Maria Liatis delivers a heartwarming performance as a 13-year-old with a passion for fútbol and her family. Valeria is a star player on the boys’ soccer team, coached by her gruff abuelo. Through spirited yet subtle energy, Liatis adds credibility to Valeria’s perseverance through trying times, including her mortification at getting her first period and losing her standing on the boys’ team, then having to transition to the girls’ team. Liatis also captures the closeness of the nontraditional family amid their grief following the death of Valeria’s aunt. Liatis’s sensitive, understated narration showcases the book’s rich themes of family, resilience, and perseverance and makes this an especially accessible listening experience for young teens who are trying to find their place in the world.
(Fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2024
Duration: 7 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9781668643570
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Ken Coleman's expertise as a baseball announcer enriches this history of the Boston Red Sox since the sale of Babe Ruth to the N.Y. Yankees. He leads off with a grim account of this transaction, which started the curse that has plagued the Red Sox ever since. The sermon-like tone will amuse non-believers and comfort listeners who are certain the team is cursed. Like the ups and downs of Boston's play through the years, the narrator's voice fluctuates--exuberant and then despondent--in tone and tempo accurately reflecting the mood of any given baseball season. The narrator is very successful at conveying the emotional roller coaster ride Red Sox fans have endured as a result of the curse of the Bambino.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: HighBridge Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
A gutsy coming-of-age story that never runs out of gas.
Mehr Dudeja brings 12-year-old motocross daredevil Eva to life with thrilling verve. Wearing the helmet, she’s Eva Knievel, fearlessly tearing up dirt tracks; at middle school, she hides behind a mask of quiet anonymity, keeping her racing life secret after brutal bullying forces her into hiding. When a new moto girl arrives at school, Eva’s careful wall between her two selves starts to crack, just as a bad crash exposes the financial, physical, and emotional costs of her dirt-biking dreams. Dudeja voices the bike’s roars and revs with gleeful precision, and her performance captures a tween spitfire who’s always bursting with energy or bracing for the next fall.
A gutsy coming-of-age story that never runs out of gas. (Verse fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: May 19, 2026
Duration: 5 hrs, 20 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217342266
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: tomorrow
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