When Siena and her family move from Brooklyn to the Maine shore, she and her little brother, Lucca, find that their house has ghostly traces of the family that used to live there. Ariadne Meyers portrays Siena in a pragmatic tone. While she has a youthful pitch and rhythm to her voice, Meyers depicts her in a way that makes her sound fairly unflappable, whether she's dealing with ghostly visits or the need to make new friends in a new town. Meyers also transitions smoothly from the contemporary Siena to the more childish voice of Sarah, the girl who used to live in Siena's house, as well as the shell-shocked, deeper voice of Joshua, who invades Siena's dreams. When listeners finally hear the voice of Lucca, his childlike pitch and pronunciation, so different from Siena's careful words, are well worth the wait.
(Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2013
Duration: 5 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9780804126861
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Live Oak Media recently caught our attention with this new read-along book and cassette program. We listened first, and were so delighted we couldn't wait to get the book. The picture book made the experience even better, but the audio recordings was strong and vibrant by itself. THE GARDENER, Sarah Stewart's Depression-era story of a young girl sent to live with her Uncle Jim in the city has a sweet, wistful quality with narration alone, but coupled with David Small's soft-edged pencil illustration, it's a total delight. The reading is repeated on both sides of the tape, one with and without page-turning signals.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: N/A
Publisher: Live Oak Media
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Ebner’s well-paced narration will engage listeners to the very end of this excellent audiobook.
Jeff Ebner's youthful, enthusiastic voice immediately pulls listeners into this fun-filled summer adventure. Eleven-year-old Felix and his neighbor, Marigold, find a mysterious wooden box that contains a field recorder and a coded message that subsequently sends them on a fantastically sound-filled scavenger hunt. The inclusion of actual sound effects—an ice cream truck’s jingle, a barking dog, bird song, and more—throughout the audiobook enhances the listening experience. The music, the voices, and the clues as Felix and Marigold run all over town are irresistible. The story’s conclusion features an unexpected reconnection.
Ebner’s well-paced narration will engage listeners to the very end of this excellent audiobook. (Mystery. 7-11)Pub Date: April 21, 2026
Duration: 4 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217351961
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2026
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