Narrator Michael Crouch captures each character's quirks in this funny, sometimes heartbreaking, story of an emotionally charged family road trip. Thirteen-year-old Theo is an introvert. Like his older sister, Laura, and his father, a science teacher, he struggles with communicating his emotions, preferring to channel those feelings into his comic book drawings. Two years after the death of his mother, Theo's family, still unable to share their grief, somewhat reluctantly takes a vacation. Crouch delivers Theo's first-person perspective with relatable adolescent angst and sardonic wit. His subtle differentiation between the main characters illuminates the dynamics of family conversations, sibling squabbles, and parental refereeing. The journey is memorable, and Crouch skillfully voices an assortment of robust personalities that listeners will enjoy.
(Fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
Duration: 4 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9780358576297
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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: N/A
Duration: N/A
Publisher: Live Oak Media
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Powerful listening.
Four narrators personalize the tragedy of Houston’s 2017 Hurricane Harvey through the viewpoints of three struggling teens. Sunil Malhotra depicts Pakistani American Yasir’s many facets—his determination to succeed at soccer, his barely controlled rage about racism, his sadness about his father’s death, and his deep fear of drowning. Nikhaar Kashnani portrays South Asian American Mona. Weighed down by caring for her young brother, she loses herself in art and dreads her recurring nightmare about a flood. Josh Hurley renders Cody’s cruel, racist bullying as well as his fear of the dark, a result of being abused by his father. Christopher Salazar enthusiastically delivers interstitial news bulletins. When flooding from Harvey makes them face their worst fears, the resilient threesome’s separate stories come together and they support each other’s bravery.
Powerful listening.Pub Date: Feb. 10, 2026
Duration: 8 hrs
DD ISBN: 9780063389557
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Feb. 10, 2026
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