Digging a hole five feet deep and five feet across is a formidable task. Digging innumerable holes under the Texas summer sun in a dry lake bed infested with rattlesnakes, scorpions and poisonous yellow-spotted lizards is meant to challenge one's instinct for survival. When Stanley Yelnats, wrongfully convicted of theft, is sentenced to time at Camp Green Lake Juvenile Correctional Facility, his focus is endurance, but his lessons extend to family history and the great wheel of justice. Kerry Beyer's smooth narration draws the reader into Stanley's unfortunate experience without theatrics. As a result of Beyer's unvarnished delivery, the listener believes in Stanley's unlikely existence, and Sachar's improbable cast of secondary characters is individualized in entertaining fashion. An admirable reading of the 1999 Newbery Award novel.
(Fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: Jan. 22, 1999
Duration: 4 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Powerful listening.
Four narrators personalize the tragedy of Houston’s 2017 Hurricane Harvey through the viewpoints of three struggling teens. Sunil Malhotra depicts Pakistani American Yasir’s many facets—his determination to succeed at soccer, his barely controlled rage about racism, his sadness about his father’s death, and his deep fear of drowning. Nikhaar Kashnani portrays South Asian American Mona. Weighed down by caring for her young brother, she loses herself in art and dreads her recurring nightmare about a flood. Josh Hurley renders Cody’s cruel, racist bullying as well as his fear of the dark, a result of being abused by his father. Christopher Salazar enthusiastically delivers interstitial news bulletins. When flooding from Harvey makes them face their worst fears, the resilient threesome’s separate stories come together and they support each other’s bravery.
Powerful listening.Pub Date: Feb. 10, 2026
Duration: 8 hrs
DD ISBN: 9780063389557
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Feb. 10, 2026
Narrator Sunny Lu creates a passionate voice for seventh grader Luna in this coming-of-age realistic fiction. Luna leaves her introverted life behind when she becomes a bibliotherapist for her fellow classmates, recommending books to help them in times of need and eventually writing her own zines with the assistance of her best friend, Scott. Lu perfectly captures Luna's complex emotions as she abandons Scott and joins the popular group. Now rather than writing to help others, she starts to hurt others by writing about their faults and flaws in "fix-its." Listeners will relate to Luna's struggles as she loses her way and will cheer her on in hopes that she finds her way back.
(Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
Duration: 6 hrs
DD ISBN: 9798217081578
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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