Thirteen-year-old Travis can’t read and just wants to be left alone, especially after he transfers to a new school in a new town. But brassy, sassy Velveeta refuses to accept Travis’s silence as rejection and insists on being his friend. Luke Daniels’s soft-spoken, soothing performance is well suited to portray the introverted, illiterate boy who struggles with self-confidence. Daniels also makes his voice crack, enhancing the social awkwardness of Travis’s youth. For Velveeta’s hyper, extroverted personality, Daniels raises his vocal pitch and speaks quickly in tones of determination, persistence, and confidence. Kate Rudd complements Daniels’s performance by narrating Velveeta’s private diary entries in a thoughtful, halting tone, adding complexity and depth to this sweet story.
(Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2011
Duration: 5 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781455822225
Publisher: Brilliance Audio/ Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Watson’s conversational style will delight listeners of all ages.
Marli Watson narrates this first installment of a YA mystery series. Ellen is a prep-school scholarship student who knows how to follow the rules. But her life takes a turn when she moves into her aunt’s Edgar Allan Poe-themed B&B and starts having nightmares about a family who died—including Gus, a new student at school. When Ellen finds a journal that she believes was written by Poe, she meets the ghost of her long-dead relative, who calls himself Eddie. Watson makes the characters believable from the start. She portrays Ellen as feisty, and Gus as a vulnerable charmer. Aunt Marie is sweet, but not too sweet.
Watson’s conversational style will delight listeners of all ages. (Paranormal mystery. 12-18)Pub Date: April 7, 2026
Duration: 7 hrs, 19 mins
DD ISBN: 9781668654774
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
Three narrators find the essential humanity of a group of antiheroes in an action-packed dark academia stunner.
Dylan Reilly Fitzpatrick, E.A. Castillo, and Nicky Endres voice characters who change identities in this body-switching fantasy/sci-fi mashup. When Annabelle Gage uses her illusion magic to steal the wrong object, she’s forced to be the top student’s personal assistant at the infamous Paragon Academy. There, she’s recruited to join a vengeful student, Wes, in capturing the Black Wraith, leader of a violent rebel group. Ana finds both family and secrets, learning quickly that those she once admired might be on the wrong side of history. Castillo captures the nuance of an emotive Ana, who’s trapped in a rotting male body, bringing complexity to her personality and identity. Fitzpatrick nails the seething anger of Wes, while Endres offers a genderfluid perspective on various side characters.
Three narrators find the essential humanity of a group of antiheroes in an action-packed dark academia stunner. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
Duration: 16 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9781250432407
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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