Pan's sweeping tale of magic, grief, family, and freshman year follows Leigh Chen Sanders to Taiwan in the aftermath of her mother's suicide. Narrator Stephanie Hsu gives color to the vivid palette Leigh uses to describe senses and emotions. As Leigh bonds with the grandparents she was never allowed to know, she searches for the red bird she believes her mother became. Hsu finds a balance of wonder and anguish as Leigh explores her family's past through increasingly mystical experiences. Her mother's struggle with depression is shown realistically in widening spirals full of numbed emotions and chilling thoughts. Leigh and her friends have just the right touches of youthful snark and flattened tones, while Taiwan is full of bright bursts of Mandarin.
(Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: March 20, 2018
Duration: 11 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9781549167928
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Listeners follow Merry, the longbow girl, one of the best archers in her town. When she finds a magical portal in the forest that takes her back to sixteenth-century Wales, she must use her skills to win an archery contest in order to help her ancestors keep their land. While narrator Emily Wilden brings protagonist Merry to life with a rich Welsh accent, her narration seems uneven at times. All the period characters have accents that reflect the setting of the story and transport listeners to Wales. Listeners who enjoy historical fiction and a bit of fantasy will be charmed by this tale of determination, hope, and family.
Young AdultPub Date: N/A
Duration: 11 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781501916793
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
An exceptional and authentic listening experience.
Three narrators—the author and his real-life wife and brother—each tell this heartfelt and witty story with their own approach. Carter is stuck in a loop. Every year on his birthday, he turns 16 again and forgets the previous year, while everyone else, including his younger brother, Lincoln, ages normally. But loop six seems different, and Carter, supported by his family and former girlfriend, Maggie, will do anything to end the cycle. As the three narrators introduce each character’s perspective and deliver their experiences with emotional depth, the dynamic between Carter, Lincoln, and Maggie sounds natural and complex.
An exceptional and authentic listening experience.Pub Date: Jan. 6, 2026
Duration: 9 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063330405
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2026
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