This audio biography focuses on nine teenagers who are in their senior year of high school as they take exams, apply for college, play sports, date, and hang out at burger joints. Jeff Hobbs interweaves their stories, but, even with multiple narrators, it is difficult to keep the boys straight. In many ways, that doesn't really matter--you get sucked into their world. Most compelling are Tio and Carlos, clever and ambitious boys with big dreams who attend nimo Pat Brown Charter High School in Compton, California. The two boys are beautifully portrayed by Gary Tiedemann and Timothy Andres Pabon. Carlos is undocumented, so he is simultaneously applying for DACA and to Ivy League schools. In contrast, several of the boys come from exceedingly wealthy families and attend Beverly Hills High School. They face very different family expectations.
Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2020
Duration: 10 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9781797103624
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
A gripping account.
Starting with the NYC subway shooting of four unarmed Black teenagers by Bernie Goetz in 1984, the author shows how the court system’s failure to serve justice to the white perpetrator is one of many examples of racial injustice caused by white anger about rapid societal changes. Thompson discusses how, with the failed trickle-down economic policies of the Reagan years, simmering rage about these and other stressors for white people were brought to a boil by sensationalized media coverage and divisive, opportunistic politicians. Though narrator Erin Bennett’s pacing will sound unusually slow to some listeners, her connection with this story of crime and justice and its broader context is exceptional. Her tone and her interpretive skill promote effortless engagement with the author’s nuanced examination of how economic and societal stress have led to so much untethered anger.
A gripping account.Pub Date: Feb. 10, 2026
Duration: 14 hrs
DD ISBN: 9798217295678
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026
The mysteries of Easter Island point to some familiar culprits.
British archeologist Pitts proves a compelling narrator for his solidly researched history of Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island. Conventional wisdom sees the ruin of Rapa Nui as a case of ecological collapse, its limited resources squandered on erecting hundreds of giant stone heads. In a steady, subdued voice, Pitts tracks another history. Rapa Nui was first visited by westerners in 1722, and the inhabitants suffered the fate of many native peoples: slave raids, novel diseases, and cultural erasure by missionaries. One by one, Pitt demolishes the various conjectures Rapa Nui has since inspired while building solid evidence for another, more plausible narrative with a very different message to impart.
The mysteries of Easter Island point to some familiar culprits.Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2026
Duration: 12 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063344709
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2026
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