Leah Horowitz conveys the sense of a traditional culture with her able narration of Jewish terms and details evoking the Orthodox community in which sixth-grader Aviva Jacobs lives with her widowed mother. The story gives context to traditions like the mikvah (ritual bath), machanayim (a game Aviva excels at), the bas mitzvah (a coming-of-age celebration), and Aviva's complex feelings about each. After her father's death, Aviva feels friendless and responsible for her depressed mother. Furthermore, she is the only one who can see the dybbuk, a ghost with unresolved earthly business. Horowitz grounds listeners in Aviva's perspective so fully that they'll cheer for her successes and be saddened by her troubles. They'll also be surprised at the ending of this story, which gives new meaning to the dybbuk's existence.
(Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2022
Duration: 5 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Live Oak Media recently caught our attention with this new read-along book and cassette program. We listened first, and were so delighted we couldn't wait to get the book. The picture book made the experience even better, but the audio recordings was strong and vibrant by itself. THE GARDENER, Sarah Stewart's Depression-era story of a young girl sent to live with her Uncle Jim in the city has a sweet, wistful quality with narration alone, but coupled with David Small's soft-edged pencil illustration, it's a total delight. The reading is repeated on both sides of the tape, one with and without page-turning signals.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: N/A
Publisher: Live Oak Media
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Naeymi’s narration is both raw and triumphant.
Samara Naeymi beautifully narrates this middle-grade novel about an Iranian American girl. Bullied by her classmates for her frizzy hair and thick eyebrows and criticized by her mother for her weight, Yasmin struggles to be her authentic self in a world that tells her she's not good enough. There are many different perspectives in this story, and Naeymi is true to each: Yasmin’s judgmental mother, with her Persian accent and steely belief in her own harsh parenting; the ruthless teenagers whose hurtful comments cause emotional harm; the younger brother concerned for his sister's unhappiness; and the tried-and-true best friend.
Naeymi’s narration is both raw and triumphant. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: March 24, 2026
Duration: 4 hrs, 51 mins
DD ISBN: 9798349114861
Publisher: Dreamscape
Review Posted Online: April 28, 2026
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