Hero and first-person narrator Charlie Joe Jackson has a lot to say! Not only does he provide a window on middle school life, but he also delves, in alternating chapters, into his rationale and suggestions for how to avoid reading for pleasure or assignment. His aversion to book reports and position papers as well as his curiosity about girls strikes a familiar chord. MacLeod Andrews’s voice is refreshingly kid-friendly. His enthusiasm never flags, and his pacing mirrors the ups and downs of school—dragging when Charlie Joe is on the principal’s or his parents’ carpet and highly animated when the character is plotting with friends Timmy and Katie. Andrews’s spot-on inflections bring chuckles to the vignettes. Will Charlie Joe change his tune? A question-and-answer session with the author concludes the recording.
Ages 10+Pub Date: July 5, 2011
Duration: 3 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781455803064
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
While narrator Liam Aiken evokes the wistful, dolorous tone of Snicket’s second mystery in his All the Wrong Questions series, he fails to deliver Snicket’s signature snark with appropriate vigor. In this episode, the main character, 12-year-old Lemony Snicket, continues the investigations that began in STAIN’D BY THE SEA with the case of the missing chemist, Cleo Knight. As Aiken delivers Snicket’s declarative sentences in a deadpan voice, his remote reading keeps listeners distant from the story. Furthermore, Aiken does not always play up the quirks of the town’s eccentric characters. When he does use individualized voicings, the story shakes off its languidness to some degree. Aiken’s melancholy narration echoes Snicket’s loneliness but doesn’t enliven the recording for young listeners. An attached PDF file includes the character Seth’s illustrations.
(Mystery. 8-14)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2013
Duration: 4 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781478924845
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Jeff Harding voices the many impactful moments of 1919 in this engaging nonfiction audiobook. From women activists fighting for the right to vote to the Red Scare and civil rights riots, Sandler draws parallels to today's social issues. Harding matches 1919's cadence with a forward-moving pace. He uses different accents for quotations, though the women and people of color might have been better served with a diverse cast. The asides and timelines that appear in the text also are in the audio. Full of fascinating stories put into a modern context, this audiobook offers much to learn about an eventful year and ponders the big questions of our current time.
(Nonfiction. 11-16)Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2020
Duration: 5 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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