There are no rules about what makes a family. So long as there is love, care, and some laughter, a family can be whatever you want with whoever you want. Members of a family don’t have to be related, look alike, or even be all human (sometimes a family is a four-legged friend and their trusty food bringer)! Share these audiobooks with young listeners to help them better understand their own families, and the many kinds of families out there.
Jen is used to not getting what she wants. Jen did not want to leave the city, move to a farm with her mom and her mom’s new boyfriend, and most of all, Jen did not want to get new “sisters”. Besides cleaning the chicken coop, Jen has to deal with her own insecurities about this new family…and where she fits in. Lucy Knisley brings to life a story inspired from her own childhood in this contemporary middle-grade graphic novel, adapted for audio with a full cast production.
The only thing Maybelle Lane has of her daddy is an old recording of his laugh. Then one day she hears that laugh pouring out of the car radio. When her radio DJ daddy announces he’ll be the judge of a singing contest in Nashville, May signs up. But the road to Nashville is bumpy. Her stiff neighbor and a boy from the trailer park are not the people May would have chosen to help her, but it turns out they’re searching for things too. And the journey will mold them into the best kind of family–the kind you choose for yourself.
Makeda June Kirkland is eleven-years-old, adopted, and black. Her parents and big sister are white, and even though she loves her family very much, Makeda often feels left out. When Makeda’s family moves from Maryland to New Mexico, she leaves behind her best friend, Lena- the only other adopted black girl she knows- for a new life. Through it all, Makeda can’t help but wonder: What would it feel like to grow up with a family that looks like me? Through singing, dreaming, and writing secret messages back and forth with Lena, Makeda might just carve a small place for herself in the world.
Delsie loves tracking the weather, though it seems the squalls are in her own life. She’s always lived with her kindhearted Grammy, but now she’s looking at their life with new eyes and wishing she could have a “regular family.” Luckily, she has Ronan, a new friend who is also troubled by the losses he’s endured. As Ronan and Delsie go on adventures, they both learn what it means to be broken versus whole, and that, together, they can weather any storm.
Montgomery Sole is a square peg in a small town, a girl with two moms forced to go to a school full of homophobes and people who don’t even know what irony is. Her saving grace–her two best friends, Thomas and Naoki. When strange things start happening to Monty, she realizes that the greatest mystery of all is herself. Thoughtful, funny, and honest, this audiobook read by Rebecca Lowman will make you want to laugh and cry over a big cup of frozen yogurt with extra toppings and your best friends at your side.
Food is in 16-year-old Hope’s blood. With her Aunt Addie, diner cook extraordinaire, she travels the States and hones her waitressing skills, impressing hungry people everywhere. But following the tides of comfort food dining means Hope never gets to stay in one place very long, and that’s tough. The latest move threatens to be the hardest yet, leaving the excitement of New York City to run a diner in rural Wisconsin. Hope doesn’t expect to feel at home there…and really doesn’t expect to get caught up in town politics.