It’s inspiring to hear the voices of Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, Gary Soto, Gwendolyn Brooks, Martin Luther King, Jr., and others buoyed with jazz, rap, and hip-hop music. The CD is an accompaniment to the printed text—only 30 of the 51 poems have been recorded. The listener dives right into Eloise Greenfield's reading of "Things"—about the permanence of a poem—and each successive entry is just as immediate. Giovanni's excellent introduction to the poems and their beat is a bonus for listeners. With no page number references, it can be difficult to follow along in the book, which has vibrant illustrations and neat formatting. This great selection leaves listeners wishing for more. D.P.D. 2009 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
Ages 8+Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2008
Duration: 50 mins
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Ken Coleman's expertise as a baseball announcer enriches this history of the Boston Red Sox since the sale of Babe Ruth to the N.Y. Yankees. He leads off with a grim account of this transaction, which started the curse that has plagued the Red Sox ever since. The sermon-like tone will amuse non-believers and comfort listeners who are certain the team is cursed. Like the ups and downs of Boston's play through the years, the narrator's voice fluctuates--exuberant and then despondent--in tone and tempo accurately reflecting the mood of any given baseball season. The narrator is very successful at conveying the emotional roller coaster ride Red Sox fans have endured as a result of the curse of the Bambino.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: HighBridge Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Though the premise is fantastical, Naudus makes it believable, creating a kind, confident protagonist.
Natalie Naudus narrates this middle-grade mystery set in a remote family camp in northwestern Ontario. Hayley Rilko and her cousins decide to break the Toronto Maple Leafs’ losing streak by contacting the ghost of their great-grandfather, a Leafs star whose body was never found after his plane crashed. Hayley’s family is cursed, and members are forced to quit playing hockey when they come of age. The arrival of her period is a salient point in this coming-of-age story. There is a huge cast of relatives at camp, but Naudus successfully focuses on creating credible family interactions rather than distinctive character voices.
Though the premise is fantastical, Naudus makes it believable, creating a kind, confident protagonist. (Fiction. 11-14)Pub Date: Aug. 11, 2026
Duration: 3 hrs, 39 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217342211
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Aug. 24, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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