The Cat I Never Named: A True Story of Love, War, and Survival by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess and Laura L. Sullivan; Narrated by Leila Buck Recorded Books, Inc. Publication date: December 29, 2020 ISBN: 9781705017708
Growing up in Bihac, Bosnia during the Bosnian War of the 1990s, Muslim teen Amra lived through unfathomable horrors, as told here in her memoir. As war looms, then goes from bad to worse, Amra describes her circumstances and actions and those of her family and neighbors. Facing potential death daily and barely able to feed themselves, a cat joins them. They need to turn it away, but when the cat seemingly saves her brother they choose to keep it around, much to their benefit over time.
Click here to see all of the current Amazing Audiobooks nominees along with more information about the list and past years’ selections.
The Talk: Conversations About Race, Love & Truth edited by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson; Narrated by Fajer Al-Kaisi, Feodor Chin, Gisela Chípe, Michael Crouch, Janina Edwards, James Fouhey, Renata Friedman, Catherine Ho, Nicole Lewis, Omar Leyva, Guy Lockard, Jesus E. Martinez, and Lisa Renee Pitts Listening Library Publication Date: August 11, 2020 ISBN: 978-0593121610
Through poetry, essays, lists, and letters, The Talk gives 17 different conversations that delve into race, racism, identity, and self-esteem. Coming from a variety of experiences, which are often intergenerational and intersectional, this is a conversation starter for dissecting structural racism, moves to be more antiracist, and ways to be more inclusive with a focus on being affirming to listeners.
Click here to see all of the current Amazing Audiobooks nominees along with more information about the list and past years’ selections.
Caster by Elise Chapman; narrated by Emily Woo Zeller Scholastic Audio Release date: September 3, 2019 ISBN: 9781338567793
Aza Wu knows magic can go wrong. Her sister Shire died from casting. But in her neighborhood, you can only operate if you pay the right people, and to get money, she can sell her magic on the black market. So she casts, living on the edge and hoping her next spell isn’t her last. The opportunity to cast in an underground tournament with big payouts is irresistible. Fighting in the tournament may be her salvation, or may be the death of her.
Click here to see all of the current Amazing Audiobooks nominees along with more information about the list and past years’ selections.
From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks; narrated by Bahni Turpin HarperAudio / Katherine Tegen Books Publication Date: January 14, 2020 ISBN: 978-0062969279
Aspiring baker Zoe Washington is looking forward to spending her summer working at her family friend’s bakery, and then auditioning to be on a kid’s baking show. On her 12th birthday, Zoe receives a letter from her biological father who has been in prison on a murder charge her entire life. Zoe, who hasn’t heard from Marcus before now, begins writing back, only to find that he has been writing to her all along, and that he claims he is innocent of the charge. In wanting to be able to trust and believe her father, and while keeping the correspondence secret from her mother, Zoe and her best friend try to find her father’s alibi witness.
Click here to see all of the current Amazing Audiobooks nominees along with more information about the list and past years’ selections.
Allies by Alan Gratz Narrated by Jamie Cline, Vaneh Assadourian, PJ Ochlan, Matthew Frow, Marc Anthony Samuel, Norah Hunter Scholastic Audio Publication Date: October 15, 2019 ISBN: 9781338567182
Allies follows the lives of six different young people on D-Day, June 6th, 1944. Dee a German national who grew up in the states and lies about his age to join the Army, Samira an Algerian girl whose mother is a French resistance spy, James a Canadian paratrooper, Henry an African American medic from Chicago, Bill an English tank driver and Monique a French girl living in a village outside of Normandy Beach. The narrative zips between these six stories which often intersect, telling how each of our main characters got to June 6th and leaving the reader wondering if they’ll make it to June 7th alive. This audiobook is an account of young people’s activity in WWII minus the extreme gore or language found in many adult books.
By RCA Records (Billboard, page 29, 18 November 1972) [Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsJune is Audiobook Month! Many of us have fond memories of being read to as a child, but did you know that you can still be read to? That is the value of audiobooks! The story comes alive and, with the right narrator, you can hear a story much more differently than you would reading it. Accents are perfected, exclamations are understood, and even words or names you may not know or have never heard before make sense to you. This is my second year evaluating audiobooks for YALSA’s Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults committee. As chair of this year’s committee, I am so excited for all the great audiobook-related things happening this month. Articles are being written about the importance and resurgence of audiobooks, you can get in “Sync” this summer and download free audios, and the audiobook circulation at my Library sees a nice increase starting in June with many people going on road trips and vacations.
To give you an idea of what makes an audiobook a good listen, here are some of the criteria that gets an audiobook on the Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults selection list:
The narration has to expand or compliment the original text. In other words, when you listen to a narrator tell the story, it comes alive and allows the you to experience the text in a different way.
Character voice variation is key! We must have a sense of who the character is by the different qualities in the voices that the narrator uses. For example, it is a lot more enjoyable when you are listening to a narrated conversation and can tell which character is talking without the text cues letting you know. Accents, exclamations, and sound effects also are considered. If done well, they really make an audiobook amazing!
There is also the importance of a match between the text and the narrator. You know when it is right; your ear picks it up. The narrator embodies the main character and sometimes even all the characters in the books.
The technical production on an audiobook is also a criteria for the Amazing Audiobooks list. We want to make sure the editing is done well, the sound quality is even, and that there are no issues with extra sounds or mike pickups. Additionally, we do consider the music that you hear at the beginning, end, or in between the tracks–does it match the story? Is it effective in heightening the story? If it is, then it just adds more quality to the production.
So, where should you start if you have never listened to an audiobook before? Well, some great awards and lists are put out every year: the Odyssey Award, the Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults annual list, and the Audies are a few places to start. Below I have compiled some of my favorites, that I think will be a great first listen for all of you who are new to audiobooks and want to give them a try.
![By RCA Records (Billboard, page 29, 18 November 1972) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/American_Gothic_parody_1972.png)