Sound Learning Audiobook Collection Lists & Samples, Now Expanded in 2018 Grades 9 through 12

Use this annotated list to guide your audiobook collection development for grades 9 through 12. Titles are divided into sections reflecting curriculum areas and a final section suggesting great listens for teens beyond their classroom studies. Click on the link for a performance sample and read a format-specific review from the AudioFile Magazine database.

Note: The designation #OwnVoices is used for titles both written and performed by those with lived experiences of the cultures they reflect.

English Language Arts

The audiobooks in this section can support English Language Arts courses throughout the high school grades.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, read by Zach Appelman. Simon & Schuster, 2014 (16 hours) Anthony Doerr’s multi-award-winning historical novel is animated by Zach Appelman’s voice. This contemporary classic’s inclusion of one character’s blind world makes listening to it all the more affecting for readers who forego reading this one with their eyes. Also applicable to World War II curricula in World History, and to exploring description in Fine Arts classes.

Beast by Donna Jo Napoli, read by Robert Ramirez. Recorded Books, 2000 (6.5 hours) Donna Jo Napoli’s ability to retell folk tales from around the world is evidenced in her Persian-flavored version of Beauty and the Beast. Robert Ramirez uses careful pacing to communicate the main character’s emotional life and to keep listeners attentive to each step of the action. Also helpful in theater- and forensics-based high school activities for its modeling of pacing in oral communication.

Developed by Francisca Goldsmith and Sharon Grover for the Audio Publishers Association, 2018. 1 www.audiopub.org/sound-learning

Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, read by Robert Ramirez. Recorded Books, 2004 (11.25 hours) Rudolfo Anaya’s 20th century Latino classic receives an #OwnVoices reading by Robert Ramirez that brings listeners directly into its realistic Mexican-American world of the 1940’s, where American and pre-Christian cultures intersect in one family’s experiences. A necessary selection for Latino and Chicano studies where taught in high schools.

Bone Gap by Laura Ruby, read by Dan Bittner. HarperAudio, 2015 (8.25 hours) Laura Ruby’s multi-award-winning novel, with its touch of magical realism, is performed by Dan Bittner in a host of character voices, including those of Midwestern brothers and the Polish woman who is kidnapped while boarding with them, a range of differently agedtownspeople, and the manipulative kidnapper.

The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez, read by Christine Avila, Ozzie Rodriguez, Yareli Arizmendi, Gustavo Res, Gabriel Romero, Jesse Corti. Random House, 2014 (9.25 hours) A full cast of six voice actors, many contributing #OwnVoices authenticity to Cristina Henriquez award-winning novel, double the repertory construction of the narrative. Legal and illegal immigrants from an array of countries and Latino cultures weave together their Delaware neighborhood and listeners’ opportunity to recognize the diversity of their community.

Dracula by Bram Stoker, read by Nick Sandys. Brilliance Publishing, 2017 (16 hours) Bram Stoker’s classic vampire novel is brought fully and frighteningly to life in Nick Sandys’s narration. Pacing and accents he deploys both serve to heighten the tension, while remaining true to the original’s hyperbole.

Developed by Francisca Goldsmith and Sharon Grover for the Audio Publishers Association, 2018. 2 www.audiopub.org/sound-learning Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley, read by Simon Vance. Tantor Media, 2008 (8.5 hours) Mary Shelley’s tale of the monster and the doctor who created him is served up by narrator Simon Vance in a British accent, well suited to the book’s origins, and pacing that points up the author’s moral investment in her horror story.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens by Charles Dickens, read by Anton Lesser. Naxos AudioBooks, 2007 (19.25 hours) Narrator Anton Lesser helps contemporary teen listeners bridge their appreciation back to Charles Dickens’s world by blending traditional 19th century oral reading with more modern pacing and phrasing.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding, read by the author. Listening Library, 2003 (6.5 hours) Nobel Laureate William Golding reads his own realistic novel of social constraints devolving into chaos and violence among a group of students alone on an island. The newscaster tones his performance puts to admirable effect offer another scaffold on which to build discussions of fiction’s capacity to reflect realism.

Macbeth by William Shakespeare, performed by Alan Cumming. Simon & Schuster, 2012 (1.75 hours) William Shakespeare’s tragedy is presented as a one-man production in this recording. Alan Cumming, who plays every part in this reimagining of the story as set in a psychiatric hospital, helps listeners to understand the complexity of Macbeth and how Shakespeare made his tragic flaw worthy of archetype both on stage and in history’s treatment of politics. Theater departments may want to use this as exemplary of the power one-person drama productions can present.

Developed by Francisca Goldsmith and Sharon Grover for the Audio Publishers Association, 2018. 3 www.audiopub.org/sound-learning Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, translated by Richard Stokes, read by Martin Jarvis. Naxos AudioBooks, 2002 (1.25 hours) Franz Kafka’s parable of the man who woke up to realize he’d become a beetle, translated here by Richard Stokes, receives a lively narration from British actor Martin Jarvis. Jarvis reawakens the element of humor Kafka included and violin interludes in the recording further transport listeners away from preoccupation with other matters to sink into fully engaged listening.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, read by Stephen Crossley. Recorded Books, 2011 (9 hours) Oscar Wilde’s morality tale receives a narration by Steven Crossley that makes helpful use of altering pace and tone as the central character ages from flamboyant youth through the terror he feels upon recognizing his loss of vitality. Hearing the author’s intentional repetition of a key line throughout the story’s progress can further aid teens in recognizing how refrains can be used effectively in prose as well as poetry.

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, read by Scott Brick. Listening Library, 2002 (5.5 hours) Narrator Scott Brick varies his pace as he moves through Stephen Crane’s Civil War novella from passages of reflection to the fierce pitch of battle. Brick also supplies appropriate accents and enunciates the slang of the time and place with ease, giving listeners greater access to entering the story nearly two centuries after its action. American history courses may find this helpful as well.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, read by Martin Jarvis. Blackstone Audio, 2010 (3 hours) Robert Louis Stevenson’s story of the two personas inhabiting one man arrives through Martin Jarvis’s performance with such details as the relevance of gossip and innuendo to the plot’s development available to contemporary listeners for better appreciation. Jarvis maintains a range of character intonations to differentiate among them and further unsettles listeners by increasing the volume of his reading at key and appropriate passages.

Developed by Francisca Goldsmith and Sharon Grover for the Audio Publishers Association, 2018. 4 www.audiopub.org/sound-learning Sula by Toni Morrison, read by the author. Random House, 2007. (5.75 hours) Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison performs her own language-drenched and evocative novel about friendship and betrayal, small town secrets, race, class, and stories themselves as important to culture and personal affirmation. This is an #OwnVoices title.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, read by Sissy Spacek. HarperAudio, 2014 (12.25 hours) Actress Sissy Spacek performs Harper Lee’s contemporary classic with its multiracial, class- conscious cast of characters locked in various battles of good and evil in the Jim Crow South in a voice well-suited to young Scout, from whose viewpoint the novel is written. From our original Sound Learning APA high school audiobook list.

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, read by Alfred Molina. Listening Library, 2007 (7 hours) Narrator Alfred Molina supports and expands on Robert Louis Stevenson’s rhythmic phrasings in his storyteller’s approach to the classic pirate novel. Personalities are clarified by the variety of intonations invested in the large cast of colorful characters.

History and Social Studies

The audiobooks on this part of the list augment and support high school level coursework in American history and government, world history, and areas of social science addressed in high school curricula.

American Night: The Ballad of Juan Jose by Richard Montoya and Culture Clash. L.A. Theatre Works, 2014 (1.5 hours) Richard Montoya and the performance group Culture Clash wrote and acted for a listening audience the account of one immigrant’s nightmare as he tries to sleep before the big citizenship test. His dream is a parade of episodes from American history featuring the heavily accented voices of Theodore Roosevelt, Sacajawea, Bob Dylan, Jackie Robinson, Violet Pettus, Emmett Till, and Harry Bridges.

Developed by Francisca Goldsmith and Sharon Grover for the Audio Publishers Association, 2018. 5 www.audiopub.org/sound-learning Astray by Emma Donoghue, read by Khristine Hvam, James Langton, Robert Petkoff, Suzanne Toren, and Dion Graham. Hachette Audio, 2012 (6.5 hours) Each member of a full cast reads the length of one or more short stories in a collection Emma Donoghue developed from old newspaper stories. Events include an attempt to hold Lincoln’s corpse for ransom, gold mining in the Klondike, and a slave who escapes with his mistress. Each narrator inhabits the characters and period themes fully. Like The Great War, listed below, this may also be of interest to English Language Arts curricular developers and creative writing classes.

Being Jazz by Jazz Jennings, read by the author. Listening Library, 2016 (4 hours) Teenaged author and narrator Jazz Jennings shares her experiences with living out and proud as transgendered. This is an #OwnVoices title.

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, read by the author. Random House, 2015 (8 hours) Ta-Nehisi Coates narrates his own award-winning book which addresses his teenaged son and the perils that threaten him as a male of color. With the text written largely in the second person, listening to the narrator intensifies the experience of being addressed personally. This is an #OwnVoices title.

The Devil’s Highway by Luis Albert Urrea, read by the author. Hachette Audio, 2011 (8.75 hours) Luis Alberto Urrea, poet, novelist, and activist, won many awards when this journalistic account of life and death among undocumented immigrants at the southern border was published more than 15 years ago. His own performance of his work intensifies the drama while also making it more accessible for those who are unfamiliar with border experiences. This is an #OwnVoices title.

Developed by Francisca Goldsmith and Sharon Grover for the Audio Publishers Association, 2018. 6 www.audiopub.org/sound-learning The 57 Bus (by Dashka Slater, read by Robin Miles. Recorded Books, 2017 (5.75 hours) Dashka Slater’s thorough and balanced account of what transpired, why, and how matters progressed both physically and legally when one teen set another on fire is delivered by Robin Miles with an equally balanced narration. In addition to providing insights on gender and racial disparities, author and narrator each also offer listeners an unusual opportunity to witness both sides of an event.

The Great War by David Almond, John Boyne, Tracy Chevalier, Ursual Dubosarsky, Timothee de Fombelle, Adele Geras, and Jim Kay, read by Nico Evers-Swindell, JD Jackson, Gerard Doyle, Sarah Coomes, Nick Podehl, and Richard Halverson. Brilliance Publishing, 2015 (6.5 hours) Authors with critically acclaimed reputations for their teen fiction work contributed to this collection of short stories, each one of which was inspired by one or another artifact from World War I. Each story is performed by one of the equally renowned narrators, including JD Jackson and Gerard Doyle. Like Astray, listed above, this may also be of interest to English Language Arts curricular developers and creative writing classes.

The Greatest: My Own Story by Muhammad Ali and Richard Durham, read by Dion Graham. Graymalkin Media, 2016 (16.25 hours ) World boxing champion and Civil Rights icon Mohammed Ali wrote this autobiography with Richard Durham. Dion Graham’s narration allows listeners to feel all the emotions of winning, losing, leading, and bleeding the fighter shares. This is an #OwnVoices title.

Soldier Boy by Keely Hutton, read by Kevin R. Free, with afterword ready by Ricky Anywar. Macmillan Audio, 2017 (8.25 hours) Keely Hutton based his novel on the real life of a 14- year-old Ugandan child soldier enslaved to Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army. Narrator Kevin R. Free performs with appropriate accents and pacing and tones that move listeners from Ricky’s safe childhood into the terror of daily brutalities.

Developed by Francisca Goldsmith and Sharon Grover for the Audio Publishers Association, 2018. 7 www.audiopub.org/sound-learning Symphony for the City of the Dead by M. T. Anderson, read by the author. Brilliance Publishing, 2015 (10.25 hours) Much lauded novelist M. T. Anderson here turns to nonfiction brings a World War II event to life for contemporary teens. Narrating his own work, Anderson shares how the city of Leningrad found solace under German siege through the music of native son Shostakovich. Also of interest to fine arts and music appreciation classes.

The Watch That Ends the Night by Allan Wolf, read by Michael Page, Phil Gigante, Laurel Merlington, Christopher Lane, and Angela Dawe. Brilliance Publishing, 2011 (10.25 hours) A full cast performs the interlinked poems that tell, from many viewpoints, of the sinking of the Titanic. Author Allan Wolf relied on documents and memoirs to provide accurate details and the narrators offer the host of accents present aboard ship and by rescuers. From our original Sound Learning APA high school audiobook list.

Sciences

The following titles support a variety of concepts taught in high school lab and environmental science courses.

Death by Black Hole by Neil deGrasse Tyson, read by Dion Graham. Blackstone Audio, 2007. (12 hours) Astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson enjoys delving into the mysteries of the universe and narrator Dion Graham shares that enthusiasm in his reading.

The Dorito Effect by Mark Schatzker, read by Chris Patton. Dreamscape, 2015 (8.25 hours) Journalist Mark Schatzker researched every angle of what flavor is, can be, and how it affects us. Chris Patton echoes the author’s enthusiasm while keeping the narration steady and easy to follow through farms and laboratories, from kitchens to dinner plates.

Developed by Francisca Goldsmith and Sharon Grover for the Audio Publishers Association, 2018. 8 www.audiopub.org/sound-learning The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial by Peter Goodchild, performed by Mike Farrell, Edward Asner, Sharon Gless, John de Lancie, Harry Groener, and Marnie Moselman. L. A. Theatre Works, 2006 (1.75 hours) A full cast, including Ed Asner and Mike Farrell, performs Peter Goodchild’s drama that is created wholly from the documents arising from the Scopes Trial. Science and language arts classes may also want to include this.

Lands of Lost Borders by Kate Harris, read by Amy Landon. HarperAudio, 2018 (11 hours) Amy Landon provides an affecting narration of Kate Harris’s travelogue of her bicycle journey along the Silk Road. The ethics of science are at the center of this memoir, and Landon makes the particulars clear to listeners.

Plight of the Living Dead by Matt Simon, read by Holter Graham. Penguin Audio, 2018 (6.5 hours) Author Matt Simon moves from movie monsters to the real worlds of parasites and the hosts they come to control, read with appropriately almost- creepy cheer by Holter Graham.

Underbug by Lisa Margonelli, read by Christina Moore. Recorded Books, 2018 (9 hours) Audiobook narrator veteran Christina Moore immerses listeners in the world of termites and their connection to human history as explicated by culture and energy writer Lisa Margonelli, director of the New America Foundation Energy Policy Initiative.

Very, Very, Very Dreadful by Albert Marrin, read by Jim Frangione. Listening Library, 2018 (5.75 hours) Experienced and engaging teen nonfiction writer Albert Marrin takes up the history and outcomes of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. Narrator Jim Frangione allows emotion to color his delivery, where appropriate, and authority when presenting passages offering background and technical context.

Developed by Francisca Goldsmith and Sharon Grover for the Audio Publishers Association, 2018. 9 www.audiopub.org/sound-learning What the Future Looks Like by Jim Al-Khalili, read by Pete Cross. Dreamscape, 2018 (7.75 hours) Narrator Pete Cross offers fine guidance for listeners to follow scientist, author, and broadcaster Jim Al-Khalili as he tours possible futures we—or scientists—can imagine based on what we know now about the how and why of technology, nature, and physics.

Meeting Others

Everyone relates to others like them and those different from them. The audiobooks on this list broaden teens’ worlds: they will find themselves in some of the characters here and stretch their empathy muscles in meeting characters beyond their daily social lives. The designation #OwnVoices is used here for titles both written and performed by those with lived experiences of the cultures they reflect.

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor, read by Yetide Badaki. Tantor Media, 2017 (8.75 hours) Narrator Yetide Badaki creates an array of character voices in her reading of this rich fantasy, featuring American teens’ discovery of magic in Nigeria, by Nnedi Okorafor. Authentic voicing and #OwnVoices storytelling.

American Street by Ibi Zoboi, read by Robin Miles. HarperAudio, 2017 (8.5 hours) Robin Miles works with Haitian and Midwestern accents to perform Ibi Zoboi’s novel about the hazards of US immigration. In this novel, the settings move from Haiti to Detroit and all the conflicting emotions such an event entails for those undertaking it.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz, read by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Simon & Schuster, 2013 (7.5 hours) Lin-Manuel Miranda performs Benjamin Alire Saenz’s multi-award-winning novel of friendship, love, and intersectional identity between two boys in contemporary Texas. Both author and narrator create compelling adolescent boys’ manner of handling emotional consciousness. An #OwnVoices title from our original Sound Learning APA high school audiobook list.

Developed by Francisca Goldsmith and Sharon Grover for the Audio Publishers Association, 2018. 10 www.audiopub.org/sound-learning The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak, read by Allan Corduner. Listening Library, 2006 (13.75 hours) From our original Sound Learning APA high school list, Marcus Zusak’s historical fiction shares the world of a young girl in Nazi Germany as she discovers friendship, literacy, and the gravity of events around her. Allan Corduner narrates from the point of view of the observing character Death. Zusak wrote passages for the audiobook performance that, in the print book, appeared as images.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, read by Morven Christie and Lucy Gaskell. Bolinda Audio, 2012 (10 hours) Historical fiction featuring two young women pilots fighting in World War II, Elizabeth Wein’s award-winning novel appeared on our original Sound Learning APA high school audiobook list. Morven Christie and Lucy Gaskell share the narration, just as the characters do, with appropriate accents, and even in song where the text calls for it.

Dear Martin by Nic Stone, read by Dion Graham. Listening Library, 2017 (4.5 hours) Multi-award-winning narrator Dion Graham performs Nic Stone’s acclaimed teen novel about racial profiling and the power of seeking support and comfort through recalling Martin Luther King, Jr. An #OwnVoices work.

Dodger by Terry Pratchett, read by Stephen Briggs. HarperAudio, 2012 (10.5 hours) Terry Pratchett’s historical fantasy recounts the might-have-been adventures of Charles Dickens’s character from Oliver Twist. Stephen Briggs brings teenaged Dodger and his fellow thieves, friends, and historically accurate persons to life with phrasing and accents that do credit to this new tale.

Does My Head Look Big in This by Randal Abdel-Fattah, read by Rebecca Macauley. Bolinda, 2007 (9 hours) Rebecca Macauley, a celebrated Australian narrator, brings listeners directly into the world of the Australian-Palestinian girl who sees her situation as the child of an immigrant and herself an

Developed by Francisca Goldsmith and Sharon Grover for the Audio Publishers Association, 2018. 11 www.audiopub.org/sound-learning ordinary Aussie teen, who happens to wear a hijab, created with loving realism by teen novelist Randal Abdel-Fattah.

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland, read by Bahni Turpin. HarperAudio, 2018 (12 hours) In an alternate history, narrator Bahni Turpin breathes both realism and enticing engagement into Justina Ireland’s characters and plot, set in a Kentucky where Civil War dead return to life. An #OwnVoices work.

Everland by Wendy Spinale, read by Fiona Hardingham and Steve West. Hachette Audio, 2016 (9 hours ) Narrators Fiona Hardingham and Steve West alternate in the telling of Wendy Spinale’s steampunk spin on Peter Pan. Set in an alternative postwar London, where Hook is a German military captain, and Gwen (as the Wendy-inspired character) must try to save her beloved Peter and his Lost Boys.

Feed by M. T. Anderson, read by David Aaron Baker, John Beach, Josh Lebowitz, Tara Sands, and Anne Twomey. Listening Library, 2002 (5 hours) The full cast performance of M. T. Anderson’s dystopian contemporary teen classic is performed against a background of static and incessant sound of radio messages the teens cannot shut from their brains.

Girls Like Us by Gail Giles, read by Lauren Ezzo and Brittany Pressley. Brilliance Publishing, 2014 (4 hours) Gail Giles’s novel about two special education graduates thrown together in their first sheltered employment experience comes to listeners in the voices of Lauren Ezzo and Brittany Pressley, who make both the girls and their issues real and immediate to listeners.

The Go-Between by Veronica Chambers, read by Karla Souza. Listening Library, 2017 (5.5 hours) Actress Karla Souza narrates Veronica Chambers’s engaging and insight-provoking novel in which a wealthy Mexican girl, whose new American classmates assume she’s poor, handles her new world with vigor and some humor. An #OwnVoices work.

Developed by Francisca Goldsmith and Sharon Grover for the Audio Publishers Association, 2018. 12 www.audiopub.org/sound-learning The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, read by Bahni Turpin. HaperAudio, 2017 (11.75 hours) This is Bahni Turpin’s award- winning performance of the multi-award winning debut from Angie Thomas. Beyond the issues of racial profile and police abuse, Turpin and Thomas have created a fully realized world and characters with highly textured lives. An #OwnVoices work.

It’s Not Like It’s a Secret by Misa Sugiura, read by Emily Woo Zeller. HarperAudio, 2017 (10.5 hours) Novelist Misa Sugiura’s story of a Japanese American teen who, for the first time, lives in a multiethnic community where she must discover how she has over-identified with her previously all- white friends as well as face the reality of sexual orientation, is brought to listeners through the skillful voicing and pacing of Emily Woo Zeller. An #OwnVoices work.

A Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, read by the author. Simon & Schuster, 2017 (1.75 hours) Author Jason Reynolds narrates his own novel in verse in an exploration of violence and grief that will grip all listeners. An #OwnVoices work.

Love and First Sight by Josh Sundquist, read by Pat Young. Hachette Audio, 2017 (6.5 hours) Pat Young’s youthful voice and comic pacing match well Josh Sundquist’s teen novel about a lifelong blind teen who makes new sighted friends, has the opportunity to experience sight, and opens listeners’ awareness to both the world with no images and how images can be presented through words.

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, read by the author. HarperAudio, 208 (3.5 hours) Performance artist Elizabeth Acevedo reads her own novel in verse with pacing and poise to draw listeners into the world of the Dominican teen girl who sorts through the expectations and demands of others regarding her body, her faith, and her own self-assurance. An #OwnVoices work.

Developed by Francisca Goldsmith and Sharon Grover for the Audio Publishers Association, 2018. 13 www.audiopub.org/sound-learning Rebuttal by Jyotsna Harihan, read by Phoebe Strole, Michael Crouch, Nina Mehta, and a full cast. HarperAudio, 2016 (1.75 hours) Narrators Phoebe Strole and Michael Crouch lead a full cast in the performance of Jyotsna Hariharan’s audio drama centered on competing high school debaters. Sound effects add to the radio drama-like performance.

Saving Montgomery Sole by Mariko Tamaki, read by Rebecca Lowman. Listening Library, 2016 (6 hours) Veteran narrator Rebecca Lowman performs Mariko Tamaki’s story of a girl with two mothers who lives in a community blighted by homophobia. Lowman’s tones fit the heroine’s frustrations with both family and the local social scene.

Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older, read by Anika Noni Rose. Scholastic Audio, 2015 (7.5 hours) Actress Anika Noni Rose, who is bringing the trilogy for which this is the opening volume to film, narrates Daniel Jose Older’s magical realism set in a realistic contemporary Brooklyn. An #OwnVoices work.

Transgender History, second edition by Susan Stryker, read by Emily Caldwell. Hachette Audio, 2017 (7.75 hours) Narrator Emily Caldwell offers listeners helpful guidance with her pacing as they explore with author Susan Stryker the many facets of trans history and current identity concerns.

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon, read by Sneha mathan and Vikas Adam. Dreamscape, 2017 (10.75 hours) Sneha Mathan and Vikas Adam share the duel narration written by Sandhya Menon into her teen romance. Traditional demands, modern American feminism, and brainy teens have their work cut out for them in the plot and listeners will be happy to cheer them on. An #OwnVoices work.

Developed by Francisca Goldsmith and Sharon Grover for the Audio Publishers Association, 2018. 14 www.audiopub.org/sound-learning