Music

Soundtrack: A Listening Library Audiobook Original / Jason Reynolds

/ Alisha Helms / Leave a comment 
Soundtrack: A Listening Library Audiobook Original
By: Jason Reynolds, Full Cast (Narrators)
Genre: Young Adult
Number of Pages: 6 hours, 29 minutes
Published: June 3, 2025
Publisher: Listening Library
Dates Read: June 19, 2025 - June 22, 2025
Format: Audiobook

Full Cast: Nile Bullock (Stuy), Mekhi Hawling (Dunks), Jade Williams (Keith), Brandon Miles (Alexis), Ryan Vincent Anderson (Uncle Lucky), Amir Royale (Frankie), Jasmin Richardson (Stuy’s Mom), Christopher Grant (Dom), Khaya Fraites (Ashley), Nadine Simmons (Mrs. Dyson), Robb Moreira (Mr. Garcia), Wé Ani (Lisa), Rocky Anicette (Dylan), Brandiss Seward (Frankie’s Mom), with Siho Ellsmore, Tyrell Buckner, Gina Daniels, Karen Murray, Jonathan Beville, Karla Moore, and Ronald Peet

Stuy has been learning the drums since he was a little boy, all thanks to his mom, a founding member of the punk band The Bed-Stuy Magic Dusters. After high school, Stuy knows he wants to start a band, so when he meets his Uncle Lucky’s cosmos loving landlord, Dunk, the duo set out to find the rest of their members. Stuy, Dunks, Alexis, Keith, and Frankie then form SOUNDTRACK, and to everyone’s surprise, they become an underground sensation

I have been highly anticipating this audiobook since I found out about it! But of course, even once I got my hands on it finally, I waited for a trip back to my hometown so I could have as much of an undisturbed listening as I could (2.5 hours each way) and boy did this book make the time fly!

Everything about this was amazing: the voice actors, the sound effects, the music, the storyline itself! All fantastic! I even jump scared myself a few times with the sound effects from the speaker feedback!

This audiobook is an experience that I can see winning an Audie or two in the future. I can also see people who don’t like audiobooks greatly enjoying this as well (though it will set a pretty high standard for audiobooks they listen to afterwards!)

*Thank you Listening Library and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

The Order of Things / Kaija Langley

/ Alisha Helms / Leave a comment 
The Order of Things
By: Kaija Langley
Genre: Middle Grade, Novel-In-Verse
Number of Pages: 288
Published: June 6, 2023
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Dates Read: June 13, 2023 - June 14, 2023
Format: ARC / eBook

11-year-old April has been best friends with Zee since they were born only a month apart. They live across the hallway from each other in their apartment building and together, along with April’s mom, and Papa Zee – the four are a family. This school year though, things are changing. Zee has gotten into the new charter school specializing in music for his violin and April is staying behind at their old school.

But, when tragedy strikes and Zee passes away, April is forced to relearn what it means to continue after losing everything she once knew.

I went into this quite blindly. I’m a sucker for novel-in-verse books, especially middle grade because they seem all the more powerful to me for some reason. I saw this one on NetGalley and immediately requested to read it without much else. That being said, after reading it, I fully read the description and I do think it needs to be changed up – it gives away 95% of the book. When I recommend this, I’m going to try and suggest they not read the description to not give anything away.

Besides the description being too much, I’m still going to be recommending this book to many others. It was beautiful and full of representation. This story talks about ways people deal with the pain of losing someone and what it means to speak up at the right time. This is all done in a way that, though a bit simplified for middle grade, it will still require some tissues.

*Thank you Nancy Paulsen Books and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review