by Sumbul Ali-Karamali ; read by Sumbul Ali-Karamali ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 6, 2013
Ali-Karamali wrote this book at the behest of middle school teachers looking for age-appropriate materials about Islam. As narrator, the author has an easygoing manner, but she betrays her southern California upbringing with her intonation. Each chapter presents a topic relevant to the basic tenets of the Muslim faith and its practices, including diet, fasting, the status of women, dress, and prayer. The personal nature of her account and narration together with the light humor helps to make the content accessible to middle school students as well as to adults who are interested in basic information about Islam and Muslims.
(Nonfiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2013
Duration: 5 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9780804123563
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
by Avi ; read by Alexandra O'Karma ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A
In 1832 thirteen-year-old Charlotte Doyle is sailing from Liverpool to Rhode Island to rejoin her family. Shocked to discover that the families who were to have been both guardians and companions will not accompany her, Charlotte embarks on a journey filled with terror and swashbuckling adventure. The first-person narrative makes this Newbery Honor book a wonderful choice for recording. O'Karma's reading, with its hint of cross-gender differentiation, allows the listener to feel as if Charlotte Doyle herself were relating the tale. This story should be particularly alluring to adolescent girls although the fast-paced action and the nautical setting will also appeal to male listeners. Ages 12-adult.
Ages 12+Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 6 hrs
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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by Jacinda Ardern ; adapted by Ruby Shamir ; read by Jacinda Ardern ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 2, 2026
Listeners will be inspired by this principled prime minister who tackled her country’s biggest challenges with...
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Aspiring leaders, take note! In her Kiwi accent, Jacinda Ardern narrates this heartfelt and sincere adaptation of her memoir A Different Kind of Power, eliciting chuckles with amusing anecdotes and tears over tragedies. Ardern recounts her modest childhood, her unlikely path to politics, and her rise to New Zealand’s highest office as a young, pregnant, unmarried woman—armed with empathy, intelligence, faith, supportive loved ones, and a desire to serve. She shepherded her country through a volcanic eruption, Covid-19, and a mass shooting. Her heartrending narration of the shooting switches to steely resolve as she works to ban assault rifles.
Listeners will be inspired by this principled prime minister who tackled her country’s biggest challenges with kindness. (Memoir. 12-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2026
Duration: 5 hrs, 55 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217342044
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: yesterday
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2026
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