First published more than a half-century ago, this work could have seemed dated to young adults today. But Ann Marie Lee's narration—which delivers absorbing personalities and raw emotions—makes this coming-of-age story fresh. Camilla is an overprotected 15-year-old who suddenly takes a new look at her circumstances—her mother's infidelity and suicide attempt, her father's workaholic tendencies, and her own innocence. Lee adopts tones that accurately depict Camilla's fragile mother and cold-blooded father. She delivers dynamic portrayals of their conflicts and Camilla's consuming perplexed reactions to them. Lee also portrays Camilla’s experience of first love, specifically the intensity with which she and her beloved struggle to understand the world and seek life's vibrancy.
Young AdultPub Date: Nov. 10, 2009
Duration: 7 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Soler's spellbinding voice turns a melancholic fable into an intimate experience listeners will feel long after it ends.
Rebecca Soler narrates this haunting audiobook with a lyrical quality that draws listeners deep into its magical realism and its many-layered story. Her emotional control serves the narrative well, allowing the story's quietest moments to land with weight. Soler voices Lexie and Chester, two teens with heavy pasts and dark secrets who are drawn to each other by an undeniable cosmic pull. On a freezing winter morning, five people, including Chester, go for a swim and wake the next day transformed into birds, their lives forever altered. Measured pacing and tender characterizations give each teen a distinct inner life.
Soler's spellbinding voice turns a melancholic fable into an intimate experience listeners will feel long after it ends. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2026
Duration: 4 hrs, 56 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217351152
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Oct. 13, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2026
Creative and thoughtful with a touch of magic, this audiobook will keep listeners engaged.
Sixteen-year-old Caspen Coolsby is going through it. His father has been missing for six months, his family's candle store is preparing for the annual Red Fest celebration, his mother has started renting out the apartment upstairs, and he’s struggling to adapt to all the changes. As Caspen gets to know the new tenants, he discovers he can enter their memories through certain candle scents, and he hopes his new power will provide clues to his dad's disappearance. Narrator Matt Pittenger perfectly captures Caspen's confusion, resilience, and determination as he tries to connect the memories he has witnessed with real life and figure out his feelings for Lars, the cute guy who keeps showing up in the memories.
Creative and thoughtful with a touch of magic, this audiobook will keep listeners engaged. (Speculative romance. 12-18)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
Duration: 5 hrs, 46 mins
DD ISBN: 9781668160060
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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