Lauren Fortgang narrates Jennifer Brown’s heartrending novel. It’s impossible not to suffer along with 16-year-old Jersey Cameron as she survives a devastating tornado—only to experience further personal loss. The immediacy of Fortgang’s narration tears down the wall separating listener and story just as powerfully as the storm rips apart Jersey’s Missouri community. Each time Brown throws another sucker punch at the already down-and-out Jersey, Fortgang delivers the knife pain of regret and the dull ache of despair with vicious accuracy. Listeners will wonder how much more Jersey can endure just as Brown and Fortgang allow her a small measure of rest and healing. This captivating recording will engender deep feeling in listeners.
. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: May 6, 2014
Duration: 7 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9781478955252
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Muñoz’s narration allows glints of humor and family love to balance the horrors of trauma.
Narrator Javier Muñoz’s voice is light, almost giddy, as he describes the loving, joyful, book-filled family life of 17-year-old Mexican American twins Emma and CheChe. The story is told from the perspective of CheChe, who relishes his good life. After CheChe’s El Paso high school is attacked and he is shot and loses a leg, Muñoz’s narration changes dramatically. Sounding slower, subdued, and saddened, CheChe tries to comprehend the shattering of his idyllic life. Listeners will be struck by the sweetness of CheChe’s developing relationship with Placido, his first boyfriend, and the evolution of his path to healing.
Muñoz’s narration allows glints of humor and family love to balance the horrors of trauma. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
Duration: 10 hrs, 56 mins
DD ISBN: 9781668185834
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2026
Themes of inheritance, identity, sacrifice, and belonging resonate through three voices.
This multigenerational family story comes to life through an ensemble performance. After high schooler Dawn receives an assignment to interview her grandmother, she begins uncovering a family history that stretches from 19th-century China to Taiwan and then New York. Eunice Wong, Katharine Chin, and Kenneth Lee shift among generations with careful attention to rhythm, pitch, and emotional texture, making the transitions easy to follow. Their performances capture the family's guardedness over its old secretsas well as Dawn's curiosity as a young woman seeking answers. As the layers of the Chin family history emerge, the narrators maintain a strong sense of continuity across time.
Themes of inheritance, identity, sacrifice, and belonging resonate through three voices. (Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2026
Duration: 11 hrs, 42 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063238039
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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