Saskia Maaleveld narrated Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd (Blackstone Publishing, 2017) which I absolutely adored. Ms. Maaleveld brought this historic Charleston, SC story alive through her beautiful portrayal of both white and African American characters.
Ron Butler narrated Just Around Midnight: Rock and Roll and the Racial Imagination by Jack Hamilton (Harvard University Press, 2016). His melodious voice fit the tenor of this nonfiction book which depicts the links between racial identity and music in the 50's and 60's.
Emily Wilden narrated Longbow Girl by Linda Davis (Chicken House, 2016) which is another one of my favorites. At first Ms. Wilden's Welsh accent was a little difficult to follow, but I ended up thinking that her accent lent authenticity to a story that takes place in modern and ancient Wales.
Gemma Dawson narrated Fire Color One by Jenny Valentine (Penguin Random House, 2017). Ms. Dawson did an impressive job with male and female voices and British and American accents in this gripping young adult book about a girl struggling with pyromania.
Multiple narrators performed Restart by Gordon Korman (Scholastic Press, 2017). Each actor did an excellent job personifying their character. As a result, the atmosphere of middle school alliances and conflicts was authentic and realistically portrayed.
I love to listen to books on car trips. The time passes much quicker when I'm gazing at miles and miles of asphalt highways while my mind is imagining fields of indigo, rock musicians in the 50's, ancient Wales, or the drama of middle school. My brain is engaged and quite frankly, I have "read" many more books since starting to listen to audio books. As this article points out, audio books are also great for reluctant readers and audio learners.
Click on this link for more reviews of audiobooks. As a part of this blog tour, Galaxy Press, Hachette Audio, Harper Audio, High Bridge Audio, Macmillan, Penguin Random House Audio, Post Hypnotic Press, Scholastic, Simon and Schuster Audio, and Tantor Audio have generously donated audio books as giveaways. Leave me a comment by December 1--make sure you leave me your email address--if you win, one of these publishers will select an audio book for you. What a great surprise to receive in the mail!
