Priya Ayyar narrates briskly, making it easy for listeners to be captured by a story featuring 11-year-old Ariel Goldberg, who is growing up in the turbulent 1960s. Ayyar's youthful voice conveys the confusion and hurt Ariel feels when she's treated differently because she's Jewish and has learning difficulties. She finds comfort from her older sister, Leah, but then her beloved sibling falls in love. Ayyar differentiates characters with accents and emotions. Her tones reflect Ariel's parents' lack of acceptance of her, Leah's departure from home, and Ari's subsequent loneliness, which is compounded by her parents' financial struggles and secrecy. The story's second-person voice invites listeners into a closer experience of Ariel's determination to make sense of her world through poetry and taking action.
(Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021
Duration: 7 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780593208441
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
Powerful and affirming.
Narrator Erin Tripp’s melodious voice cradles listeners of this celebration of the unbreakable ties between Indigenous families and the land they walk on. In turn, the audiobook’s young protagonist reflects on wisdom learned from grandparents, parents, little sister, and community. Nature-based metaphors and similes reinforce the reciprocal relationship between the child and the land. “You are the land,” the child learns. “You are the sea...mountains…sky.” Tripp, whose heritage is Lingít, invests each iteration of “You are” with a gentle firmness that underscores the web of connections among child, family, community, and land. Littlebird’s tribes are Atfalati Kalapuya and Clatsop Chinook, and listeners who seek out the print edition will enjoy illustrations that present the lush glory of her people’s Oregon homelands.
Powerful and affirming. (Picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2026
Duration: 4 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217280407
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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