Listeners will enjoy the sound of waves that accompanies Lynette Freeman’s stirring narration of environmentalist MaVynee Betsch’s life. During segregation and Jim Crow, American Beach, located on an island near Jacksonville, Florida, was one of a few Black seaside resorts. Freeman’s tone swells with Betsch’s love of the place where she swam and played as a child, and quiets with sorrow when she finds it abandoned and neglected after integration. As the “Beach Lady” becomes a part of the local culture, growing her hair long and marching on the governor’s office to protest commercial development of the beach, the narration turns slyly playful and firmly confident. Freeman captures the spirit of a woman who knows that her mission is to save a priceless piece of history.
(Picture book/biography. 6-12)Pub Date: 2021
Duration: 13 mins
DD ISBN: 9780593552292
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Ken Coleman's expertise as a baseball announcer enriches this history of the Boston Red Sox since the sale of Babe Ruth to the N.Y. Yankees. He leads off with a grim account of this transaction, which started the curse that has plagued the Red Sox ever since. The sermon-like tone will amuse non-believers and comfort listeners who are certain the team is cursed. Like the ups and downs of Boston's play through the years, the narrator's voice fluctuates--exuberant and then despondent--in tone and tempo accurately reflecting the mood of any given baseball season. The narrator is very successful at conveying the emotional roller coaster ride Red Sox fans have endured as a result of the curse of the Bambino.
Pub Date:
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: HighBridge Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Author and narrator James Robinson combines his documentary filmmaking skills and familiarity with audiobooks to render his experience with serious visual disability in audio. Sound effects immerse the listener in Robinson's memories, like the ticking of the school clock as impatient classmates wait while he struggles to read. Slow pacing reflects the gravity of each memory. He sometimes inserts the confused conversations of friends and family who are puzzling out images of the world as he sees it. Other times, he provides insightful descriptions of images. He shares the difficulties associated with what he calls "whale eyes," the extraordinary help of his mother, and his eventual academic and professional success. Robinson's caring outlook and advice on society, specifically the disability community, is, unsurprisingly, visionary.
(Memoir. 11-18)Pub Date: 2025
Duration: 3 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217018239
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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