Sixteen-year-old Tessa Scott's surrender to cancer unfolds through Charlotte Parry's unrelenting performance. Tessa's list of 10 things to accomplish before she dies is chronicled through first-person narration and strong secondary characters. Parry pulls no punches as she portrays Tessa's involvement with sex, drugs, hospital treatments, and a best friend's pregnancy. Well-timed dialogue and imagery add to the quality of the recording. While most characters are fully realized, Tessa's brother's accent slips in and out of Cockney, and her mother's voice isn't always distinct. Nevertheless, Parry builds the book's momentum with professional skill. Listeners should stock up on tissues for this heartrending story. C.A. 2008 YALSA Selected Audiobook © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
Young AdultPub Date: Sept. 25, 2007
Duration: 7 hrs
DD ISBN: 9780739362891
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
This immersive audiobook is a throwback treat with outstanding narration, impressive sound effects, and vintage vibes.
Narrator Patrick Fugit is sublime as aimless Texas teen Bowie (pronounced boo-eee) Jones. Bowie, dissatisfied with his small town but uncertain what comes next, takes the fall for a prank on the first day of senior year in 1980. The resulting community service leads him to a local radio station run by an iconoclastic ex-rocker that could be the path to his future and the girl of his dreams. Fugit’s performance is expertly pitched, contrasting Bowie’s laid-back exterior with his inner turmoil and providing authentic voices for the secondary characters. Short sections made to sound like old-fashioned tape recordings add a layer of detail that sells the time period.
This immersive audiobook is a throwback treat with outstanding narration, impressive sound effects, and vintage vibes. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2026
Duration: 10 hrs, 55 mins
DD ISBN: 9798225081409
Publisher: Scholastic Audio
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2026
Creative and thoughtful with a touch of magic, this audiobook will keep listeners engaged.
Sixteen-year-old Caspen Coolsby is going through it. His father has been missing for six months, his family's candle store is preparing for the annual Red Fest celebration, his mother has started renting out the apartment upstairs, and he’s struggling to adapt to all the changes. As Caspen gets to know the new tenants, he discovers he can enter their memories through certain candle scents, and he hopes his new power will provide clues to his dad's disappearance. Narrator Matt Pittenger perfectly captures Caspen's confusion, resilience, and determination as he tries to connect the memories he has witnessed with real life and figure out his feelings for Lars, the cute guy who keeps showing up in the memories.
Creative and thoughtful with a touch of magic, this audiobook will keep listeners engaged. (Speculative romance. 12-18)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
Duration: 5 hrs, 46 mins
DD ISBN: 9781668160060
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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