Discover Top Full Audiobooks in Fiction, Coming of Age

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/595280 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The Secret Garden

Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett

Narrator: Michael Ward

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 8 hours 2 minutes

Release date: May 19, 2022

Genres: Coming of Age

Publisher's Summary:

One of Burnett's most popular novels and seen as a classic of English children's literature, the Secret Garden is a story of regrowth and regeneration. This classic tale centers around Mary Lennox, an orphan who is sent to her strange Uncle and his mansion in Yorkshire. The mansion is a mysterious place, with a hundred rooms nobody ever uses, and whispered tales of a Secret Garden, that her uncle locked and buried the key to, over a decade ago. With the help other characters Mary finds her way to this garden, and begins to cultivate it, but the house holds further secrets still...

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/618502 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The Stone World: A Novel

Author: Joel Agee

Narrator: Armando Durán

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 7 hours 44 minutes

Release date: May 17, 2022

Genres: Coming of Age

Publisher's Summary:

From the son of acclaimed author James Agee comes a haunting novel depicting an American boy’s childhood in Mexico, ensconced in a world comprised of communist European exiles, local union activists, street children, and avant-garde artists like Frida Kahlo. Joel Agee’s hallucinatory first novel begins in a house with a large garden in an unnamed Mexican town in the late 1940s, where six-and-a-half-year-old Peter reads, dreams, and plays with his friends. He is a nascent explorer, artist, philosopher, mystic, and scientist. His world is still new, not yet papered over with received knowledge. And the actual world around him is a unique one in history: a community of leftist emigrés who have found refuge in Mexico from the Nazi and fascist regimes of Europe, rubbing shoulders with Mexican labor activists and leftists such as Frida Kahlo. But the emigrés long for home—including Peter’s stepfather, who wants to return to his native Germany. Going back to Europe may not be safe for any of them yet, however, which gives rise to anguished arguments among Peter’s parents and their tight group of friends. And slowly, Peter begins to comprehend that his world may be turned upside down—that he might be forced to take leave of everyone he knows: his best friend, Arón; his father’s friend Sándor, who talks about revolution and performs magic tricks; and Zita, the family’s live-in-maid, who has taught him the consoling mysteries of prayer … Steeped in the magic and myths of childhood—yet haunted by a harsh adult world bedeviled by instability and political turmoil—Joel Agee’s The Stone World is an unforgettable portrait of a family that will inevitably invite comparison with another classic family story, that of his father James Agee’s A Death in the Family.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/555800 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Such Big Dreams: A Novel

Author: Reema Patel

Narrator: Lavanya Gandhi

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 11 hours 39 minutes

Release date: May 17, 2022

Ratings: Ratings of Book: 5 of Total 1

Genres: Coming of Age

Publisher's Summary:

A savvy former street child working at a law office in Mumbai fights for redemption and a chance to live life on her own terms in this “smart, haunting, and compulsively readable” (Amy Jones, author of We’re All in This Together) debut novel about fortune and survival.   “A heartbreaking yet hopeful story about the resilience of the human spirit in the face of insurmountable odds.”—Etaf Rum, New York Times bestselling author of A Woman Is No Man With a sharp wit and sharper tongue, twenty-three-year old Rakhi Kumar is nobody’s fool. Sure, she lives alone in a slum and works as a lowly office assistant for the renowned lawyer, Gauri Verma, who gave her a fresh start. But she’s come a long way from her childhood on the streets of Mumbai. Most important, she’s busy enough to distract herself from the nightmares of a grisly childhood incident that led to the disappearance of her best friend.   Fiercely intelligent, Rakhi could be doing so much more than making chai, but she allows herself to be underestimated by her colleagues at Justice For All, Gauri’s cash-strapped rights law office. These days, it’s becoming harder for Rakhi to keep her head down as Gauri desperately tries to save her organization by recruiting former Bollywood actress and infamous nineties “thong girl,” Rubina Mansoor, to be their celebrity ambassador. But not all money is good money. Convincing Gauri to make increasingly brash moves, Rubina demands an internship for a young family friend, Harvard-bound graduate student, Alex Lalwani-Diamond. An ambitious, naïve rich kid with a savior complex, Alex persuades Rakhi to show him “the real India.” In exchange, he’ll do something to further Rakhi’s dreams, in a transaction that seems harmless, at first.   As old guilt and new aspirations collide, everything Rakhi once knew to be true is set ablaze. And as the stakes mount, she will come face-to-face with the difficult choices and moral compromises one must make in pursuit of self-preservation, and ultimately, survival. Such Big Dreams is a moving, smart, and arrestingly clever look at the cost of reclaiming one’s story.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/595275 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The Bag

Author: Thorn Osgood

Narrator: Stacey Glemboski

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 2 hours 27 minutes

Release date: May 14, 2022

Genres: Coming of Age

Publisher's Summary:

Glo has been out of high school for three years but has remained friends with some of the high schoolers. Living in dysfunctional families—as she had while in high school—she has allowed them to spend time at her place, hoping they will miss some of the pitfalls that could prevent them from graduating high school. When their prospects for summer jobs crash, she takes them on an exploration hike through the woods that changes everything.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/595223 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The Italian Prisoner

Author: Elisa M. Speranza

Narrator: Debi Tinsley

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 9 hours 13 minutes

Release date: May 11, 2022

Genres: Coming of Age

Publisher's Summary:

In the Sicilian neighborhood of the French Quarter, life had a predictable rhythm. Then came World War II and everything changed. 1943. New Orleans. Rose Marino lives with her Sicilian immigrant parents and helps in the family grocery store. Her older brother and sister both joined the Army, and Rose prays for their safety as World War II rages overseas. Her parents expect Rose to marry a local boy and start a family. But she secretly dreams of being more like her fiercely independent widowed godmother. Behind her parents’ back, Rose lands a job at the shipyard, where she feels free and important for the first time in her life. When the parish priest organizes a goodwill mission to visit Italian prisoners of war at a nearby military base, Rose and her vivacious best friend, Marie, join the group. There, Rose falls for Sal, a handsome and intelligent POW. Italy has switched sides in the war, so the POWs are allowed out to socialize, giving Rose and Sal a chance to grow closer. When Rose gets a promotion at work, she must make an agonizing choice: follow a traditional path like Marie or keep working after the war and live on her own terms. Inspired by little-known historical events and set to a swing-era soundtrack, The Italian Prisoner is an engrossing story of wartime love, family secrets, and a young woman’s struggle to chart her own course at an inflection point in American history.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/561955 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The Ravaged

Author: Norman Reedus

Narrator: Norman Reedus

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 8 hours 49 minutes

Release date: May 10, 2022

Ratings: Ratings of Book: 3.91 of Total 53

Ratings of Narrator: 4.39 of Total 23

Genres: Coming of Age

Publisher's Summary:

New York Times bestseller Los Angeles Times bestseller USA Today bestseller The highly anticipated debut novel from Norman Reedus, acclaimed star of The Walking Dead “This country wasn’t built on good—only fought for with good intentions.” Jack’s dying mother told him, “Run and never look back.” He spent his life amassing wealth, but after losing his family, he has no one to share it with. Alone with his demons and a backpack, he heads to South America, where people with nothing teach him what matters. After thrashing his dog-abusing boss, Hunter learns of his father’s death in a mysterious fire. Biker buddies Nugget and Itch ride with him from North Carolina to California. Stories from his father’s life help ease the struggles of small-town Americans. Hunter discovers a secret past. Seventeen-year-old Anne flees Tennessee after her older brother attacks her. She whacks him with a skillet and hops a freight to Alabama with her best friend. Living hand to mouth, they build friendships, uncovering something they never had: family. The Ravaged is a fast-paced, up-in-your-face novel of gritty realism, exploring three different personal quests with eerily parallel outcomes.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/568056 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: No Hard Feelings

Author: Genevieve Novak

Narrator: Meg Dunn

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 8 hours 1 minute

Release date: April 30, 2022

Ratings: Ratings of Book: 1 of Total 1

Ratings of Narrator: 2 of Total 1

Genres: Coming of Age

Publisher's Summary:

Hungover, underpaid and overwhelmed, this isn't where Penny expected to be as she reached her late twenties. A sharp, smart and witty look at adulting - Fleabag meets Sorrow and Bliss with a splash of Dolly Alderton. 'No Hard Feelings is clever, funny and surprisingly sweet, and Penny captured my heart' Toni Jordan I exist on validation from emotionally unavailable men, biscuits, and cheap wine, and it's easier to get off with Max than a Tiny Teddy. Penny can't help but compare herself to her friends. Annie is about to become a senior associate at her law firm, Bec has just got engaged, Leo is dating everyone this side of the Yarra, and Penny is just ... waiting. Waiting for Max, her on-again, off-again boyfriend, to allow her to spend the night, waiting for the promotion she was promised, waiting for her Valium to kick in. Waiting for her real life to start. Out of excuses and sick of falling behind, Penny is determined to turn things around. She's going to make it work with Max, impress her tyrannical boss, quit seeing her useless therapist, remember to water her plants, and stop having panic attacks in the work toilets. But soon she's back to doomscrolling on Instagram, necking bottles of Aldi's finest sauvignon blanc, and criticising herself with renewed vigour and loathing. As her goals seem further away than ever, she has to wonder: when bad habits feel so good, how do you trust what's right for you? Praise for No Hard Feelings: 'Genevieve Novak will inevitably be compared to other authors, but the truth is, she is herself and herself alone - and that's a good thing. Funny, biting, vulnerable and unflinching, Novak's novel is like an ocean dip: a bit salty, very refreshing.' Lauren Sams 'Scaldingly funny and bitingly real, No Hard Feelings deserves a warning label: danger, may induce binge reading. With her sly wit, Genevieve Novak's debut demonstrates a brilliant eye for observing the little things in life, which together can be the biggest things of all.' Tori Haschka, author of Grace Under Pressure 'No Hard Feelings is a gratifying, warm and funny debut' Books+Publishing 'Novak has perfectly captured the self-doubt and total horror of having to be happy and functional in your twenties. It would have you crying into your chipped manicure if it wasn't so darn funny.' Kimberley Allsopp, author of Love and Other Puzzles

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/614526 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Zebra: Friends by Fate. Enemies by Destiny.

Author: Jill Wallace

Narrator: Peter Noble

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 15 hours 28 minutes

Release date: April 26, 2022

Genres: Coming of Age

Publisher's Summary:

A young white boy and a Zulu teen grow up together, building an extraordinary friendship as they explore the rugged Drakensberg mountains around a remote South African hotel during the apartheid era. Jock and Papin forge an indelible bond while learning to love and appreciate each other’s cultures. Despite whispers from intolerant guests, the boys are oblivious to the consequences of their friendship. “There goes the zebra,” guests remark, claiming they can’t tell where the white boy ends and the black boy begins. But the boys’ friendship is strong enough to conquer all—until society’s impossible expectations wrench them apart, leaving bitter disappointment and soul-deep wounds that will not heal. A decade later, these long-lost friends converge on opposite sides of a harrowing battlefield, one a reluctant soldier, the other a passionate freedom fighter. Their intimate knowledge of the other’s way of life could be the very tools that save them … or destroy them. And an unimaginable choice will put Jock and Papin’s once-unbreakable bond to the ultimate test. Jill Wallace, author of the multi-award-winning World War II novel War Serenade, brings together a fascinating coming-of-age story with a compelling tale of human connection in Zebra. Inspired by the life of Athol Wallace

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/614517 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Benefit

Author: Siobhan Phillips

Narrator: Elisabeth Rodgers

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 9 hours 39 minutes

Release date: April 26, 2022

Genres: Coming of Age

Publisher's Summary:

A young woman discovers what lurks beneath the system that anointed her among the best and brightest of her generation. Laura, a student from a modest background, escapes her small town to join the ranks of the academic elite on a Weatherfield fellowship to study at Oxford University. She enthusiastically throws herself into her coursework, yet she is never able to escape a feeling of unease and dislocation among her fellow chosen “students of promise and ambition.” Years later, back in the United States with a PhD and dissertation on Henry James, she loses her job as an adjunct professor and reconnects with the Weatherfield Foundation. Commissioned to write a history for its centennial, she becomes obsessed by the Gilded Age origins of the Weatherfield fortune, rooted in the exploitation and misery of sugar production. As she is lured back into abandoned friendships within the glimmering group, she discovers hidden aspects of herself and others that point the way to a terrifying freedom. Benefit is a vivid story of personal awakening that offers a withering critique of toxic philanthropy and the American meritocracy.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/583505 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: [Spanish] - El miedo nos hizo fuertes

Author: Alexis Valdés

Narrator: Alexis Valdés

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 5 hours 5 minutes

Release date: April 26, 2022

Ratings: Ratings of Book: 5 of Total 1

Ratings of Narrator: 5 of Total 1

Genres: Coming of Age

Publisher's Summary:

La conmovedora historia de un niño que, a pesar de afrontar el abuso físico en casa, en su barrio y en su país, jamás perdió la alegría de vivir. Alexis Valdés narra con profunda ternura sobre el niño que fue y logra reflejar no solo los años más duros de su vida, sino transportar al lector a la Cuba de su infancia y adolescencia, con sus problemas, sus carencias, su dolor, pero también con una alegría de vivir y la esperanza de que algún día todo será mejor. El pequeño Alexis es un niño sensible y tímido, que vive con su madre, su hermano y su padrastro que le odia porque se parece mucho a su padre. El machista padrastro no soporta esa imagen dentro de la casa: La imagen del otro hombre de su mujer. El autor describe su vida en un país donde el abuso y el bullying flota en el ambiente: en casa, donde soportaba las palizas del innombrable, porque se rehusa a escribir su nombre; en el barrio, donde otros padres golpean a sus hijos, los fuertes abusan de los débiles y los homosexuales son masacrados, y en el país donde el gobierno abusa de todos. Alexis y su familia viven en un barrio de La Habana donde los guapos —los tipos duros de la calle— imponen su ley. Es un ambiente salvaje donde son comunes las peleas de boxeo clandestinas. Solo hay un hombre bueno al que todos temen en el barrio, fuerte como una roca, el padrastro de Renecito, el niño estrella del barrio, y uno de los defensores denuestro protagonista. Los otros defensores que salvan al niño son su abuela América, una viejita mágica que le da esperanza y fuerza; su hermano asmático y delgaducho, pero muy valiente, y su padre,que es un hombre de éxito, alegre y cariñoso, pero al que no permiten ver a menudo. El escape del niño es su sueño de viajar a Praga, una ciudad llena de castillos y niños con gorritos y las mejillas rosadas. Todo comienza cuando participa en un concurso de Radio Praga Internacional, que tiene una emisión especial para América Latina. El niño les manda una carta cada semana para participar en el concurso que, de ganarlo, le llevaría ala hermosa ciudad checa, y más que eso, le sacaría por un tiempo del infierno en que vive.