Behind the Mic With Kirkus Reviews

Listeners who loved the first TRISTAN STRONG audiobook are in for a treat -- Amir Abdullah has returned to narrate the next chapter. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly talk about this middle-grade fantasy series that is packed with action and adventure and bursting with larger-than-life characters. Tristan, a Black seventh-grader, is helping on his grandparents’ farm when creatures from A...

Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan collaborate on a timely story about first-generation immigrants finding their place as they navigate the challenges of sixth grade. Nikhaar Kishani is the voice of Sara, daughter of Pakistani immigrants and a recent transfer from a small Islamic academy to a huge public school. Nikhaar smoothly narrates Pakistani words used in the text and uses subtle accents for Sar...

This epic fantasy that includes political upheaval, taboo magic, and a hint of romance is voiced by four talented narrators who shape the intensity of the story. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly discuss Rebecca Roanhorse’s enthralling audiobook inspired by Pre-Columbian American civilizations. The narrators read four overlapping storylines, with each voice distinct and amplifying the ac...

Isabelle Ruther narrates a charming IRL romance between online friends--one of whom happens to be famous. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly discuss the fun of listening to Olivia Dade’s audiobook about love found through fandom and a viral Twitter post. April Whittier has been active in fandom for years, and no one in her real-life circle knows until an interaction with TV star Marcus Ca...

Joniece Abbott-Pratt’s dynamic narration draws listeners into a contemporary fantasy audiobook packed with ancient magic, Aurthurian mythology, and family legacies. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly talk about Tracy Deonn’s debut YA audiobook featuring a secret magical society that you don’t want to miss. Bree is a 16-year-old Black girl whose grief and anger over her mother’s death driv...

Fans who've been anticipating Tana French’s next audiobook will not be disappointed. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten discuss Roger Clark’s standout performance. His American-Irish-British background makes him uniquely qualified to narrate a tense story of a Chicago cop trying to solve a mystery far out of his jurisdiction. He’s longing for a quiet retirement in the Irish countryside but...

Narrator Clare Corbett flawlessly creates the accents and settings of Lenchester, England, while introducing Detective Chief Inspector Whitney Walker and her polar opposite, psychologist Georgina Cavendish. Host Jo Reed and AudioFIle’s Robin Whitten discuss a new British mystery from Sally Rigby, where an unlikely pair investigating a copycat serial killer discover an unconvicted murder suspect fr...

Perfect Halloween listening, guaranteed to give you chills. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten share their thoughts on a classic adapted for the stage -- MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN. It’s a riveting adaptation of a story within a story, as told by Mary Shelley, that is startlingly different from more familiar movie adaptations. Stacy Keach’s deep voice is perfect for the monster, who is se...

Jackie Sanders narrates a memoir on sexism in science from Rita Cowell, a leading microbiologist and the first woman to lead the National Science Foundation. Host Jo Reed and Robin Whitten discuss Jackie Sanders’s straightforward narration, mirroring Cowell’s strategy when dealing with obstructionist male colleagues—stay calm and avoid channeling melodramatics or anger. Cowell persevered in her ca...

Dion Graham is pure magic behind the microphone as he narrates a fun family-friendly story about Alice the rabbit and her furry companions. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten discuss Maryrose Wood’s new tale that feels like a classic. In the story, Alice makes a deal with other wild animals to grow a garden in order to keep the land from being bulldozed. A new hipster family moves in, unaw...

Imogen Church’s extraordinary narration of Ruth Ware’s newest suspense novel will keep listeners glued to their earbuds, unable to do anything else but listen wide-eyed and rapt. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss this thrilling homage to Agatha Christie’s AND THEN THERE WERE NONE. Ware has taken the premise of an isolated house with an unidentified killer, cleverly updated the who,...

Soneela Nankani creates a memorable portrait of Norah Kapadia, a brilliant medical student who is slightly baffled by the human aspects of patient care. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb talk about this new audiobook from Madi Sinha that’s perfect for fans of medical TV shows. Nankani is fantastic as the narrator, capturing all of the characters perfectly. She seamlessly moves Norah from i...

Viewers have seen award-winning actress Sutton Foster play Liza Miller in the television show “Younger” but now they can experience her audiobook performance in this highly anticipated sequel. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss this audiobook born of a TV comedy that follows Liza two years after she was caught lying about her age to land a job in publishing. Sutton Foster’s voice is...

Dawn is thriving as a mom and wife with a fulfilling career when a plane crash leaves her second-guessing her life. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss Patti Murin’s admirable narration of Jodi Picolt’s newest audiobook. Dawn’s near-death experience results in a deep yearning for a life left behind and for her true love, a British colleague. The audiobook gives listeners a chance to...

Marin Ireland narrates Rumaan Alam’s stunning audiobook that explores race, class, family, and global catastrophe. AudioFile’s Michele Cobb tells host Jo Reed about the National Book Award finalist performed by one of her favorite narrators. A married couple and their children head out of New York City to a quiet area of Long Island for a family vacation. However, the owners of their rental arrive...

Joel Richards emulates the quiet reverential voice of climate scientist Marco Tedesco as he navigates the vastness of ice-covered Greenland. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff discuss an audiobook that illuminates the life work of scientists in the north. Richards’s nuanced, almost hushed narration reveals the exquisite silences, freezing temperatures, and harsh winds of one of the planet’...

Chef David Chang takes listeners on a tour of his personal and professional successes and failures. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff discuss this audiobook that will be loved by foodies curious to know more about the founder of the popular Momofuku Restaurant Group and one of the most influential chefs in the world. His narration is brash, fast-paced, and in-your-face. Chang’s infectious...

Narrator David Bendena succeeds in animating this provocative, nonlinear audiobook with his careful tone, judicious pace, close reading, and forward-moving cadence. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff discuss Ben Ehrenreich’s musings, reports, descriptions, and commentary. Bendena narrates with enough urgency to capture the author’s apocalyptic take on the fate of the planet, the political...

Hari Kunzru narrates his disturbing novel at a deliberate pace in an eerily calm tone that mimics his protagonist’s diminishing mental state. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff discuss this dystopian novel that ends just at the moment of the 2016 election. The protagonist has arrived in Germany after receiving a writing fellowship, but instead of working on the book, he’s drawn into an alt...

Dan Richards narrates his audiobook in a clear English accent that often sounds as if he’s telling the story on a late evening in a pub. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff talk about Richards’s self-effacing, witty, and intimate narration as he tells listeners about the value of remote and often romantic places. Much is to be learned and considered in his wandering to northernmost Norway,...

Narrator Sisi Aisha Johnson embodies all of the joy and light of fourth grader Ryan Hart. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly talk about the start of this new series from Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Award-winning author Renée Watson. Ryan tries hard to be the leader her parents expect her to be, but her competitive streak keeps getting in her way. Despite struggles, Ryan finds a w...

Guy Lockard delivers an outstanding performance of Jacqueline Woodson’s brief, eloquent story of 12-year-old ZJ, whose father, a former pro football player, is suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The story is set in the early 2000s when little was known about the dangers of repeated head injuries in football, and listeners will follow the story of one family’s painful, slow real...

The rumble of train tracks, warm twangs of a banjo, and soft humming set the scene for this children’s audiobook tracing a family’s journey north during the Great Migration. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly talk about this skillfully layered audiobook that mirrors the richness found in the picture book’s moving illustrations. Narrator Shayna Small embodies Ruth Ellen, a young Black girl...

Powerhouse author and narrator duo Nic Stone and Dion Graham return to create a moving and hopeful audiobook, a companion to Stone’s debut, DEAR MARTIN. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly discuss a beautifully delivered audiobook that is centered around 16-year-old Quan, a Black boy wrongly incarcerated in a juvenile detention center. Stone narrates her author’s note that frames her story...

Ride through the market with Little Lobo and his friends as they gather up a delicious feast for hungry luchadors before their wrestling match begins. AudioFile’s Emily Connelly tells host Jo Reed about the fun and sweet audiobook that has been keeping her family happy (and hungry) together at home. Narrator Gary Tiedemann’s narration brims with delight as he zips young listeners from food truck t...