Kate Reading and Kyla Garcia combine their remarkable talents to narrate this delightful middle-grade fantasy. As the story begins, Garcia skillfully captures the real-world setting in which the story's two protagonists meet and bond, despite their respective challenges and differences. Celia is a dyslexic who recoils from books but is impressively adept at math and logic. Tyrus is a wordsmith who loves reading and is passionate about fantasy. When they unwittingly plummet into Wonderland, a precarious balance between the real and the imaginary unites them, strengthening their friendship. In this fantastic realm, Reading takes up the narration. Expertly voicing the numerous extraordinary inhabitants who try to help or hinder the heroes' topsy-turvy quest to save Wonderland and return home, she provides marvelous characterizations that thoroughly enhance this uniquely engaging work.
(Fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2020
Duration: 9 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9781799905202
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
The audiobook has the comforting, magical quality of an irresistible bedtime story.
Author/narrator Coelho’s bright, friendly first-person narration brings 12-year-old Relic Hamilton to life. When Relic encounters a dangerous genie in his grandfather’s antique shop, he leaves his ordinary London life behind for a supernatural adventure that transports him through history and around the globe. While the journey has thrills and scary moments, the characters always have hope—a central theme of the audiobook. Coelho brings variety to the voices of his other characters, like Relic’s grandfather’s “Jamaican-teacher voice” and the gravelly rumble of a pirate captain from the Age of Sail who sounds exactly like an archetypal pirate ought to.
The audiobook has the comforting, magical quality of an irresistible bedtime story. (Fantasy. 9-13)Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
Duration: 5 hrs
DD ISBN: 9798349162169
Publisher: Dreamscape
Review Posted Online: March 25, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
A magical blending of fantasy and reality.
Narrator Emily Eiden's expressive rendition of Auden "Denny" Greene and her best friend Runa is feminine and childlike, suitable for a tale of girls on the cusp of turning 12. Denny and Runa manifest their active imaginations in a magical world they call Sorrowfeld, filled with dragons and princesses, but Denny is dismayed to find that Runa seems to be growing out of this world and into a new phase of her life. Denny, however, still needs the escapism of Sorrowfeld to cope with challenging circumstances in her real life—while in Sorrowfeld, Princess Auden struggles against actual dragons.
A magical blending of fantasy and reality. (Fantasy. 8-13)Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
Duration: 7 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063348189
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: April 1, 2026
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