Three Great Audiobooks to Top Off Your Summer

I love good audiobooks. The best audiobooks help me to multitask--I read as I cook, fold laundry, clean up around my apartment, or drive. I love that I can get through several juvenile audiobooks in a relatively short span of time, and I simultaneously stay up-to-date on children's titles while storing away title names for audiobook readers' advisory interviews. Here are three fantastic audiobooks to top off your summer, all funny and featuring male protagonists.

Look, Lenore. Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things. Read by Everette Plen. Listening Library, 123 minutes unabridged.

     Alvin Ho is about to start the second grade, which would be fine if it weren't for the fact that he's afraid of school. He's so afraid that he cannot speak at all from the moment he steps off the school bus, which results in some amount of misfortune and teasing. Alvin Ho is also afraid of girls, which is unfortunate because his deskmate is Flea, short for Sophie, who is a girl--which is still bad even if she's a girl with a really cool eye patch. Needless to say, young Alvin Ho has a lot to deal with, from school and friends and family to the psychotherapist he sees because of his fear-induced mute episodes to the old lady down the street who gives piano lessons. Alvin encounters all sorts of average and hilarious situations that gradeschoolers will recognize, if not from their own experience then from that of their friends. This laugh-out-loud title is read perfectly by young actor Everette Plen, who gives Alvin Ho just the voice Look's story showcases. Alvin Ho features in several books in the series bearing his name.

Angleberger, Tom. The Strange Case of Origami Yoda. Read by Mark Turetsky, Greg Steinbruner, Jonathan Todd Ross, Julia Gibson, and Charlotte Parry. Recorded Books, 135 minutes unabridged.

     Main narrator Tommy has taken it upon himself to create a case file pertaining to incidents involving Origami Yoda--the origami rendering of Yoda that fellow sixth-grader Dwight wears on his finger and who dispenses Jedi-worthy advice to all who ask. Tommy and his classmates recount all of the instances in which they consulted Origami Yoda and discuss the results, and Tommy and his friend Harvey weigh in after each episode, giving a great structure to the series of first-person accounts of Origami Yoda's mysterious powers. Angleberger's characters are well-developed and their voices spot on, and the humor that pervades this often touching school story is outstanding. The use of multiple readers adds to the authenticity of the audiobook, as the listener really begins to feel the different kids emerge as their own unique selves. The Origami Yoda series continues with Darth Paper Strikes Back and the just-released The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee.

Hiaasen, Carl. Chomp. Read by James Van Der Beek. Listening Library, 371 minutes unabridged.

     Wahoo Cray isn't your average kid on his summer vacation. His father is a professional animal wrangler, and this summer Wahoo and his dad are hired to provide animal help for a popular reality tv show called Expedition Survival! The Crays need the money, so despite the tv studios controlling demands--and the even more annoying and needy star of the show, Derek Badger--they accept the job and all that comes with it. After a near-fatal run-in with Alice, the Crays' alligator, the foolhardy Derek Badger decides to film the rest of the Everglades episode out in the actual Everglades. With the Crays along for the shoot accompanied by a school friend of Wahoo's, things begin to spiral deeper and deeper into potentially-deadly chaos. After everything goes wrong, Wahoo's only hope for escape from a deranged tv survivalist, his friend's gun-toting drunk dad, and the natural threats of the Everglades is his own determination and skill. Wahoo is a great main character, and while Van Der Beek's narration isn't always consistent, Hiaasen's great writing carries the whole audiobook.

Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer

Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer is the first book in a legal thriller series for young readers by John Grisham. You know all of those slightly argumentative (in a good way!) older elementary school kids who seem always ready to pick an arbitrary fight over books, movies, anything? Consider getting those kids started on this series.

Theo Boone is the only child of two lawyers, and the way he tells it, he had no choice but to become steeped in law and justice as well. When a murder trial is set to take place in his town, Theo uses his familiarity with the judges and courts to get his government class seats at the opening arguments of the trial. Theo's desire to follow every detail of the trial becomes somewhat complicated, though, when a friend confides he might know something about the case--something big. Suddenly Theo is torn between keeping his friend's confidence and seeing justice prevail.

Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer could have easily spiraled into a boring, dumbed-down legal story, but I'm glad to say that is decidedly not the case. The thriller is exciting and captivating enough to keep almost any reader's attention, yet it is not so sensational as to turn away fans of realistic fiction or sensitive readers. I love the narration style, too; everything is told from Theo's perspective, and that means we're privy to all Theo's snarky thoughts while he presents an outward reserved politeness. What kid can't relate to having to agree politely with a grown-up when he'd rather tell said grown-up off? Theo Boone may be acting like a young lawyer, but he is very relatable.

I listened to the audiobook version of Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer, which is read superbly by Richard Thomas. The pacing is perfect to build suspense and develop Theo's character, and Thomas does enough voice variation to keep the plot moving along quickly without generating confusion. The five-hour audiobook makes for great listening on an otherwise uneventful car ride, perfect for summer travels.

Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer is nominated for Missouri's Mark Twain Readers Award for the 2012-2013 school year. The award recognizes books for readers in grades 4 through 6.

The Clockwork Three

Every school year, twelve fiction titles are nominated for Missouri's Mark Twain Readers Award. These novels are meant to appeal to kids in the fourth through sixth grades, and the topics and genres always run the gamut--there's something to appeal to every Missouri reader in that age range! Many, many kids come to the library looking specifically for Mark Twain books, so I make a point of familiarizing myself with all of them. I just started in on the 2012-2013 nominated titles. First on my list: the audiobook version of Matthew J. Kirby's The Clockwork Three.

The Clockwork Three tells the story of three children in an unnamed, steampunk American city. Giuseppe is originally from Italy but, after his parents' death and his sale to a not-so-nice guy who exploits children in the New World, he has been slaving away as a street musician for over half his life. When he finds a green violin washed up near the docks, he starts to think that escaping his busker life and returning to Italia might be a possibility. Then there's Frederick, a precocious clockmaker's apprentice. He is obsessed with clockwork automatons and perfecting his secret creation for the clockmakers guild, but he routinely shoves aside the lingering curiosity and hurt he feels regarding his becoming an orphan. Lastly there is Hannah, a bright young girl who has been forced to get a job as a hotel maid after her father's sudden and drastic illness. Hannah overhears talk of a fortune hidden in the hotel, and she sets her sights on finding it in an effort to alleviate the financial and mental strains on her mother, father, and twin sisters.

The chapters rotate through focusing on each of the three protagonists, and eventually their storylines intersect as the three children become friends. They've all been loners of sorts, but they develop fondnesses for one another and realize that together they may be able to meet each of their goals. Together the clockwork three dash through city streets, brave the wild park of the city, encounter quite a few enemies who have ill intentions toward them, and embark on a series of adventures that tests their mettle beyond anything they had expected.

The action of the story is evenly-paced and keeps one's attention, and the reader (Marc Thompson) performs a variety of strong voices to further illuminate the story. The audiobook is nearly twelve hours long, so it's a large chunk of a story--but there is more than enough intrigue and character to keep listeners engaged. I enjoyed hearing The Clockwork Three develop, and I would definitely recommend the audiobook to school-age kids looking for something for long car rides during upcoming summer vacations. The 2012-2013 Mark Twain Readers Award nominees are certainly off to a good start.