Award-winning author Matt de la Peña warmly narrates his children's audiobook, which ponders the meaning of home. The story begins with soft music. While home can be thought of simply as a physical house, de la Peña's melodic prose points out that home can also be gestures of love from our families, such as a mother's note in a lunch box or an abuelita's sharing of secrets while making tortillas. When loss or difficult times occur, de la Peña highlights how family can provide a calm refuge, thus creating the feeling of home. Sound effects add interest to this production. De la Peña uses his tone and careful pacing to deliver his thoughtful and beautiful musings about home.
(Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 11, 2025
Duration: 7 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217017430
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
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
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