Fred Sanders's touching narration captures all of the compassion this respected author feels for the vulnerable children he's spent his career studying. Sanders's tone and pitch convey tenderness that doesn't distract from the didactic aims of his audiobook. Boyce is a pediatric health researcher who says all parents know children who are orchids--those who are fragile, sensitive, and more prone to physical illness, psychological distress, and behavioral problems. They come into the world needing more care than the seemingly invulnerable dandelions of the world. Sanders delivers Boyce's hopeful message that with enough nurturance and the right kind of teaching orchid kids can escape a life of stress and discover avenues of achievement and connection that allow them to flourish.
Pub Date: Jan. 29, 2019
Duration: 10 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780147521910
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Kozol’s shocking exposé of inequities in the funding of our public schools contrasts white suburban schools with those serving black and Hispanic populations. Interviews with students, teachers, and school administrators add eloquent testimony to Kozol’s disturbing presentation of facts. Narration by Jack Winston is clear and brisk, but the pace is unrelenting, with little pause for transition between scenes or chapters. Winston’s cool, detached voice contrasts with Kozol’s impasssioned and outraged message. The sheer repetition and magnitude of Kozol’s damning evidence is numbing; the narration gives no relief. Powerful medicine, most easily taken in small doses. Music signalling tape changes is jarringly inappropriate.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 8 hrs
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Block calls into question the validity of the home-schooling system, having personally experienced many of its failures.
Block narrates his own memoir of being home-schooled by his mother for five years in the 1990s. Aside from a few math lessons, young Stefan is left to his own devices and uses his time to watch television or wander outside. By the time he re-enters the public school system in ninth grade, he is woefully behind, both academically and socially. Although Block’s story is filled with emotional trauma, including an overbearing mother and bullying from fellow students, his narration is unsentimental, as if he expected his life to be this way. The steel in his voice conveys his resilience and determination.
Block calls into question the validity of the home-schooling system, having personally experienced many of its failures.Pub Date: Jan. 6, 2026
Duration: 7 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781488237102
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: March 25, 2026
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