[Editor's Note: The following is a combined review of OUTCAST and OATH BREAKER.]--The fourth installment (OUTCAST) of Paver's prehistoric saga finds Torak marked as a soul eater, cast out from the clans, and succumbing to a soul sickness that robs him of his ability to distinguish good from evil and his powers to survive. As in the first three tales, Ian McKellen's opulent, melodic voice beckons listeners into Torak's world. Vengeance and change are the themes of the fifth episode (OATH BREAKER), and, once more, this richly imagined world is animated by McKellen's unvoiced reading, unfolding with sumptuous intonation and perfectly measured pacing. As Torak, Renn, and Wolf seek to avenge the death of a friend, McKellen draws us into their struggles by using his voice like a musical instrument, heightening the drama of warring clans and evil mages and softening his tones to spine-tingling effect when crisis is at hand. These are masterful performances.
Ages 10+Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2008
Duration: 7 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780061630552
Publisher: Harper Audio
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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