This powerful work relates the story of Syvia Perlmutter, one of only 12 Jewish children to survive the Lodz ghetto in Poland during WWII. The author, Syvia’s niece, wrote the story in a poetic first-person narrative that begins in the late thirties and concludes when the ghetto is liberated. Christina Moore’s performance captures the terror, bewilderment, and deprivation experienced by Syvia and thousands of others. For history like this, audio is even more compelling than print in its ability to engage listeners. One hears the marching Nazi boots, the bombing airplanes, and the screams of parents whose children are being ripped from their arms. Moore uses a subdued tone, completely appropriate for the telling of this story. Her performance brings an immediacy and intensity to the atrocities that we read about in history books.
Ages 10+Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2007
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Narrator P.J. Ochlan embraces this spirited novel, documenting 11-year-old Rocco Zaccaro's adventures with such gusto and spunk that you'd swear you'd traveled back in time to 1887. The story begins with Rocco's removal from his home in Italy and his subsequent arrival in New York City, where he is to work as a street musician for his new padrone, Signor Ancarola. Ochlan paints a vivid picture of immigrant life and the trials Rocco undergoes trying to escape the horrible living conditions under his padrone. Capturing the characters' voices perfectly, Ochlan delivers Rocco's animated storytelling, the slang of his newfound gang of pickpockets, and the accents of the city's many immigrants, whether Irish, Scottish, German, English, or Italian. Historical notes, including a pickpocket's glossary, complete this excellent production.
(Historical fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: April 5, 2016
Duration: 7 hrs
DD ISBN: 9780147521477
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
John McDonough tells the oddball story of Prince Roger and his misbegotten quest for self-identity and true love. The story is amusing and at times inspiring as it follows Prince Roger on a three-year sojourn through the Forever Forest and across the Dastardly Divide as he seeks to transcend his clownish nature and find his destined love, Princess Petulia. Younger listeners will be enchanted by the whimsy and fantasy elements of this fairy tale and by McDonough's gentle style, while adults will enjoy Feiffer's tongue-in-cheek writing, metafictional asides, and profound insights about destiny, identity, and living happily ever after.
Ages 8+Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2001
Duration: 4 hrs
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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