Sarah Coomes’s musical Liverpool accent and her reading rhythms are lulling. These make fine contrast to the plot surprises that sixth-grader Julie encounters when she agrees to be a “Good Guide” to the two Mongolian immigrants who are new to her school. She honors the brothers’ request to “learn themselves ordinary,” teaching them everything from football rules to common lingo. The brothers share with her the amazements of their ancestor Genghis Khan and his Xanadu. Coomes’s convincing first-person narration voices Julie’s enchantment at the boys and their mysterious past and curious present. Listeners hooked by the story’s humor and mystery will feel wonder, then doubt, then compassion and sadness when their full truth is finally revealed.
Ages 8+Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2011
Duration: 2 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781455822287
Publisher: Brilliance Audio/ Candlewick
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
Naeymi’s narration is both raw and triumphant.
Samara Naeymi beautifully narrates this middle-grade novel about an Iranian American girl. Bullied by her classmates for her frizzy hair and thick eyebrows and criticized by her mother for her weight, Yasmin struggles to be her authentic self in a world that tells her she's not good enough. There are many different perspectives in this story, and Naeymi is true to each: Yasmin’s judgmental mother, with her Persian accent and steely belief in her own harsh parenting; the ruthless teenagers whose hurtful comments cause emotional harm; the younger brother concerned for his sister's unhappiness; and the tried-and-true best friend.
Naeymi’s narration is both raw and triumphant. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: March 24, 2026
Duration: 4 hrs, 51 mins
DD ISBN: 9798349114861
Publisher: Dreamscape
Review Posted Online: April 28, 2026
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