Download Most Popular Audiobooks in Teens, Ages 11-13

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Title: Episodes

Subtitle: My Life As I See It

Author: Blaze Ginsberg

Narrator: MacLeod Andrews

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-01-09

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Teens, Ages 11-13

Publisher's Summary:

Blaze Ginsberg offers a unique view into his mind and life as a high functioning autistic teenager. Inspired by the format of the Internet Movie Database, Ginsberg organizes the events in his life as a collection of "episodes." Some of these are ongoing (like Thanksgiving dinners with his family), some are in syndication, and some (his crush on Hillary Duff, for example) have sadly come to an end. Using a style and a language all his own, Blaze reinvents the traditional memoir for listeners of all ages.

©2009 Blaze Ginsberg; (P)2009 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Members Reviews:

ASD Autobiography

Initially I found the layout for his autobiography difficult. But once I understood his reasoning, I was able to move through this autobiography and enjoyed his "version" of experiences.

A Tale of Creativity, Courage, and Life

I first saw Blaze Ginsberg read from 'Episodes' in 2011, and am re-reading the book today. This is a must-read for anyone who wants to know what it's like to be autistic. He is unabashed about it. Consequently, we receive an unabashed collection of stories as life passes through his world ... in episodes. Funny, poignant, charming, sometimes difficult ... a fantastic piece of work by a truly extraordinary young man.

What a treat

Yes, Episodes is organized differently in just about every way, but it is more than just about how the author's mind works. You grow to know and understand Blaze as he navigates through life. I really enjoyed this book--especially the goofs and quotes! Thank you Blaze, for letting us get to know you and helping us see the world as you see it.

Nothing Else Like It

EPISODES is a unique memoir. It chronicles the life of Blaze Ginsberg from his freshman year in high school through his first two years in college, and it does so as a sequence of television episodes staring the author, his family, and the people most influential in his life.

We see the world through the eyes of a teenager on the autism spectrum: how he relates to school, friends, romantic crushes, and the harsh realities of a first job. All to the tune of episode "soundtracks," the ubiquitous background music that scores every teenager's life. Blaze's mother Debra Ginsberg, herself an accomplished author, wrote in her sensitive introduction to the book: "Like all of us, Blaze has favorite episodes in his life and some that he wishes he could forget. To an extent, I believe this is something we all do. We're all the stars of our own shows."

EPISODES will undoubtedly be classified as part of the literature on autism. Blaze's fascination with dates, bus numbers, chronological sequences, and even the whereabouts of the garbage truck all speak to the quiet genius that is apparently characteristic of "high functioning" children who adapt poorly in traditional classrooms. But I think the book goes beyond that. It illustrates the day-to-day challenges every teenager faces, with emphasis on the nuances that govern personal relationships. Blaze is refreshingly honest when describing losing his temper, misbehaving in class, and being in tears because he doesn't have a girlfriend. He evaluates his own conduct matter-of-factly and provides unique insight into the mind of a developing adolescent.

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Title: Breakout

Author: Paul Fleischman

Narrator: Richard Harries

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 22 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-20-09

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 2 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Teens, Ages 11-13

Publisher's Summary:

Breakout is the latest innovative work of Paul Fleischman. His other celebrated books include Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices, which is a Newbery Medal Winner and winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction/Poetry.

Members Reviews:

You May Just Learn to Appreciate a Traffic Jam

Del has decided that she can no longer live the life she?s known for so long. She has decided to change identities, sell what she can, put the rest in the truck of an old Datsun, and move out of town.

On the way out of LA, she encounters a four-hour traffic jam. At first she?s angry about her situation and scared that a cop will recognize that she?s a minor and send her back to foster care; as time goes on, however, the traffic jam becomes a message to her about people, and her view of the world is slightly softened. Del is able to imagine the lives of her fellow ?traffic-jammers,? and she can see what they need and who they really are. These insights help her reach an understanding of her own life.

Paul Fleischman is the master of taking seemingly insignificant characters and events and creating powerful relationships among them. Just as he did in Seedfolks, here he has written about common place people who come together unexpectedly and learn a little bit more about each other than they expected.

There is a protagonist here who is in need of hope and understanding, and she gets it surprisingly from strangers who don?t know that they?re offering her anything except a little conversation during a long wait.

The interviewer?a young man working on his thesis?shows Del how people grow and change even over short periods of time, and the man with the red beret gives her a glint of hope that she is clever and has talent.

The flashback between her present self and this traffic jam experience eight years prior offers the reader relief, knowing that she is, indeed, able to take this experience and her life and make something of it.

Breakdown

Del is seventeen, and she's running away from her latest foster home in L.A. She's got a car, got a plan, and then, a traffic accident turns the Santa Monica freeway into a thousand-car parking lot. The book takes place in alternating time periods--during the traffic jam, and eight years later during her performance of a one-woman play/monologue about an epiphany she had while in another, similiar traffic jam.

Del is a strong-minded, forthright protagonist, and the juxtaposition of the two points of view provides a satisfying insight into the woman she'll become. What's hard to capture in a summary is the remarkable interweaving of little bits of the lives of all sorts of fascinating, very plausible characters.

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Title: An Eye for an Eye

Subtitle: Pageturners - Spy

Author: Janet Lorimer

Narrator: Larry McKeever

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 8 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-16-09

Publisher: Saddleback Educational Publishing

Ratings: 1 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Teens, Ages 11-13

Publisher's Summary:

A young psychic specializes in finding missing persons. But is Greg Dixon really missing? Sandy suspects that her newest client isn't really looking for his business partner. He's looking for money!

©2001 Janet Lorimer; (P)2001 Saddleback

Members Reviews:

Four Stars

Great high-low reader

Pulp Education, Bk. 2

Saddleback Educational Publishing has come up with a brilliant concept for solving a very serious problem: the great decline in reading among today's students. Their solution? Make assigned reading materials exciting! Their Pageturners books are short novels, designed to entice even the least motivated students into reading.

This confronts both of the major problems with more traditional readers: if they are not mind-numbingly dull, they are excruciatingly didactic, cramming some important "teachings" whether moral, religious, or (these days) politically correct down the throats of children so hard as to turn them off of reading for good.

Nikki Peters, currently an executive secretary at a bank, had applied for the job as executive secretary to the founder of the Royal Mattress Company for three reasons: the pay was outstanding, the job was described as "unique and challenging", and she wanted out of her current situation. But Hal Dempsey was REALLY hiring an amateur detective, somebody to worm her way into the life of his wastrel youngest son and provide Hal with the information on which to decide whether to finally give up and disinherit him. Thus begins an interesting variation on the detective story with lots of twists and turns before the end.

Plus, for what they are intended to be, reading textbooks, they are wonderful. The fact that students who learn to read better and to love reading from these books may soon find them skimpy fare for pleasure reading is not entirely bad, assuming their teachers quickly move them on to bigger and better things in the school library or the bookstore if necessary.

Other detective fiction Pageturners:The Case of the Cursed Chalet (Pageturners),The Case of the Dead Duck (Pageturners),The Case of the Wanted Man (Pageturners), andThe Case of the Watery Grave (Pageturners).

Pulp Education, Bk. 3

Saddleback Educational Publishing has come up with a brilliant concept for solving a very serious problem: the great decline in reading among today's students. Their solution? Make assigned reading materials exciting! Their Pageturners books are short novels, designed to entice even the least motivated students into reading.

This confronts both of the major problems with more traditional readers: if they are not mind-numbingly dull, they are excruciatingly didactic, cramming some important "teachings" whether moral, religious, or (these days) politically correct down the throats of children so hard as to turn them off of reading for good.

The former fat girl, now gorgeous actress, from Rollie Torres' high school days walks in the door of the detective agency he now works for, begging for protection from a mysterious stalker, and the "surprise twist ending" will be obvious to most readers from the very first chapter. If Rollie is THIS easily fooled perhaps he should reconsider a career in law enforcement! Hard to believe that the same author wrote the MUCH betterThe Case of the Bad Seed.

Still, for what they are intended to be, reading textbooks, they are wonderful.

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Title: America under Attack

Subtitle: America at War

Author: Scott Marquette

Narrator: uncredited

Format: Unabridged

Length: 35 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-15-09

Publisher: Rourke Publishing LLC

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Teens, Ages 11-13

Publisher's Summary:

This audiobook explores the reasons of the terrorist attack of 9/11 and how the U.S. has responded.

©2003 Rourke Publishing; (P)2009 Rourke Publishing

Critic Reviews:

"The America at War series is designed for middle-graders, and it works very well in terms of both design and information.... Marquette writes simply but supplies children with facts set firmly into context. In America under Attack, he begins with 9/11 and then presents a chronology of prior events of terrorism against the U.S. He goes on to describe the war in Afghanistan and changes in American life." (Booklist)

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Title: Barnaby Grimes

Subtitle: Legion of the Dead

Author: Paul Stewart, Chris Riddell

Narrator: Paul Panting

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 30 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-25-08

Publisher: Random House AudioBooks

Genres: Teens, Ages 11-13

Publisher's Summary:

In Legion of the Dead, Barnaby finds himself embroiled in a plot that includes a legion of zombies raised from the dead. In Dickensian times, people were terrified of being buried alive, and so were left in their coffin with a wire, attached to a bell, running from above the ground, down through the earth and the lid of the coffin, and tied to the little finger of the buried body. Those who found themselves awake in the darkness of their coffin could wiggle their finger and summon help. And so one night, Barnaby makes a shortcut through a graveyard and is horrified to hear the tinkling of dozens of little bells...

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Title: Ringmaster

Author: Julia Golding

Narrator: Adjoa Andoh

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-04-08

Publisher: Audible Studios

Genres: Teens, Ages 11-13

Publisher's Summary:

Darcie Lock is inadvertently thrown into a world of SAS men, espionage, corruption, polo games, and fashion parades when her father is taken hostage while investigating an international smuggling ring.

©2007 Julia Golding;

Members Reviews:

Ringmaster Julia Goulding

I loved the plot to this story and I have also read the book I love Julia Goulding's books they are filled with such excitement and adventure.

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Title: Paraworld Zero

Author: Matthew Peterson

Narrator: Matthew Peterson, Alicia Peterson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-10-08

Publisher: Parallel Worlds

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 17 votes

Genres: Teens, Ages 11-13

Publisher's Summary:

But Simon also stumbles upon a secret: He can perform magic in this parallel world! While fighting mystical creatures, unraveling an ancient mystery, and even experiencing his first kiss, Simon discovers that he, an outsider from Earth, is the only person who can save the high-tech planet from an impending doom.

Parallel to Simon's adventures is a mystery involving a catlike spy and a magical swordsman who both struggle to maintain peace among the paraworlds. But evil lurks in unexpected places, and few people can be trusted. Their paths ultimately lead them to Simon: the one boy who might be able to prevent the biggest assassination attempt in the known paraverse.

Winner of the National Indie Excellence Awards

Winner of the London Book Festival

Two-time Winner of the Los Angeles DIY Book Festival

Finalist in the ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year Awards

Two-time Finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards

Honorable Mentions from the Hollywood, New York, New England, and Beach Book Festivals

Fallen Angel Reviews Recommended Read

Flamingnet TOP CHOICE Award

Critic Reviews:

"Over 100 unique character voices are present in this stirring audio adaptation that the whole family can enjoy, perfect for long car trips. Highly recommended." (Midwest Book Review)

Members Reviews:

Great Story But.....

It's a great story. Great idea. It's a real mindbender for the imagination.

Character Naration is superb. Great voices for all the characters.

Story narration, however, was annoying. The writer and his wife(?) it seems double teamed the narration. Matthew is great at character voices, but his narrator's voice fits more with young childrens books (like Peter Pan or Mother Goose). He does not narrate action adventure adolecent sci-fi well at all. His voice is too gentle, soft and bordering effeminate. It sounded like he was reading to a 3 year old - which really ruined all of the action and fight scenes.

The word usage for the book was probably better fitting for English accent narrating or a hard female voice (like Alicia's Peterson's voice).

Alicia's voice is great. It is my opinion that the book needs to be re-narrated with Alicia's voice as the main narrator, with Matthew purely doing male character voices. I think this is the key to putting the book over the top.

Cover art is a little to "back-yard camera with the kids and hair dye".

Out of this Paraworld!

Tweeners will thoroughly enjoy the audio recording of Paraworld Zero by Matthew and Alicia Peterson. My kids, already loyal Paraworld fans, delighted in hearing their favorite characters come to life. The story is chalk-full of humor and character which will keep young listeners captivated until the surprise ending. We can’t wait to see what Simon will do next!

Great Book.

I really enjoyed this book. There was a similiar feel to Harry Potter but I thought the plot was even better in this book. Every time I was in the car my kids wouldn't let us listen to anything else. I hear Book 2 is in the process of being written. We can't wait.

More Than I Expected

A friend referred Paraworld Zero to me, and I was at first skeptical, but after I got into it, I could see the gold in this debut novel. The author of the book and narrator of the audio book, Matthew Peterson, has a future ahead of him... if he can get a larger publisher to back him up.

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Title: Monster Mission

Author: Eva Ibbotson

Narrator: Julian Rhind-Tutt

Format: Abridged

Length: 3 hrs and 13 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-03-08

Publisher: Pan Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Teens, Ages 11-13

Publisher's Summary:

The secret island where they live is a sanctuary for strange and wonderful creatures - mermaids, selkies, the amazing boobrie bird, and even the great Kraken himself.

The kidnapped children love their magical new life - but the Island of Monsters has become the target of some dangerous villains who want to turn it into a theme park.

Critic Reviews:

"For children who like Roald Dahl, Eva Ibbotson's Monster Mission will be a discovery . . . it is engaging, funny and opinionated . . . a treat not to be missed." (Sunday Times)

Members Reviews:

Duplicates "The Island of the Aunts", but read on...

As you may have read from other reviewers, this book is identical in text/content to "The Island of the Aunts" from the same author. Please don't blame the author for this, as the problem lies with two different publishers both owning rights to print the book. (Puffin, and Macmillan) The book by one publisher has a different title and different cover art but it is the same book, word for word. This happened to another Ibbotson book "The Haunting of Hiram C. Hopgood" and "The Haunting of Granite Falls", are identical as well. To make it more confusing, I bought a book before these US releases, "The Haunting of Hiram" in Canada, and it is also the same book with yet another cover and title.

As long as you know BEFORE you buy, it's OK since you can pick which cover art you prefer. I happen to like the Macmillan cover more than the Puffin cover on both books myself, but at least I could choose. The down side of all this, is that I think that buyers are hesitant to rush to buy a new Ibbotson book until they learn more about is, as they are afraid it may duplicate a book they have. This gets harder when you are buying for someone else.

Now, the book that is for sale on this page "Monster Mission", is a great story. It is about three aunts that live on a magical island, whose mission is to care for the magic and mythical creatures of the world, mending them when they are hurt and that sort of thing. As they are getting up in years, they decide they need someone to take their place and it will take some time to train them. They know that it must be children, as they could understand the magic better and believe what they are seeing. So these kind gentle souls decide the best way to get them to the island is to kidnap them! They travel to London to take their time studying different kids to find those that have the right tempemperment and the best chance of success... they need good kind-hearted, smart kids. They find some but, also accidentaly steal another kid who is a beastly mean brat. To make matters worse a ship has arrived to pollute the island and exploit the creatures. This story is sweet and hilarious, dripping with suspense, full of imagination and memorable characters.

This IS Island of The Aunts

Whether it was a re-release, or the English version of the same story, this is the same book as Island of the Aunts. You can imagine my daughter's and my disappointment when, just after finishing Island of the Aunts, we opened this-- only to read, ver batim, the exact same opening words.

I was not happy-- there WAS no description in Amazon.com of this book because it was used. (...)

Island of the Aunts on cassette

If this is truly Island of the Aunts, then it is a good story.

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Title: Vive la Paris

Author: Esme Raji Codell

Narrator: Tichina Arnold

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 22 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-16-08

Publisher: Listening Library

Genres: Teens, Ages 11-13

Publisher's Summary:

In this companion to Saraha Special, a fifth-grader reveals what she has learned about life during a period in which she took piano lessons from a Holocaust survivor.

©2008 Esme Raji Codell; (P)2008 Listening Library

Members Reviews:

A Wonderful Book With An Important Message

In Vive La Paris, a precocious fifth grader named Paris is frustrated and angry that her older brother is being bullied by a girl from Paris's class. Paris can't understand why her brother doesn't hit her back. With the help of her elderly piano teacher, Mrs. Rosen, and her fifth grade teacher, Miss Pointy, Paris learns some very important life lessons about tolerance, the dangers of ignorance, and how we each play an important role when it comes to facing and addressing the injustices we see in the world. This is a powerful story that is beautifully written. I highly recommend it!

A Middle School Teacher's Review

Esme Raji Codell's writing makes you feel good. She has the ear of a teacher who has sat in the back of the classroom and really listened to what matters to young people. She shows the heart in all of her characters, including the ones that you really want to write off.

Vive Le Paris is the companion novel to Sahara Special, which I loved so much. It's fun to check back in on the characters in Miss Pointy's class and see how they've grown under her care. For the most part, though, Paris' story takes place outside of the classroom. She's got a fun, loving family with four older brothers and takes piano lessons from Mrs. Rosen, an elderly Holocaust survivor. Over the course of a few months, she learns about bullying, ignorance, nonviolence, and seeing the world through 'rose-colored glasses'.

There is so much to love here, as a reader and as a teacher.I remember that middle school was when we really delved into learning about World War II. Vive La Paris is geared towards a younger age group, so could be used as an introduction to the Holocaust. It could be read independently over the summer, and then referred back to during the year. This is a novel that kids will love to read, with lots of lessons tucked in.

Vive La Paris is also really funny. In describing her brother's friend, Paris says, "He wears button-down shirts and has glasses like Malcolm X, but he's white, and believe me, on a white boy those glasses got a whole different effect." At first I wanted to say that there are so many humorous throwaway lines, but the reality is that all of the lines are beautifully crafted and intentional.

Finally, I appreciate that the cover actually reflects what happens in the book. There are a lot of details that show the illustrator (whose name I couldn't find) read the novel. She probably loved it too!

* VIVE LA ESME RAJI *

"VIVE . . . !" is a Salute to 5th grader Paris McCray who enjoys that 'only daughter status' in a black family with four older brothers. Paris is very 'with it' in her Chicago environment but has frequent altercations with a classmate who harasses her, & bullies her brother Michael. He is committed to non-violent responses & "the living is easy" - - NOT !

Challenges, school projects and a fascination with (italicized) words sum up Paris' top interests - - these aren't too different from my own interests when a very naive 5th grader at age 9.

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Title: I Wanna Be Your Shoebox

Author: Cristina Garcia

Narrator: Zinnia Su

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 39 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-16-08

Publisher: Listening Library

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Teens, Ages 11-13

Publisher's Summary:

Yumi wishes everything could stay the same. But as she listens to Saul tell his story, she learns that nobody ever asks you if you're ready for life to happen. It just happens. The choice is either to sit and watch or to join the dance.

National Book Award finalist Cristina García's first middle-grade novel celebrates the chaotic, crazy, and completely amazing patchwork that makes up our lives.

Members Reviews:

Sweet

I Wanna Be Your Shoebox was a sweet read. I think it's intended audience will enjoy it very much. From Saul, the dying grandfather, there is much to learn and it's his voice I got the most from in the book. I would have enjoyed this book if it was just his and his wife's story because I found it to be the most interesting part though his Japanese wife speaks only at the end, her character is exemplified in Saul's story.

Saul's knowledge of the depression, World Wars, and past presidents provide interesting history that kids of this age (middle school) are beginning to learn about and he brings them to light in an entertaining first hand tale.

Yumi is struggling with many things. Some plot lines and characters tend to be a little sketchy but it's acceptable and the book flows well. There was some introductory symbolism that will be appreciated.

I am going to recommend my daughter read this book. I think it will be inspiring to her. The colorful ancestry could have been enhanced on the Cuban side, but I think Saul's tale was touching and more complete.

I think this was an entertaining book with just enough interest and action to keep kids reading it. It also had an importance message for kids to 'dance' in their own way.

An enjoyable--although over stuffed--shoebox of a book for teens

If 13-year old Yumi Ruiz-Hirsch's life were a shoebox, it would be a very full one.

Her Cuban mother's writing career and love life is taking off after divorcing Yumi's father. Her half-Japanese and half-Jewish father is barely getting by as a punk-rock-playing piano tuner. Yumi loves surfing, punk rock, classical music and playing the clarinet in her school's orchestra, which might not have a future because of budget cuts. She also likes a boy at school, and there's another boy who likes her. She has a best friend, who loves butter and collecting aluminum foil. Yumi's aunt is trying to adopt a Guatemalan baby. And her 92-year-old grandfather, Saul Hirsch, is dying of cancer. Part of the story is Yumi's, while another part--told in italics--is Saul relating the story of his life to young Yumi in his last months.

Yes, Yumi's life is very full: so full, in fact, that it can be difficult for the reader to understand what this book is about. There doesn't seem to be much of a conflict, and the main character does very little to make things happen. Still it's a very nice, enjoyable story, and it's well written. One wonders, however, if it wouldn't have made a much better novelette, perhaps even a long short story. There's just too much here, and almost everything up to page 126 seems to be little more than exposition.

I give this book four stars, because I liked it.