Review: The Shadows

The Shadows by Jacqueline West

There is a mysterious old house on Linden Street. A family of out-of-towners come and buy the amazing house, with all of the previous owners possessions still inside. The father and mother are mathematicians with a creative daughter named Olive. Olive loves to explore all the treasures of the old house. She especially loves to wear the old jewelry and gloves. One day when she puts on a pair of spectacles, she discovers that the pictures all over the house are alive!

Jacqueline West created a new fantasy series about a girl who could enter paintings. It felt like a mix between Neil Gaiman's Coraline and Marianne Malone's The Sixty-Eight Rooms. Yet not as dark as Coraline and not as lighthearted as the Sixty-Eight Rooms. (At least for me, your reading experience can differ greatly from my own.) It was quite a clever story about art and magic together. The familiars in the book add lighthearted silliness to the book. Overall it was a pretty solid story. The acceptance at the end toward the animals staying was a bit cheesy, but I can over look it. The familiars are necessary for the house and how else would they stay except for pure acceptance.

I would recommend this title to older elementary students and middlers. I wouldn't recommend it as a family listen on a car trip because younger listeners might not like the darkness of the book.

Lexy Fridell was the narrator for The Shadows. It took me a whole disc to become accustomed to her voice, but she shares a very good narration. (The familiars have some excellent and outrageous accents!) Her voice reminded me a lot of Kristin Chenoweth.

Reviewed from a library copy.


Audio Book Details...
The Shadows by Jacqueline West
Series: Volume 1, The Books of Elsewhere
Read by Lexy Fridell
Produced by Penguin Audio
Number of Discs: 5
Total Time: 5 hours, 30 minutes
ISBN: 9780143145714

Review: Valentines

Valentines: A Bouquet of Letters and Poetry for Lovers by Stefan Rudnicki


This literary bouquet was created from well-known writers of the past. Over ten writers are represented in this romantic collection: William Blake, Lord Byron, Emily Dickinson, John Donne, Mary Ellen Patrick Downing, Robert Frost, Heloise, Ben Johnson, James Joyce, Edgar Allan Poe, Adelaide Ann Proctor, Christina Rossetti, Carl Sandburg, William Shakespeare, Elizabeth Tollet, and William Butler Yeats. To represent the assortment of voices in the poems, the audiobook features over twenty vocal artists. For little over an hour of listening, a great amount of care was given to this audiobook.

Each chapter track features two or more written pieces and a different reader for each piece. Aside from the words and the reader, each track has a musical bed. An orchestra played wonderful musical selections underneath the poetry. Skyboat Media listed the musical pieces in a pdf on their blog post about Valentine. (Thank you, Skyboat!)

This quick audiobook bids the listener to relax, reflect, and enjoy different perspectives on love. It's a beautiful book that can be savored. I think adults will enjoy listening to this book, but it could also be used in a classroom setting for high school or college. It's great to hear poetry read aloud and hearing professional readers can add new life to a written piece of art.



Reviewed from an Audiobook Jukebox copy. Thank you, Blackstone Audio!
I received this audiobook from Audiobook Jukebox in exchange for an honest review.


Audio Book Details...
Valentines: A Bouquet of Letters and Poetry for Lovers compiled and produced by Stefan Rudnicki
Read by Various
Produced by Blackstone Audio
Number of Discs: MP3 download (13 parts)
Total Time: 1 hour, 14 minutes
ISBN: 9781483048291

Review: Rogue Knight

Rogue Knight by Brandon Mull


Cole, Mira, Twitch, and Jace escaped the Sky Raiders and defeated Mira's shaping power. They are on their way to Elloweer. Their goal is to find Mira's sister, Honor. Her star in the sky came out, then disappeared. She needs her help, but only Mira saw the sign.

Rogue Knight picks up where Sky Raiders left off. If you can't remember the whole story of book one, I would highly recommend re-listening to Sky Raiders. I started with the last disc of book one and it helped immensely.

Rogue Knight was just as captivating as Sky Raiders. Elloweer's shaping power is different, so the group meets new friends and enemies along their travels. Cole also comes in contact with others not from the Outskirts. (I don't want to give anything away!) In addition to meeting others who help (or hurt) the young warriors, share more information about themselves. The story is slowly unfolding, but there is so much more to come!

Mull wraps up Rogue Knight well. There is humor, magic, battles, and surprises. I didn't feel that there was a cliff hanger, which I appreciated! I'm still invested in the story and the characters, so an intense cliff hanger is not needed. As with the first book, middlers will enjoy this adventurous tale, but younger ones might be unprepared for the battle scenes. I would advise adults to preview the tale for any nervous younger readers. It's reported that the next title comes soon. Mark your calendars, readers! I know it's on my to-read list.

Keith Nobbs returns to read Rogue Knight! I think he maintained his characters well. It was a good listen. I think Callista's voice might have been my favorite in this book. I hope that he will return for the next title in the series, Crystal Keepers.

Reviewed from an Audiobook Jukebox copy. Thank you, Simon & Schuster Audio!

Audio Book Details...
Rogue Knight by Brandon Mull
Series: Book 2, Five Kingdoms
Read by Keith Nobbs
Produced by Simon & Schuster Audio
Number of Discs: 11
Total Time: 13 hours, 39 minutes
ISBN: 9781442372535

Review: When Books Went to War

When Books Went to War: The Stories that Helped Us Win World War II by Molly Guptill Manning

The title of this book drew me in right away. On further review the description was very intriguing. Since reading is my biggest pastime, I thought this non-fiction piece would be an interesting tidbit of history. I'm so glad Blackstone Audio made this title into an audiobook. I greatly enjoyed reading non-fiction as an audiobook!

Molly Guptill Manning discovered ASEs while writing her first book, The Myth of Ephraim Tutt. While researching Tutt, she found Tutt's book as an Armed Services Edition. As further research brought more references to ASEs, Manning knew she wanted to know more. (She explains more on her blog.)

I'm so happy she looked into and shared her research about Armed Services Editions and the history around them! I quickly became enthralled with her book. The history began with book burning events in history and ends with the GI bill after VJ day. One of the main themes was WWII being a "war of ideas" and how Americans fought the ideas war.

Manning offers great quotes throughout her book from letters mailed to publishers, authors, war correspondents, and other well-known individuals of WWII. She also shares WWII history beyond the books, which surprisingly are softly tied to reading and ASEs. Reading is an everyday skill and ASEs are only a small part of WWII, but both hold an amazing place in history. ASEs were a key to changing the book publishing history! I never knew that and I doubt I would have found out if not for Manning's book. Yes, there is some overlapping (or repetition) but she covers a lot of material and time in this book. I didn't mind the repetition or jogs between years.

I would recommend When Books Went to War for anyone who is interested in WWII, books about books, publishing, business, banned books, and libraries. I think a wide audience would be interested in this title. Mostly adults will probably read it, but college students and high schoolers might enjoy it as well.

Bernadette Dunne narrates Manning's book. I enjoyed her vocal skills. She was consistent throughout the nearly 7 hours of reading. Dunne shared mild nuisances when portraying writers of letters or individuals sharing small bits of reports and the like. She was a great reader for this non-fiction piece. I would listen to another book read by Dunne. No music accompanied this audiobook and it wasn't needed.

Reviewed from an Audiobook Jukebox copy. Thank you, Blackstone Audio!

I received this audiobook for free from Audiobook Jukebox for an honest review.

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When I finished When Books Went to War, I wanted to find out even more information about ASEs. Here are some of the articles and websites I found about ASEs...

Molly Guptill Manning explains how she discovered ASEs
Molly Guptill Manning speaking with Smithsonian.com

ASE's explained by Wikipedia
List of ASE Titles and Authors from Armed Services Editions
Books for Victory Publishing During WWII blog
Literature on the Frontlines: The History of Armed Services Edition Books article from The Art of Manliness (This article also shares book cover images of published ASEs.)


Books in Action (Library of Congress Center for the Book)

More WWII Audiobook titles to enjoy via BookRiot

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Audio Book Details...
When Books Went to War by Molly Guptill Manning
Read by Bernadette Dunne 
 Produced by Blackstone Audio
Number of Discs: MP3 download (13 parts)
Total Time: 6 hours, 49 minutes
ISBN: 9781481522120

978-1-4815-2212-0

978-1-4815-2212-0

978-1-4815-2212-0

Audiobook SYNC 2015 is Coming!

Audiobook SYNC is returning in 2015! Mark your calendars for May 7, 2015. That's the beginning of a fourteen week audio adventure. The final download day is August 13, 2015.

At the end of January 2015, Audiobook SYNC announced 26 out of the 28 titles they will be sharing this summer. More titles are to come along with the book pairings. SYNC pairs one classic book with one YA book each week during the summer. Visit their blog for the complete listing of their upcoming titles.

I'm looking forward to hearing many of the titles, but here are two that rank near the top of my list:  Courage has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickles by Tanya Lee Stone (Brilliance Audio) and Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (Penguin Audio). What titles are you looking forward to hearing this summer? I would love to hear from you!

2015 Odyssey Award

The American Library Association hosted the Youth Media Awards on Monday, February 2, 2015. During the awards ceremony the Odyssey Award is given to the "the producer of the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States."

“H. O. R. S. E. A Game of Basketball and Imagination,” produced by Live Oak Media, is the 2015 Odyssey Award winner. The book is written by Christopher Myers and narrated by Dion Graham and Christopher Myers.

Three Odyssey Honor Recordings also were selected:

“Five, Six, Seven, Nate!” produced by AUDIOWORKS (Children’s) an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster, Inc., written by Tim Federle, and narrated by Tim Federle;

“The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place,” produced by Listening Library, an imprint of the Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group, written by Julie Berry, and narrated by Jayne Entwistle;

“A Snicker of Magic,” produced by Scholastic Audiobooks, written by Natalie Lloyd, and narrated by Cassandra Morris.

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As of February 2015, I have only listened to A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd which I found utterly delightful. I happily shared it with young patrons who were looking for a sweet read (or listen). I'll have to put these other titles on my to-listen list. Have you had a chance to listen to any of the 2015 Odyssey Award books? Let me know your thoughts!

Review: The Smallest Gift of Christmas

The Smallest Gift of Christmas by Peter H. Reynolds


Roland raced down the stairs to see his Christmas present. With great disappointment, he saw a small gift under the tree. Roland wanted a bigger present, so he wished for a bigger one. Still not satisfied, he went out in search of a larger present. It wasn't until he was very far away, that he realized what a present could be.

Peter H. Reynolds is so creative and magical when he writes. The unique perspective he shared in his stories captured me. The Smallest Gift of Christmas was beautifully created with digital art and hand-lettering. The message didn't grab me right away. It helped to ponder it a while. I read the book, listened to the audiobook, then followed along in the book while listening to the CD. The message, for me, is about perspective. Perspective is not always an easy thing to understand - for adults or children. When sharing this book, be ready to start a discussion. I would encourage readers to talk about what happened in the book and what it means to them.

The audiobook was read by Peter H. Reynolds, which was a pleasant surprise. He has a very nice voice. A reader could listen to his book over and over again. Dreamscape did add in music at the beginning and end which fit in well with the tone of this Christmas title. They also added in some sound effects that where well suited to the illustrations. There are no page-turn indicators during the audiobook, but there are pauses so book followers can turn the page at the appropriate time.

Book reviewed from a library copy. Audiobook reviewed from an Audiobook Jukebox copy. Thank you, Dreamscape Media, LLC!


Audio Book Details...
The Smallest Gift of Christmas by Peter H. Reynolds
Read by Peter H. Reynolds
Produced by Dreamscape Media, LLC
Number of Discs: 1
Total Time: 5 minutes
ISBN: 9781633794993

2014 Unreviewed Audiobooks

Throughout the year I've enjoyed many great (and not so great) audiobooks. The goal of Adolescent Audio Adventures is to continually post reviews on the books read through the year, but life speeds by and the review is not posted. Here's a wrap up post for the unreviewed audiobooks  in the year of 2014.

In a Glass Grimmly by Adam Gidwitz, read by Johnny Heller 
Book 02: A Tale Dark & Grimm


The Secret of the Key by Marianne Malone, read by Cassandra Campbell
Book 04: Sixty-Eight Rooms


One Came Home by Amy Timberlake

Read by Tara Sands
Produced by Listening Library
Number of Discs: 6
Total Time: 6 hours, 45 minutes
ISBN: 9780804167000


A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd, read by Cassandra Morris


The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham
Read by Kristen Bel
Book 01: Veronica Mars
Produced by Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
Number of Discs: MP3 download (7 parts)
Total Time: 8 hours, 42 minutes
ISBN: 9780804193528


Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman, read by Neil Gaiman


The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail by Richard Peck, read by James McCourt

The Greatest Gift

The Greatest Gift: A Christmas Tale by Philip Van Doren Stern

Have you heard of The Greatest Gift? Are you familiar with the Christmas movie, It's a Wonderful Life? The Greatest Gift was the inspiration for that classic film! The first time I heard about it was after my high school theatre production of It's a Wonderful Life. My parents gifted me a hard copy of The Greatest Gift. I was not familiar with this little book and mum explained that this book was the inspiration for the play I recently participated in at school. Thanks, Mum for the introduction!

I was so thrilled to see the audiobook available from Simon & Schuster Audio. This tiny tale was meant to be shared and reach out to everyone. The Greatest Gift is a about discovering life and worth. If you've watched George Bailey's life in the movie, the story will be different and very brief in comparison. Frank Capra fleshed out the story and gave it more background, but the original message is still present. The greatest gift is life. Everyone is important and plays a roll in the world around them. It'a a beautiful story to share.

Edward Herrmann narrates Van Doren Stern's story. He has a good voice and shares the story with subtle flair throughout. It's not a radio play or a movie script, but a story. He isn't overly dramatic which is good. I believe the story should be heard, reflected upon, and savored.

Simon & Schuster Audio did add an afterward to their new audiobook publication. Philip Van Doren Stern's daughter Marguerite Stern Robinson wrote a brief memoir about the experience of The Greatest Gift and how it turned into It's a Wonderful Life. Robinson's afterward is read by Madeline Maby. This special tidbit is not advertised on the CD, the case, or the sleeve. I found that interesting and strange. Simon & Schuster Audio does share information about the afterward on their online product description.

Another enjoyable audio tidbit is the use of music. The music throughout is the song AuldLang Syne. The movie (and stage production) end with that song. It's a lovely piece to add to this audiobook edition.



Reviewed from an Audiobook Jukebox copy. Thank you, Simon & Schuster Audio!

Audio Book Details...
The Greatest Gift by Philip Van Doren Stern 
Read by Edward Herrmann and Madeline Maby
Produced by Simon & Schuster Audio
Number of Discs: 1
Total Time: 45 minutes
ISBN: 9781442381582

The Christmas Quiet Book

The Christmas Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood


When the original Quiet Book and Loud Book appeared at the library, I was a bit skeptical. It seemed like a rather odd topic for little ones to read and enjoy, but I was amazed at how Underwood pinpointed moments of life. When The Christmas Quiet Book appeared a couple years ago, I knew I wanted to read that book right away.

I have savored The Christmas Quiet Book and shared it with others. I've also noticed the popularity of Underwood's stories. It is now available as an audiobook and on DVD by Dreamscape Media. I listened to the three minute audiobook, then listened to it again while paging through the picture book.

I found it best to listen with the book rather than listen to the recording alone. The audiobook features Susie Berneis as the reader and she does a fine job expressing the lines. She has a lovely voice.

Some of the lines had sound effects while some of them did not - it was a ratio of about 1 in 3. I wasn't a big fan of most of the sound effects. I think the story can stand on it's own. Some of the effects were heard at the same time as the narration and that can be difficult to separate the layers of sound. It might be best if the sounds were before or after each narrated line.

I enjoyed the opening and closing music on the CD. I wonder what it would have sounded like with the light music during the entire story.

I still believe this is a strong book and I would share it with anyone - young children, elementary students, grown-ups, grandparents. The recording can also be shared with anyone. It's a gentle, thought provoking book. The narration lends itself to use for non-readers or early readers that want to enjoy the book but cannot read or are learning to read.

Reviewed from an Audiobook Jukebox copy. Thank you, Dreamscape Media, LLC!

Audio Book Details...
The Christmas Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood
Read by Susie Berneis
Produced by Dreamscape Media, LLC
Number of Discs: 1
Total Time: 3 minutes
ISBN: 9781633794917