Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2022) Nominations Round-Up, Summer

Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults 2022 nominees cover 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 are titles that 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.

*Prices shown are for Library Digital Download.


Between Perfect and Real. By Ray Stoeve. Read by MW Cartozian Wilson. Recorded Books, LLC/Recorded Books, Inc., $70 (9781705028339).

Dean is a trans guy struggling with coming out to his friends and family.  Exploring the internet and joining community groups allows him to more clearly define himself while acting as Romeo in a play helps his self discovery. Wilson’s voice is well matched and he skillfully narrates this emotional story. 

Black Girl, Call Home. By Jasmine Mans. Read by Jasmine Mans. Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group/Penguin Audio, $22.80 (9780593346884).

Mans calls herself and other Black girls home in this love letter and essential companion to girls and women on a journey to find truth, belonging, and healing. Mans narrates this powerful and painful collection with many poems read and produced in unique ways.

Continue reading Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2022) Nominations Round-Up, Summer

Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2022) Featured Review of The Everything I Have Lost by Sylvia Zéleny

Book cover for The Everything I Have Lost by Sylvia Zeleny

The Everything I Have Lost by Sylvia Zéleny; narrated by Lori Felipe-Barkin
OrangeSky Audio
Release date: 05-11-21
ISBN: 9781667003146

Told through journal entries, Julia shares her life coming of age in Juarez, Mexico. Although a US citizen herself, her father is not, and so they live in the “murder capital of the world.” People die, women disappear, and drug runners rule the streets. Just on the other side of the river is El Paso, Texas, where her aunt and cousins live.  When her father becomes one of the casualties of this domestic war, will they escape to the US?

Continue reading Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2022) Featured Review of The Everything I Have Lost by Sylvia Zéleny

#QP2019 Nominees Round Up, April 3 Edition

The Wood  by Chelsea Bobulski
Imprint / Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: August 1, 2017
ISBN:  9781250094261 

Winter’s family has been sworn to protect the Wood for generations. The Wood holds secrets, including portals to other time periods that people accidentally fall through sometimes. There are only three rules to protect the Wood: Do not travel from the paths. Do not linger after dark. Do not ignore the calling. A few years ago Winter’s father strayed from the path and was lost to the wood. Now a strange boy named Henry has fallen through one of the portals. Unlike other travelers, he knows about the Wood and Winter’s father. She must work with this boy to solve the mystery of what happened to her father, and why it appears the Wood is dying.

Continue reading #QP2019 Nominees Round Up, April 3 Edition

Is This the Real Life? YA Books with Multiple Perspectives

One of my favorite types of books in the contemporary genre is the dual or multi-narrative. I’m sure I will revisit this topic again in future posts about contemporary YA fiction, but these were the first five titles that popped into my head when I started to make my list. I know I am missing a lot, so maybe this will just be part one?

Will GraysonWill Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan (2011 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults and 2011 Best Fiction for Young Adults)

Told from the point of view of two Will Graysons whose lives change drastically when they meet. Both Wills are trying to find their way, and share how their lives are affected by knowing one Tiny Cooper, who is not tiny in any sense of the word.

Clean by Amy Reed (2012 Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers)

Five different points of view from teens while in rehab. They are forced together to face their demons, their sobriety, and who they are without the addiction. Continue reading Is This the Real Life? YA Books with Multiple Perspectives