Best New Audiobooks for Picture Book Lovers
AudioFile for The Children’s Book Review
Here are five audiobooks for middle-grade listeners to enjoy, all with outstanding performances by their narrators. Many kids will be starting up at school again this month, and the full-cast narration of TWINS makes for an excellent listen to help ease that transition back to school. Listeners looking for a science fiction-fueled escape can jump into the gaming-inspired adventures of the LAST GATE OF THE EMPEROR. Whether your listeners are looking for history, thrilling fantasy, or stories of being true to themselves, they will find something to love. Read on to see all the audiobooks recommended below by AudioFile’s editors.
Twins
Story by Varian Johnson and Shannon Wright
Read by Ahnya O’Riordan, Grace Capeless, Mashari Bain, Malcolm Bowen, Antoinette Comer, André Blake, and Armand Xavier Rufen-Blanchette
Ages 8+ | Scholastic Audiobooks | 1.5 hrs. | Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award
A full cast brings this middle-grade graphic novel to life. Maureen and Francine are Black twin middle schoolers who are forever being mistaken for each other. Outgoing Francine, voiced with confidence by Grace Capeless, decides to run for class president. The story is told from Maureen’s point of view, and Ahnya O’Riordan’s youthful voice captures her anxieties about change and her frustration with her sister—which manifests in her decision to run for class president. Fans of the graphic novel will be delighted to experience a favorite audiobook in a new format. Those encountering it for the first time will definitely want to seek out the book illustrated by Shannon Wright. Review »
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Unspeakable
Story by Carole Boston Weatherford
Read by January LaVoy and Carole Boston Weatherford
Ages 8+ | Dreamscape | 19 mins | Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award
Music and sound effects accentuate the moods in this nonfiction picture book about the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921. January LaVoy narrates with a range of emotions. She opens cheerfully, detailing the thriving Black community’s prosperity. Then the listener hears the ominous thud of an elevator landing and it’s metal grate opening—the beginnings of a racially motivated massacre. Tense music and the sounds of chaos punctuate the ensuing violence. LaVoy somberly details the aftermath—hundreds dead, thousands homeless, Greenwood in ruins. Her voice turns optimistic, however, reading the author’s exhortation to “choose hope.”
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Too Bright to See
Story by Kyle Lukoff
Read by Jax Jackson and Kyle Lukoff
Ages 10+ | Listening Library | 4.5 hrs. | Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award
Narrator Jax Jackson quickly convinces listeners of Bug’s determination to acquire a sense of self during the summer before middle school. There are several reasons for this: his beloved Uncle Roddy’s death, a ghost haunting his dreams, and discovering he no longer shares interests with his friends. Jackson’s delivery also conveys the deeper uncertainty this 11-year-old is facing. By exploring Uncle Roddy’s open gayness and past—he was a drag queen—Bug begins to understand his transgender identity. Jackson gives a realistic representation of grief, friendship, and coming out for a middle-grade audience, along with a goosebumps-inducing ghost story. Review »
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Last Gate of the Emperor
Story by Kwame Mbalia and Prince Joel Makonnen
Read by Prince Araya Mengesha
Ages 10+ | Scholastic Audiobooks | 6.5 hrs. | Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award
This science fiction story is packed with detailed world-building and intense action. Prince Joel Makonnen, coauthor, and Prince Araya Mengesha, narrator, are members of the Ethiopian imperial family, bringing real historical context and an authentic voice to this fantasy. Yared feels most alive in HKO, the augmented-reality gaming tournament he’s dominating. Mengesha crafts a lovable jokester as Yared deflects loneliness and enemy attacks alike with humor. The latest game finds Yared teamed up with his archrival, the Ibis, against real armies in a conflict that reveals Yared’s hidden past. Review »
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Sisters of the Neversea
Story by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Read by Katie Anvil Rich
Ages 10+ | Harper Audio | 6.75 hrs.
Narrator Katie Anvil Rich brings vibrant characters to life in Smith’s contemporary reimagining of PETER PAN. In this version, Lily is Muscogee Creek; her stepsister, Wendy, is English; and their younger brother, Michael, is both. As the siblings are swept off to Neverland, their stubbornness, creativity, and love for each other prove to be sizable challenges to the mores of Pan’s volatile realm. Through multidimensional portrayals of Native children, the Lost, and the Pirates, listeners delve deeper into the magic and cruelty of Neverland, seen in a completely new way. Rich’s warm tones, inventive delivery, and fervent pacing bring out the heart and intensity in this stunning adventure. Review »
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The article 5 Outstanding Audiobooks For Ages 8 and Up was curated by AudioFile. AudioFile is an independent source of audiobook reviews and recommendations with a clear focus on the performance and listening experience. AudioFile Earphones Awards are given to exceptional audiobooks. To learn more, visit audiofilemagazine.com, Twitter @AudioFileMag, and Facebook @audiofilemagazine.
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