THE NOTORIOUS BENEDICT ARNOLD follows Arnold from birth through his heroic military exploits to his eventual treason, the first in U.S. history. When voicing the story’s narrator, Mark Bramhall evokes a rugged American archetype. In dialogue he shifts subtly through an array of accents: British, German, French, high class and low. His portrayal of the revolutionaries is as engrossing as the precarious circumstances of their lives. Bramhall's pace and timing are flawless. His voice quickens with the tension of coming battles. During covert missions he evokes the power of silence between his words. His narration pulls the listener in to experience just how close the lines are between hero and villain, and how close America came to losing the Revolution.
Ages 10+Pub Date: July 10, 2012
Duration: 6 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9780449014974
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
A powerful and empowering listening experience.
Narrator Lee Osorio grounds this sobering history of the 1980s–1990s American HIV/AIDS epidemic, with additional emotionally attuned performances from Alejandro Antonio Ruiz, Avi Roque, Tyla Collier, and others, giving voice to profound memories, joyful and heartbreaking poetry, and other primary source material. The casual cruelty audible in selected recordings, like one from a 1982 White House briefing, emphasize how government indifference and public antipathy contributed to delays in support for medical treatment. Thrumming at the heart of this production are the visceral experiences of people who live and lived with HIV and AIDS, including hard-hit LGBTQ+ communities and communities of Black and Indigenous people and other people of color, and the family, friends, and lovers who advocated for access to health care alongside them.
A powerful and empowering listening experience. (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: April 21, 2026
Duration: 14 hrs, 35 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217172122
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Aug. 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2026
Compelling, emotional, and well researched, this audiobook brings to life the stories of four young people from abolitionist families. Using primary sources to highlight the tumult of the time period leading up to and during the Civil War, the coming-of-age story focuses on Lewis Douglass, son of Frederick Douglass; George Garrison, son of William Lloyd Garrison; Lucy McKim, daughter of Miller McKim; and Charlotte Forten, granddaughter of James Forten. A talented team of narrators-- including the author--do an excellent job of communicating the fear, sadness, determination, and hope of those who were entrenched in the fight against slavery. Listeners will be inspired by this story of family, activism, and legacy.
(Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 10, 2025
Duration: 7 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217074419
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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