The American Library Association’s Odyssey Award committee has named two Listening Library titles as Odyssey Honor audiobooks: Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, produced by Karen Dziekonski and narrated by Bahni Turpin; and When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson & Omar Mohamed, produced by Julie Wilson and Kelly Gildea and narrated by Faysal Ahmed, Barkhad Abdi, and a full cast.
The Odyssey Award and Honors recognizes excellence in children’s and young adult audiobooks. Learn more about these remarkable audiobooks and listen to clips below.
Fighting Words is a candid and fierce middle grade audiobook about sisterhood and sexual abuse, by Newbery Honor winner and #1 New York Times best seller Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, author of The War that Saved My Life.
“The strong writing gives Della’s world both heartbreak and humor; Turpin’s narration radiates the range of emotions. Acknowledging the difficulty of voicing hard things like sexual abuse, this book emphasizes the power of finding one’s fighting words to tell one’s own story. Della, as voiced by Turpin, masterfully shares hers.”—Booklist, starred audio review
Heartbreak and hope exist together in When Stars Are Scattered, an audiobook about growing up in a refugee camp, as told by a Somali refugee to the Newbery Honor-winning creator of Roller Girl.
“The audiobook edition of Omar Mohamed’s autobiography, originally a graphic novel account co-authored with Victoria Jamieson, offers listeners an experience of perfection in its storytelling, format shifting, and performance. The full cast includes many audiobook-narrating stars: Bahni Turpin, Robin Miles, J.D. Jackson, and Dion Graham. It also features fine performances by Somalian American actors—including Faysal Ahmed as Omar—that make this truly an #OwnVoices experience… The story itself is one every American should hear, either to expose them to others’ lives or as an echo to elements of their own.”—Booklist, starred audio review
Discover more in Meet the Cast: When Stars are Scattered.
Browse more audiobooks for kids by visiting our Family Listening Collection.