Listeners are presented with the roiling and realistic emotions of 13-year-old Elspeth Culpepper, who finds herself in the middle of the 1776 Siege of Boston. Narrator Phoebe Strole does a masterful job presenting the characters and their difficulties--from Elspeth's Loyalist master, who is forced to leave Boston, to the various members of the family for whom she becomes a housemaid afterward. The narrative, which Elspeth tells directly to listeners, incorporates historical quotes and relatable events, such as Boston's becoming an inoculation center against a raging smallpox epidemic, at the time an unpleasant, potentially dangerous process. Strole provides voices that reflect the characters' ages, genders, and emotions in the dangerous times that provide an entrancing story about the Revolutionary War.
(Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
Duration: 10 hrs
DD ISBN: 9780593915059
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: Feb. 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
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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