Taken from Levine's family history, this story tells of the life-altering friendship between a white Alabama farm boy and an African-American city girl. Kirby Heyborne effectively portrays Harry, better known as "Dit," the 12-year-old narrator of the story. His enthusiasm is evident as he stands at the train station awaiting the arrival of the new postmaster and his 12-year-old son. You hear all the disgust and disappointment in Dit's voice when he realizes that the boy is not only a GIRL but also black! Young Dit is believable as he slowly risks friendship with Emma, teaching her baseball while admiring her broader experience. The friendship leads him to question the status quo and find the courage to act against his town's Jim Crow justice.
Ages 10+Pub Date: Jan. 26, 2010
Duration: 7 hrs
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Lawrence enthusiastically portrays Cora and her friends in this fast-paced historical-fiction adventure.
Narrator Emily Lawrence creates a determined voice for Cora, who is desperately trying to survive the tragic 1906 earthquake in San Francisco with her two friends Chi and Oliver. Lawrence captures Cora’s tumultuous emotions as she and Chi are buried in rubble following the disaster and saved by her forbidden friend Oliver. Despite the bitter feud between their parents, Cora and Oliver work together to try to find her family as fire keeps spreading throughout their beloved city, all while running from bullies who are after Cora. Lawrence makes each character unique and adds a slight Irish accent for Oliver.
Lawrence enthusiastically portrays Cora and her friends in this fast-paced historical-fiction adventure. (Historical fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: March 3, 2026
Duration: 7 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9798225033521
Publisher: Scholastic Audio
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2026
Past and present come together seamlessly.
Casey Holloway and Emily Eiden perform alternating chapters of this audiobook about two girls connected through time. In the present day, 13-year-old Penny Marks is angry and resentful about her parents’ decision to move their family to Paris for her mother’s museum job. In 1943, 13-year-old Marie Bonnet and her sister live alone in Nazi-occupied Paris. Holloway depicts the curious, determined, artistic Penny, who pursues the mystery of a painting hidden in a wall and a letter written 80 years earlier. With an accented narration, Eiden reveals Marie’s entry into the French Resistance and her commitment to hiding French art from the Germans.
Past and present come together seamlessly. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 17, 2026
Duration: 6 hrs, 42 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063321816
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: March 10, 2026
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