Twelve-year-old Anita is growing up in the Dominican Republic. It is a bounteous tropical paradise replete with a loving extended family and many friends. Yet, as Anita tells her diary, she is increasingly aware of her world’s dangers for adults who disagree with the island’s dictatorial leader. When her own family escapes to safety in New York, the situation of those left behind becomes even more perilous. Julia Alvarez offers an informative, personal introduction at the beginning of the audiobook, and goes on to do a fine job narrating her own fact-based young adult novel, which is an involving book for adults as well as young adults. She doesn’t try to create many different voices but does make the men sound different from the women and the old different from the young. She reads with emotion and clarity, and her warm Latin accent is a pleasure to listen to.
(Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: July 13, 2004
Duration: 6 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781400085309
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Listeners follow Merry, the longbow girl, one of the best archers in her town. When she finds a magical portal in the forest that takes her back to sixteenth-century Wales, she must use her skills to win an archery contest in order to help her ancestors keep their land. While narrator Emily Wilden brings protagonist Merry to life with a rich Welsh accent, her narration seems uneven at times. All the period characters have accents that reflect the setting of the story and transport listeners to Wales. Listeners who enjoy historical fiction and a bit of fantasy will be charmed by this tale of determination, hope, and family.
Young AdultPub Date: N/A
Duration: 11 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781501916793
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
In 1832 thirteen-year-old Charlotte Doyle is sailing from Liverpool to Rhode Island to rejoin her family. Shocked to discover that the families who were to have been both guardians and companions will not accompany her, Charlotte embarks on a journey filled with terror and swashbuckling adventure. The first-person narrative makes this Newbery Honor book a wonderful choice for recording. O'Karma's reading, with its hint of cross-gender differentiation, allows the listener to feel as if Charlotte Doyle herself were relating the tale. This story should be particularly alluring to adolescent girls although the fast-paced action and the nautical setting will also appeal to male listeners. Ages 12-adult.
Ages 12+Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 6 hrs
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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