The only thing better than exploring Narnia with your children is having Michael York do it with you. With his precise, but lively, British accent, he eases listeners into the mysterious world hidden behind the wardrobe. There the suspense and tension mount as Lucy meets Tumnus and Edmund the White Witch. With flawless accuracy York seems to sense the very timbre of the White Witch’s horrible voice and the anguish of the kind faun, Mr. Tumnus. York knows, as well, how excited the children are at coming upon Mr. and Mrs. Beaver at the very moment the forest has become so mysterious and they need some sensible friends to help them; later still we hear the gentle power of Aslan, as well as his fury. Michael York gives to each an unforgettable vocal characterization that will surely live in our children’s memories as the Grinch or Scrooge lives in ours.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2000
Duration: 4 hrs
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
With deliberate pacing and a clear-toned Castilian accent, narrator Carlotta Brentan transports listeners to fifteenth-century Spain during the Inquisition. Seven-year-old Paloma is the granddaughter of a powerful Jewish leader. But even for wealthy Jews, life is as precarious as a "ceiling made of eggshells." As she gets older, Loma longs to get married and have her own family even as she watches her community suffer persecution, mob violence, exile, imprisonment, and forced conversion to Christianity. The audiobook shines a light on Loma's day-to-day life as Brentan voices her multigenerational family, including her stern, harsh mother; her hypocritical older brother; her meek, dutiful sister-in-law; and her wizened grandfather. Loma's own voice reflects the youthful hope and heartrending injustice of her time.
(Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: May 12, 2020
Duration: 9 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063007215
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Michelle Weisborn vividly portrays Evie Steinberg. Weisborn's youthful tone reflects Evie's delight when she moves to Southern California and discovers that Dara, her BFF from summer camp, goes to her new school. Weisborn also captures the anxious yet determined feelings of the seventh grader who demands perfection from herself after messing up her father's cryptozoology work. Soon, Evie is shocked to learn that Dara has told her schoolmates that Evie is weird and a liar. Evie sets out to expel the cruel golem who surely must have taken over Dara and works to regain her father's trust. Weisborn evenly handles themes that range from bullying and expectations--one's own and those of others--to self-acceptance.
(Fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: May 6, 2025
Duration: 6 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9781547613083
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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