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
A sensitive performance.
Deepa is a precocious 12-year-old girl in remission from leukemia. Under the tutelage of her uncle, a house call doctor, she becomes involved in solving teen tennis player Taio's puzzling medical mystery. Deepa is unsure of herself, but she’s ready to get back to middle school after a year away for treatment. Narrator Soneela Nankani depicts Deepa's desire to be more than the "sick kid" while navigating her youthful insecurities and the social challenges of middle school. Nankani also ably portrays Deepa's growing confidence in herself as she uses her own experience with illness to help figure out what’s wrong with Taio.
A sensitive performance. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: July 14, 2026
Duration: 6 hrs, 32 mins
DD ISBN: 9781668182833
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: today
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
