Boom is still the word where audiobooks are concerned, as a new season of releases arrives. The industry chalked up yet another banner year of growth in 2016, and according to Michele Cobb, executive director of the Audio Publishers Association, publishers are working hard to meet the demands of an ever-increasing number of listeners. “All the publishers I’ve spoken with recently say they are doubling output again this year,” she says. More titles produced means going deeper into authors’ backlists and perhaps bringing projects to audio that would not have been possible in leaner times. Any way you slice it, the result is vibrant variety.
Our spring list points to the kinds of recordings publishers are making available, including titles by bestselling authors in the stalwart mystery and thriller categories, memoirs by authors famous and not, and a burgeoning number of full-cast or multivoiced programs. We hope this peek will encourage you to explore publishers’ lists even more deeply for all the great audiobooks in the mix this spring. Happy listening!
Adult
Blackstone
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson (May, unabridged CD, $24.95, ISBN 978-1-5384-0801-8) is a guide through such mind-expanding questions as “How do we fit into the universe?”
Borne by Jeff Vandermeer (May, unabridged CD, $34.95, ISBN 978-1-5047-7975-3). In a postapocalyptic world, Rachel finds Borne, a green lump that grows into an innocent, speaking, curious being she must protect.
Every Dark Corner by Karen Rose, read by Hillary Huber (Feb., unabridged CD, $39.95, ISBN 978-1-5047-7407-9). Special agents Davenport and Coppola are on the trail of the depraved criminal who illegally “adopted” two girls from their addict mother in exchange for drugs.
The Force: A Novel by Don Winslow (June, unabridged CD, $39.95, ISBN 978-1-5046-8060-8). A decorated—and secretly dirty—NYPD cop is caught in a trap and being squeezed by the feds.
The Polygamist’s Daughter: A Memoir by Anna LeBaron with Leslie Wilson (Mar., unabridged CD, $34.95, ISBN 978-1-4417-0537-2). The daughter of Ervil LeBaron reveals details of her difficult life with a father wanted by the FBI for killing anyone who tried to leave his radical religious cult.
Where the Lost Girls Go by R.J. Noonan (Feb., unabridged CD, $34.95, ISBN 978-1-5047-9811-2) launches a mystery series featuring rookie cop Laura Mori.
Brilliance
The Cleaner by Elisabeth Herrmann, read by Imogen Church (July, unabridged CD, $19.99, ISBN 978-1-4893-8216-0). When crime scene specialist Judith starts to ask questions about the latest murder victim, she becomes the target of powerful enemies.
Come Sundown by Nora Roberts (June, unabridged CD, $39.99, ISBN 978-1-5113-6730-1). Life on the Bodine ranch and resort in Montana is threatened when a bartender is battered on the way home from work and a long-lost relative of owner Bodine Longbow reappears.
Cravings by Judy Collins, read by the author (Feb., unabridged CD, $29.99, ISBN 978-1-5226-5683-8). Folk music legend Collins shares her struggles with compulsive overeating and her journey to a solution.
For This We Left Egypt? by Dave Barry, Alan Zweibel, and Adam Mansbach (Mar., unabridged CD, $19.99, ISBN 978-1-5366-2686-5) is a parody of the Passover Haggadah from three award-winning comedy writers.
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti (Mar., unabridged CD, $34.99, ISBN 978-1-4233-8536-3). A father protects his daughter from the legacy of his past—and the truth about her mother’s death.
The Wanted by Robert Crais (June, unabridged CD, $34.99, ISBN 978-1-4558-5343-4). Investigator Elvis Cole and his partner Joe Pike must solve a burglary before the victim’s hired guns kill more people.
Brook Forest Voices
The Why Factor of Financial Success by Joseph J.A. Quijano, narrated by Michael Pearl (Mar., unabridged download, $19.95, ISBN 978-1-941105-47-4) reveals the secrets of what determines financial success.
Dreamscape
The Blood of Emmett Till by Timothy B. Tyson, read by Rhett S. Price (Feb., unabridged CD, $49.99, ISBN 978-1-5200-6500-7). The crime that launched the modern civil rights movement is re-examined in light of new evidence.
The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell (Mar., unabridged CD, $59.99, ISBN 978-1-5200-6695-0). Questions abound when preteen Pippa finds her 13-year-old sister Grace unconscious and bloody in the communal garden behind their London home.
Lenin on the Train by Catherine Merridale (Mar., unabridged CD, $49.99, ISBN 978-1-5200-7043-8) is a gripping account of how Lenin’s 1917 train ride from Zurich to Petrograd ignited the Russian Revolution.
The Yellow Envelope by Kim Dinan (Apr., unabridged CD, $49.99, ISBN 978-1-5200-7007-0). When they quit their jobs to travel, Kim and Brian receive a yellow envelope containing a check, instructions to give the money away, and three rules for following through.
GraphicAudio
Corrigan Brothers 1: Ride Away by Cotton Smith, read by a full cast (Feb., unabridged CD, $19.99, ISBN 978-1-62851-306-6) begins a new Western series about three Texas brothers risking their lives to stake their claim in the great American dream.
Esther Diamond 1: Disappearing Nightly by Laura Resnick, read by a full cast (Mar., unabridged CD, $19.99, ISBN 978-1-62851-310-3). Esther, a struggling actress in New York, has a knack for attracting supernatural mayhem.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Collect Them All (Marvel) by Corinne Duyvis, read by a full cast (July, unabridged CD, $19.99). The guardians discover that someone is planting stolen branches from their pal Groot and selling the saplings across the galaxy.
Hachette Audio
The Fix by David Baldacci, read by Kyf Brewer and Orlagh Cassidy (Apr., unabridged CD, $40, ISBN 978-1-4789-3002-0). Det. Amos Decker investigates a baffling murder he witnessed just outside FBI headquarters.
Mind over Meds: Know When Drugs Are Necessary, When Alternatives Are Better—And When to Let Your Body Heal on Its Own by Andrew Weil (Apr., unabridged CD, $30, ISBN 978-1-4789-6292-2), explores the dangers of overmedication and outlines lifestyle changes and alternative therapies for common ailments.
The Most Beautiful: My Life with Prince by Mayte Garcia, read by the author (Apr., unabridged CD, $35, ISBN 878-1-4789-7425-3). The late, legendary musician’s first wife offers a candid look at the personal and professional sides of a beloved icon.
Theft by Finding by David Sedaris, read by the author (May, unabridged CD, $35, ISBN 978-1-4789-1576-8) features selections from the diaries that are the source of Sedaris’s autobiographical essays.
Two from the Heart James Patterson, read by Amy Tallmadge and Jamie Renell (Apr., unabridged CD, $35, ISBN 978-1-4789-4884-1) contains two tales about the power of story: “Tell Me Your Best Story” and “The Lifesaver.”
You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me by Sherman Alexie, read by the author (June, unabridged CD, $30, ISBN 978-1-4789-1281-1). The National Book Award–winning author shares raw, profane, tender, and funny memories from his childhood growing up poor on an Indian reservation raised by alcoholic parents.
HarperAudio
Kiss Carlo by Adriana Trigiani (June, unabridged CD, $44.99, ISBN 978-0-06-265728-2). In 1946 Philadelphia, the lives and fortunes of the Saveri family are forever changed by a telegram, and the nephew who delivers it.
Nevertheless by Alec Baldwin, read by the author (Apr., unabridged CD, $39.99, ISBN 978-0-06-265737-4). The accomplished and controversial actor delivers an unfiltered memoir.
No Room for Small Dreams: The Decisions That Made Israel Great by Shimon Peres (Apr., unabridged download, $24.99, ISBN 978-0-06-268129-4). In a memoir completed weeks before his death in September 2016, Peres shares what it took to build the state of Israel and what future generations must do to sustain it.
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman, read by the author (Feb., unabridged CD, $29.99, ISBN 978-0-06-266363-4). A master storyteller presents his version of the great Norse myths.
Notes on a Banana by David Leite (Apr., unabridged download, $24.99, ISBN 978-0-06-266065-7) is a memoir from foodie, essayist, humorist, and founder of Leite’s Culinaria website.
Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane (May, unabridged CD, $39.99, ISBN 978-0-06-212947-5). A former journalist who had an on-air mental breakdown must find a way to conquer her fears when a chance encounter sweeps her into a conspiracy thick with deception.
Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy by Nicholas Reynolds, read by Fred Sanders (Mar., unabridged download, $24.99, ISBN 978-0-06-265977-4) is the untold story of Ernest Hemingway’s secret life as a spy for the OSS and NKVD before and during WWII, written by a former CIA officer.
Highbridge Audio
Broken River by J. Robert Lennon, read by Hillary Huber (May, unabridged CD, $29.99, ISBN 978-1-68168-391-1). In this psychological thriller, a Brooklyn family moves to a house in upstate New York that was the scene of a brutal murder years before.
Ernest Hemingway: A Biography by Mary V. Dearborn, read by Tanya Eby (May, unabridged CD, $54.99, ISBN 978-1-68168-520-5) is the first biography of Hemingway written by a woman and the first to draw on a variety of never-before-used material.
The Golden Legend: A Novel by Nadeem Aslam, read by Deepti Gupta (Apr., unabridged CD, $39.99, ISBN 978-1-68168-481-9) tells the story of a Muslim widow and her Christian neighbors whose community in contemporary Pakistan is consumed by violent religious intolerance.
The One-Cent Magenta: Inside the Quest to Own the Most Valuable Stamp in the World by James Barron, read by Jonathan Yen (Mar., unabridged CD, $29.99, ISBN 978-1-68168-441-3) offers an inside look at the obsessive, secretive, and often bizarre world of high-profile stamp collecting.
The Totally Unscientific Study of the Search for Human Happiness by Paula Poundstone, read by the author (May, unabridged CD, $34.99, ISBN 978-1-68168-403-1). The comedian conducts a series of “thoroughly scientific” experiments, offering herself as a test subject, to find out whether there is a secret to happiness.
Insatiable
Bear Necessities: Halle Shifters, Book 1 by Dana Marie Bell (Apr., unabridged download, $19.95, ISBN 978-1-62461-431-6). When Alexander, a bear shape-shifter, comes to Halle, Pa., he’s unexpectedly lured into the local tattoo shop by an enticing scent—his potential mate, she-wolf shifter Tabitha.
L.A. Theatre Works
The Assembled Parties by Richard Greenberg, performed by a full cast including Zoe Perry, Dana Delaney, and Susan Sullivan (Mar., unabridged CD, $29.95, ISBN 978-1-68266-039-3). Greenberg’s play follows a family at Christmas dinner in 1980 and again in 2000, as they reckon with the legacy of their family discord. Recorded before a live audience in November 2016.
Macmillan Audio
Apollo 8: The Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon by Jeffrey Kluger, read by Peter Ganim (May, unabridged CD, $39.99, ISBN 978-1-4272-8683-3) presents the untold full story of the 1968 Apollo 8 mission, a triumph after many setbacks and an astronaut tragedy the year before.
Edgar and Lucy: A Novel by Victor Lodato, read by the author (Mar., unabridged CD, $49.99, ISBN 978-1-4272-8221-7). When eight-year-old Edgar befriends a man with a tragic story and goes missing, his mother comes unglued, and readers learn details of the accident that killed Edgar’s father.
One Perfect Lie by Lisa Scottoline, read by George Newbern (Apr., unabridged CD, $39.99, ISBN 978-1-4272-8209-5). The handsome new baseball coach at the local high school is not who he says he is, and has an agenda that requires an innocent pawn on the baseball team.
The People We Hate at the Wedding by Grant Ginder (June, unabridged CD, $39.99, ISBN 978-1-4272-8732-8) is a humorous novel about the complicated ways we hate the ones we love the most.
Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America by Michael Eric Dyson, read by the author (Feb., unabridged CD, $29.99, ISBN 978-1-4271-8724-3) is Dyson’s personal call for change in our racially divided country, in which he argues that to make real racial progress we must face difficult truths.
Wolf on a String by Benjamin Black, read by Simon Vance (June, unabridged CD, $39.99, ISBN 978-1-4272-7958-3). This historical crime novel set in 16th-century Prague features murder, magic, and the dark art of wielding extraordinary power.
Naxos Audiobooks
The Door by Magda Szabó, read by Siân Thomas (Feb., unabridged CD, $54.98, ISBN 978-1-78198-079-8). A struggling writer employs an elderly woman as a housekeeper and the two develop a great bond before there is a tragic end to their relationship.
The Mimic Men by V.S. Naipaul, read by Sam Dastor (Apr., unabridged CD, $59.98, ISBN 978-1-781-98-081-1). Ralph Singh retires to suburban London and reflects on his experiences as a colonial man in a postcolonial world.
Penguin Audio
The Child by Fiona Barton (June, unabridged CD, $40, ISBN 978-1-5247-7992-4). The unearthing of the remains of a long-buried baby at a construction site upends the lives of three women, including the reporter trying to find the story behind the tragedy.
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid, read by the author (Mar., unabridged download, $15, ISBN 978-1-5247-5225-5). A young couple in an unnamed city on the brink of civil war escapes their homeland through a series of doors—first to a migrant camp on Mykonos, then to Vienna, then to California.
Into the Water by Paula Hawkins (May, unabridged CD, $40, ISBN 978-0-525-49604-5). A single mother and a teenaged girl each turn up dead on the bottom of a river just weeks apart in Hawkins’s follow-up to The Girl on the Train.
Iron Ambition: My Life with Cus D’Amato by Mike Tyson (June, unabridged CD, $45, ISBN 978-1-5247-5067-1). The youngest heavyweight champion in history elaborates on the life lessons passed to him by his legendary trainer and adoptive parent D’Amato.
Random House Audio
Anything Is Possible by Elizabeth Strout (Apr., unabridged CD, $40, ISBN 978-1-5247-7490-5) features a series of characters, including the adult Lucy Barton, heroine of Strout’s bestseller My Name Is Lucy Barton, struggling to understand themselves and others.
Are You Anybody? by Jeffrey Tambor, read by the author (May, unabridged CD, $40, ISBN 978-1-5247-2392-7). The Emmy-winning TV actor discusses his life, creative process, and accomplishments with humor and wit.
If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face? Relating to and Communicating with Others by Alan Alda (June, unabridged CD, $32, ISBN 978-1-5247-8166-8) presents the author-actor’s strategies for improving the way we relate to and talk to others everywhere, from the boardroom to the bedroom.
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders, read by a full cast including Nick Offerman, Julianne Moore, Susan Sarandon, and Keegan-Michael Key (Feb., unabridged, $35, ISBN 978-0-553-39757-4). A cast of 166 voices re-imagines a grieving President Lincoln’s night at the cemetery as he spends time with the body of his son Willie, who has just died, and is visited by various spirits.
The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova (Apr., unabridged CD, $45, ISBN 978-0-7352-8673-3). An American woman traveling in Bulgaria helps a family into a taxi and discovers she has mistakenly kept one of their bags, which contains an urn engraved with a name. Her quest to track down the owners is fraught with mystery and intrigue.
The Stars Are Fire by Anita Shreve (May, unabridged CD, $35, ISBN 978-0-8041-4766-8). Two young mothers face an uncertain future after a 1947 fire destroys their homes and their entire town, leaving the fates of their husbands unknown.
Recorded Books
Against All Odds by Danielle Steel (May, unabridged CD, $34.99, ISBN 978-1-5019-4938-8). Now that her children are ready to go out on their own, Kate learns that she can’t protect them from the choices they make.
A Colony in a Nation by Chris Hayes (Mar., unabridged CD, $29.99, ISBN 978-1-5019-4972-2). Author and Emmy-winning news anchor Hayes contends that America has fractured in two: the colony and the nation.
Earthly Remains by Donna Leon, read by David Colaci (Apr., unabridged CD, $29.99, ISBN 978-1-5019-4970-8). Commissario Brunetti takes a break from the Questura, only to get sucked into an investigation during his recuperative stay on an island.
Everything All at Once: How Nerds Solve Problems by Bill Nye (July, unabridged CD, $39.99, ISBN 978-1-5019-4975-3). Nye issues a call to arms meant to spur everyone to become the change they wish to see in the world, providing problem solving strategies that always get results.
Lockdown: A Novel of Suspense by Laurie King (June, unabridged download, $29.99, ISBN 978-1-5019-4879-4). Career Day at Guadalupe Middle School turns terrifying as a classroom is held hostage by someone with a thirst for revenge.
No Easy Target by Irish Johansen (Apr., unabridged CD, $39.99, ISBN 978-1-5019-4942-5). A young woman who has the ability to communicate with animals becomes the target of an enemy holding a CIA operative hostage.
Simon & Schuster
All By Myself, Alone by Mary Higgins Clark (Apr., unabridged CD, $29.99, ISBN 978-1-5082-2828-8). When wealthy “Lady Em” is found dead during a luxurious cruise and her priceless emerald necklace goes missing, the list of suspects is long.
Life’s Work: A Moral Argument for Choice by Willie Parker (Apr., unabridged download, $17.99, ISBN 978-1-5082-3727-3). The outspoken reproductive justice advocate and abortion provider examines the wide-ranging implications of the right to choose and makes a powerful Christian case for championing reproductive rights.
Madame President by Helene Cooper, read by Marlene Cooper Vasilic (Mar., unabridged CD, $23.99, ISBN 978-1-5082-3382-4) is the story of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: leader of the Liberian women’s movement, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, and the first democratically elected female president in African history.
The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda (Apr., unabridged download, $17.99, ISBN 978-1-5082-3267-4). In rural Pennsylvania, former journalist Leah goes looking for her missing friend Emmy—who may have never really existed at all.
Solve for Happy by Mo Gawdat (Mar., unabridged CD, $29.99, ISBN 978-1-5082-2799-1). Gawdat proposes an equation based on an understanding of how the brain takes in and processes joy and sadness. Then he solves for happy.
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See, read by Ruthie Ann Miles (Mar., unabridged CD, $39.99, ISBN 978-1-5082-2653-6) explores the lives of a Chinese mother and her daughter, who was abandoned and adopted by an American couple.
Tantor
Adolfo Kaminsky: A Forger’s Life by Sarah Kaminsky, read by Simon Vance (Mar., unabridged CD, $34.99, ISBN 978-1-5159-1905-6) is the tale of Kaminsky’s perilous career as a real-life forger for the French Resistance and other freedom movements of the twentieth century, as told by his daughter.
Age of Anger: A History of the Present by Pankaj Mishra, read by Derek Perkins (Feb., unabridged CD, $42.99, ISBN 978-1-5159-1388-7) reveals the hidden history of our current global crisis.
The Angel: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel by Uri Bar-Joseph, read by Neil Shah (Apr., unabridged CD, $39.99, ISBN 978-1-5159-1844-8) exposes the sensational life and mysterious death of Ashraf Marwan, an Egyptian senior official who spied for Israel.
Miranda and Caliban by Jacqueline Carey, read by Gemma Dawson and Alex Wyndham (Feb., unabridged CD, $39.99, ISBN 978-1-5159-1725-0) is a fantasy retelling of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
A Stitch of Time: The Year a Brain Injury Changed My Language and Life by Lauren Marks, read by Tavia Gilbert (May, unabridged CD, $44.99, ISBN 978-1-5159-1888-2) is an incredible first-person account of one woman’s journey to regaining her language and identity after a brain aneurysm affects her ability to communicate.
Thomas Nelson & Zondervan On Brilliance Audio
42 Faith by Ed Henry (Apr., unabridged CD, $24.99, ISBN 978-1-5366-1551-7) presents the backstory of faith that guided Jackie Robinson into the baseball record books and the annals of civil rights advancement.
An Outlaw and a Lady by Jessi Colter, read by Devon O’Day (Apr., unabridged CD, $29.99, ISBN 978-1-5366-1593-7) is a memoir from the singer, songwriter, and widow of country music star Waylon Jennings.
This Life I Live by Rory Feek, read by the author (Feb., unabridged CD, $19.99, ISBN 978-1-5366-1608-8). The Grammy-nominated musician, half of the country duo Joey + Rory, shares the couple’s love story, including the birth of their child and Joey’s death from cancer in early 2016.
Vibrance
Blamestorming: Why Conversations Go Wrong and How to Fix Them by Rob Kendall (Apr., unabridged download, $19.95, ISBN 978-1-62461-429-3) outlines why daily conversations go wrong and explains how to respond when they do.
Children’S/YA
Blackstone
The Pants Project by Cat Clarke (Mar., unabridged CD, $34.95, ISBN 978-1-45551-2461-9). Liv knows he was always meant to be a boy, but the dress code at his school says he has to wear a skirt. Operation: Pants Project is Liv’s mission to change school policy and his life.
Roar (Book One, Stealing Storm series) by Cora Carmack (June, unabridged CD, $34.95, ISBN 978-1-5047-3828-6). Though Aurora comes from one of the oldest Stormling families in existence and is heir to her kingdom, she has yet to show any sign of the storm magic that can protect her people.
Royce Rolls by Margaret Stohl (Apr., unabridged CD, $34.95, ISBN 978-1-4551-3664-3). Sixteen-year-old Bentley Royce is tasked with saving season six of her family’s reality TV show in this tongue-in-cheek Hollywood tale.
Brilliance
The Breaking Light by Heather Hansen, read by Lauren Ezzo (Apr., unabridged CD, $14.99, ISBN 978-1-5366-1510-4). In a stratified society where contact with the sun is a luxury reserved for the elite, those kept prisoner in the darkness will do anything to find the light.
Bronze and Sunflower by Cao Wenxuan, read by Emily Woo Zeller (Mar., unabridged CD, $16.99, ISBN 978-1-5366-6179-8) is a tale about the trials of poverty and the power of love and loyalty to overcome hardship.
The Hundredth Queen by Emily R. King (June, unabridged CD, $14.99, ISBN 978-1-5366-3067-1). In this fantasy debut, an orphan girl blossoms into a warrior who summons the courage to upend tradition, overthrow an empire, and reclaim her life.
Who Killed Christopher Goodman? by Allan Wolf (Mar., unabridged CD, $16.99, ISBN 978-1-5366-6199-6). Inspired by true events from the past, Wolff examines the circumstances of one boy’s inexplicable murder and the fateful summer leading up to it.
Dreamscape
Beastly Brains by Nancy F. Castaldo, read by Charon Normand-Widmer (Feb., unabridged CD, $39.99, ISBN 978-1-5200-6488-8) offers a look inside the minds of animals, exploring animal empathy, communication, tool use, and social relationships via interviews with experts and historical anecdotes.
Isaac the Alchemist: Secrets of Isaac Newton, Reveal’d by Mary Losure, read by Steven Crossley (Feb., unabridged CD, $39.99, ISBN 978-1-5200-6524-3) depicts Newton’s early development as a great thinker, spending his childhood living in an apothecary’s house, experimenting with alchemy and building handmade machines.
The Mesmerist by Ronald L. Smith, read by Colleen Pendergast (Feb., unabridged CD, $39.99, ISBN 978-1-5200-6584-7). Shy 13-year-old Jess transforms into a brave warrior when she discovers she can talk to the dead and is sucked into Victorian London’s supernatural underbelly to fight demons and ghouls.
Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg, read by Pete Cross (Mar., unabridged CD, $39.99, ISBN 978-1-5200-6677-6). Rafe has been out since eighth grade, but starts his junior year at a new school hoping he can just be a regular guy instead of “the gay kid.”
Hachette Audio
Bang by Barry Lyga (Apr., unabridged download, $23.98) features a boy living with the guilt of his worst mistake: a tragic gun accident.
Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray, read by Kasey Lee and Nate Begle (Apr., unabridged download, $22.98, ISBN 978-1-4789-1538-6) is an epic and romantic YA sci-fi space adventure exploring what it means to be human.
Pottymouth and Stoopid by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein (June, unabridged CD, $18, ISBN 978-1-4789-4115-6) introduces two bullied underdogs who win the day when their troubles inspire a hit TV show.
Sci-Fi Junior High by John Martin and Scott Seegert, read by Nate Begle (Feb., unabridged CD, $18, ISBN 978-1-4789-4075-3) is a space adventure about friendship, accepting our differences, and the fight against evil bunnies.
HarperAudio
100 Hours by Rachel Vincent, read by Kyla Garcia (Mar., unabridged download, $24.99, ISBN 978-0-06-266170-8). A spring break getaway on an exotic beach becomes a terrifying survival story when six Miami teens are kidnapped and ransomed.
Fireworks by Katie Cotugno, read by Erin Spencer (Apr., unabridged download, $24.99, ISBN 978-0-06-266182-1). Olivia, a star in training, and her level-headed best friend Dana are both discovered at an audition for a singing group.
Girl Code: Gaming, Going Viral, and Getting It Done by Andrea Gonzales and Sophie Houser, read by the authors (Mar., unabridged download, $24.99, ISBN 978-0-06-266162-3) is the true story of two teenage tech phenoms whose video game Tampon Run went viral and made them famous. Includes bonus content to help listeners start coding.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, read by Bahni Turpin (Feb., unabridged download, $24.99, ISBN 978-0-06-267708-2). Sixteen-year-old Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend, Khalil, at the hands of a police officer in this novel inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement.
Listening Library
Alex and Eliza: A Love Story by Melissa de la Cruz (Apr., unabridged CD, $40, ISBN 978-0-525-49201-6). Alexander Hamilton, a young colonel in Washington’s army, delivers bad news to the prominent Schuyler family in 1777 Albany, N.Y., and falls in love with youngest daughter Eliza.
The Castle in the Mist by Amy Ephron, read by Laraine Newman (Feb., unabridged CD, $27, ISBN 978-1-5247-5020-6). In the English countryside, Tess discovers an ornate key that opens a gate to the grounds of a castle filled with wonders, a carnival where games are paid for in wishes, and a boy just her age.
Girling Up: How to Be Strong, Smart and Spectacular by Mayim Bialik, read by the author (May, unabridged CD, $30, ISBN 978-1-5247-8038-8). Bialik shares her insights and knowledge from her neuroscience background about how to grow from a girl to a woman biologically, psychologically, and socially.
The Trials of Apollo, Book Two: The Dark Prophecy by Rick Riordan (May, unabridged CD, $50, ISBN 978-1-5247-3583-8) continues the earthbound efforts of outcast Apollo—in the form of a 16-year-old mortal—to reclaim his place on Mount Olympus.
The Whole Thing Together by Ann Brashares (Apr., unabridged CD, $50, ISBN 978-1-5247-0941-9) spotlights a fractured family trying to cope with their circumstances as they spend time together at their summer house on Long Island.
Macmillan
The Cruelty by Scott Bergstrom, read by Therese Plummer (Feb., unabridged CD, $39.99, ISBN 978-1-4272-8324-5). When Gwendolyn’s father vanishes, she must travel under a new identity in a world of assassins, spies, and criminals to bring him back to life.
A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead, illus. by Erin E. Stead, read by Jim Dale (May, picture book and CD set, $12.99, ISBN 978-1-4272-8722-9). When Amos the kindly zookeeper is too sick to make it to the zoo, his animal friends come and care for him.
The Survivors Club: The True Story of a Very Young Prisoner of Auschwitz by Michael Bornstein and Debbie Bornstein Hollinstat, read by Fred Berman (Mar., unabridged CD, $29.99, ISBN 978-1-4272-8318-4). Bornstein, famously rescued from Auschwitz as a four-year-old in 1945, uses his own recollections and interviews with relatives and survivors who knew the family to tell his inspirational Holocaust survival story. Includes bonus interview with the authors, father and daughter.
Recorded Books
Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han, read by Laura Knight Keating (Apr., unabridged download, $24.99, ISBN 978-1-5019-5260-9). During her senior year, Lara Jean faces big decisions about college and her boyfriend, while she helps plan her dad’s wedding.
Jack and the Geniuses: At the Bottom of the World by Bill Nye and Gregory Mone (Apr., unabridged download, $24.99, ISBN 978-1-5019-5265-4) kicks off a new series that blends real-world science with action and mystery.
Just Fly Away by Andrew McCarthy (Mar., unabridged download, $24.99, ISBN 978-1-5019-5691-1). Fifteen-year-old Lucy is stunned to learn she has an eight-year-old illegitimate brother living in the same town.
Restart by Gordon Korman (May, unabridged download, $24.99, ISBN 978-1-5019-5694-2). A bully gets a new start after an accident causes him to lose his memory.
The Unexpected Life of Oliver Cromwell Pitts by Avi (May, unabridged download, $24.99, ISBN 978-1-5019-5253-1). A boy struggles to survive as he searches for his missing father and sister in 1724 England.
Scholastic
Goosebumps Slappyworld #1: Slappy Birthday to You! by R.L. Stine, read by Joe Fria and Lucien Dodge (Feb., unabridged download, $17.99, ISBN 978-1-338-11910-7) launches a new Goosebumps arc narrated by the most iconic and evil character of the series, Slappy.
Honestly Ben by Bill Konigsberg, read by Dan Bittner (Mar. unabridged download, $27.99, ISBN 978-1-338-11913-8) is a companion to Openly Straight. Ben confronts pressure at school, repression at home, and his passion for two very different people.
Horizon (Horizon, Book 1) by Scott Westerfeld, read by Johnathan McClain (Mar., unabridged CD, $29.99, ISBN 978-1-338-11919-0). In the first title of a new multiplatform series, eight young survivors step out from the wreckage of a plane crash in the Arctic and find themselves not in snow, but lost in a strange jungle.
The Lotterys Plus One by Emma Donoghue, read by Thérèse Plummer (Mar., unabridged CD, $34.99, ISBN 978-1-338-11966-4). Author of adult bestseller Room introduces an unruly family of four parents, children both biological and adopted, and a menagerie of pets living in their house, Camelottery.
Night Witches: A Novel of World War Two by Katherine Lasky, read by Ilyana Kadushin (Mar., unabridged CD, $34.99, ISBN 978-1-338-11949-7) sheds light on the war’s unsung heroes: daredevil girls who took to the skies to fight for their country.
Simon & Schuster
The Beast Is an Animal by Peternelle van Arsdale, read by Candace Thaxton (Feb., unabridged CD, $29.99, ISBN 978-1-5082-3106-6). In this fantasy debut, a girl with a secret talent must save her village from the encroaching darkness.
Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare (May, unabridged CD, $49.99, ISBN 978-1-4423-5713-6). In this sequel to Lady Midnight, shadowhunter Emma Carstairs confronts a love triangle and a coming threat from the Unseelie King.
Panda-monium by Stuart Gibbs (Apr., unabridged download, $17.99, ISBN 978-1-5082-3462-3). When the truck transporting Li Ping, a rare giant panda, to FunJungle arrives, its precious cargo has vanished, and Teddy Fitzroy is on the case.
Point Guard by Mike Lupica, read by Kirby Heyborne (Apr., unabridged CD, $29.99, ISBN 978-1-5082-2741-0). Gus wonders if he can stay friends with his best bud Cassie when she joins the basketball team.
