Fairuza Balk expertly differentiates the characters in this retelling of a mysterious Tyrolean folktale. From the beginning, Balk captures Otilla’s youth and curiosity. Her courage becomes clear when she meets the other character in this story, a skull. Balk’s noble tone and accent fit him, and the way she expresses his approachability transforms a typically scary icon into a friend. All is affirmed by Balk’s rendering of Otilla and the skull’s warm dialogue. When a skeleton hunts the skull, Balk makes its menace evident. But calm and clever Otilla is full of aplomb. The use of music and sound effects—heavy, regal strains, along with a whistling wind and a crackling fire—befit the setting and story. The author’s afterword discusses how he transformed the original tale.
(Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: July 25, 2023
Duration: 22 mins
DD ISBN: 9781666641646
Publisher: Dreamscape
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Narrator Bahni Turpin employs a Caribbean accent to take young listeners to St. Rita for this haunting combination of folklore and contemporary life. Young Kela is freshly mourning the loss of her mother when she finds a sea woman's comb in an exposed cave. Maybe that's why she can't help making a wish and why she fights so hard when things go wrong. If you're not familiar with this Golden Voice narrator, it may be hard to believe that all the character voices come from Turpin. She pulls electric energy and emotion from them all, especially the embittered sea woman, Ophidia. Turpin's tone travels effortlessly between fairy-tale sweetness and crackling action. Be prepared to hold your breath as the danger mounts.
(Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 8, 2022
Duration: 5 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063043466
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Elena Rey ably voices a bustling cast of humans and monsters in this sequel to THE SCHOOL FOR INVISIBLE BOYS. Here, 12-year-old Kairos agent Sam Osborne takes center stage when he's assigned to find the papers of a deceased operative. Embedding in Seattle with his family, Sam assumes the identity of a Texas cousin, a device that allows Rey to slip nimbly between accents. She's particularly adept with her characterizations of children, especially Sam's target's earnest grandson, his word-loving best friend, and the teenage son of the family next door--none of whom are what they seem. Author Hutchinson opens his aperture considerably in this second series outing, but he provides enough backstory to orient new listeners as Rey confidently carries them forward.
(Supernatural. 9-12)Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2025
Duration: 7 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217015627
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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