The Dragon's Den (Warders #3), by Armen Pogharian (author), Michelle Babb (narrator)

Armen Pogharian, ISBN 9798868720390, November 2023

The Warders, the secret protectors of the city of Eridan, are facing a new danger. It's alarming enough when an agent working in another city is killed, and a magical artifact stolen. When the local head of the Thieves' Guild contacts the Warders, the message, and one of the messengers, is even more alarming.

The unexpected messenger is a rogue Shaulan assassin, Khelan, and the message concern a plot whose roots are in a centuries-old conflict between two groups of elves. A Chaotic Order sorceress is determined to gain control of the long-suppressed elven magic, and use it to seize power over the entire Federation of which Eridan is a part. 

The Counterfeit Count (Warders #2), by Armen Pogharian (author), Michelle Babb (narrator)

Armen Pogharian, September 2023

Adara is undergoing her field trial test, the final step in completing her preparation to become a full-fledged member of the Warders, the secret organization that protects Eridan. Geren has assigned her to secretly follow the coach of the Count of neighboring Cruese. She's shocked when she hears sword striking sword, and comes into view of the coach to see Geren fighting the Count's personal guard. Has he gone mad? Has he gotten sucked into Cruese's complex political conflicts? Is it the trickiest part of her test? Instead of finishing up her field trial, she now has a dangerous mystery to untangle.

Graceling (Graceling Realm #1) by Kristin Cashore (author), David Baker (narrator), Chelsea Mixon(narrator), Zachary Exton(narrator), Mark Bruzee(narrator), Richard McKee(narrator), Dominic Lloyd(narrator), Jordan Glaski(narrator), Andrea Leonard(narrator), Mark Austin(narrator), Bruce Coville(narrator), Ben Elms(narrator), Tim Green(narrator), Tate Green(narrator), Kate Huddleston(narrator), Brian Pringle(narrator), Jacob Morris-Knower(narrator), J.P. Crangle(narrator), Alice Morigi(narrator), Daniel Bostick(narrator), Todd Hobin(narrator), Trevor Hill(narrator), Tim Purcell(narrator), John Brackett(narrator), Nathan Bostick(narrator), Greg Banecker(narrator), Seth Danner(narrator), Michael Kavulic(narrator), Peter Moller(narrator), Gerard Moses(narrator), Ian Boudreau(narrator), Kathe Leonard (narrator)

Full Cast Audio), ISBN 9781934180976, June 2009 (original publication October 2008)

Lady Katsa is the niece of King Randa, but more importantly, at least to Randa, is that she's a Graceling--one of the people born with a special power. Katsa's Grace, showing itself at an uncomfortably early age, appears to be killing. Randa has her trained in all the fighting arts, and then uses her as his enforcer. When a prominent subject, or someone he's trading with, or others anger him, he sends Lady Katsa, along with Armsmaster Oll, and Lord Giddon, to deliver his message. Katsa is the one who delivers the painful, or sometimes fatal, part of the message. 

Seven Wild Sisters: A Modern Fairy Tale (Newford #19) by Charles de Lint (author), Charles Vess (illustrator)

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, February 2014 (original publication May 2002)

The Dillards are a family of eight now; a widowed mother and her seven daughters--including two sets of twins. They're living now on a farm near a small town, and a large forest. There are odd stories about the forest, about fairies and other magical creatures, and strange disappearances. Further into the woods than the Dillards' home is the little house of Lillian Kindred. Lily is an old woman who lives alone, and grows and processes most of her own food. She also collects wild-growing ginsang, or as she calls it, 'sang, to sell in town and buy the few things she can't make herself. A lot of the work is hard, heavy work, though, and when Lily and the fourth of the Dillard girls, Sarah Jane, and Lily take a liking to each other, Mrs. Dillard doesn't object to Sarah Jane spending her free time helping Lily Kindred.

Penny Preston and the King's Blade (Misaligned #3), by Armen Pogharian (author), Michelle Babb (narrator)

Sue Arroyo, August 2021 (original publication November 2014)

Penny Preston, her friend Duncan, teacher Mr. Myrdin (who is the actual Merlin), Myrdin's companion Master Poe--an exile from the 7th dimension who has assumed raven form in our world, and not least, Penny's companion, Simon, who looks like a very large housecat but is actually a cait sith, one of a race of transdimensional cat-like beings native to our dimension, might have thought they were entitled to a break after their last two adventures. That's not to be, however. A new threat has arrived, a beast from the 5th dimension, is attacking the barriers between the dimensions, threatening the very survival of the multiverse.

At first, all they know is that the weakening of the dimensional barriers is happening. Before they can save the multiverse, they have to figure out what the source of the threat really is.

Cemetery Boys, by Aiden Thomas

Swoon Books, ISBN 9781250250469, September 2020

Yadriel is a Latinx teenager with a traditional family, and hopes to be a true brujo. He's got the talent. He's of an age to have the ceremony pledging himself to Lady Death, and becoming a true brujo.

The problem: Yadriel's very traditional family is convinced he's their daughter, not their son. They expect him to become a bruja, a form of magic for which he has no gift. Finally, with the help of his best friend, his cousin Maritza, he performs the ritual himself--successfully. Lady Death, at least, accepts him as a real brujo.

But he still has to prove it to his family and the rest of their community. The sudden death and disappearance of another cousin provides a chance to provide that proof while doing real good for the community.

He sets out to summon his cousin's ghost.

Instead, he summons the ghost of a fellow high school student who is a bit of a bad boy, rumored to be a gang member--and now recently dead. The ghost, Julian Diaz, wants to know what happened to him, and if his friends are all right. He absolutely refuses to be released to the next world until he does.

The Girl Least Likely, by Katy Loutzenhiser

Harper Audio, ISBN 9780063077744, June 2021

"Voice galley," read by a synthetic voice, not whoever is the eventual narrator. The sound of the voice is pretty good, but intonation, emphasis, pronunciation are not always consistent. The real narrator will undoubtedly be much better.

Gretchen is a high school junior in Portland, Maine, the youngest of three siblings, and a generally quiet, somewhat withdrawn girl. She doesn't call attention to herself. She has only a few close friends, and not a large number of friendly acquaintances. She's a member of the yearbook club mainly because an extracurricular activity is required, and in her freshman and sophomore years, there were enough members that she as able to do only tasks that didn't require much interaction with anyone not a member of the yearbook club.

Becoming a standup comic is something that never crossed her mind.

Penny Preston and the Silver Scepter (Misaligned, Book 2), by Armen Pogharian (author), Michelle Babb (narrator)

CamCat Publishing, LLC, June 2021 (original publication August 2013)

Penny Preston, her friend Duncan, her multidimensional cat, or "Cait Sith," Simon, and their mentors, Mr. Myrdin and Master Poe, are facing a dangerous new challenge.

Something went wrong with Penny's closure of a new time fold, and something may have slipped through. Meanwhile, a friend of Myrdin's on an archaeology dig has found an ancient artifact, a silver scepter.

Suddenly, people are seeing a strange little man dressed in red, who asks for favors. After he doesn't get them, strange pranks are played--including the local cat lady's cats being hung up in trees, but very carefully, in rope nets that restrain them without harming them.

Firekeeper's Daughter, by Angeline Boulley (author), Isabella Star LaBlanc (narrator)

Macmillan Audio, ISBN 9781250779519, March 2021

Daunis Fontaine is eighteen years old, daughter of a white woman and an Ojibwe  man, an unenrolled tribal member with much-loved family on both sides of the divide. She's had to delay her plans to head off to college with the goal of becoming a doctor, and eventually scientifically studying traditional medicines. Her uncle, her mother's brother died in what appeared to be a drug overdose, and then her maternal grandmother, GrandMary, had a stroke. Her mother needs her support.

It's a challenging time for her, but there's a bright spot--the new guy, Jamie Johnson, on her brother Levi's hockey team. Yet something about this nice guy does not quite add up.

Chaos on CatNet (CatNet #2), by Naomi Kritzer (author), Casey Turner (narrator), Corey Gagne (narrator)

Audible Studios, April 2021

Steph and her mother are no longer on the run. Steph's father is locked up in Boston, awaiting trial with no bail. They're living in Minneapolis, and Steph is finally enrolled in a high school she can expect to graduate from. She's enrolled under her real name, with all the school information that she has, and telling the truth about why it's so spotty.

She also has a new friend, a classmate named Nell, who has her own interesting history. She's been homeschooled until now, because her mother joined a cult. Well, a series of cults, but the latest one is especially extreme, and is run by someone called the Elder, whom no one ever sees. 

Penny Preston and the Raven's Talisman (Misaligned #1), by Armen Pogharian (author), Michelle Babb (narrator)

CamCat Publishing LLC, April 2021

Penny Preston is just trying to figure out what the mist-figures in the corridor outside the school cafeteria are and what they're doing, when she accidentally opens a transdimensional rift and starts a food fight. It's not any great surprise that, though it takes a bit longer than she expected, she's soon enough sitting in the office of Mr. Myrdin.

It is a surprise that she's not there to be disciplined for starting the food fight. Two other students have been blamed for that, and being as unaware as everyone else of Penny's involvement, they've accepted it. No, Penny is there because the only other person who noticed the strange creatures is Mr. Myrdin. He wants to talk to her about the fact that she's "misaligned," existing in more than just the usual three dimensions, and thus an important key to stop transdimensional beings from attacking and destroying our universe.

Chroma, by Oscar Wenman-Hyde

Oscar Wenman-Hyde's Chroma gives us the story of Riley, a teenager whose life is about to turn upside down. He's watching an unsettling movie; his parents are planning a divorce.

They're unaware of the effects this is having on Riley's emotional and mental well-being, and as tensions rise at school and at home, he's visited by a voice in his bedroom. Before too long, he begins a journey that's not only dangerous, but eye opening. 

Chroma explores the rapidly changing family dynamic throughout divorce, and how a child's imagination can take them to unknown places. It is emotional, insightful and a moving story which not only teaches us how to be an adult, but how to be a child.

 

Purchase Links

 

UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chroma-Oscar-Wenman-Hyde-ebook/dp/B08H5S1JTZ 

US - https://www.amazon.com/Chroma-Oscar-Wenman-Hyde-ebook/dp/B08H5S1JTZ

 

Author Bio –

Oscar Wenman-Hyde is a writer living in Gloucester, UK. Born and raised in the quiet towns of North Devon, Oscar would spend the majority of his time as a child writing and directing short films with his brother and neighbours. From here, Oscar’s passion led him to explore all aspects of his creativity, by graduating with a BA Hons in Songwriting at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute. He now finds joy in all mediums of writing and although he has worked and trained in many areas, he is always inspired by film and remains grounded in storytelling.

Social Media Links –

-          Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OJ-Scriptwriting-106185034262166

-          Instagram: @oj_scriptwriters & @oscarwenmanhyde

Prime Deceptions (Chilling Effect #2) by Valerie Valdes

Harper Voyager, September 2020

Eva Innocente doesn't want to talk to her sister again.

She doesn't want to call her mother anytime soon.

She and the rest of the crew of La Sirena Negra want paying jobs to pay their bills, and rescue crew member Sue's brother Josh from the Fridge. (It's not clear what the psychic cats sharing the ship want, but they like at least some of the crew members, and know where their purrs are most needed.) An evil organization that is forcing him to work on its nefarious high-tech projects involving banned technology. Sue has been making ransom payments, but no matter how much she pays, Josh doesn't get released.

They're working on what their next move will be when Eva's sister, Mari, an officer with the Forge, contacts her.

Space Academy, by Hannah Hopkins

The Conrad Press, May 2020

In the last days of a dying Earth, or at least dying human civilization on Earth, Elsie James risks everything to get her infant son onto the colony ship, Mayflower, to head out to what those privileged to be aboard hope will be life on a clean, undamaged new world, called Novum. She has the amazing good luck to discover that the captain of the Mayflower is her old college friend, Alfie Sommers. He takes them both on board, and gives them an apartment on the elite Floor One, along with an unlimited credit supply. The reader, but not Elsie, sees Alfie giving the order that the people intended to have that apartment are not to be allowed to board; that apartment is no longer available.

Thirteen years later, Will is about to start as a student at the Space Academy. This means, among other things, his friend options won't be limited to his tutor group and his across-the-hall neighbor, Spencer. This is a school for which the students have to qualify, and their families have to pay, so they're all smart, and they're all privileged. Will quickly meets Emily, from the Floor Two, some bullies Emily knows but is happy to cut ties with, and Finley, from Floor Seven. Yes, Finley is what we would call a scholarship kid, the first ever in the history of Mayflower, and the Space Academy.

The Last Real Girl (The Disappearance of Charlotte Walters #1), by L.C. Warman (author), Brooke Myers (narrator)

Greenleaf & Plympton, May 2019

Reese and her mother moved to the prosperous, exclusive town of St. Clair when Reese was eleven. They're not typical of the town; her mother is a nurse, working at the hospital, and it's luck and determination that enabled her to find affordable housing within St. Clair. But Reese likes their outsider status, feeling that it lets her appreciate the beauty and distinctiveness of the town better than the locals do.

Reese was also lucky to become the best friend of Charlotte Walters. Charlotte is from one of the most prominent families in town, and very popular. However, she and Reese met during a brief rift in Charlotte's popularity in middle school, and she befriended Reese, who was also eating lunch alone. The single best thing we know about Charlotte is that, when her popular-crowd friends returned, she remained loyal to Reese as her best friend, including her in a crowd that normally would have ignored her.

The Dark Curse (Spellcaster Academy Episode #2), by Jenetta Penner (author), Aimee McKenzie (narrator)

Jenetta Penner, October 2019

In episode one, Josy Barrows discovered her parents weren't who she thought they were, got an invitation from a previously unknown aunt, and found herself shoved through a portal to The Magic Side--where she learned she had magic powers, was enrolled in the Borealis Academy, found she was a misfit there, too. Then the Academy is attacked, and her powers--temporarily--are fully under her control long enough to play a crucial role in defending the Academy from the attack.

So now, in episode two, everything is great, right?

No, of course not.

Two Good Dogs, by Susan Wilson (author), Christina Delaine (narrator), Fred Berman (narrator), Rick Adamson (narrator)

Macmillan Audio, ISBN 9781427291257, March 2017

Skye Mitchell has bought a small hotel, the Lakeview, in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, and moved her daughter, Cody, there from Holyoke. It wasn't planned that way, but events so develop that they make the move almost immediately after Randy Mitchell, Cody's father and Skye's ex-husband, is shot dead in a back alley.

It's six months later, and the Lakeview has turned out to be a money pit. A money pit with real potential, but a money pit. Skye is barely making ends meet while repairs and upgrades proceed slowly. And Cody, previously an open and loving girl, has become cold and withdrawn and increasingly hostile. Is it just an especially awful case of teenager-hood? No. In fact, Cody is keeping a terrible secret she has no idea how to cope with, and doesn't dare share with her mother.

Hallowed Ground: The Mystery of the African Fairy Circles, by Paul Twivy

The Conrad Press, September 2019

Joe Kaplan, Freddie Wilde, and Hannah Chiang--one American and two British teenagers--arrive in Namibia due to their parents' jobs. Ben Kaplan is an anthropologist; Barbara Kaplan has been assigned by the hotel chain she works for to develop a new site; Ralph Wilde is the new British High Commissioner to Namibia; Helen Wilde is a doctor who will be working with AIDS patients; Li Chiang is a mining engineer employed by the Chinese government to develop a uranium mine in Namibia; Sarah Chiang is a special needs teacher who will be working at a local school.

Joe, Freddie, and Hannah are all enrolled at the same boarding school, and quickly become friends. On a school trip, they meet Selima van Zyl, daughter of Ilana van Zyl, a Namibian tour guide, and Darius van Zyl, son of an Afrikaner farmer who is "an entrepreneur" currently giving tours of the magnificent Namibian sand dunes. The four teens quickly become best friends, and adopting the title of Four Teenagers of the Apocalypse, they get interested in the Namibian "fairy circles," strange circles rimmed by drylands grass and completely barren within. Selima can tell them some of the stories of the various Namibian tribes about these circles, but Joe in particular wants to know what the truth is.

The Belles (The Belles #1), by Dhonielle Clayton (author), Rosie Jones (narrator)

Blackstone Audio, February 2018

In the land of Orleans, everyone is born gray, and plain, and only the Belles and their arcana can make people beautiful.

And being beautiful is the most important thing for everyone in Orleans.

Camilla Beauregard and her sisters, the new generation of Belles look forward to going to the palace. Each dreams of being the Favorite, the Belle who will live in the Palace and serve the Queen and her Court. Yet when they arrive, they discover that life at the Palace is no bed of roses. There is intrigue and danger at every turn, and you can't tell who is an enemy, and who, if anyone, is a friend.

The Spies That Bind (Gallagher Girls 0.5), by Ally Carter (author), Rebecca Soler (narrator)

Audible Studios, June 2018

Twelve-year-old Cammie Morgan is about to start her first semester at her new school, The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women. Her mother is also beginning there as the new Headmistress, after a career as a spy.

Oh, yes. Gallagher Academy isn't just any exclusive private girls' school. It's a training academy for future female spies, founded during the Civil War, after Gillian Gallagher prevented an assassination attempt on Abraham Lincoln. (No, not the one at the Ford Theater.)

Arriving at the Gallagher Academy is as stressful as starting any new school, for Cammie, and for her fellow first-year classmates. Cammie worries she's only there because she's a legacy. Her roommate Liz Sutton worries she doesn't belong because she's one of the few who isn't a legacy and neither of her parents has been a spy. Their other roommate is black girl from the UK whom some believe doesn't belong there because she's the first student ever who isn't an American.