Narrator Bryan Kennedy animates the angst and glory of Rafe Khatchadorian’s first year in middle school. With quick changes in pitch and pacing, Kennedy matches the roller coaster of events recounted in Rafe’s sketchbook, which details his attempt to break every rule in school. Rafe and his imaginary friend, Leo the Silent, make one rule: No one gets hurt. That rule is what makes Rafe different from his soon-to-be-stepfather, Bear. As Rafe ponders the turmoil of his life, he tries to decide what it means to be good or bad when he’s always in trouble either way. With or without the accompanying PDF of Rafe's sketches (downloadable and available on the last CD), Kennedy's performance achieves a vivid rendering of Rafe’s art in the listener's mind.
(Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: June 27, 2011
Duration: 4 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9781609411053
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
While narrator Liam Aiken evokes the wistful, dolorous tone of Snicket’s second mystery in his All the Wrong Questions series, he fails to deliver Snicket’s signature snark with appropriate vigor. In this episode, the main character, 12-year-old Lemony Snicket, continues the investigations that began in STAIN’D BY THE SEA with the case of the missing chemist, Cleo Knight. As Aiken delivers Snicket’s declarative sentences in a deadpan voice, his remote reading keeps listeners distant from the story. Furthermore, Aiken does not always play up the quirks of the town’s eccentric characters. When he does use individualized voicings, the story shakes off its languidness to some degree. Aiken’s melancholy narration echoes Snicket’s loneliness but doesn’t enliven the recording for young listeners. An attached PDF file includes the character Seth’s illustrations.
(Mystery. 8-14)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2013
Duration: 4 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781478924845
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Jeff Harding voices the many impactful moments of 1919 in this engaging nonfiction audiobook. From women activists fighting for the right to vote to the Red Scare and civil rights riots, Sandler draws parallels to today's social issues. Harding matches 1919's cadence with a forward-moving pace. He uses different accents for quotations, though the women and people of color might have been better served with a diverse cast. The asides and timelines that appear in the text also are in the audio. Full of fascinating stories put into a modern context, this audiobook offers much to learn about an eventful year and ponders the big questions of our current time.
(Nonfiction. 11-16)Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2020
Duration: 5 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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