Nell is enthusiastic about her freshman year because she’ll attend the same school as her adored older sister, Layla. Julia Whelan narrates a first-person narrative that is voiced as a plea from Nell to her older sister. Nell’s characterization demands a nuanced reading, and Whelan’s layered portrayal is perfect. She emphasizes Nell’s longing to return to childhood, when she felt so united with her sister that she referred to herself as “Nellayla.” Whelan expresses the growing tension as Nell’s loneliness and frustration at their separateness turns to worry and then fear about Layla’s secret life—a hidden affair with the school’s most popular teacher. Whelan dramatizes the changes in Nell as she centers herself with sarcasm, suffers with the truth and ugly school rumors, and struggles to determine a proper course of action.
(Fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: 2014
Duration: 4 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9781480590670
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Golden Voice Ramón de Ocampo, who narrated each of the author's memoirs, delivers this hard-hitting YA novel in verse. De Ocampo guides listeners on its emotional journey, using the genre's rhythms to illuminate the relationship between high school seniors Diego and his best friend, Lawson. De Ocampo's poignant delivery highlights the contrast between anxious, rule-following, academically driven Diego and Lawson, who is close to failing in school and turns to selling hard drugs to support his mother. De Ocampo captures the story's highs and lows--from the teenage bliss of riding in a car with a friend to the reality of confronting a violent drug dealer. De Ocampo's narration balances lyrical writing and a gritty story.
(Verse fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: 2025
Duration: 3 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9798896790570
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Brittany Pressley portrays a character who, at first, seems like an over-the-top heroine. Eleanor, a senior in high school, was abandoned by her father, Hugo, when she was born. Emotionally abused by her mother, she dreams of living with her father and his family. In response to a job ad, she does just that, hiding her identity and becoming a nanny for her toddler half-brother and a friend to her warm stepmother. She even experiences her first love. But Hugo, a rich tech bro whose most recent invention is a questionable AI product, is far different from what Eleanor imagined. Pressley's portrayals invite listeners into Eleanor's conflicted life. In particular, Pressley captures all of Hugo's ruthlessness in business and pleasure in his privileged lifestyle.
(Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: 2025
Duration: 12 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217015061
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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