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"In the distance, a black haze that looked like mountains. The heaviest clouds she'd ever seen were rolling toward them." ~ from Rae Meadows' I Will Send Rain
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| Ms. Bixby's Last Day by John David Anderson; narrated by Jesse Bernstein, Ramon de Ocampo, and Maxwell GlickJuvenile Fiction: By the time they reach 6th grade, classmates Topher, Steve, and Brand have been taught by all kinds of teachers, but they've never had one quite like Ms. Bixby. She's one of "the Good Ones," the kind of teacher who really understands. When Ms. Bixby has to leave the school to start cancer treatments (sooner than expected), the three boys band together to cut class, sneak into the hospital, and give their teacher the kind of send-off she deserves. Topher, Steve, and Brand (distinctly voiced by the narrators) take turns describing their offbeat (and not entirely legal) plan, as well as the different ways in which Ms. Bixby changed their lives. |
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| Serafina and the Twisted Staff by Robert Beatty; narrated by Cassandra Campbell Juvenile Fiction: Though she's firmly rooted in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Serafina is stuck between two worlds: in one, she's the Chief Rat Catcher at the grand, recently completed Biltmore Estate, but in the other, she's learning the ways of the wild from her mother, a shape-shifting catamount. When several unusual visitors arrive at the Estate just as the local animals begin acting strangely, Serafina realizes that it's up to her to figure out what's really going on. Narrator Cassandra Campbell quickly places readers in the "unrelenting action and excitement" (Booklist), but be sure to read Serafina's 1st adventure, Serafina and the Black Cloak (also voiced by Campbell) before you dive into this sequel. |
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| The Muse by Jessie Burton; narrated by Bahni Turpin and Maria Elena InfantinoAdult Fiction: An aspiring writer, Odelle Bastien arrives in London from Trinidad in the 1960s. Though literary success eludes her, she finds a job as a typist in a posh art gallery, where she becomes the protégée of eccentric Marjorie Quick. Thirty years earlier, painter Olive Schloss is living in Spain with her Viennese art dealer parents when she meets Teresa and Isaac Robles, half-siblings who will change her life forever. Connecting Odelle's and Olive's stories is a mysterious painting whose secrets are gradually revealed in this intricately plotted novel of intrigue. The Muse's complex female characters, strong atmosphere, and sparkling prose may appeal to fans of Dominic Smith's The Last Painting of Sara de Vos. |
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| The Reader by Traci Chee; narrated by Kim Mai GuestYoung Adult Fiction: The flat, hard package was the only thing Sefia saved after her father's horrific murder, and she's protected it, unopened, for years, hiding in the wilderness of Kelanna and learning survival skills from her wily aunt Nin. But now Nin has been kidnapped, and Sefia needs clues, so she opens the package and finds a dangerous, highly illegal object: a book. Her discovery kicks off a powerful, multi-layered tale of vicious assassins, unexpected allies, and hidden powers, effectively portrayed by narrator Kim Mai Guest. This debut, which is the first in a series, ends in a cliffhanger that will leave you eager for volume two. |
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| The Best Man by Richard Peck; narrated by Michael CrouchJuvenile Fiction: Some kids might feel weird about having their teacher marry their uncle, but sixth-grader Archer Magill just feels lucky. Besides his dad, his grandfather, and his Uncle Paul, Mr. McLeod (student teacher, National Guardsman, reluctant Twitter celebrity) is the person Archer admires most. And honestly, Uncle Paul and Mr. McLeod's wedding is just the most recent in the constant stream of changes Archer has been through lately, which include confronting school bullies, dealing with heartbreaking loss, and finally starting middle school. Narrator Michael Crouch is a "natural with kid voices" (AudioFile) while clearly differentiating among all the characters, child and adult. This funny, down-to-earth slice of life is hard to resist. |
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Want more? Check the FVRL catalog for all recently-purchased CDs and Playaways for adults, teens and kids!
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| Loner: A Novel by Teddy Wayne; narrated by David BendenaAdult Fiction: It's clear from the get-go that David Federman is pretty smart but not particularly memorable. Overlooked in high school, he hopes to make a name for himself at Harvard, but (unsurprisingly) things don't get off to a great start. Overlooking friendly overtures from another girl, he becomes enamored of fellow freshman Veronica, and does everything and anything he can to ingratiate himself with her. Soon, his self-absorbed attempts move from pathetic to disconcerting to downright creepy, and we're left wondering exactly what is going on in this page-turner, vividly rendered by narrator David Bendena. |
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Death of a Ghost
by M. C. Beaton; narrated by Graeme Malcolm
Adult Fiction: When Police Sergeant Hamish Macbeth hears reports of a haunted castle near Drim, he assumes the eerie noises and lights reported by the villagers are just local teenagers going there to smoke pot or, worse, inject themselves with drugs. Still, Hamish decides that he and his policeman, Charlie "Clumsy" Carson, will spend the night at the ruined castle to get to the bottom of the rumors once and for all. There's no sign of any ghost ... but then Charlie disappears through the floor. It turns out he's fallen into the cellar. And what Hamish and Charlie find there is worse than a ghost: a dead body propped against the wall. Waiting for help to arrive, Hamish and Charlie leave the castle just for a moment—to eat bacon baps—but when they return, the body is nowhere to be seen. It's clear something strange—and deadly—is going on at the castle, and Hamish must get to the bottom of it before the "ghost" can strike again, in this 32nd entry in the Hamish Macbeth mystery series.
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| Darktown: A Novel by Thomas Mullen; narrated by André Holland Adult Fiction: It's 1948: Atlanta's eight new African American police officers have severe restrictions (no driving a police car, no entering police headquarters, no policing white parts of town, etc.), and they face hostility from their white colleagues as well as distrust from their own community. One night on their beat, officers Lucius Boggs and Tommy Smith see a white man driving a car erratically with a young African American woman inside. When the woman is found dead, the men investigate despite the risk to their careers and maybe their lives. Blending history with mystery, this gritty 1st in a planned new series has already been optioned for TV. Publishers Weekly and AudioFile both praise actor André Holland's evocative and steady narration. |
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American Street
by Ibi Zoboi; narrated by Robin Miles
Young Adult Fiction: In this stunning debut novel, Pushcart-nominated author Ibi Zoboi draws on her own experience as a young Haitian immigrant, infusing this lyrical exploration of America with magical realism and vodou culture. On the corner of American Street and Joy Road, Fabiola Toussaint thought she would finally find une belle vie—a good life. But after they leave Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Fabiola's mother is detained by U.S. immigration, leaving Fabiola to navigate her loud American cousins, Chantal, Donna, and Princess; the grittiness of Detroit's west side; a new school; and a surprising romance, all on her own. Just as she finds her footing in this strange new world, a dangerous proposition presents itself, and Fabiola soon realizes that freedom comes at a cost. Trapped at the crossroads of an impossible choice, will she pay the price for the American dream?
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Junonia
by Kevin Henkes
Juvenile Fiction: The week of her 10th birthday, Alice and her parents go to Sanibel Island, Florida, where Alice has always celebrated her birthday and where she has friends and family to celebrate with her. Who will see the first dolphin this time? The first pelican? What will have changed? Stayed the same? And will this be the year she finally finds a junonia shell? Alice knows that everything will be perfect--but what happens when things don't turn out exactly as she expects?
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The Romanovs : 1613-1918
by Simon Sebag Montefiore; narrated by Simon Russell Beale
Adult Nonfiction: The Romanovs were the most successful dynasty of modern times, ruling a sixth of the world's surface for three centuries. How did one family turn a war-ruined principality into the world's greatest empire? And how did they lose it all? This is the intimate story of twenty tsars and tsarinas, some touched by genius, some by madness, but all inspired by holy autocracy and imperial ambition. Simon Sebag Montefiore's gripping chronicle reveals their secret world of unlimited power and ruthless empire-building, overshadowed by palace conspiracy, family rivalries, sexual decadence and wild extravagance, with a global cast of adventurers, courtesans, revolutionaries and poets, from Ivan the Terrible to Tolstoy and Pushkin, to Bismarck, Lincoln, Queen Victoria and Lenin.
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Look for the next issue of Audiobooks on May 2! |
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