Perhaps the funniest novel I’ve listened to this year is categorized under young adult fiction, Katie Kennedy’s “Learning to Swear in America.” There are lots of fun discoveries to be made in YA.
“Highly Illogical Behavior” by John Corey Whaley, narrated by Robbie Daymond and Julia Whelan, 6:17, Listening Library
Solomon Reed is a funny, smart 16-year-old who has decided he can live in his parents’ home forever. After all, he hasn’t stepped outside of it for three years. John Corey Whaley’s third book manages a sensitive exploration of agoraphobia with the engaging story of high school senior Lisa Praytor and her mission to rescue Solomon. The narration is first-rate. Julia Whelan, the voice on more than 200 audio titles, including “Gone Girl,” creates Lisa with all her confidence, drive and doubts. Even better is her characterization of Lisa’s both-feet-on-the-ground boyfriend, Clark Robbins. Robbie Daymond, who has voiced as many video games as he has audiobooks, brings every shade of Solomon’s personality to light.
“Riverkeep” by Martin Stewart, narrated by James Cosmo, 12:37, Listening Library
Actor James Cosmo’s range gets an excellent workout with Martin Stewart’s debut novel, “Riverkeep.” In this sometimes dark and often intriguing story, the father of young Wulliam Fobisher disappears beneath the dark surface of the Danek River only to re-emerge frighteningly transformed, possessed by a creature called a bohdan. Cosmo’s bohdan is one of many vivid voices in this tale. Stewart has a genius for creating strange beings, and Cosmo, whose narration is rich and subtle, is as at ease voicing an irascible homunculus made from parts of dead men as he is voicing young girls and women. (Often a weak spot for male narrators.) Wulliam has only one hope of saving his father: a long journey to the bay where he must face down a massive sea monster known as the mormorach, “literally, ‘big, big terror.” Cosmo has narrated only one other audiobook, “Ivanhoe,” and is better known for his movie and television roles, including “Braveheart,” “Trainspotting” and “Game of Thrones.”
“Learning to Swear in America” by Katie Kennedy, narrated by Aaron Landon, 8:58, Audible Studios for Bloomsbury
Katie Kennedy has created a delightful story crackling with wit in her debut novel, “Learning to Swear in America.” Aaron Landon’s narration adds to the fun, conveying the potent mixture of self-doubt and absolute certainty of a Russian teenage genius flown to the United States to help NASA save California from an asteroid strike. Seventeen-year-old Yuri Strelnikov is the world’s leading thinker on antimatter, but he’s spent little time around people his own age. So his encounter with Dovie Collum — “in an algebra equation, she would be the unknown x” — and her hippie family feels almost as important as his efforts to save the continent. You don’t have to be a science nerd to appreciate Yuri’s musings on life: “Dovie exerted a giant gravitational force. She was the closest thing to Jupiter of anyone he’d ever met, but you probably couldn’t say that to a girl.” Landon, with nearly 60 audiobooks to his credit, has been narrating since he was 9 years old.
“The Great American Whatever” written and narrated by Tim Federle, 6:33, Simon & Schuster Audio
Sixteen-year-old Quinn Roberts was preparing to become a great filmmaker, and then his chief collaborator, his sister Annabeth, died in an automobile accident. He’s done little but nurse his pain ever since. His best friend, Geoff, urges him to return to the world, a journey that teaches him he’s been wrong about a lot. Tim Federle, author of “The Great American Whatever,” also narrates this story of a gay teenager coming to terms with his ambitions, his relationships, and who his sister really was. The author is clearly enjoying himself with Quinn’s sardonic proclamations. This is Federle’s first YA novel; he’s written several middle-grade books, including 2014 Lambda Literary Award winner, “Five, Six, Seven, Nate!”
“This is Where It Ends” by Marieke Nijkamp, narrated by a cast including Nick Podehl, 6:18, Brilliance Audio
There’s no hiding from the subject matter of “This is Where It Ends,” but parents may not want to sign off on a story about a school massacre for their 11-year-old. (Amazon has it rated for ages 11-13.) Older YA readers will be disappointed with this account, which turns a topic of real gravity into a teenage melodrama, complete with love story. To her credit, author Nijkamp does not simplify the boy who attacks his classmates, and she creates a network of students who knew him and who confront their own feelings of guilt as the massacre plays out. But a subject of this enormity deserves a thoughtful book. This isn’t it. The cast performance does not help. Several female voices are similar. A few actors sound more like parents than adolescents, and at least one performance is simply wooden.
Jenni Laidman is a freelance writer.