SYNC YA Literature into Your Earphones

2 Free Audiobook Downloads Each Week
June 23 - August 17, 2011

Teens and other readers of Young Adult Literature will have the opportunity to listen to bestselling titles and required reading classics this summer. Each week from June 23 - August 17, 2011, SYNC will offer two free audiobook downloads.

The audiobook pairings will include a popular YA title and a classic that connects with the YA title's theme and is likely to show up on a student's summer reading lists. For example, Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, the first book in a popular series with strong allusions to Romeo & Juliet, will be paired with Shakespeare's classic.

To find out when you can download titles to listen to on the run this summer, visit www.AudiobookSync.com or text syncya to 25827

SYNC Titles
Summer 2011

6/23/11 - 6/29/11
Shiver By Maggie Stiefvater
Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare

6/30/11-7/6/11
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
The Trial by Franz Kafka

7/7/11-7/13/11
Where the Streets Had a Name by Randa Abdel-Fattah
A Passage to India by E. M. Forster

7/14/11-7/20/11
The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney
Beowulf by Francis B. Gummere [Trans.]

7/21/11-7/27/11
Chanda's Secrets by Allan Stratton
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

7/28/11-8/3/11
Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari
Rescue: Stories of Survival From Land and Sea by Dorcas S. Miller [Ed.]

8/4/11-8/10/11
Immortal by Gillian Shields
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

8/11/11-8/17/11
Storm Runners by Roland Smith
The Cay by Theodore Taylor

Book 6: Audiobooking Hurricane Gold

I may have mentioned before how much I esteem the narration powers of British actor Nathaniel Parker.  His performance of the Artemis Fowl books is up there with Jim Dale's Harry Potter tour de force. 

Similarly, his Young James Bond readings are so well done that I only listen to the books.   His patrician tones are a perfect match for the Eton College educated Bond and his facility with voice characterizations works with the different characters brilliantly.

Needless to say, I have been awaiting the USA release of the Hurricane Gold audiobook rather anxiously.  As happens sometimes, there is a weird time lag between the time the book was released in the UK and over here but all is forgiven, I've downloaded the audiobook and WHAT????

These are not the dulcet tones of Nathaniel Parker!! This is Gerard Doyle who I enjoyed very VERY much reading Gideon the Cutpurse: Being the First Part of the Gideon Trilogy but this is James Bond!! 

C'MON!  

Parker did record Hurricane Gold and the next book, By Royal Command and according to their website, I can still buy his version for a packet of $$ from BBC Audiobooks.  Apparently, Blackstone is now the distributer for the audiobooks here in the USA.  The first three were available through Random House Listening Library. The change must have been because of the money. I always tell my entlings, "follow the money."

My attempts at ILL the Nathaniel Parker version, through World Cat, from Australia were unsuccessful.   Drat and Blast. 

OK, so, for the challenge, I've been trying to give this new version a chance.   

No. Sorry.  

Doyle's attempt at an American  Southern accent sounds demented--as bad as, say, Dick Van Dyke attempting a Cockney accent.  

This is very sad for me.  Young James Bond Fail.

Audiobook listening time: 1 hr. 06  min.

Blogging time:  45 min.

Under the Jolly Roger

Oh, joy, joy, joy!

My public library just added the 3rd Jacky Faber book, Under the Jolly Roger: Being an Account of the Further Nautical Adventures of Jacky Faber, to its audiobook downloads collection!!

And I didn't have to put it on hold!

I just checked it out!

It is on my mp3 player!!

Hoorah!

See you on the other side

BookMoot is going off to do family/wedding things this week so I will see you all on the other side in 2009.

(But BookMoot, you are in a blogging void anyway so why bother even mentioning this?)

Well, I have just finished listening to an astounding performance in audiobook-ness. (I can do important Christmas/wedding thinking while listening to a book, I just can't read text and simultaneously drive or shop or write.)


**

Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy

Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady

by L. A. Meyer, narrated by Katherine Kellgren

Katherine Kellgren's performance as Jacky Faber, the heroine of this tale of high adventure, is a narration tour de force. Mary Burkey at Audiobooker named Blue Tattoo one of Audiobooker’s Choice: Great Youth Audiobooks of 2008. It also eaerned a 2008 Odyssey Award Honor. Kellgren joins Jim Dale, and Nathaniel Parker in the pantheon of youth audiobook readers.

Meyer's story is a sort of Oliver Twist meets Charlotte Doyle meets Horatio Hornblower.
In order to survive starvation as an orphan on the mean streets of London, Mary Faber becomes "Jacky" and signs on to the crew of HMS Dolphin as a ships' boy. She thrives as part of the Royal Navy. Standing fast under fire and as part of a boarding party, she earns the title Bloody Jack. She must keep her sex a secret but that becomes harder with each passing day.

Curse of the Blue Tattoo could be "the rest of the story" if Charlotte Doyle had not returned to the sea faring life. Jacky Faber meets Sarah Crewe from A Little Princess.

Jacky, newly promoted to midshipman, is booted off the ship when it is discovered that she is a girl. With her share of the Dolphin's prize money, she is enrolled in the Lawson Peabody School. Here the future wives of diplomats, congressmen and even presidents of the new republic are schooled and trained. She strives to understand the social conventions of 18th century Boston and learns school girls can be more dangerous than pirates.

I'm dialing up all of Kellgren's audiobooks, asap.

Audiobook: The Count of Monte Cristo

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas père, narrated by John Lee, Blackstone Audiobooks, 2008

So let's say you are stuck without electricity and you discover that it really is not possible to knit by battery lantern light. Well, thank goodness you charged up your mp3 player beforehand and have this classic tale of intrigue and revenge to listen to.

I had NO idea that this audiobook was read by John Lee but at the first sound of his voice intoning his name I did a mental happy dance. This was going to be good, I thought.

I was correct.

Earlier this year, I thoroughly enjoyed Lee's reading of Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth. His voicing and characterization are always on the mark and very engaging. For this story he has created a wide range of accents and voices for characters who seemed to appear effortlessly in my imagination. His French accent is perfection.

I confess, I had never read this classic before and when I shared my delight in this recording with the entlings, they responded, "we know that story, we saw it on Wishbone."

Ah Wishbone, I have much to thank that little Jack Russell Terrier for. That really was a terrific program.

The Count of Monte Cristo is about justice, reward, revenge, retribution and forgiveness.

Just promoted to ship's captain and on the eve of his marriage, Edmond Dantes finds himself overtaken by events that have nothing to do with him. The political intrigues of others result in his unjust imprisonment in the Chateau d'If for fourteen years. During that time, he makes friends with the Abbé Faria who gives him directions to a fabulous treasure, if Edmond can have if he ever escapes. Edmond does escape, just not in the manner Wishbone did.

When the wealthy and pale-skinned Count of Monte Cristo appears on the Paris social scene, disasters begin to befall the villains who caused Edmond Dantes's misery.

I found it hard to believe this story was written over 150 years ago. Drugs, sex, stock market manipulation, specious banking schemes, and political machinations--as the old saying goes, "Ripped from today's headlines..." This is a totally enthralling story and a perfect audiobook listen.

Audiobooks

I do not know if it is because I am so busy right now or maybe it is because I need new reading glasses, but, I seem to be listening to more books than I am reading right now.
I can accomplish other things while I am listening. I can drive to camp to pick up the entling, I can sew, I can cook, I can knit, I can work in the yard.

(Entlings: "When do you ever work in the yard? It is summer in Texas. People, she does NOT work in the yard")

Well, what ever.

I can clean up MARC cataloging records and I can shop for bridesmaid dresses, wedding invitations and study wedding sites for winter wedding ideas while listening to a book.

Certainly, I cannot blog, I cannot read blogs or the newspaper, I cannot carry on a conversation. I cannot do anything that requires word crafting or interpretive text handling. (I can "watch" television and do these things, though.) I am aware that I am having a different experience with the book than if I were reading it.

Many, many of the school libraries where I work are building wonderful audiobook collections. If you are considering these materials for your library, do check out Audiobooker, who is taking notes on the benefits of audiobooks.

Do read:
International Association of School Librarians Conference: Beyond the Book Session Notes

and International Association of School Librarians Conference Session: Beyond the Book Resource List.

Audiobooks that charm

The month of May was such a busy month here in the entwood that actual reading time has been minimal but BookMoot has been listening to some excellent audiobooks.

We may not be taking driving vacations this year but there are rooms to toss, and closets to clean out and corners to excavate and (sob!) bookcases to weed. I find I stay at these unpleasant tasks longer when I have a great book to listen to.

Ahhh... summer.





Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo by Greg Leitich Smith, Recorded Books, 2004

Three friends, a private middle school and a science fair.

As the school science fair approaches, seventh grader, Elias, lives in the shadow of his older brother's legendary science fair success. Eli is also dealing with his developing romantic feelings for his good friend Honoria. Honoria is determined to train piranhas to become vegetarians for her science project and she is attracted to Shohei who is totally unaware that he is the focus of her attentions. He is frustrated by his adoptive parents' intense focus on his Japanese heritage and their overreaching attempts to make sure he remains "in touch" with his cultural background. His own interest in the science fair is minimal, so, looking for an easy way out, he teams-up with Eli. His lack of effort spells disaster for their project which in turn, has terrible consequences for Elias.

The story is told in the first person by three main characters. Elias, Honoria and Shohei are wonderfully voiced by the actors in this audio version. My one regret is that Recorded Books, who produced the book, did credit the performers who so perfectly caught the tone and point of view of the three characters.

The story is full of humor. Greg translates that strange time that is middle school / junior high with sympathy and affection.

Great fun.





Lionboy by Zizou Corder, read by Simon Jones, Highbridge Audio, 2003

I know you've heard audiobook narrators who work so hard at different characters' voices that they seem to be about to strangle themselves with the microphone chord sometimes.
Audiobook performance is difficult, which makes Jim Dale's (Harry Potter) achievement even more extraordinary. In this production, Simon Jones's narration never gets in the way of the story. His expertise in this genre shines here.

Charlie Ashanti has a happy life. His scientist parents provide him with love and security. When they disappear under mysterious circumstances, Charlie uses the clues they leave behind and his gift for speaking the language of cats to trace their whereabouts.

His search takes him to the river's edge where he joins a circus which travels the rivers of Europe on a huge barge. The calliope music is of the circus is utterly beguiling and puts the listener on board the ship along with Charlie. He is taken on as the lionboy, the assistant to the sinister lion tamer. Keeping his ability to communicate with the lions, a secret is a challenge. He receives updates about his parents from cats at the various cities and towns where the circus performs. Charlie longs to free the circus lions from their captivity and continue the search for his parents but accomplishing an escape is dangerous. Then there is the problem of traveling through a city with a group of lions and not attracting unwanted attention.

Very original story with sequels to listen to.

Oh boy!!





Miracle on 49th Street by Mike Lupica, read by Michele Santopietro, 2006

Why couldn't Santopietro read Twilight? I might have enjoyed it. She gives twelve year old Molly Parker's voice a freshness and optimism that works perfectly with the story.

Molly's mother has recently died from cancer and she has come to live with her mother's sister and family. She is not unhappy, she has a great friendship with Sam, a brilliant guy with whom she can share everything. Her dream is to have a relationship with her father, Josh Cameron who is a star player with the Boston Celtics. Living in England for most of her life, her mother had not told her the truth about her father's identity until she became ill.

YA novels are often about a girl yearning for a relationship with the guy of her dreams. In this story, they guy is her dad. Now Molly is on a quest to meet her father and hopefully enjoy a happy father-daughter relationship with him.

Lupica includes lots of behind-the-scenes details of the pro basketball world which ring true.

Sweet story !
Mike Lupica sure knows how to engage me with characters I really care about.






I confess I have been somewhat reluctant to take up Charlie Higson's Young Bond books. I have such a fondness for my Alex Rider (by Anthony Horowitz, nicely read by Simon Prebble.)

As Alex is a "sort of" young James Bond-like character, I wondered if Higson's "James" would be distinct or a mere shadow of young Alex. I have not even bothered with the new novel incarnations of Bond as I prefer the Fleming originals.

I was thrilled and happy to discover that SilverFin and Blood Fever were compelling and "didn't want to stop" listens for me. Nathaniel Parker (clicked on his website and shouted, "Oh, him! Inspector Lynley!) is an outstanding voice actor who shades each character with a distinct tone and cadence.

I enjoyed Siverfin but I loved Blood Fever. There is much here for the guys. Blood Fever teaches fishing techniques, explains the workings of the internal combustion engine and learning to drive a car.

One nice aspect of the stories, for those who insist that a book has to teach a lesson (not me) is that the loutish bullies who make life miserable for James at Eton, are redeemed and end up as friends with him.

There are sly references to the future career of 007 which fans will "get." I have Higson's third book downloaded and ready for listening.

I guess it is time to go toss the entlings' rooms now. I'm ready.

A Hit and a Miss

There are some books that as a librarian who talks about books with kids, I feel that I HAVE to read.




The Twilight books are the bane of my life.
God bless Stephenie Meyer and her books for the impact they have had on young readers.
When a kid comes in to a junior high library to check out New Moon and tells you that she has already read the book three times "but I just HAD to read it today!" I take note.

When a teacher tells you about her summer trip to Seattle to retrace the characters' lives...well, that is fandom -- pure and devoted.

Alas, over the past year, I have been unable to make headway in the first book despite urgings and strong encouragement from all sides.

C-a-n-n-o-t f-o-r-c-e my eyeballs across the page.

So, I got the audiobook to listen to and despite some setbacks, (zzzzzzzzzzzz...zzzz....zzz...zz, Mom, wake up, I'm finished with my voice lesson) finally managed to finish the book yesterday.

I can see why young readers are so attracted to the story; to think someone so suave and handsome and sophisticated would find a high school girl so mesmerizing and irresistible. That is heady stuff. And certainly the ongoing tension of the story--will Edward chomp Bella--is sort of thrilling-ish...kinda...maybe...

When I told a friend I was listening to the book, she groaned..."Don't listen to it, it is not as good."
Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I had read it. I can't say I enjoyed the audiobook narration. It was just so s-l-o-w.

I found myself bracing and steeling for each usage of the "I" personal pronoun which seems to occur about every five seconds.

Despite my love of YA literature, I think it is interesting that I was unable to disconnect my maternal monitor while I listened to this book. There were times I wanted to stop the story and ask Bella about her college and career plans.

At least I've finished it. Don't know if I will continue with the series. My friend told me the Twilight fans break into two groups and she thinks I have potential as a New Mooner? She is not giving up on me. We will see.

-------------------------------------

I have been trying to read Garth Nix's Sabriel ever since one of my students told me to read it...oh my...at least five years ago.
Michelle at Scholar's Blog has similarly exhorted me to read the books.

I've picked it up to read and watched it slowly sink lower and lower in the TBR pile. When Nix spoke at TLA I purchased the entire Abhorsen trilogy and had him sign them. My youngest entling, who had previously been uninterested, took them up as soon as I got home. I think she has read them at least a dozen times since then.

I tried the audiobook but just could not fall into the story, until this past week.
Timing is everything.
I have been away in the Old Kingdom for quite a while now. I cannot wait to get on with the series now.

Tim Curry's narration is brilliant, marvelous, pitch perfect. His character voicing is distinct but never forced.
Wonderful!

Austenland: A Novel

Austenland: A Novel by Shannon Hale, (2007) Katherine Kellgren (Narrator)

• If you love Jane Austen novels, this book is for you.
• If you love the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice and think Colin Firth is the BEST EVER Darcy, this book is for you.
• If you enjoy a lighthearted romance that you would not be embarrassed to share with your mother or your daughters, this book is for you.
• If you are currently sewing period dresses for a daughter who has become involved in English Country Dancing and making note of how most of the fullness in Regency style empire waisted skirts is at the back at of the dress to allow for a smooth profile from the front, this book is for you.

Thirty-two year old Jane Hayes feels like she is a loser at love. She has the DVD of the BBC miniseries Pride and Prejudice which she pulls out when she needs a shot of Mr. Darcy. She longs for the romantic connection of an Elizabeth Bennet-and-Fitzwilliam Darcy sort in her own life.

She is bequeathed a trip to "Jane Austen World" in England, by a great-aunt. Pembrook Park lets the "campers" live and breathe 18th century England, complete with elegant gowns, etiquette and diversions. Jane decides this is her opportunity to purge herself of her Darcy neediness by immersing herself in the fantasy. She is a 21st century person at heart though, so as she becomes accustomed to corsets and dresses that are not conducive to exercise, there is a part of her that holds back. In her heart she knows the "gentlemen" are actors but that does not keep her from wishing for a true romance.

I enjoyed Jane's ability to match the events at Pembrook Park to the plots and characters from Jane Austen's novels. This is an entertaining and fun summer read. No one can "do" Jane Austen. Austenland is Shannon Hale's curtsy to the master.

I listened to audio version of the book because of my schedule. I enjoyed it but I am also looking forward to going back and actually reading it, which is something I rarely do.