The setting is old London in the reign of Victoria. And our hero is 17-year-old Dodger. Dodger is a “tosher,” a boy who makes a meager living roaming the sewers under London’s streets searching for coins and treasures. One rain-soaked night he rescues a mysterious young woman from the clutches of deadly thugs. With the help of historical figures such as Charles Dickens and Benjamin Disraeli, the horse-drawn, gas-lit world of early Victorian London opens up to the listener. As always, longtime Pratchett narrator Stephen Briggs accentuates the tongue-turning phrases, gentle humor, and wide-eyed wonder of Pratchett’s writing. Pratchett appropriately calls this departure from his widely popular Discworld series a historical fantasy that mixes the oftentimes bleak facts of orphans and child labor with the magic of storybook endings. Briggs’s voice reflects this literary hybrid perfectly. B.P. 2013 Audies Finalist, SYNC 2015 © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine
(Historical fiction. 12 & up)Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2012
Duration: 10 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780062201959
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Listeners follow Merry, the longbow girl, one of the best archers in her town. When she finds a magical portal in the forest that takes her back to sixteenth-century Wales, she must use her skills to win an archery contest in order to help her ancestors keep their land. While narrator Emily Wilden brings protagonist Merry to life with a rich Welsh accent, her narration seems uneven at times. All the period characters have accents that reflect the setting of the story and transport listeners to Wales. Listeners who enjoy historical fiction and a bit of fantasy will be charmed by this tale of determination, hope, and family.
Young AdultPub Date: N/A
Duration: 11 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781501916793
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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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