Narrator Jorjeana Marie’s youthful voice is an excellent fit for this YA retelling of Shakespeare’s WINTER’S TALE. Along with her best friend, Polly, Hermione Winters is cocaptain of her school’s legendary cheerleading squad. Senior year looks to be perfect. But at cheer camp, Hermione is drugged, raped, and left half-submerged in the lake. The story that follows is an honest portrayal of a young woman’s recovery from trauma, including an abortion, and the community that rallies around her. Marie’s straightforward narration is well matched to the novel’s tone. Hermione is a character who is struggling emotionally, and there are scenes in which Marie’s voice breaks. But Hermione is also level headed, and Marie avoids histrionics while managing to convey her grief, anger, and ultimate triumph.
Young AdultPub Date: March 15, 2016
Duration: 6 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780399566035
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Myths come to life through Bahni Turpin and Robin Miles's stellar narration of this young adult fantasy. Marisol and her mother left their home in the Caribbean to live in Brooklyn. Marisol hopes to leave their island traditions and her family's magic behind. Genevieve grew up listening to her white father's mythical stories from her unknown mother's homeland. When the teens' lives collide, both discover secrets that change their views of their worlds. It's no surprise that both Turpin and Miles are Golden Voice narrators. Their skills bring Genevieve's and Marisol's stories to life as they capture the teens' personalities. Miles exquisitely delivers Marisol's Caribbean accent, while Turpin channels Genevieve's frustrations with her family and her own health. Simply magical.
(Verse fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2025
Duration: 6 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063395589
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Narrator Susannah Jones's high-speed pacing conveys Maeve's jangly thoughts and obsession with every potential scary outcome of her life--complete with research that feeds her anxiety. Jones does an equally fine job portraying minor characters. Whether calm, compassionate, or frustrated, these secondary characters allow listeners a bit of relief from Maeve's intensity. Maeve does have reason for concern as she moves in with her father and his family for six months. Her situation is complicated: Her father struggles with alcoholism, her stepmother is determined to have a home birth, her mother is working far away in Haiti with a new lover, and Maeve has broken up with her girlfriend. Jones builds the tension and then relieves it as Maeve develops honesty, courage, and love for her new girlfriend.
(Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2017
Duration: 7 hrs
Publisher: Audible, Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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