A.S. King – The Hub

Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2023) Featured Review of Answers in the Pages by David Levithan

Answers in the Pages by David Levithan
Narrated By: Christopher Gebauer, Vikas Adam, and Oliver Wyman
Imprint/Publisher: Listening Library
Publication Date: May 10, 2022
ISBN: 9780593608258

Donovan’s book assignment turns his town upside down when parents try to ban the book, The Adventurers. Donovan’s own mother leads the charge because of a possible romantic relationship between the two main characters, Rick and Oliver. Donovan and his classmates will stand up to his town to prevent the book from being banned. In a parallel narrative, the listener is introduced to Gideon and Roberto who are drawn together as they complete a school assignment.

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2022) Nominations Round-Up, Fall

BFYA Fall Roundup Art — Due to the large number of nominees, not all titles are shown here. See full list below.

Each quarter, the Selected Lists teams compile the titles that have been officially nominated to date. These books have been suggested by the team or through the title suggestion form, read by multiple members of the team, and received approval to be designated an official nomination. At the end of the year, the final list of nominations and each Selected List’s Top Ten will be chosen from these titles.

The City Beautiful. By Aden Polydoros. Harlequin/Inkyard Press, $19.99 (9781335402509).

Amidst the glitz and glamour of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, Alter Rosen, a gay, Jewish, Romanian immigrant teen, becomes possessed by the dybbuk of his murdered friend and must avenge the deaths of his friend and a growing number of other local Jewish boys.

Curses. By Lish McBride. Penguin Random House/G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, $18.99 (9781984815590).

When Merit refuses to marry a prince, she is cursed to live as a beast. Tevin’s family runs cons on rich girls, but when his mom runs afoul of the beast she trades him for her freedom. This fresh, gender-bent Beauty and the Beast retelling examines what “beastly” really is.

Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2022) Featured Review of Between Perfect and Real by Ray Stoeve

Between Perfect and Real by Ray Stoeve | Audiobook | Audible.com

Between Perfect and Real by Ray Stoeve; narrated by MW Cartozian Wilson
Recorded Books
Release date: April 27, 2021
ISBN: 9781705028339

High school senior Dean has things planned out. In a year, Dean will be majoring in theatre at NYU and living in New York with his girlfriend, Zoe, and his best friend, Ronnie. Plus, Dean just landed the lead role in the school play, Shakespeare’s Romeo. As Dean settles into the role, something is made clear, being a male feels right. Dean is transgender. The story follows Dean as he navigates what being trans means for him and comes out to his friends, family, and community.

In this honest story of self-acceptance, coming out, and navigating new relationships, listeners are granted an inside look into the coming-out process that is both engaging and validating. The story is made even more validating because of the narration. The narrator has a male voice – a voice that probably sounds closer to what Dean hears in his head rather than the high-pitched voice Dean complains of throughout the story.