotions as she abandons Scott and joins the popular group. Now rather than writing to help others, she starts to hurt others by writing about their faults and flaws in "fix-its." Listeners will relate to Luna's struggles as she loses her way and will cheer her on in hopes that she finds her way back.
(Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
Duration: 6 hrs
DD ISBN: 9798217081578
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
It's 1975, and eleven-year-old Gao Sheng, a Hmong girl, is living in the highlands of Laos in a one-room house with her family. Then they are forced to flee. Narrator Robyn Morales lends a soft, feminine huskiness to the protagonist's voice as she describes the family's journey to a refugee camp, to gentle and thoughtful effect. The listener is transported alongside Gao Sheng to a new world as she reflects on memory, gender, and family relations in her culture; the events that change her life; and conditions in the refugee camp. An afterword provides context about the author's family's real-life experience. Morales' narration is comforting, even as she describes the difficult circumstances of refugees.
(Verse historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
Duration: 5 hrs
DD ISBN: 9798217080861
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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