Lockie Leonard returns, nursing his wounded heart and feeling all alone in the world--until he meets Egg, a "head-banger," who's totally weird, yet very much like Lockie. When they take Egg's kayak down to the beach so Egg can get out on the water, they discover that the town's biggest--and most influential--employer is dumping industrial waste next to the town's beachfront. Stig Wemyss does an excellent job portraying Lockie--his emotional ups and downs, his enthusiasm for his task and frustration with others, his wonderful Australian accent and adolescent slang, and his emotional turbulence when he falls in love. The other characters in Lockie's life are equally well portrayed. His caring but busy mom, his teacher, his younger sister, and his dad--all have their own voices. But it is Lockie, with his adolescent intensity, who finds himself back on top at the end.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 1999
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: Bolinda Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Powerful listening.
Four narrators personalize the tragedy of Houston’s 2017 Hurricane Harvey through the viewpoints of three struggling teens. Sunil Malhotra depicts Pakistani American Yasir’s many facets—his determination to succeed at soccer, his barely controlled rage about racism, his sadness about his father’s death, and his deep fear of drowning. Nikhaar Kashnani portrays South Asian American Mona. Weighed down by caring for her young brother, she loses herself in art and dreads her recurring nightmare about a flood. Josh Hurley renders Cody’s cruel, racist bullying as well as his fear of the dark, a result of being abused by his father. Christopher Salazar enthusiastically delivers interstitial news bulletins. When flooding from Harvey makes them face their worst fears, the resilient threesome’s separate stories come together and they support each other’s bravery.
Powerful listening.Pub Date: Feb. 10, 2026
Duration: 8 hrs
DD ISBN: 9780063389557
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Feb. 10, 2026
A poignant portrait of bravery.
Graham Halstead’s narration contains layers of emotion that fully reveal the character and growth of 13-year-old Lucas Dubois, an orphan living in 1944 occupied France. Halstead shows Lucas’ compassion as he rescues newborn kittens from being drowned. Lucas’ tenderness extends to a teen mother kept at the Lebensborn, a Nazi maternity home dedicated to producing soldiers-to-be. Lucas delivers groceries and conveys underground messages. Halstead also reveals the prickly nature of Alice, an older teen protecting her horse from being captured by Nazis. Halstead’s performance matches the breakneck pacing when Lucas stands up to German soldiers and confronts his own sense of insecurity.
A poignant portrait of bravery. (Historical fiction. 8-13)Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
Duration: 9 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781250433039
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2026
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