Narrator Kimberly Woods's soft voice draws out the roiling emotions in an audiobook about recovery, loss, and hope. Maisie is a 12-year-old Makah and Piscataway girl whose identity has revolved around ballet for years, but now she's injured and facing an uncertain future. Woods's youthful voice embodies Maisie, whose anger and anxieties are beginning to overwhelm her despite the loving support of her family. When they take a vacation on the Olympic Peninsula, Maisie finds a connection with her resilient ancestors but still feels hopeless, which is shown by the way she keeps snapping at her parents. Young listeners who are facing loss and a year like no other will find this quiet audiobook provides comfort and catharsis, as well as a role model for learning to express strong emotions and to ask for help.
(Fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: 2021
Duration: 4 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063063440
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Live Oak Media recently caught our attention with this new read-along book and cassette program. We listened first, and were so delighted we couldn't wait to get the book. The picture book made the experience even better, but the audio recordings was strong and vibrant by itself. THE GARDENER, Sarah Stewart's Depression-era story of a young girl sent to live with her Uncle Jim in the city has a sweet, wistful quality with narration alone, but coupled with David Small's soft-edged pencil illustration, it's a total delight. The reading is repeated on both sides of the tape, one with and without page-turning signals.
Pub Date:
Duration: N/A
Publisher: Live Oak Media
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Cousins Avery and Jax don't have much in common, including their feelings about a summer at their family's crumbling island vacation home. She thinks it's a great adventure, and he'd rather be anywhere else. Narrator Kate Coventry embodies Avery's open, exuberant, and sometimes thoughtless behavior, while Pete Cross makes clear to listeners how much quiet Jax is impacted by his father's overbearing nature. As they help clean the place up to sell it, they find pages torn from a diary that may uncover what drove their parents away from the island and each other years before. Cassandra Morris's brief narration of the mysterious diarist is compelling in its simplicity. Narrators Kate Coventry and Pete Cross provide vivacity to this exploration of family history and regrets.
(Mystery. 9-12)Pub Date: 2025
Duration: 5 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9798225027049
Publisher: Scholastic Audiobooks
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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