Narrator Zehra Naqvi begins with the glossary of the Bengali words used in this audiobook. Listeners may want to return to these, but the story moves along fine without them. Naqvi engages listeners quickly with her portrayal of the sometimes-impulsive, always-caring 10-year-old Naima. Naqvi's accents and emotions convey the Bangladeshi girl's artistic talents, worries about her struggling family, and frustration with the gender-biased culture she lives in. When Naima disguises herself as a boy and attempts to help her father, she crashes his new rickshaw, adding to the family's difficulties. Determined to turn around the situation, Naima confronts traditional roles and learns the power of her artistic gifts. Themes of poverty, the benefits of microloans, and the many facets of Bangladeshi culture create a depth that makes this a great family listen.
Ages 10+Pub Date: March 6, 2018
Duration: 1 hr, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9780525624424
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Liam Aiken narrates this prequel to the Series of Unfortunate Events in a somber, deadpan tone that heightens its dark humor. As a teenaged Lemony Snicket investigates a series of arsons in a town called Stain’d-by-the-Sea, Aiken creates voices that delineate character and help keep clear the large cast of Snicket’s associates, enemies, and enemies that turn out to be associates. Aiken’s tone of quiet urgency will keep listeners hooked through wordplay, mysteries, good meals, romance, and the appearance of a new villain named Hangfire, who hoodwinks adults, frames a librarian, and kidnaps all the children in town. This smart and funny listen will please Snicket fans and create new ones.
(Mystery. 8-14)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2014
Duration: 6 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781478955733
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
While narrator Liam Aiken evokes the wistful, dolorous tone of Snicket’s second mystery in his All the Wrong Questions series, he fails to deliver Snicket’s signature snark with appropriate vigor. In this episode, the main character, 12-year-old Lemony Snicket, continues the investigations that began in STAIN’D BY THE SEA with the case of the missing chemist, Cleo Knight. As Aiken delivers Snicket’s declarative sentences in a deadpan voice, his remote reading keeps listeners distant from the story. Furthermore, Aiken does not always play up the quirks of the town’s eccentric characters. When he does use individualized voicings, the story shakes off its languidness to some degree. Aiken’s melancholy narration echoes Snicket’s loneliness but doesn’t enliven the recording for young listeners. An attached PDF file includes the character Seth’s illustrations.
(Mystery. 8-14)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2013
Duration: 4 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781478924845
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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