Illustration by E. B. Lewis from Jacqueline Woodson’s The Other Side.
Courtesy of Weston Woods.

Another school year is on the horizon and our focus this month highlights the relationships that children and teens make—with other kids and with adults—to help them navigate the stormy waters of growing up. Teachers and librarians have always been savvy about connecting kids to stories that engage with what is going on in their lives. Current research from the Search Institute of Minneapolis, Minnesota, an organization that addresses critical issues in education and youth development to discover what kids need to succeed, zeroes in on developmental relationships “to understand how the connections that kids form with peers and adults influence their mastery of the skills and habits that are essential for success in school and in life.” (http://ow.ly/m6yNM)

The 10 titles we’ve chosen will be excellent for group listening and for generating discussions about what’s happening to the young people in the stories, from the poignant depiction of friendship in The Other Side to the real drama wrought by abuse in Eleanor and Park.

These audiobooks not only provide important group literary opportunities, they also help students understand how to develop the empathy necessary to build healthy relationships. If time for group listening is limited, have students select titles, listen to them on their own, and write about them; they will still develop that needed empathy, and they’ll also practice the critical writing skills found in so many state and national learning standards, including the following examples:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for English Language Arts and Reading, Grade 5, 110.16 The student is expected to: (F) make connections (e.g., thematic links, author analysis) between and across multiple texts of various genres and provide textual evidence). (http://ow.ly/mkgJN)

English Standards of Learning (SOL) for Virginia, Writing, Grade 8, 8.7 The student will write in a variety of forms, including narration, exposition, persuasion, and informational. (d) Organize details to elaborate the central idea and provide unity. (http://ow.ly/mkggo)

HarperAudio wants you to decide who should be the voice of Four in Allegiant, the final book in Veronica Roth’s young adult “Divergent” trilogy. The first two books—Divergent (2011) and Insurgent (2012, both Katherine Tegen Bks.), have met with critical acclaim and are currently being adapted for the big screen. Set in dystopian Chicago, society is split into five factions—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent)—that cultivate a specific virtue. All 16-year-olds must choose one of these groups and devote their entire life to it.

The hardcover edition and the audiobook version of Allegiant will be released in October 2013. The final installment in the series is being written from a split point of view—Tris and Four. Emma Galvin will again perform the part of Tris in the audio version. But it is up to readers to decide who will voice Four. The publisher has chosen four narrators (anonymous for now) and fans can vote for their favorite. Polls are open through August 2 at 12 pm. After casting a vote, teens can enter to win a Kindle Fire KD loaded with copies of the first two titles, a pair of Skullcandy Crusher headphones, 12 Audible credits, and a copy of Allegiant signed by Roth. Only one winner will be selected in a random drawing. The winning narrator will be announced at 5 pm on August 2

Save the Date

The Library of Congress’s 2013 National Book Festival will be held on September 21 and 22 on the National Mall between 9th and 14th Street in Washington, DC, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday September 21st, and from noon to 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 22nd. This two-day celebration of literacy and reading will feature a terrific lineup of educational activities and authors, illustrators, and poets, including Katherine Paterson, Paolo Bacigalupi, Susan Cooper, Cynthia Kadohata, Grace Lin, Christopher Myers, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Kadir Nelson, Patrick Ness, and scores of others. Attendees can get books signed, have photos taken with PBS storybook characters, and participate in a variety of other activities. Co-chaired by President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, the event is free and open to the public.

Support Literacy

Over the past 10 years, Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) and Macy’s Be Book Smart campaign has raised nearly $30 million and has distributed its 10 millionth book to kids in underserved communities. This year alone, from June 21 to July 21, the Be Book Smart campaign, held in Macy’s stores across the country, raised more than $3.9 million through customer supported fundraising campaigns, in-store events, and volunteer activities. “Yet again, all of us at RIF are overwhelmed by the generosity demonstrated by Macy’s and its caring customers who helped make this possible,” noted Carol H. Rasco, president and CEO of RIF. “We are extremely fortunate to have had 10 years of support and commitment from Macy’s to give millions of children the opportunity to dream big, explore new worlds, and to write their best life stories.”

Librarians can pair audio with print to build literacy skills. The launch of the Playaway Bookpack program has been announced by Findaway World. Each Bookpack features a preloaded audiobook and its print version, and is packaged in a plastic hanging bag. There are currently more than 200 titles available for preschool through young adult readers. “Playaways have been used as powerful read-along companions for years. Launching Playaway Bookpacks is our way of making it easier than ever for users to access these pairings and especially easy for libraries and classrooms to deliver this service,” said Nancy Stickney, Vice President Playaway Products Group.

Books for preschool to third grade students include titles from Peggy Parish’s Amelia Bedelia collection, Gene Zion’s Harry the Dirty Dog and Other Stories, William Steig’s Sylvester and the Magic Pebble and Other Stories, and Jean Fritz’s What’s the Big Idea, Ben Franklin? And Other Stories of Famous Americans. For grades three to six, works range from Gennifer Choldenko’s Al Capone Does My Shirts and Carl Hiaasen’s Hoot to Russell Freedman’s Lincoln: A Photobiography and Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time. Among the middle school selections are Irene Hunt’s Across Five Aprils, Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars, and Christopher Paul Curtis’s The Watsons Go to Birmingham. Libba Bray’s Beauty Queens, Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games, and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter are among the titles for young adults. Be sure to check out the complete list.

Medal for Libraries and Museums

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is now accepting nominations for the 2014 National Medal for Museum and Library Service. The National Medal honors museums and libraries that make extraordinary civic, educational, economic, environmental, and social contributions to their communities. Public or private nonprofit museums, including art, history, science and technology, children’s, and natural history museums; and all types of nonprofit libraries, including public, school, academic, research, and archival, are eligible to apply. Complete applications must be mailed to The National Medal for Museum and Library Service, Office of the Director, Institute of Museum and Library Services, 1800 M St. NW, 9th floor, Washington, DC 20036-5802 and postmarked by October 15, 2013 (no faxes or emails). Check out eligibility requirements for libraries and museums, and then complete a nomination form.

National Book Awards Virtual Exhibit

The National Book Foundation’s Up All Night online exhibition showcases the National Book Award Winners and Finalists in Young People’s Literature from 1969 to 2012. The exhibition features 228 titles, including picture books, novels, graphic novels, novels-in-verse, poetry, and nonfiction books. Forty-five readers, writers, and National Book Award authors who were inspired by the titles have contributed videos, interviews, collages, essays, poems, and other artwork. For example William Alexander, the 2012 National Book Award Winner in Young People’s Literature for Goblin Secrets (S &S, 2012), contributed essays and recordings of himself reading passages from Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Tombs of Atuan and The Farthest Stone (1973 winner).

Educator Workshop at Serious Play Conference

Interested in designing serious games? Administrators and teachers interested in integrating educational games into the K-12 curriculum are invited to attend a one-day workshop on August 19, 2013 at DigiPen Institute of Technology in Redmond, Washington during the Serious Play Conference. Teachers and administrators who have incorporated game-based learning as well as senior serious games developers will share their insights and discuss what kind of products are best for different ages, where in the curriculum they work well, and how to measure learning objectives. The one-day workshop is $200 and registration is open now.

Serious games are simulations of real-world events or processes designed for the purpose of solving a problem. The Serious Play Conference is an annual event held to examine the current challenges and future developments in the field.

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) provide several ways to incorporate what students have learned from listening to classics during the summer as starting points for individual writing and classroom discussion:

[CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2] Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.

[CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1c] Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that probe reasoning and evidence; ensure a hearing for a full range of positions on a topic or issue; clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions; and promote divergent and creative perspectives.

A natural extension for listening to these audiobooks is viewing their film adaptations, a compare and contrast study that can be found in several reading, speaking, and listening Standards. The experience offers abundant opportunities for student discussion and writing.

Literary and modern classics are included in many national and regional lists for the college bound, such as the comprehensive list from the Arrowhead Library System in Wisconsin (http://ow.ly/kwSPV). Check with your local public library for copies of classics in print, audio, or DVD formats to round out lesson plans.

All Quiet on the Western Front. Written by Erich Maria Remarque. Trans. by A. W. Wheen. Narrated by Frank Muller. 6 CDs. 7 hrs. Recorded Books. 1994. ISBN 978-0-7887-3441-0. $72.75. Gr 9 Up
This World War I narrative was originally published in 1929, while the senseless destruction of the Great War was still fresh in the minds of those who lived through its horrors. Hearing 19-year-old Paul Baumer describe his experiences as a German recruit, the depth of his deprivation in the trenches, the cruel loss of life, and the cumulative devastation on mind and body is heart wrenching. Muller’s understated performance, with its steady pacing and paradoxically soothing vocal timbre, enhances the lyrical language and elicits a palpable sense of the terror faced by Paul and his friends through the unrelenting close combat. In 1930, the movie adaptation won the Academy Award for best picture and best director and is now in the Library of Congress’s National Film Preservation Board’s Film Registry (http://ow.ly/kwRp2).

The Call of the Wild. Written by Jack London. Narrated by Jeff Daniels. 3 CDs. 3:15 hrs. Listening Library. 2010. ISBN 978-0-3077-1026-0. $30. Gr 8 Up
Originally serialized in The Saturday Evening Post, June 20–July 18, 1903, this classic remains relevant over 100 years later. The universal themes of survival, kindness, cruelty, and natural instinct are strengthened by Daniels’s performance. His voicing provides just the right conversational and friendly tone with a touch of comfortable rasp, adding fresh energy to the timeless story. Buck, a four-year-old St. Bernard–and Scotch Shepherd cross breed, who weighs 140 pounds, has his life changed forever when he is kidnapped and taken to the cold bleakness of the Arctic to work with Klondike gold miners. A film adaptation of this story starring Clark Gable was released in 1935. Comparing and contrasting the audio production and the film will offer students many chances to write about or discuss the two versions.

Dracula. Written by Bram Stoker. Narrated by Alan Cumming, Tim Curry, and a full cast. Digital Download. 15:30 hrs. Audio Theater/Audible. 2012. $29.95. Gr 9 Up
The strength of this audiobook production of the 1897 classic is the performances by a full cast that includes the incomparable Alan Cumming, Tim Curry, Simon Vance, and Katherine Kellgren, all seasoned and award-winning narrators. Voicing the various characters with individual accents and unique vocal stylings makes for a memorable listening experience. Tension builds immediately as listeners become privy to the journal of young solicitor Jonathan Harker, who travels from England to Dracula’s castle and, with a sense of grave foreboding, realizes that he is a prisoner of the undead Count. This chilling narrative opens Stoker’s tale of Victorian moral fears that sparked the vampire genre and furnishes an excellent example of how listening to a terrifying story, performed beautifully, raises text, plot, and characterization to a new level. Viewing the 1935 movie adaptation of Dracula (starring Bela Lugosi, also on the Library of Congress’s National Film Preservation Board Film Registry) will encourage discussion not only of classic literature, but also of classic filmmaking.

Fahrenheit 451. Written by Ray Bradbury. Narrated by Stephen Hoye. 5 CDs. 5:30 hrs. Tantor Media. 2010. ISBN 978-1-4001-4818-9. $24.99. Gr 9 Up
In this foremost example of dystopian fiction, Bradbury twists the heroic role of firefighters. In a futuristic society, firemen don’t put out fires, they start them. Specifically, they burn books and the subversive ideas contained within their pages. The trouble begins when one fireman, Guy Montag, begins to question the system and seeks to escape the control of the city. Hoye is a superb guide through this terrifying world, moving both action and reflection along with exactly the right pacing. First published in 1953, the story remains disturbingly contemporary and the ending, with its determination to keep books alive by memorizing them and speaking them aloud, is well suited to the audio medium. The 1996 film, directed by François Truffaut and starring Julie Christie and Oskar Werner, veers from the original story, making it particularly useful as a student exploration of the differences between Hoye’s interpretation of Bradbury’s words and Truffaut’s greater liberties with the text.

Hamlet. Written by William Shakespeare. Narrated by Simon Russell Beale, Imogen Stubbs, Jane Lapotaire, and a full cast. 3 CDs, 3:25 hrs. AudioGo. 2006. ISBN 978-0-7927-2985-3. $33.95. Gr 9 Up
Perhaps the best known of Shakespeare’s tragedies, this story of destiny and revenge pits a young prince against the murderous uncle who has stolen the throne and queen. Students often struggle when reading Shakespeare, and listening can serve as a bridge, facilitating understanding. This excellent full-cast production includes musical interludes and an insert with scene-by-scene summaries, making it not only a strong listening experience, but also the perfect adjunct to literary appreciation. Fans of the long-running British science-fiction series Doctor Who, and David Tennant’s portrayal of the Doctor, will be mesmerized by the 2010 BBC television production featuring Tennant as Hamlet, with Patrick Stewart as the nefarious uncle, Claudius.

The Hound of the Baskervilles (and The Adventures of the Dancing Men). Written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Narrated by Simon Prebble. 6 CDs. 6:30 hrs. Tantor Media. 2009. ISBN 978-1-4001-1515-0. $17.99. Gr 9 Up
Sherlock Holmes takes on the intriguing case of the heir to the Baskerville estate who seems destined to be the next victim of the mysterious, and deadly, hound thought to have killed several of his ancestors. Dodgy servants, an escaped prisoner, and a supposed brother-and-sister duo test the famous detective’s mettle. Prebble is more than up to the task of directing listeners through myriad characters, clues, and deceptions. Subtle voicing differentiates the large cast and expert pacing heightens the tension. Be sure to have students watch the first-rate British (Granada Television) production starring Jeremy Brett as Conan Doyle’s brilliant, but decidedly peculiar detective.

Things Fall Apart. Written by Chinua Achebe. Narrated by Peter Francis James. 6 CDs. 6:30 hrs. Recorded Books. 1997. ISBN 978-1-4025-4462-0. $72.75. Gr 9 Up
Published in 1958, Achebe’s seminal work heralds the revolution that preceded Nigerian independence in 1960. Designed to teach students about the rich Igbo heritage, it tells the heartbreaking tale of Okonkwo’s single-minded rise to success among his people and the surrounding villages, followed by a heinous act, banishment, and descent into total failure. James narrates this story of the European colonization of Africa, the encroachment of Christianity, and the disintegration of traditional cultures with appropriate gravitas and measured pacing, bringing out all of the nuances of the text. Students can listen to Achebe read a part of the story (http://ow.ly/kwRJe) and then watch a portion of a production that includes the same text (http://ow.ly/kwS2a) for comparison. Round out the unit with PBS journalist Jeffrey Brown’s interview with Achebe on the 50th anniversary of the publication of Things Fall Apart (http://ow.ly/kwSpg).

To Kill a Mockingbird. Written by Harper Lee. Narrated by Sissy Spacek. 11 CDs. 12 hrs. Harper Audio. 2006. ISBN 978-0-06-1808-12-8. $34.99. Gr 8 Up
Spacek, with her lilting Southern accent, perfectly captures the voice of Scout, the young girl whose life is thrown into turmoil when her father, the upright and highly ethical lawyer Atticus Finch, takes on the defense of a black man accused of raping a white woman. Their sleepy Alabama town may never be the same and Spacek’s exceptional pacing propels this Pulitzer Prize-winner—a staple of many high school reading lists—to its inexorable conclusion. The 1962 film, starring Gregory Peck (who won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Atticus Finch), was named to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 1995.

Sharon Grover is Head of Youth Services at the Hedberg Public Library, Janesville, WI. Lizette (Liz) Hannegan was a school librarian and the district library supervisor for the Arlington (VA) Public Schools before her retirement. They are co-authors of Listening to Learn: Audiobooks Supporting Literacy (ALA Editions, 2011).

This year, Kellgren will appear twice in the SYNC program. Her recording of Maryrose Wood’s The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book 1: The Mysterious Howling (HarperAudio) will be available starting tomorrow through June 12. Later in the summer, her recording of Enchanted (Brilliance Audio) by Alethea Kontis—which was nominated for an Audie Award—will be available from August 8 to August 14.

Ahead of the first download’s release and a busy calendar of events promoting audiobooks, SLJ caught with Kellgren for a candid chat about her start in the field, the joys—and challenges—of narrating YA literature, the importance of audio in boosting kids’ literacy, and her upcoming projects. Kellgren even stopped by our New York City offices to record a few video segments for us.

How did you get started in the field of narrating audiobooks?
The first audiobook…I actually made myself for my father. I was living in England and my dad was in New York, and he had Parkinson’s disease, and it affected his ability to read. He used to be a great reader, and it was very frustrating for him. He had a detective author that he absolutely loved, Freeman Wills Crofts, who wrote a lot in the 1920s and 1930s. So I found an out-of-print book and recorded it for [him]. [It] was called The Box Office Murders. It was really silly! The first line was something like, [in heavy accent] “Little did Inspector French know when he picked up the telephone he was embarking upon one of the most sinister and dastardly episodes in his career.” It was hilarious.

At that point I was in drama school, London Academy of Music, and we’d done some audio acting training there as well as stage acting training, but doing this book suddenly reminded me how much I loved to listen to audiobooks when I was a child, a teenager and preteen. I was a voracious listener of audiobooks, and in fact audiobooks introduced me to the work of a lot of my favorite authors.

After [my father] got more and more ill, I moved back to New York and I spent a lot of time reading to him in person, and he chose actually quite a lot of young adult books that he’d loved when he was a child and a teen. And he was a very dignified man, a banker and a very serious individual, but he also always loved children’s literature. So I read him Treasure Island and a book by John Masefield called Martin Hyde: The Duke’s Messenger, which was a kind of boy’s adventure story. And as I was sitting there reading for him, I thought, ‘you know, I’d really like to try to find a job reading an audiobook.’

Can you remember some of your earliest favorite recordings?
When I was about 13 or so, I got a double cassette tape called Ages of Man; it was John Gielgud reading speeches from Shakespeare. And I loved this. I memorized all of the speeches. By listening to him reading, Shakespeare—to me, an early teenager—suddenly seemed a lot less intimidating, and a lot more approachable. Because when you have somebody who is not only such a wonderful actor as he was, but who understood the language so well and spoke it so intelligently, it gives you a huge head start yourself in understanding the language. So I started reading Shakespeare’s plays because I felt more comfortable doing so, by listening to these cassettes…. and it sort of spiraled from there.

And that happened with a lot of authors. I would first be introduced to their work on audio and then I would start reading it in print. I remember I also had—and I still listen to these things, by the way, all the time—Ralph Richardson Reads ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.’ And then I went out and read the actual long-form poem and started getting into Coleridge, and in this way, my love of reading was really stimulated and encouraged by audio. Which is why I think SYNC is so wonderful, because it gives a chance for young listeners to be exposed to the work not only of classic authors but wonderful contemporary authors, and hopefully encourages them both to listen more and to read more.

Can you tell us more about audiobooks and the SYNC program?
I think there’s an increasing awareness in how important [it is], children listening to audiobooks and the impact that has on their literacy. And speaking as someone who lived this, someone who was a child and really was encouraged to read by listening to audiobooks, I am so totally behind this idea. So programs like SYNC are a wonderful way to introduce both educators and children to audiobooks as tool to help promote reading and literacy skills in younger kids. Recently, I went on The Diane Rehm Show on NPR, and I wrote up all these children’s literacy talking points so I could use specifics, and I found this really amazing thing in Audiobooks for Youth: A Practical Guide to Sound Literature by Mary Burkey—who I know and just love, she’s a wonderful librarian—a quote that said, ‘the single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children.’ And that’s not only a parent reading to a child, an audiobook can also do that.

So I think the structure of SYNC is really amazing; that they have every week a classic book and a then a contemporary book, both on a similar theme. So teens who have both kinds of interests will be attracted by one or the other of those genres, hopefully. And then, hopefully, encouraged by one audiobook they’ll go for another, reaching out for an audiobook that they haven’t necessarily encountered before and maybe discover something new that they love.

What are some of your favorite titles that you’ve recorded over the years?
It’s hard to say! Recently, both of the series that are on SYNC were a huge, huge amount of fun to record. The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place is just a hilariously written series. I just loved doing it. It has such a scope to be a complete ham, as I am. It has all sorts of wacky voices and animal sounds and just generalized madness. I guess it’s not in the first book, but the second book features thespian pirates and a chase through the streets of London with a parrot squawking. And I have to thank the brilliant author for this because she writes such delicious material. And Enchanted is just a beautifully written fairy tale mash-up book. It’s very magical but it’s also very funny, so it’s a lovely combination of humor and a magical element to it. [And] there are tons of others.

Another of my most favorite series is “Bloody Jack” [by Claire de Loon, Listen & Live Audio] and it’s about a little girl who dresses as a boy and joins the Royal Navy and fights pirates. It all takes place in the end of the 18^th century, and it’s just one swashbuckling adventure after another. We just finished recording Book 10, and she gets into such scrapes, you wouldn’t believe. That one is very fun, too.

What titles are on your wish list?
I’d love to do Moll Flanders! I’d love to do Vanity Fair. A lot of the books that are my favorite books, I would be completely inappropriate [as narrator]. One of my most favorite books is The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy—and that would be very hard to put on audio in the first place because there are a lot of visual elements to the book—but that’s narrated from the point of view of a man. And I also love  P.G. Wodehouse a lot, but again, most of the books are narrated from the point of view of a man. Damon Runyon I love as well, but it’s all gangsters, and male ones at that.

How do you prepare for recording a book?
The first thing I do is read the book through really carefully at home, and I’ll make a note of any words I have to look up for pronunciations, any accents that might come up in the book that I’ll need to study up on. I make notes of dialect, and also if there are any songs in the book. I can’t sing them if they’re not in the public domain, but I do a lot of books like the “Bloody Jack” series where each book will have 10 or 15 traditional sea shanties and ballads. And I will go through and find all the original music for them and sing them, or sing whatever parts of them the author has put into the book.

So you utilize your musical training?
Yes, exactly. And I think, where appropriate, it enhances the experience, to have original tunes of songs. It lends a bit of atmosphere to a book. Because I think that when an author is writing the book, they’re probably thinking of that tune, and what it evokes to a reader. So I try to give the full service if I possibly can and sing the song.

What about animal sounds or sound effects?
[laughs]. Oh, totally. Well, there are a number of websites that you can find animal sounds on. I recently discovered the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which has an amazing website for bird calls. And it is spectacular. You can search and find bird calls of zillions of different species.

So you’ll include bird calls in a book?
Where appropriate. In the most recent ‘Incorrigible Children’ book, the author had a very aggravated ostrich giving a warning cry, and she had written ‘foo, foo, foo.’ [laughs] How do I make that convincingly aggressive and menacing to the listener?

And sometimes…well, I remember one book that was all about a search for a missing artifact, and our heroes discover that inside this artifact is a rolled up scroll which contains a lost Eroica Variation of Beethoven. And the author wrote out an entire paragraph that was just, ‘dee dee dee dum, deedle deedle dee dum dum!’ So I just sat down at the piano and played. [I thought], ‘oh my god, what am I going to do?’ And I had to spend days listening to the Eroica Variations and then trying to write something that sounded very similar to that and would fit all the ‘deedle deedle dums’ that the author had written. And then kind of sing it at the end of the book. [laughs] I don’t think when authors write things out they are always thinking about the audiobook. Sometimes it’s enormous fun, but there are a lot of very challenging things in books that can take a lot of work to put into audio form.

What was that book?
A Rather Curious Engagement. I’m definitely not claiming that my version of the Eroica Variations is exactly that brilliant but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. [laughs]

You are a passionate advocate for audiobooks and literacy. Can you tell us more?
I am always delighted to be asked to appear and to talk about children’s literacy and audiobooks, and talking to librarians and educators and kids wherever I can. There are some librarians who are my heroes, who are real stars of advocacy for children’s audio, like Mary Burkey and Sharon Grover, and Lissette Hannigan, who have written books for ALA, and the people who serve on Odyssey committees. Those are the people who are the real stars.

Coming at it as a narrator, because it was so important to me as a child, I feel that if there is any way that I can share that with another child growing up now and they could get the pleasure I got from listening to audio, I feel that that’s a very worthy thing to be involved in.

There’s something about being told a story; there’s a kind of intimate experience there that you can get from no other medium, really. And just as I loved it when I was little and my dad would read to me, or when I was a little older and I was listening to all those cassette tapes, the magic of being told a story is something that can really broaden your horizons and bring you a lot of joy. So I try to get out and talk to anyone I can about that experience.

What do you like to listen to for fun?
I always, since I was a kid, listen to audiobooks. I just listened to a really beautiful one called Oddly Normal, a memoir of this New York Times reporter and his son, his son coming out as gay, and the family dynamics. And it was really a beautiful book. He read that himself and he did a beautiful job.

And every single year since it came out, I listen to this recording of Alfred Molina reading Treasure Island, for some reason! [laughs] I can’t get enough of it.

Recently I was listening to something that I love to listen to over and over, The Roald Dahl Audio Collection. It’s him reading from his own work, and I’m particularly fond of his recording of Fantastic Mr. Fox. It really is kind of a spiritual experience. If you haven’t heard it, it is too much fun for words. And my husband is actually a theater critic and we were going to see Matilda, and so I played him this, and he loved it. It’s a great recording. And I listen to early jazz and classical music and stuff like that, but there’s a lot of audiobooks in there.

What’s next for you?
At the moment, I’m working on a nine-book series, the “Elizabeth the First Mysteries.” Those are very fun books to read and I’m really enjoying recording them. [They] require a lot of research, but a lot of fun research: Elizabethan medical lore, and there was a whole book that involved Renaissance lute music, and I had to look up all sorts of old songs and then write tunes based on John Dowland.

This summer, I will be going to ALA in Chicago to be a part of the Odysseys—one of the books I read got the Odyssey Honor [Monstrous Beauty (Macmillan Audio] by Elizabeth Fama]—and then I’m also going to be in an audio festival in Kansas City, MO, called the Hear Now Festival. It’s going to feature not only audiobook narration but audio drama, and all sorts of different audio art. And I’m looking forward to have the chance to read from audiobooks and talking to people about what goes into making them.

What advice do you have for librarians seeking to boost interest in audiobooks?
I guess some people think that listening is ‘cheating’ and that if you listen to a book you are unlikely to read a book—but my experience is exactly the opposite. That listening to books makes you want to read books, and opens up worlds to you, and it’s a great tool to bring students into a knowledge of literature and a love of reading. It introduces you to literature in a way that’s like nothing else.

SYNC

MP3 titles can be downloaded for free (through the OverDrive Media Console, compatible for both Mac and Windows), for a period of seven days, although once downloaded, titles can be listened to at any time.

The first two weeks of the schedule are as follows:

May 30 to June 5, 2013
Of Poseidon by Anna Banks, read by Rebecca Gibel (AudioGO)
The Tempest by William Shakespeare, read by full cast (AudioGO)

June 6 to June 12, 2013
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book 1: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood, read by Katherine Kellgren (HarperAudio)

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, read by Wanda McCaddon (Tantor Audio)

“Programs like SYNC are a wonderful way to introduce both educators and children to audiobooks as a tool to help promote reading and literacy skills,” narrator Katherine Kellgren tells School Library Journal. “I think the structure of SYNC is really amazing as well.”

Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity for free content! And stay tuned to SLJ.com for our candid Q&A with Katherine Kellgren appearing later this month.

The following examples range from picture book read-alongs for younger children to novels and nonfiction titles for middle and high school, and connect to a variety of Common Core Anchor Standards for Reading. There are, of course, other standards which would work equally as well in building curriculum units. The final Anchor Standard, “CCSS.ELA–Literacy.CCRA.R.10 Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently,” seems to address specifically what we hope to showcase this month: that stories and informational audiobooks paired together are, indeed, a winning combination for increasing both knowledge and literacy skills.

A Waddle of Penguins

One Cool Friend. Written by Toni Buzzeo. Illustrated by David Small. Narrated by Chris Sorenson. CD. 15 min. with hardcover book. Recorded Books. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4640-3571-5. $37.75. K-Gr 2

On an unwanted trip to the aquarium, Elliot delightedly discovers penguins and decides to take one home. Hilarity ensues as Elliot blithely changes household routines to care for his new friend, Magellan. Sorenson’s tone is inviting and his pacing allows time to absorb Small’s clever, understated 2013 Caldecott Honor illustrations which provide the perfect foil for Buzzeo’s straightforward text. Fanciful and amusing, this charming read-along gives listeners a fresh perspective on penguins.

Penguins. Written and illustrated by Gail Gibbons. Narrated by George Mazzoli. CD. 16:59 min. with paperback book. Live Oak Media. 2011. ISBN 978-1-4301-0951-8. $18.95. PreS-Gr 2

Mazzoli’s measured narration, with an underbed of penguin calls and sounds from the habitat, introduces these remarkable, flightless, feathered inhabitants of the Southern Hemisphere. The simple, direct text is enlivened by Gibbons’s trademark brightly-colored illustrations and includes facts about penguin physiology, nesting patterns, and a geographic locator map.

Common Core Anchor Standard: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.2 Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

Instructional Extension: Students can explore the real world of Magellanic Penguins to determine if Elliot could really have kept his friend at home by visiting the Bronx Zoo’s wonderful website. Teachers will find lots of useful information, activities, and photos suitable for classroom use on Kidzone’s penguin pages.

World of Dance

Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring. Written by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan. Illustrated by Brian Floca. Narrated by Sarah Jessica Parker. CD. 1 hr. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4558-7731-7. $29.97. Gr 2-5

The true story of the inspired collaboration among choreographer/dancer Martha Graham, composer Aaron Copeland, and set designer Isamu Noguchi that led to the creation of the ballet, Appalachian Spring. With Parker’s mellow inflections and measured pacing and the effective underbed of music from Appalachian Spring, this fascinating description of an inspired creative process is an effective introduction to dance, music, and design. This fine audiobook also includes a complete performance of the ballet music and fully narrated back matter. Students may want to keep a print copy nearby to look at Floca’s lovely illustrations.

Ballet Shoes. Written by Noel Streatfield. Narrated by Elizabeth Sastre. 6 CDs. 6 hrs. Listening Library. 2004. ISBN 978-1-4000-9497-4. $35. Gr 3-5

Great Uncle Matthew, off on world travels, discovers three little orphans and sends them home to his niece Sylvia in post-World War I London. When GUM, as he is affectionately known, fails to return, the three adopted sisters grow up in genteel poverty, attending a ballet academy, dancing on the stage, and making their own way in the world. This old-fashioned story is narrated to perfection by Sastre, who manages a variety of British accents and genders with ease. Her tone and pacing invite listeners into a fascinating world long past.

Common Core Anchor Standard: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.3 Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

Instructional Extensions: Students can watch a production of Appalachian Spring on YouTube, danced by Martha Graham and the original company, with Noguchi’s sets to compare Floca’s interpretation in the print edition of Ballet for Martha. They might also watch the 2007 British television film version of Ballet Shoes (Koch Vision) and discuss how that medium is different from the audiobook.

Civil Rights Movement

The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963. Written by Christopher Paul Curtis. Narrated by LeVar Burton. 4 CDs. 4:45 hrs. Listening Library. 2003. ISBN 978-0-8072-1777-1. $38. Gr 5-8

In 1963, Kenny Watson’s family takes a summer trip from Flint, Michigan, to Birmingham, Alabama, unaware that they are traveling to one of history’s darkest days. LeVar Burton’s narration combines humor and distress, creating an exceptional listening experience as events unfold in that violent summer when four young girls died in their church as a result of a bombing. Curtis blends comedy with drama as the Watsons confront the segregated South alongside the hopefulness of the Civil Rights Movement in this 1996 Newbery and Coretta Scott King Honor title.

We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March. Written by Cynthia Levinson. Read by Ervin Ross. 6 CDs. 6:22 hrs. Listening Library. 2012. ISBN 978-0-385-36151-4. $40.. Gr 4-8

Unadorned narration, extensive bonus material, the singing of the gospel song composed for the Birmingham March, an author’s note, and interviews with the now-adult marchers make this a strong nonfiction offering for classroom use. Listeners will be engaged by the individual stories of Audrey, Booker, Arnetta, and James as their experiences during the Civil Rights Movement are recounted and then reinforced by hearing their own grown-up voices in author interviews. This serves as a good example of an audiobook that surpasses a print reading; hearing the actual voices of the witnesses to history adds a valuable dimension.

Common Core State Standard: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

Instructional Extension: An excellent video excerpt of Mighty Times: The Children’s March can be watched on YouTube, making a fine accompaniment to these audiobooks. The full documentary is available online or on DVD, with a teacher’s guide provided by Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Peachtree Publishers has also recently launched a website based on the print edition of We’ve Got a Job that includes information featured in the book for students to explore at their own pace.

The Holocaust

Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust. Written by Doreen Rappaport. Narrated by Emily Beresford and Jeff Crawford. 5 CDs. 5 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4692-0625-7. $64.97. Gr 5 Up

Beginning with the heartfelt introduction read by Rappaport (“Even as a Jew, growing up in a Jewish household, I had only ever heard that ‘Jews went like lambs to the slaughter’ during the war.”) and moving to incredibly brave attempts—often by teenagers—to combat the Nazi machine, the events in this well-researched book will surprise listeners. Beresford and Crawford alternate the telling of uprisings large and small from Warsaw to Sobibor, and from Greece to Theresienstadt, highlighting a seemingly endless string of courageous acts against an incomprehensible enemy. The narration is without frills, employing measured pacing and consistent intonation that allows the strength of the text to tell the harrowing, yet often hopeful, story. Viewing the bonus CD, which includes photographs and other information from the print edition, expands the listening experience.

Once. Written and narrated by Morris Gleitzman. 3 CDs. 3 hrs. Prod. by Bolinda Audio. Dist. by Brilliance Audio. 2005. ISBN 978-1-7409-4902-6. $24.95. Gr 5-8.
Then.Written and narrated by Morris Gleitzman. 3 CDs. 3:35 hrs. Prod. by Bolinda Audio. Dist. by BrillianceAudio. 2008. ISBN 978-1-7420-1545-3. $24.95. Gr 5-8

Gleitzman narrates his own work in these two stories of the Holocaust. In Once, ten-year-old Felix is living in a Catholic orphanage, hidden there by his parents who hoped to keep him safe from the Nazis. In a naive attempt to reunite with his parents, Felix runs away from the orphanage to go back home. On his way, he meets six-year-old Zelda and, together, they flee from the relentless evil of Nazi cruelty. Their story continues in Then as they escape from a death train and find shelter on a Polish farm. Gleitzman’s unvoiced reading alternates between childlike innocence and the sure knowledge that life should not hold so many horrors. Listeners will believe Gleitzman as he takes on the persona of Felix, the storyteller.

Common Core Anchor Standard: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.9. Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.

Instructional Extension: The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website has pages particularly geared to students, where they can do further research on a wide variety of topics and view many photographs from the period.

Sharon Grover is Head of Youth Services at the Hedberg Public Library, Janesville, WI. Lizette (Liz) Hannegan was a school librarian and the district library supervisor for the Arlington (VA) Public Schools before her retirement. They are co-authors of Listening to Learn: Audiobooks Supporting Literacy (ALA Editions, 2011).

]]> http://www.slj.com/2013/04/books-media/collection-development/listen-in/fact-and-fiction-listen-in-april-2013/feed/ 1 http://www.slj.com/2013/03/books-media/reviews/multimedia-reviews/multimedia-reviews-march-2013/ http://www.slj.com/2013/03/books-media/reviews/multimedia-reviews/multimedia-reviews-march-2013/#comments Fri, 01 Mar 2013 22:43:22 +0000 SLJ http://www.slj.com/?p=33614

Hootenanny (CDBaby.com)

Sky Color. DVD. 6 min. with tchr’s. guide. Weston Woods. 2012. ISBN 978-0-545-52331-8. $59.95; CD, ISBN 978-0-545-52330-1: $12.95; CD with hardcover book, ISBN 978-0-545-52329-5: $29.95.
PreS-Gr 2–What color is the sky? Marisol is faced with this question as her class paints a mural in the library. She chooses to paint the sky, but blue is not one of the colors available to her. She notices, however, that the actual sky is not always blue. It might be the glowing colors of a sunset, or the deep velvet black of night with scattered diamond stars, or the grey of a rainy day. This gives her the scope to create a truly memorable sky. Peter H. Reynolds’s book (2012) is part of what he calls his “creatrilogy”—which includes The Dot (2003), and Ish (2004, all Candlewick, Weston Woods). As with the other two titles, Sky Color celebrates art and the power of creative thinking. Reynolds’s flowing watercolor illustrations against a stark white background have been beautifully animated. Sisi Aisha Johnson reads with a crisp, young voice as original, sprightly music by Ernest Troost plays in the background and sound effects draw listeners in. A read-along subtitle option is available. In a short interview, the author/artist explains his views about stories and art and encourages students to think creatively. Everyone can be an artist. This is optimistic and inspiring—a wonderful prelude to any class art project. It encourages young artists to think outside the paint box.–Teresa Bateman, Brigadoon Elementary, Federal Way, WA

Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site. DVD. 8 min. Weston Woods. 2012. ISBN 978-0-545-50221-4. $59.95; CD with hardcover book, ISBN 978-0-545-50223-8: $29.95; CD, ISBN 978-0-545-50222-1: $12.95.
PreS-K–Dramatically narrated by Dion Graham, Sherri Duskey Rinker’s story (Chronicle Books, 2011) of a crane, a cement mixer, a dump truck, a bulldozer, and an excavator at work on a city construction site winding down for the night is soothingly charming. Graham gives each machine a distinctive voice, and makes the most of every crunch, roar, and snore in the author’s rhyming text. The accompanying music by Jon Carroll begins jauntily as each machine performs one last task and then slows to appropriate bedtime pace as it gets ready for sleep. The video is true to Tom Lichtenheld’s wonderful illustrations with expressive, anthropomorphic faces for the trucks, a glorious sunset in tones of red, and a smiling moon overseeing the bedtime preparations. The warmth of the colors, the fading light, the moonlight, and the star captured by Crane Truck for a night light make for a cozy antithesis to a normal construction site. The most special moments from the book that are brought to life with animation are when the Crane Truck snuggles his teddy bear close and when a sleepy neighbor yells out the window, “Pipe down!” to the powerfully snoring Dump Truck. Subtitles are optional. Both the video and audio productions are superior versions of an exceptional picture book.–Constance Dickerson, Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library, OH

Merry Christmas, Splat. DVD. 6 min. Weston Woods. 2012. ISBN 978-0-545-52331-8. $59.95; CD, ISBN 978-0-545-52330-1: $12.95; CD with hardcover book, ISBN 978-0-545-52329-5: $29.95.
PreS-Gr 2–Splat is a rambunctious cat with only the best of intentions at Christmas. Determined to earn a really big present from Santa, Splat spends Christmas Eve being ever so helpful to his mother by doing unhelpful chores. The exhausted feline heads to bed and lays awake waiting for Santa Claus. On Christmas morning, Splat wakes up to a quiet house with no presents. Just when he decides that he hasn’t behaved well enough to receive gifts, his family jumps out from behind the couch with a pile of presents, including a really big one just for Splat. Author/illustrator Rob Scotton’s artwork is mostly in grey tones, and the cat family (along with the background) is all black, white, and grey. However, the illustrations are far from boring, with bold pops of reds, greens, purples, and blues. The facial expressions of Splat and his family are clear and often hilarious, while their fur is fuzzy and seems tangible. The animation brings the story (HarperCollins, 2009) to life with whimsical motion. John Keating narrates, giving each character a distinctive voice. The DVD features optional subtitles, and the CD has optional page-turn signals. Children will identify with Splat’s quest for presents and will enjoy the humorous illustrations.–Jenny Ventling, Dayton Metro Library, OH

The Man Who Saved the World (Secrets of the Dead Series). DVD. 60 min. Prod. by Bedlam Prods. Dist. by PBS Dist. 2012.  ISBN 978-1-60883-788-5. $24.99.
Gr 10 Up–Re-enactments and testimony from eyewitnesses and experts explain that the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crises was far more dangerous than ever imagined. When two superpowers challenged one another, the world came close to nuclear destruction. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Adlai Stevenson, confronted the Soviets with the discovery by U.S. intelligence of ballistic missiles in Cuba. At the same time, the Soviets were concerned about U.S. missiles in Turkey. Four Soviet submarines were dispatched with “special weapons” possessing the power of the nuclear bomb that had destroyed Hiroshima. Eighty-five percent of the U.S. Atlantic fleet, including 40 U.S. destroyers, four aircraft carriers, and over 350 aircraft were determined to prevent the Soviets from establishing a base for offensive warfare in Cuba. Tensions had escalated to the breaking point when Soviet submarine B-59 prepared to fire its “secret weapon.” However, the launch required more than the two halves of the key possessed by the submarine captain and its political officer. The commander of the fleet, Vasili Arkhipov, had the third piece required to fire the nuclear torpedo and refused to do so because he had already witnessed the horrible death caused by nuclear exposure. Had the torpedo been launched, the U.S. would have sent their readied aircraft to the Soviet Union to drop nuclear bombs, and our world would never have been the same. This documentary demonstrates how one man changed the course of history. Students and teachers of U.S. history and currents affairs will be thoroughly engaged by this film that will stimulate discussion about current concerns of nuclear arsenals throughout the world.–Ann Weber, Bellarmine College Prep., San Jose, CA

Wapos Bay, Season 3 (Series). 6 DVDs. 24 min. ea. with tchr’s. guides online. Prod. by Wapos Bay Prods. and National Film Board of Canada. Dist. by National Film Board of Canada. 2012. ISBN unavail. $335 ser. Includes: A Mother’s Earth; Going for the Gold; Raven Power; Lights, Camera, Action; Dance, Dance; Raiders of the Lost Art.
Gr 2-6—Produced in lovely stop-motion animation, this series, set in a remote Cree community in northern Saskatchewan, gets viewers to join in the lives of three children—Raven, Talon, and T-Bear—and the other members of their community. It provides a realistic view of modern Cree life, with touches of humor and a strong cultural undertone. The episodes cover many relevant issues. Raven tries to discover who she really is for a school assignment. Talon participates in the Indigenous Games by playing golf, but risks losing his friend, T-Bear. The women of the community leave the men to fend for themselves when they are under-appreciated. The community’s children are given an opportunity to celebrate their heritage through film for Treaty Days, but two competing projects emerge. Can cooperation be the key to success? T-Bear would rather dance than wrestle, but hates to disappoint his father. In the last episode, rock paintings are discovered and graffiti artists hit the community—are the two events related? These segments focus on important themes—identity, perseverance, jealousy, cooperation, heritage, and being true to yourself. Along the way there’s humor that will set both children and adults chuckling and messages everyone will appreciate. The programs can be viewed in English, French, or Cree. This is a good addition to multicultural collections, but the programs are also a lot of fun and can be appreciated on many other levels.–Teresa Bateman, Brigadoon Elementary, Federal Way, WA

Come August, Come Freedom: The Bellows, the Gallows, and the Black General Gabriel. By Gigi Amateau. 5 CDs. 5:04 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4692-0528-8. $54.97.
Gr 7 Up–JD Jackson brings to life Amateau’s historical novel (Candlewick, 2012) set in Colonial Virginia prior to the Civil War with passion and a deep, emotional, and fully voiced performance that perfectly matches each turn of events. With almost poetic pacing, Jackson becomes Gabriel, a slave who has been educated alongside the slave master’s son, but harshly and bitterly faces the wretched reality when he is removed from his mother’s care and sent to Richmond. As he learns his trade as a blacksmith, he becomes inspired and, always believing he was meant to live free, works toward earning enough money to buy his freedom. As Gabriel ultimately becomes the leader in a planned slave rebellion, listeners are drawn into each heartbreaking and painful scene. Peppered with news articles, legal proclamations, and historical news accounts, Jackson effectively alters his voice so it’s clear that the focus has shifted. There are scenes that are alternately quiet, loving, hateful, and intense, and Jackson portrays each with ease. Listeners’ perceptions will be changed and they will be haunted at the book’s conclusion, and left pondering one of the darkest and most disturbing times in history. This fictionalized biography of a rebel leader would be a fantastic supplement to classroom studies of the time period.–Stephanie A. Squicciarini, Fairport Public Library, NY

The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There. By Catherynne M. Valente. 7 CDs. 8:21 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4418-7767-3. $79.97.
Gr 5-8–Valente returns listeners to Fairyland in this sequel (2012) to The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (2011, both Feiwel and Friends). An awkward and lonely girl, September consoles herself with the delicious secret that she has been to Fairyland and saved it from an evil queen. On an ordinary day, after a long, impatient wait, September trips over a wall and falls into Fairyland where she discovers that things are not as she left them. The shadows of the inhabitants are being sucked into Fairyland-Below. September begins a quest, along with her dear companions A Through L, a Wyvern (a sweet, loyal, and dragonish beast), and Saturday, a Marid (a bluish boy). Divinely verbose, Valente’s brilliantly crafted words evoke exquisitely lush and detailed images in the listener’s imagination. She seamlessly and brilliantly blends elements of fantasy, mythology, and historical fiction to create a magical world so cunningly described that it’s utterly believable. Startling truths reminiscent of J. M. Barrie, L. Frank Baum, and others ground the story and give it depth. Singer/songwriter S.J. Tucker’s satiny voice blankets and captivates listeners. She is a storyteller in the classic sense, and voices lively, distinct characters, some with hints of exotic accents. It is not imperative that listeners are familiar with the first book, but it will lend clarity to some details of the story.–Lisa Hubler, Charles F Brush High School, Lyndhurst, OH

Torn. By Stephanie Guerra. 6 CDs. 7:12 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4692-1522-8. $49.97.
Gr 9 Up–Guerra’s gritty novel (Amazon Children’s Pub., 2012) is a spectacularly realistic portrait of a teen torn between her former friends and the new girl in school, running the family household and having fun in high school, and being a friend who goes along with anything or one who really cares. Often stories like this are moralistic, with the good girl celebrated and the bad one shunned. But sometimes the choices aren’t so clear-cut. Stella is a senior, a soccer player, and has hung around with the same group of girls since elementary school. When Ruby arrives in school one day, Stella is intrigued by her aloofness and her disregard for the rules. Ruby is a wild child—she sneaks out, smokes weed, dates college guys, and seemingly has no parental oversight. Stella is a good kid and, despite knowing Ruby is “trouble,” she likes her and begins taking on the role of parent when Ruby acts out. Both girls have good hearts, and that’s the basis for their friendship. With Stella’s responsibilities at home, a little wildness is just what she needs and Ruby can provide it. However, when Ruby begins dating an older man and turns to drugs, Stella begins looking into his life. What she finds out is dangerous. Does she intervene to save Ruby and risk losing a friendship in order to save her friend? This is a wonderful story with real characters in real situations. Casey Holloway’s narration is as authentic as the story she is telling. A compelling listen that won’t stay on the self.–Joan Kindig, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA

Action! Fun! Dance! for Kids. Performed by The Learning Station. CD. 43 min. with booklet. Learning Station. 2012. ISBN unavail. $15.
PreS-Gr 2–Veteran children’s entertainers The Learning Station (Don Monopoli, Laurie Monopoli, and Jan Hrkach) return with another round of 14 rousing songs that get listeners up and moving. Whether they’re singing about “Herman the Worm,” “Icky Sticky Bubblegum,” or “Doctor Knickerbocker,” kids will enjoy following the action prompts in these upbeat tunes. Also included are adaptations of the welcoming Western Africa song “Funga Alafia”; the salsa-based “Zumba Dance”; the “Jamaican Dance”; and “Shabooya,” a dance call song that features the swim, the bunny hop, and the monkey. The Learning Station is joined on many of the numbers by the USA Kid Singers, and results are terrific. The accompanying booklet contains the lyrics and action instructions for the songs. Since each number runs about three minutes, these would be great for story times, during movement breaks in the classroom, or at home when kids need to release some energy. A fantastic addition to every collection.–Veronica De Fazio, Plainfield Public Library, IL

Carnival of the Animals. CD. approx. 70 min. with booklet. Maestro Classics. 2012. ISBN 978-1-932684-09-4. $16.98.
PreS-Gr 5–Saint-Saëns’s Carnival of the Animals is the perfect choice for helping young listeners appreciate classical music. One of the interesting facts they will learn is that Saint-Saëns refused to have this work (composed for a Mardi Gras party) published until after his death (which occurred in 1921). Yadu  (aka Dr. Konrad Czynski) reads the humorous verses penned by Ogden Nash in 1950, when he was commissioned to do so by conductor André Kostelanetz, while the London Philharmonic Orchestra gives outstanding performances of the various movements. Bonnie Ward Simon narrates a brief biography of Saint-Saëns, and Stephen Simon tells listeners which instruments mimic the animals. The CD also includes “Au Clair de la Lune” by Jean-Baptiste Lully, sung in French and English, as Saint-Saëns wove this song into the movement “Fossils.” The booklet includes all the animal verses by Nash, a short biography of Saint-Saëns, and the score and lyrics for “Au Claire de la Lune.” Featuring excellent vocal and instrumental performances, this is a wonderful example of how classical music can be introduced to children.–Beverly Wrigglesworth, San Antonio Public Library, TX

Hootenanny. Performed by Steve Pierson. CD. approx. 42 min. Prod. by Got the Blues Music. Dist. by CDBaby.com. 2013. ISBN unavail. $14.95.
PreS-Gr 3–For their second album for kids, Steve Pierson and his Los Angeles-based band Jambo rock as they perform 14 original feel-good songs by Pierson. The numbers display a wide range of musical styles, with a bluesy thread coursing throughout—a reflection of Pierson’s musical background. Lyrics are on target for the school-age set and pull no punches, yet always maintain a kid-friendly and relevant perspective. The band is packed with a powerhouse of professional musicians who are very polished, never missing a beat. Melinda McGraw harmonizes beautifully throughout. The album opens with “Hootenanny,” a call to get up and dance and closes with the lovely acoustic lullaby “Begin the Day Again.” Other standouts include “Let’s Be Friends” (about the importance of friends), “Try” (a bluegrass tune that encourages taking a risk for great rewards), “Be Yourself” (a bluesy encouragement to stay true to yourself), “Your Sweet Smile” (a delightful ditty about a parent’s love), “Don’t Play with Your Food” (a blues number that features three young girls, including Pierson’s daughter), and very grown-up sounding samba “Groovy Day” (about experiencing a perfect day). A s�urefire hit.–Stephanie Bange,Wright State University, Dayton, OH

Lullaby. Performed by Justin Roberts. CD. 38 min. Justin Roberts Music. 2012. ISBN unavail. $15.
PreS-Gr 2–Grammy-nominated children’s singer/songwriter Justin Roberts returns with an album devoted to the most gentle of songs—lullabies. These aren’t your grandmother’s lullabies though. Featuring rich melodies performed by musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, these ten original compositions will capture the heart and sooth the mind after a busy day of play. Roberts’s voice beautifully combines with strings and a variety of other instruments such as the French horn and oboe to create a serene atmosphere. Many of the lovely lyrics refer to the sky, the moon, the stars, and the soothing thought of cradling the listener all night through. Parents will want to give their children big hugs and cuddles while tucking them in after listening to this wonderful album. A must have for every collection.–Veronica De Fazio, Plainfield Public Library District, IL

Sir Charlie: Chaplin, the Funniest Man in the World. By Sid Fleishman. 3 CDs. 3:40 hrs. AudioGo. 2012. ISBN 978-1-935430-92-6. $39.95.
Gr 5 Up–A strange way of walking, an odd wardrobe, and extreme over-the-top gestures are just some of the characteristics of Charlie Chaplin. Listeners will learn a lot more about the man behind the hat and mustache in this biography. Fleishman has penned (Greenwillow, 2010) a detailed account of this beloved silent-movies comedian, from his life of poverty as a child in the London slums living with an alcoholic father, an insane mother, and shy tendencies to his glory days on the stage and in movies to to his being knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. Fred Sullivan’s narration is superb, with just the right accents and pacing. No humor is lost in this verbal description of Chaplin’s more notable acts as Fleishman depicts his slapstick comedy routines that called for lots of physical humor. This well-research account will enthrall listeners.–Katie Llera, Sayreville Middle School, NJ

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The following titles are reviewed in the March print issue. Visit Book Verdict for the full reviews.

DVD

Health

The Biggest Myths about STIs. DVD. 22 min. with tchr’s. guide. Human Relations Media. 2012. ISBN 978-1-55548-912-0.$149.95.

HPV: What Every Teen Needs to Know. DVD. 20 min. with tchr’s. guide. Human Relations Media. 2012. ISBN 978-1-55548-797-3. $149.95.

Rock Your Taste Buds. DVD. approx 16 min. with tchr’s. guides, student worksheets. Jump with Jill. 2012. ISBN unavail. $50.

Language Arts

Critter Sitter & Lulu’s Magic Wand. DVD. 27 min. with tchr’s. guide. Nutmeg Media. 2012. ISBN 1-933938-89-7. $69.95.

Music

Sing Me Your Story. DVD. approx. 42 min. Two of a Kind. 2013. ISBN unavail. $14.98.

Science

All about Food Additives. DVD. 20 min. with tchr’s. guide. Prod. by VEA. Dist. by Films Media. 2012. ISBN unavail. $129.

Deserts (Global Environments Series). DVD. 18 min. with tchr’s. guide online. Prod. by VEA. Dist. by Films Media. 2012. ISBN unavail. $129.

Iris the Happy Professor, Vol. 2. DVD. 73 min. Organa. 2012. ISBN unavail. $19.95.

NOVA scienceNOW: What Makes Us Human? DVD. 60 min. Prod. by WGBH Educational Foundation. Dist. by PBS Dist. 2012. ISBN 978-1-60883-802-8. $24.99.

Out on the Prairie & Deep in the Swamp. DVD. 15 min. with tchr’s. guide. Nutmeg Media. 2012. ISBN 1-933938-92-7. $69.95.

Shattered Sky. DVD. 57 min. Prod. by Dorst Media Works. Dist. by Bullfrog Films, 2012. ISBN 1-93777-237-3. $250.

A Wild Idea. DVD. 26 min. Video Project. 2012. ISBN unavail. $79.

Social Studies

Cuban Missile Crisis: Three Men Go to War. DVD. 60 min. Prod. by Crossing the Line Prods. Dist. by PBS Dist. 2013. ISBN 978-1-6088-3794-6. $24.99.

Drive Thru History: Philadelphia and the Founding Fathers (American History Series). DVD. 25 min. New Dimension Media. 2011, 2012 release. ISBN 978-1-60721-118-1.  $49 single site, $159 multi site.

55 Socks. DVD. 13 min. National Film Board of Canada. 2012. ISBN unavail. $129.

Follow the Leader: Politics Isn’t Just Child’s Play. DVD. 74 min. followtheleader.com. 2012. ISBN unavail. $179.95.

Audio

Many of these titles are available for download and/or in Playaway format. Check distributors’ websites, playaway.com, and audio download retailers for availability and price.

Bilingual

Gracias/Thanks. By Pat Mora. CD. 23:17 min. with hardcover book. Lorito Books. 2012. ISBN 978-0-98-835-610-8: $28.95; CD, ISBN 978-0-98-835-611-5. $12.95.

Language Arts

The Art of Keeping Cool. By Janet Taylor Lisle. 5 CDs. 5:18 hrs. AudioGo. 2012. ISBN 978-1-935430-93-3. $54.95.

Ashes of Twilight.

By Kassy Taylor. 8 CDs. 9:24 hrs. AudioGo. 2012. ISBN 978-0-7927-9199-7-9. $74.95.

Battlefield Earth. By L. Ron Hubbard. 44 CDs. 47 hrs. Galaxy Press. 2013. ISBN unavail. $89.95.

Betrayal: An Empty Coffin Novel. By Gregg Olsen. 8 CDs. 9:07 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4558-4332-9. $69.97.

Betty Bunny Loves Chocolate Cake. By Michael Kaplan. CD. 13 min. with hardcover book. Live Oak Media. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4301-1132-0. $29.95.

Crown of Embers: The Fire and Thorns Trilogy, Book 2. By Rae Carson. 10 cassettes or 10 CDs. 11:30 hrs. Recorded Books. 2012. cassette: ISBN 978-1-4640-4929-3. CD: ISBN 978-1-4640-4930-9. $108.75.

Dear Teen Me: Authors Write Letters to Their Teen Selves. Edited by E. Kristin Anderson and Miranda Kennedy. 6 CDs. 6:31 hrs. Brilliance Audio. ISBN 978-1-4692-5301-5. $59.97.

Deviants: The Dust Chronicles, Book 1. By Maureen McGowan. 7 CDs. 8:37 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4692-0463-5. $49.97.

Fishtale. By Hans Bauer and Catherine Masciola. 4 CDS. 4:34 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4692-1511-2 $49.97.

Flat Out Love. By Jessica Park. 8 CDs. 9:47 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4692-5305-2. $49.96.

Freakling. By Lana Krumwiede. 6 CDs. 6:38 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4602-0632-5. $54.97.

Guts. By Gary Paulsen. 2 CDs. 2:24 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4558-0472-6. $39.97.

The High Skies Adventures of Blue Jay the Pirate. By Scott Nash. 5 CDs. 5:15 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4692-0633-2. $54.97.

Iron Hearted Violet.

By Kelly Barnhill. 6 CDs. 7:22 hrs. Hachette for AudioGo. 2012. ISBN 978-1-61969-592-4. $59.99.

It’s a Tiger. By David LaRochelle. cassette or CD. 15 min. Recorded Books. 2012. cassette: ISBN 978-1-4703-2983-9, CD: ISBN 978-1-4703-2975-4. $15.75; hardcover book, ISBN 978-0-8118-6925-6: $16.99.

Kiss and Make Up. By Kate D. Anderson. 8 CDs. 9:32 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4692-1514-3. $49.97.

Life on Hold. By Karen McQuestion. 5 CDs. 5:08 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4692-3108-2. $49.97.

The Lost Flower Children. By Janet Taylor Lisle. 2 CDs. 2:23 hrs. AudioGo. 2012. ISBN 978-1-935430-94-0. $29.95.

Monument 14.

By Emmy Laybourne. 6 CDs. 7 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4692-5004-5. $54.97.

Not Exactly a Love Story. By Audrey Couloumbis. 5 CDs. 6:14 hrs. Prod. by Listening Library. Dist. by Listening Library/Books on Tape. 2012. ISBN 978-0-385-36137-8. $45.

October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard. By Leslea Newman. 2 CDs. 1:20 hours. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN: 978-1-4692-0636-3. $53.97.

The River of No Return: The Jaguar Stones, Book 3.  By J and P Voelkel. 8 CDs. 9:42 hrs. Prod. by Listening Library. Dist. by Listening Listening Library. 2012. ISBN 978-0-307-71209-7. $60.

The Silence of Murder. By Dandi Daley Mackall. 8 CDs. 9:06 hrs. Prod. by Listening Library. Dist. by Listening Library/Books on Tape. 2012. ISBN 978-0-385-36149-1. $50.

Sneak: Swipe Series. By Evan Angler. 7 CDs. 8:25 hrs. Oasis Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-61375-636-0. $48.99

Soccerland. By Beth Choat. 5 CDs. 5:48 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4692-1520-4. $49.97.

3 Below: A Floors Novel. By Patrick Carman. 5 CDs. 6 hrs. Scholastic Audiobooks. 2012. ISBN 978-0-545-46616-5 $25.99.

Tiltawhirl John. By Gary Paulsen. 3 CDs. 3 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4692-4129-6. $39.97.

Will Sparrow’s Road. By Karen Cushman. 4 CDs. 5:10 hrs. Prod. by Listening Library. Dist. by Listening Library/Books on Tape. 2012. ISBN 978-0-449-01470-7. $30.

Zom-B. By Darren Shan. 3 CDs. 3:44 hrs. Hachette for Audio Go. 2012. ISBN 978-1-61969-549-8. $49.99.

Music

Because I Said So! Performed by Big Bang Boom. CD. 29 min. CDBaby.com. 2012. ISBN unavail. $12.

Come Sing Along with Janie Next Door. Performed by Jane Christison. CD. 45 min. with lyrics. Prod. by Music with a Smile Prods. Dist. by CDBaby.com. 2010, 2012 release. ISBN unavail. $14.98.

I’m So Glad. Performed by Alex & the Kaleidoscope Band. CD. approx. 35 min. CDBaby.com. 2012. ISBN unavail. $10.

It’s Not Fair to Me. Performed by BillHarley and Keith Munslow. CD. approx. 35 min. Prod. by Round River Records. Dist. by Allegro/New Sound. 2013. ISBN unavail. $14.99.

Outer Space. Performed by Dino O’Dell & The T-Rex All Stars. CD. 33 min. AV Café. 2012. ISBN unavail. $15.

Yes! Performed by Wayne Potash. CD. 48 min. Happy House Records. 2013. ISBN unavail. $15.

Religion

The Preschooler’s Bible. By V. Gilbert Beers. 2 CDs. 2 hrs. Oasis Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-61375-301-9. $12.99.

Social Studies

Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust. By Doreen Rappapport. 5 CDs. 4:37 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4692-0625-7. $64.97.

Looking at Lincoln. By Maira Kalman. CD. 10:17 min. with hardcover book. Spoken Arts. 2012. ISBN 0-8045-4241-4. $29.95.

CD-ROM

Health

Nutrition Labels: Reading between the Lines. CD-ROM. Windows/Mac. with tchr’s. guide online. Learning Seed. 2012. ISBN 978-1-55740-620-0. $99.

Recovery grants:

You Have to Be in It…

Free audiobooks: To promote its new distribution partnerships, Findaway World, the maker of Playaway, Playaway View, and Catalist Digital, is giving away three $1,000 Playaway starter collections to schools. Media specialists and teachers can visit the website, complete a short survey, and enter for the chance to win one of these great audiobook collections. One school will be selected to receive a starter collection each month, from March through May.

Playaway audio content comes preloaded in circulation-ready media players. Playaway’s new distributors include Mackin Educational Resources, Perma-Bound, Children’s Plus, Baker & Taylor, Classroom Library Company, Delaney Education, Bound To Stay Bound, Central Programs, and AV Café. Each distributor will offer various titles from Playaway’s collection of 17,000 titles. Findaway World will continue its longstanding distribution relationship with Follett Library Resources and Follett Educational Services.

Programming

Arts and humanities awards: Libraries are encouraged to apply for the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program (NAHYP) Award, an initiative of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The deadline is February 4. Be sure to check out eligibility requirements before completing the application. Twelve winners will be selected to receive a $10,000 grant. In addition, 38 finalists will receive a Finalist Certificate of Excellence. The award will be presented by First Lady Michelle Obama at a ceremony at the White House.

Programs should be in place for at least five years and “offer sustained and consistent out-of-school or afterschool opportunities for young people to engage hands-on with the arts or humanities.” After-school and out-of-school arts and humanities programs sponsored by museums, libraries, performing arts organizations; educational institutions (e.g., preschools; elementary, middle, and high schools; universities; and colleges), arts centers, community service organizations, businesses, and eligible government entities can submit an application.

Industry News

Professional development: After recently acquiring the assets of Maupin House, a publisher of more than 200 professional resources on literacy topics for K–12 educators and administrators, Capstone has launched Capstone Professional. This new professional development service will include onsite and online training webinars, books, and ebooks. Among Maupin House’s bestsellers are “Caught’ya! Grammar with a Giggle” series by Jane Ball Kiester; Razzle Dazzle Writing  2001) by Melissa Forney; and the CraftPlus K–8 Writing Program, a curriculum aligned to the Common Core Standards. Capstone is a leading publisher of children’s books, digital products, and literacy programs.

Webcast

Audiobooks: School Library Journal’s September 13 webcast, Audiobooks in the Classroom, sponsored by AudioGO and Listening Library, will be archived and available for on-demand viewing by September 21 at www.slj.com/webcasts. It featured SLJ’s “Listen In” columnists, Sharon Grover and Liz Hannegan, discussing informational audiobooks, literacy, and Common Core Standards, as well as AudioGO’s Michele Cobb and Jodie Cohen from Listening Library talking about their terrific audiobooks with thematic connections to the Common Core.

In the Money

Programming award: You can garner a $4,000 honorarium if you win the 2013 Sara Jaffarian School Library Program Award for Exemplary Humanities Programming. The American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office is now accepting nominations for the award from public or private school libraries that serve kindergarten through eighth grade. To be eligible, the library must have carried out a humanities program during the 2011-2012 school year that focused on subject areas such as social studies, poetry, drama, art, music, language arts, and foreign language/culture. According to ALA, “Programs should focus on broadening perspectives and helping students understand the wider world and their place in it. They should be initiated and coordinated by the school librarian and exemplify the role of the library program in advancing the overall educational goals of the school.” Make sure to read the guidelines before applying. Applications must be submitted by December 15.

On October 24, the ALA Public Programs Office is offering a free online session about the award and last year’s winner will present his winning model and give tips to prospective applicants. The annual award was named for Sara Jaffarian, a retired school librarian who advocated for school libraries throughout her career and whose donation to ALA’s Cultural Communities Fund established it in 2006.

Granted

Library aids: Local, regional, or state libraries; associations; organizations; or individuals can apply for the annual Carnegie-Whitney Grant of up to $5,000 for preparing popular or scholarly reading lists, webliographies, indexes, and other guides to library resources that will be useful to patrons in all types of libraries in the United States. The purpose of the grants, administered by the American Library Association, is to pay for the preparation of the product, including the cost of research. These projects must stimulate the use of library resources, appeal to and be useful to a broad audience, be completed within two years, and must be new or in process. Among the numerous previous winners are: “Seeing the World Through a Different Lens: Diversity in International Youth Films,” “Creating a Database of LGBTQ-related Literature for Children and Young Adults,” and “A Multimedia Guide to African American Books for Children and Young Adults.” Be sure to check out the proposal requirements and complete an application form. All proposals must be submitted by November 2.

SPONSORED BY: AudioGO, Listening Library, and School Library Journal.
EVENT DATE AND TIME: Thursday, September 13, 2012, 2:00 – 3:00 PM ET/11:00 AM – 12:00 PM PT

This archive is no longer available.

Audiobooks offer librarians and teachers a unique way to engage students with learning that supports Common Core State Standards. Join SLJ’s “Listen In” columnists Sharon Grover and Liz Hannegan for a discussion on how high quality literary and informational texts help develop critical reading habits. Then find out about some hot new audiobooks scheduled for release this fall from Jodie Cohen, Listening Library’s senior marketing manager, and Michele Cobb, vice president, sales and marketing for AudioGO. Finally, they will all discuss the latest trends in audiobook publishing.

Panelists:

Sharon Grover – Head of Youth Services, Hedberg Public Library 
Lizette (Liz) Hannegan – Chair, Odyssey Awards 2012
Michele Cobb, VP – Sales & Marketing, AudioGO
Jodie Cohen – Senior Marketing Manager, Listening Library

Moderator:

Phyllis Mandell - Managing Editor, Multimedia Review Editor, School Library Journal

Can’t make it on September 13? No problem! Register now and you will get an email reminder from School Library Journal post-live event when the webcast is archived and available for on-demand viewing at your convenience!

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In “Summer Reading Loss” (Reading Teacher, May 2007), Maryann Mraz and Timothy Rasinski wrote: “…the reality of summer reading loss is well documented—and it is more persistent among students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds who are already at risk for academic failure.” Thankfully, they also state that students who take part in summer reading interventions maintain those skills. In fact, students who participate in public library summer reading programs demonstrate increased achievement in reading skills when they return to school in the fall, according to the conclusions drawn by Carol Fiore and Susan Roman in their article, “Proof Positive” (School Library Journal, Nov. 2010). The Search Institute (www.search-institute.org), a nonprofit organization investigating what young people need to succeed, identifies reading for pleasure as one of the ‘40 Developmental Assets’ necessary for healthy growth. So it’s gratifying to see that when Denise Geier, a curriculum director in Middletown Township, NJ, created summer reading lists for her students (“Sweating Over the Summer Book List.” Library Media Connection, March 2005), she determined the focus should be on “…reading just for the fun of it…” and enlisted help from public librarians for recommendations.

Our own experience closely mirrors Geier’s. We have worked with language arts teachers to produce high-interest, varied, middle school summer reading lists, successfully advocating for titles that had quality audio productions, allowing students to read with their ears or with their eyes. Listening to audiobooks gives a well-documented boost to the very skills lost during the summer months, according to Gene Wolfson’s “Using Audiobooks to Meet the Needs of Adolescent Readers” (American Secondary Education, Spring 2008).

Roger Sutton, in “Remixing Reading” (The Horn Book, March/April 2012; http://tinyurl.com/82pzrvn), states that “books, readers, and reading are always changing, both definitionally and individually, as an original text is transformed across media and its readers become viewers, listeners, players, and co-authors in the experience of story.” Given choices, students can be motivated to listen to an audiobook, read a graphic novel, or see a movie version of a favorite novel, all of which serve to nourish literacy skills.

Our audiobook selections this month focus on middle school students, providing not only listening pleasure but also opportunities to increase reading comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary acquisition. Get kids listening and beat the summer slide!

Aliens on Vacation (The Intergalactic Bed & Breakfast Series). Written by Clete Barrett Smith. Narrated by Joshua Swanson. 6 CD. 7 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2011. ISBN 978-1-4558-0133-6. $54.97. Gr 5-7
David, aka Scrub, is horrified to squander the summer in tiny, boring Forest Glen, WA, with the grandmother he’s never met. Grandma, who goes by the name Sunshine, runs the Intergalactic Bed & Breakfast, hosting a very bizarre clientele and a secret in which David is soon embroiled. Swanson mines all of the humor and tension of this light summer tale, imbuing both humans and aliens with distinctive voices. He is especially effective with the budding romance between David and Amy, a local girl who shows David that aliens have rights, too.
Standard: Students will compare and contrast different ways of life and understand the factors contributing to individual differences.

The Beasts of Clawstone Castle. Written by Eva Ibbotson. Narrated by Jenny Sterlin. 5 CDs. 6 hrs. Recorded Books. 2007. ISBN 978-1-4281-2183-6. $51.75. Gr 5-8
Madlyn and Rollo, spending their summer holiday in the country with elderly relatives, fall under the spell of the crumbling Clawstone Castle and its legendary Wild White Cattle. When the brother–sister duo enlist the help of some alarming ghosts to attract more paying visitors to the castle, Clawstone’s increasing success prompts local rivals to hatch a dastardly plan. Sterlin’s expressive reading, spot-on pacing, and ability to flawlessly define the different characters enhances this rollicking British mix of fantasy and social commentary.
Standard: Students will explore concepts of role, status, and social standing to evaluate the interactions of individuals and social groups.

Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916. Written by Michael Capuzzo. Narrated by Taylor Mali. 3 CDs. 3:30 hrs. 2010. AudioGo. 2010. ISBN 978-1-4281-2183-6. $39.95. Gr 6-10
In the summer of 1916, the Jersey Shore became a popular place for ocean swimming. Unknown to tourists or the general public, a young great white shark had also taken up residence at the beach. The gruesome attacks will appeal particularly to reluctant male readers, with Mali’s deliberate narration highlighting the anxiety of shore dwellers and visitors. His reporter’s style, increasing speed and volume as tension builds, allows science and sensationalism to combine in creating a rousing summer read.
Standard: Students will investigate and understand the interactions among populations in a biological community.

Dead End in Norvelt. Written and narrated by Jack Gantos. 6 CDs. 7:16 hrs. Macmillan Young Listeners. 2011. ISBN 978-1-4272-1356-3. $29.99. Gr 5-8
“Grounded for life” two weeks into summer vacation of 1962, 12-year-old Jack manages to find adventure in this wild, semi-autobiographical novel. Norvelt, a small, planned community developed during the Great Depression by Eleanor Roosevelt, is dying—literally. Apprenticed to elderly, arthritic neighbor, Ms. Volker, Jack helps create obituaries for the original Norvelt residents who are expiring at an alarming rate, making the boy wonder what is going on. Gantos meshes history and humor with his unvoiced, earnest reading and a bonus interview, telling listeners how he blended fact and fiction to create this 2012 Newbery Medal winner. Steer students to these websites about the real Norvelt, PA, for more information: http://tinyurl.com/NorveltHistoricalMarker and http://tinyurl.com/RecallingOldNorvelt. Standard: Students will identify the causes of the Great Depression, its impact on Americans, and the major features of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal.

Moon Over Manifest. Written by Clare Vanderpool. Narrated by Jenna Lamia, Cassandra Campbell, and Kirby Heyborne. 8 CDs. 8:30 hrs. Listening Library. 2011. ISBN 978-0-3079-6816-6. $40. Gr 5-8
After years of riding the rails, Abilene Tucker’s father suddenly decides she must spend the summer of 1936 with an old friend in Manifest, Kansas, a town devastated by drought and the Great Depression. Amidst the heat and dust, Abilene discovers a mystery stretching back to 1918 that includes the town’s coal mining legacy and the boys who went off to fight in World War I. Lamia expertly creates myriad voices for children and adults across Manifest’s decades, with Heyborne and Campbell ably rounding out the supporting cast of this 2011 Newbery Award winner. Standard: Students will evaluate the credibility and perspective of a variety of sources such as biographies, diaries, journals, artifacts, eyewitness interviews, and other primary and secondary source materials.

The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place. Written by E. L. Konigsburg. Narrated by Molly Ringwald. 5 CDs. 5:30 hrs. Listening Library. 2004. ISBN 978-1-4000-8609-2. $45. Gr 6-9
Bullied by fellow campers and a despotic camp director, Margaret Rose Kane is thrilled to spend the summer with her beloved great-uncles while her parents are in Peru. However, trouble is brewing in the uncles’ backyard, where towers they have been creating from found objects are slated for demolition by a city council bent on removing “blight.” To save the towers, Margaret enlists a quirky group of sympathizers to educate the community on the important role of art, especially outsider art. Ringwald’s performance is exhilarating, capturing the precocious teen, her Hungarian uncles, and an eccentric cast of secondary characters. Students can explore the history of outsider art through this article from Encyclopedia Britannica online: http://tinyurl.com/Art-Outsider. Standard: Students will compare and contrast the characteristics of public art.

Shark Wars. Written by E. J. Altbacker. Narrated by Joshua Swanson. 5 CDs. 5:30 hrs. Listening Library. 2011. ISBN 978-0-3079-1687-7. $30. Gr 4-7
Gray, an adolescent reef shark (or so he thinks), is growing so large and behaving so badly that he’s banned from the reef to find his own way in the Big Blue. With his dogfish friend, Barkley, he joins a tough shark clan, or shiver, where he only gets into more trouble. Sharks with human characteristics and references to the “landsharks” who hunt from above are part of the humor in this engaging story, enhanced by Swanson’s fully voiced sharks and excellent pacing and emotional inflection. (Note: There are two sequels—The Battle of Riptide and Into the Abyss.) Students may want to learn about the real characteristics of great white sharks at the Smithsonian website: http://tinyurl.com/c9uhft6. Standard: Students will list the characteristics of ocean dwelling mammals, i.e. specific species of shark.

Small as an Elephant. Written by Jennifer Richard Jacobson. Narrated by William Dufris. 5 CDs. 5 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2011. ISBN 978-1-4558-0336-1. $49.97. Gr 5-8
Jack wakes up in Acadia National Park to discover that his mother has abandoned him. Wavering between panic, despair, and anger, he tries first to find her, hiding from authorities. When that proves futile, he sets out on a harrowing journey to see Lydia, the only live elephant in Maine. As Jack travels, he slowly reveals his mother’s “spinning episodes” and his fear of being separated from her. Dufris’s raspy voice turns in an emotional performance that demonstrates Jack’s resentment, panic, and pain. Both the Acadia National Park (www.nps.gov/acad) and Elephant Facts (www.elephant-facts.com) websites provide interesting additional information about the central themes of the story. Standard: Students will be able to describe the characteristics of large land mammals (i.e., the elephant) and understand the history and mission of the National Park Service.