Sophie Jo Wasson transports listeners to Ireland in 1847 with her poignant performance. Like many throughout the country, Nell's family's potato crop is infected with a black rot that makes the potatoes inedible. Farmers are forced to choose between paying their rent from the sale of their oat crops, or feeding their families and facing eviction. Amid those tragedies, Nell and the landlord's nephew develop a quiet friendship that, despite their class differences, grows into more. Wasson's lilting intonation and Irish accent take listeners into Nell's world, capturing the devastation, terror, and dashes of hope experienced by the teenager. Secondary characters are made equally vivid with her expressive delivery. Listeners will be tempted to finish this short novel in verse in one sitting. Simply exquisite.
(Verse historical fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2025
Duration: 4 hrs
DD ISBN: 9780063384972
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
A road trip, a love story, and a coming-of-age, all wonderfully told and narrated.
With carefully attuned narrations, Jorjeana Marie and Michael Crouch are in perfect sync as they perform alternating chapters of this novel in verse. Both express the emotions of the protagonists, 17-year-old Sylvie and 18-year-old Knox, who are each at a crossroads in their lives. Sylvie is recovering from a traumatic event before heading to college, and Knox is opting out of the nomadic lifestyle his mother chose for them when he was young. Fate sets Knox and Sylvie on a journey to find Knox’s grandmother in North Carolina. Together, Marie and Crouch convey the two characters’ immediate affinity for each other and their supportive friendship, which blossoms into love. Both narrators excel at snappy dialogue, and their pace embraces the gradual sharing of hidden hurts and evolving vulnerability.
A road trip, a love story, and a coming-of-age, all wonderfully told and narrated. (Verse romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2026
Duration: 8 hrs, 3 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063324619
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2026
Words and phrases are often repeated in this verse format, but Adams is able to deepen the feeling with each repetition.
Adams narrates her debut novel in verse chronicling the life of 17-year-old Native Hawaiian Aouli Smith. At odds with her sister, failing to fulfill her parents' dreams for her, unable to relate to shallow teen boys, and feeling unconnected to the religion she's been raised in, Aouli floats through life. Then she learns an unsettling truth about her father and meets Nalu, a teen with whom she makes a connection. Adams immerses listeners in Hawaiian culture, traditions, and foods, but it’s the raw emotion that makes the audiobook captivating.
Words and phrases are often repeated in this verse format, but Adams is able to deepen the feeling with each repetition. (Verse fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: May 19, 2026
Duration: 5 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063417984
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2026
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