Among this year’s outstanding listens—with publication dates from November 2023 to October 2024—are two picture books, two volumes of a graphic trilogy (they count as one entry), a head-smack must-read history, and several laugh-out-loud novels. 

Davis, Dana L. Fake Famous. narrated by Dana L. Davis. Brilliance Audio. ISBN 9781491596166.
Gr 9 Up–Iowa farm girl Red can really sing, even when she falls in porcine excrement channeling pop star Zay-Zay. Red’s sister catches the comical moment and posts the video that brings Zay-Zay to the family’s combine shed with a lucrative proposal: be Zay-Zay for a week to give her a spiritual break. Will California dreamin’ be Red’s new reality? Davis herself wondrously voices the vast cast with distinct accents, mannerisms, quirks. There’s nothing fake here, just pure magic.

Fahmy, Huda. Huda F Are You? and Huda F Cares? narrated by Huda Fahmy & Full Cast. Listening Library. ISBN 9780593948705 & ISBN 9780593948729.
Gr 6-Up–Two-thirds of Fahmy’s fabulous sorta-autobiographical trilogy-in-the-making (Huda F Wants to Know? pubs April 2025) is enough to inspire happy dances while listening to these full-cast productions. In Huda F Are You?, Fahmy is “your friendly neighborhood Arab-Muslim hijab-wearing American whatever” who agonizes over being the new kid in high school. In Huda F Cares?, Fahmy has the opportunity—at Disneyland!—to fulfill Mama’s mission “to strengthen our sisterly bond,” as Mama relentlessly reminds, “friends come and go, but your sisters are forever.” Marvelous continuity through both titles ensures spectacular aural delight.
 

Gordon, Tyler. The Boy Who Found His Voice. narrated by Tyler Gordon. Macmillan Young Listeners. ISBN 9781250355416.
PreS-Gr 2–Teen activist/artist Gordon writes, illustrates, and narrates his picture book about his speech differences: “This book is dedicated to kids who get tongue-tied. Just know your words are worth the wait.” Tyler learns to “loudly, proudly” use his art and his voice to declare, “This is me.” For the most fulfilling experience, a read-along is essential: to select only print is to miss Gordon’s vulnerable narration; to choose just audio means overlooking Gordon’s imaginative art. Pick both!
 

Hiranandani, Veera. Amil and the After. narrated by Veera Hiranandani & Sid Sagar. Listening Library. ISBN 9780593820520.
Gr 4-6–Sagar is a sigh-inducing, aural gift to Hiranandani’s companion title to her 2019 Newbery Honor–winning The Night Diary. Hiranandani’s family history inspires both titles; while Diary follows Nisha’s perspective of the horrors of Partition, this novel shifts focus to Nisha’s twin, Amil, and the remaking of their lives after barely surviving the grim journey from Pakistan to India. Sagar effortlessly, extraordinarily endows every character with instantly recognizable personalities throughout.
 

Kaylor, Serena. The Calculation of You and Me. narrated by Stephanie Willing. Dreamscape Audio. ISBN 9798874752101.
Gr 9 Up–After two years, Josh dumps Marlowe, convincing her she isn’t “good at love.” Her mathematically inclined, neurodivergent mind reacts by attempting to formulate a foolproof solution to win him back. The answers Marlowe seeks mean finally figuring out what she really wants. Willing’s warm, slight southern twang is an ideal match for Marlowe; she’s equally adaptable at inhabiting Marlowe’s orbit. Author and narrator symbiotically solve for irresistible true love.
 

Moore, Tanisia. I Am My Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams. narrated by Nile Bullock, Tanisia Moore & Robert Paul, Jr. Scholastic Audio. ISBN 9781339044408.
PreS-Gr 3–Moore celebrates a young Black boy’s unbridled pride and joy: “I AM FLY. From my crown down to the kicks on my feet … I AM my ancestors’ wildest dreams.” Those ancestors include 10 heroes, from Chadwick Boseman to Charles Drew, from John Lewis to Thurgood Marshall. Already uplifting in print, the audio is an exhilarating enhancement with spirited, youthfully persuasive Bullock’s confident narration over a dynamic soundtrack by Matthew Head.
 

Park, Soyoung. Snowglobe. narrated by Shannon Tyo, Greta Jung & Jeena Yi. Listening Library. ISBN 9780593794937.
Gr 7-10–Tyo cinematically ciphers almost all of Park’s bestselling Korean import. Snowglobe is the only temperate haven in a frozen dystopia, where everyday life is manipulated for broadcast to the world’s depleted residents. Chobahm, 16, is plucked from the wasteland to become Snowglobe’s favorite darling on everyone’s beloved show—but she soon realizes what’s on screen is no reality. Jung adds a deliciously bewildering single chapter; Yi concludes with shocking backstory.
 

Reynolds, Jason. Twenty-Four Seconds from Now...: A LOVE Story. narrated by Guy Lockard. S. & S. Audio. ISBN 9781668118689.
Gr 9 Up–Reynolds’s grew-up-together best friend Lockard provides another revelatory performance, this time centering teen LOVE—but also consent, bodily autonomy, and (hello, book banners!) sex positivity. After 24 months together, Neon and Aria’s relationship is about to change significantly in those titular 24 seconds. Reynolds magically rolls back time—24 minutes, 24 hours, 24 days—to trace the duo’s meet-cute to devoted couplehood, while also accentuating their multi-dimensional individuality. Lockard charms, laughs, cringes, growls, sings, and gloriously preaches to create another captivating one-man show.
 

Romo, David Dorado. Borderlands and the Mexican American Story. narrated by Victoria Villarreal. Listening Library. ISBN 9780593865927.
Gr 3-7–“Much of Mexican American history has been ignored or erased.” Historian/writer Romo’s vital antidote is a brilliantly accessible, meticulously documented account of a “forgotten people” who live between borders. Ironically, they “didn’t cross the border—rather, the border crossed them” when Mexico lost the American Southwest in the Mexican American War’s 1848 surrender treaty. Much of Mexican and American histories are inseparable: the first “illegal immigrants” were white people into Mexico, the mendacious Texas Creation Myth was a fight for slavery, early 19th-century U.S eugenics movements targeted Mexican Americans—and galvanized Hitler. Latina Villarreal adroitly modulates an affecting performance with impressive control.
 

Van Wagenen, Maya. Chronically Dolores. narrated by Maya Van Wagenen & Victoria Villarreal. Listening Library. ISBN 9780593793886.
Gr 7 Up–Despite narrating a story with so much going wrong—reputations, communication, friendships, families—Villarreal audibly ensures much more will be absolutely right. Fourteen-year-old Dolores Mendoza has interstitial cystitis. She got labeled “piddler” after a middle-school accident. Then she lost her BFF. When she meets Terpsichore Berkenbosch-Jones, her directness causes more jolting embarrassment. The new friends (but, are they?) hatch a mutually beneficial plan targeting reunion and freedom.

Terry Hong writes SLJ ’s quarterly audio column.