A new medieval heroine bursts upon the literary scene in Cushman's latest novel, created as only Cushman can concoct such a girl. The orphan, Matilda, is an excessively pious young woman, obsessed with the saints whose voices chorus in her ear and the recollected wisdom of her former teacher and mentor, Father Leufredus. She is dropped into Blood and Bone Alley to become servant, and later apprentice, to the wise and infinitely tolerant Red Peg, the Bonesetter. Tony Award-winning actress Janet McTeer meets the challenge of a wide-ranging cast of quirky characters, among them Peg's witty and sentimental husband, Tom; the rhyming bloodletter Horanswith Leech; the officious and deceitful Master Theobald, the Wonderworker; the earnest kitchenmaid, Tildy; and the gruff yet kindly Doctor Margery Lewes. A delightful tale is enhanced by the audio format!
Ages 10+Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2000
Duration: 4 hrs
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
A poignant portrait of bravery.
Graham Halstead’s narration contains layers of emotion that fully reveal the character and growth of 13-year-old Lucas Dubois, an orphan living in 1944 occupied France. Halstead shows Lucas’ compassion as he rescues newborn kittens from being drowned. Lucas’ tenderness extends to a teen mother kept at the Lebensborn, a Nazi maternity home dedicated to producing soldiers-to-be. Lucas delivers groceries and conveys underground messages. Halstead also reveals the prickly nature of Alice, an older teen protecting her horse from being captured by Nazis. Halstead’s performance matches the breakneck pacing when Lucas stands up to German soldiers and confronts his own sense of insecurity.
A poignant portrait of bravery. (Historical fiction. 8-13)Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
Duration: 9 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781250433039
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Review Posted Online: today
It's 1975, and eleven-year-old Gao Sheng, a Hmong girl, is living in the highlands of Laos in a one-room house with her family. Then they are forced to flee. Narrator Robyn Morales lends a soft, feminine huskiness to the protagonist's voice as she describes the family's journey to a refugee camp, to gentle and thoughtful effect. The listener is transported alongside Gao Sheng to a new world as she reflects on memory, gender, and family relations in her culture; the events that change her life; and conditions in the refugee camp. An afterword provides context about the author's family's real-life experience. Morales' narration is comforting, even as she describes the difficult circumstances of refugees.
(Verse historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
Duration: 5 hrs
DD ISBN: 9798217080861
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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