It's 1968 in Moon, Texas. The wet-dog summer days find Jaynelle Lambert and her increasingly unpredictable Grandpap behind the wheel of a 1962 emerald green Cadillac convertible, cruising the steamy fields and roads to assuage their grief over Grandma's death. Kimberly J. Brown's squeaky Texas drawl breathes life into tough 11-year-old Jaynelle ("Boy" to her father; "Raccoon Gal" to Grandpap). She cares not for the girly things that her younger sister Racine lusts after. Brown snags Jaynelle's Texas dialect and keeps it front and center throughout her sassy first-person defense of Grandpap, whom everyone thinks has taken leave of his senses when he allows the poorest family in town to live in the family homestead. It's only after Grandpap's death, when he leaves everything to the Pickenses, that Jaynelle learns the dark secret in her beloved Grandpap's past that led him to his charitable acts.
Ages 8+Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2001
Duration: 4 hrs, 15 mins
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
A powerful listen.
Richardson’s picture book celebrates the gift of literacy through the voices of third grader Jewel and her grandparents and neighbors. Susan Bennett’s accent and performance transport listeners to Kentucky’s hill country as eager Moonlighters walk miles to school on moonlit nights for a chance to finally learn to read. Mamaw and Papaw’s determination and love are heard in every line they speak. Jewel, an eager tutor, bursts with pride as her community gathers for graduation. Regional Appalachian turns of phrase add to the ambiance. An author’s note shares more about Cora Wilson Stewart, founder of the Moonlight Schools and advocate for adult literacy programs in the early 20th century.
A powerful listen. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 11, 2026
Duration: 16 mins
DD ISBN: 9798899749995
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: yesterday
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2026
A mismatch between performer and text.
Fleischman’s 1987 Newbery-winning classic comes to listeners in a new edition read by Ralph Lister. Appropriately for this story of injustice—the title character’s function is to receive the punishments richly earned by the aptly nicknamed Prince Brat—Lister leans into British class-coded accents for his interpretation. Using a vaguely northern lilt for the third-person narration, Lister voices whipping boy Jemmy with a cockney twang and Prince Brat with hoity-toity upper-crust nasality. Unfortunately, for neither boy does the gravelly voiced performer attempt any youthful lightness, and Jemmy’s twang often makes him sound whinier than Prince Brat. The story is fast-paced and broadly comedic but not without nuance; however, Lister’s forceful delivery threatens to overwhelm its quieter, more contemplative moments.
A mismatch between performer and text. (Historical fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: July 21, 2026
Duration: 1 hr, 47 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063511934
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Sept. 8, 2026
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