Narrator Heather Alicia Simms animates the complex character of Patina (Patty), the heroine of Jason Reynolds's second Track book. Simms depicts the overwhelmed feelings of a girl who has suffered much in her young life. Now that her beloved father has died, she must live with her aunt and uncle, helping to care for her younger sister while her diabetic mother recovers from an amputation. Simms captures Patty's many moods--her sassiness within the security of her running team, her anxiety when she doesn't perform perfectly, her disdain for the snooty girls at the rich-girl academy she attends, and her tenderness for her baby sister. Simms also skillfully renders the minor characters in the story and captures its rhythms and pacing.
. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2017
Duration: 5 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9781508236498
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
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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