This powerful story, direct from today's headlines, is told in snatches of interviews, emails, and journal entries taken from teachers, parents, and townspeople. This is the story of two boys who take their high school hostage and start meting out revenge for years of bullying and humiliation. The author presents everyone's point of view without taking sides. One of the most resonating moments comes when a girl from the "popular" set states that high school has always been that way--you just have to live through it. You find yourself thinking, but why does it have to be the same? This would be a great book for young people to read and discuss. There are some outstanding readers among the cast. Suzanne Toren is especially good as the calm, insightful teacher, Betsy Bates, and the college student doing the interviews, Denise Shipley. The children's voices sound so authentic and real that it's especially chilling to hear them discussing these horrific events. D.G. 2002 YALSA Selection (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2001
Duration: 3 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Myths come to life through Bahni Turpin and Robin Miles's stellar narration of this young adult fantasy. Marisol and her mother left their home in the Caribbean to live in Brooklyn. Marisol hopes to leave their island traditions and her family's magic behind. Genevieve grew up listening to her white father's mythical stories from her unknown mother's homeland. When the teens' lives collide, both discover secrets that change their views of their worlds. It's no surprise that both Turpin and Miles are Golden Voice narrators. Their skills bring Genevieve's and Marisol's stories to life as they capture the teens' personalities. Miles exquisitely delivers Marisol's Caribbean accent, while Turpin channels Genevieve's frustrations with her family and her own health. Simply magical.
(Verse fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2025
Duration: 6 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063395589
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Narrator Susannah Jones's high-speed pacing conveys Maeve's jangly thoughts and obsession with every potential scary outcome of her life--complete with research that feeds her anxiety. Jones does an equally fine job portraying minor characters. Whether calm, compassionate, or frustrated, these secondary characters allow listeners a bit of relief from Maeve's intensity. Maeve does have reason for concern as she moves in with her father and his family for six months. Her situation is complicated: Her father struggles with alcoholism, her stepmother is determined to have a home birth, her mother is working far away in Haiti with a new lover, and Maeve has broken up with her girlfriend. Jones builds the tension and then relieves it as Maeve develops honesty, courage, and love for her new girlfriend.
(Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2017
Duration: 7 hrs
Publisher: Audible, Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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