Best New Audiobooks for Young Adults
AudioFile for The Children’s Book Review
AudioFile’s Editors recommend five new audiobooks for teen listeners featuring stories from both established and debut authors. Acclaimed fantasy author Sabaa Tahir makes a stunning step into contemporary fiction with her newest audiobook. The always impressive Jason Reynolds inspires with a story told two ways—in his powerful voice, and with a full cast. Read on to hear about more excellent audiobooks for teens, including a debut fantasy that will be available for free this summer as part of AudioFile’s SYNC program.
All My Rage
Story by Sabaa Tahir
Read by Deepti Gupta, Kamran R. Khan, and Kausar Mohammed
Ages 14+ | Listening Library | 10.5 hrs. | Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award
A stellar trio of narrators delivers the alternating viewpoints in this superb contemporary debut by YA fantasy author Sabaa Tahir. Narrator Kamran R. Khan portrays 18-year-old Salahudin, whose vulnerability and poet’s soul shine as he tries to handle his father’s drinking and debts and his own tangled relationship with his ex-best friend, Noor. Kausar Mohammed portrays 18-year-old Noor with a quiet voice that shifts to capture her longing and her rage. Narrator Deepti Gupta’s deep voice expresses the mature personality of Misbah, Salahudin’s mother, connecting both Sal and Noor to their history, and offering them hope for a way forward. Review »
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Ain’t Burned All The Bright
Story by Jason Reynolds
Read by Jason Reynolds, Nile Bullock, Tatum Marylin Hall, JaQwan J. Kelly, and DePre Owens
Ages 12+ | Simon & Schuster Audio | 37 mins. | Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award
Author Jason Reynolds deftly narrates “Take One” of his collaboration with mixed-media collage artist Jason Griffin. Reynolds brings slam-poetry sensibilities to a brief yet evocative glimpse of an unnamed young Black narrator. His mother stays glued to the news, his father coughs endlessly, and his siblings search for meaning as he hunts fruitlessly for an oxygen mask. As Reynolds’s singular voice fades out, “Take Two” of this work hands the same spare, moving words to a full cast of outstanding narrators who add layers of meaning, blending uncertainty and hope as one person’s worries become everyone’s journey. Review »
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I Must Betray You
Story by Ruta Sepetys
Read by Edoardo Ballerini and Ruta Sepetys [Note]
Ages 14+ | Listening Library | 7.25 hrs. | Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award
Narrator Edoardo Ballerini masterfully conveys the unrelenting stress on 17-year-old Cristian Florescu, who lives in Bucharest, Romania, in the winter of 1989. Ballerini makes the totalitarian regime of Nicolae Ceausescu palpable, as well as Cristian’s adoration of his Bunu, his loving grandfather. Cristian agrees to take on an informer role in exchange for medicine for his grandfather. But instead of relief, Cristian experiences a tightening noose of hunger, isolation, and fear. Ballerini portrays a complex character whose passion for poetry and philosophy, first crush, and love of family contrast with the betrayal he’s willing to commit. Review »
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Sisters of the Snake
Story by Sasha Nanua and Sarena Nanua
Read by Soneela Nankani
Ages 13+ | Harper Audio | 15.25 hrs. | Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award
Displaying an impressive array of vocal ability, Golden Voice narrator Soneela Nankani does double duty breathing life into the characters Rani and Ria. They are a princess and an orphan who, due to their identical appearance, swap places to save their home from war. Rani’s tone is imperious and decisive, while Ria’s is softer and more timid. Shima, Princess Rani’s snake familiar, is a particularly enjoyable character who quietly hisses equal amounts of wisdom and criticism to her mistress. As the unlikely duo walk the knife-edge of their perilous circumstances, Nankani guides listeners through this sinuous story. Review »
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Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed: 15 Voices from the Latinx Diaspora
Story by Saraciea J. Fennell [Ed.], Elizabeth Acevedo, Cristina Arreola, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Naima Coster, and Natasha Diaz, et al.
Read by Avi Roque, Elizabeth Acevedo, Frankie Corzo, Ibi Zoboi, Janel Martinez, Jasmine Mendez, Julian Randall, Khalil Haywood, Lilliam Rivera, Natasha Diaz, Saraciea J. Fennell, and Zakiya N. Jamal
Ages 12+ | Macmillan Audio | 7.25 hrs. | Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award
The collection contains 15 essays that contemplate ethnicity, race, and culture and how these affected the authors’ identities. The individual stories are narrated mostly by their authors, a choice that allows listeners to feel as though the authors are speaking directly to them. Topics include Ibi Zoboi’s account of where Haitians fit into the pecking order of her Brooklyn neighborhood when she was growing up and Janel Martinez’s descriptions of gifts passed down from her Honduran abuela. The authenticity and emotion in the narrators’ voices will appeal to all. Listeners will discover diverse stories of the Latinx diaspora that also illuminate parallels to their own lives. Review »
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This list, 5 Stunning New Audiobooks by Favorite and Debut Authors, 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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