by Monica Hesse ; read by Allison Hiroto , Christie Moreau & Monica Hesse [Note] ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 2, 2018
Narrators Allison Hiroto and Christie Moreau bring pathos to their portrayals of Margot and Toshiko. This novel is an account of two girls who meet in Crystal City, Texas, an internment camp for families suspected of collusion with the Japanese in 1944. Hiroto and Moreau project the emotions of the girls as they form a friendship that transcends the feelings of the adults in the camp. The narrators also capture their families as Toshiko's family worries about her brother, who is in the war, and Margot's family begins to turn against the country that has put them behind barbed wire. Listeners will enjoy the author's note about her research and the inspiration for this title.
(Historical fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2018
Duration: 8 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781549142017
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
by E.L. Shen ; read by Eunice Wong , Katharine Chin & Kenneth Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 22, 2026
Themes of inheritance, identity, sacrifice, and belonging resonate through three voices.
This multigenerational family story comes to life through an ensemble performance. After high schooler Dawn receives an assignment to interview her grandmother, she begins uncovering a family history that stretches from 19th-century China to Taiwan and then New York. Eunice Wong, Katharine Chin, and Kenneth Lee shift among generations with careful attention to rhythm, pitch, and emotional texture, making the transitions easy to follow. Their performances capture the family's guardedness over its old secretsas well as Dawn's curiosity as a young woman seeking answers. As the layers of the Chin family history emerge, the narrators maintain a strong sense of continuity across time.
Themes of inheritance, identity, sacrifice, and belonging resonate through three voices. (Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2026
Duration: 11 hrs, 42 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063238039
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2026
Awards & Accolades
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by Katie Abdou ; read by Joe Jameson ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 16, 2026
Jameson's vocal range turns a found-family pirate romance into a masterful performance.
Awards & Accolades
Our Verdict
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Joe Jameson's ear for class distinction carries this swashbuckling romance from scene to scene. He gives Captain Sharpe a rolling, theatrical lilt that turns every "Kitten" into a small seduction, while Kit's clipped, overcorrected vowels betray the nobleman underneath his borrowed name. The pirate crew gets careful differentiation, too: distinct voices that stay clear even when several characters converse in the same scene. Kit Davenport flees an arranged marriage and hides his noble identity, landing as the bookkeeper on a ship under Sharpe's command—and only belatedly realizing that they're pirates. Jameson's performance does the real work of the romance, charting Kit's shift from stiff aristocrat to someone looser and freer through breath and pacing alone—letting listeners hear the transformation before the plot confirms it.
Jameson's vocal range turns a found-family pirate romance into a masterful performance. (Historical adventure. 14-18)Pub Date: June 16, 2026
Duration: 10 hrs, 48 mins
DD ISBN: 9781668178690
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2026
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