Amazing Audiobooks

Did you know that your library card gives you access to more than 2,500 digital audiobooks through a partnership with OverDrive and Hoopla? This is an incredible 24/7 resource, especially considering The Hub has recently released their 2018 Amazing Audiobooks Nominees. Not familiar with The Hub? The Hub is a teen collections blog for YALSA, the Young Adult Library Services Association.

The mission of The Hub is to “provide timely information about emerging and new practices for evaluating, selecting and curating materials; raise awareness about appropriate YALSA tools to facilitate innovation in teen collections; and provide resources for members and the library community to support their efforts to continuously improve their teen collection and content curation.”

Here are some of the nominees:

Solo by Kwame Alexander with Mary Rand Hess

Kwame Alexander’s and Mary Rand Hess’s YA novel in verse comes alive in this audio edition of Solo, narrated by Kwame Alexander, which also contains five original songs performed by musician Randy Preston. Seventeen-year-old Blade endeavors to resolve painful issues from his past and navigate the challenges of his former rockstar father’s addictions, scathing tabloid rumors, and a protected secret that threatens his own identity.

Kill All Happies by Rachel Cohn

This is it. Graduation. Vic is going to throw the most epic party this town has ever seen. She’s going to give her friends and everyone’s favorite restaurant, Happies, a proper send-off. All she needs to do is keep it all a secret so that Miss Thrope, the town’s nightmare councilwoman and high school economics teacher, doesn’t ruin it.

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

Henry “Monty” Montague doesn’t care that his roguish passions are far from suitable for the gentleman he was born to be. However, as Monty embarks upon his Grand Tour of Europe, his quests for vice are in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family’s estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy.

Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth

Living on a violent planet where everyone develops a unique power meant to shape the future, Akos and Cyra, youths from enemy nations, resent gifts that render them vulnerable to others’ control before they become unlikely survival partners.

The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Everything is about to change. Until this moment, Sal has always been certain of his place with his adoptive father and their loving Mexican-American family. But now his own history unexpectedly haunts him, and life-altering events force him and his best friend, Samantha, to confront issues of faith, loss, and grief.

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around – and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself and he has to seize the chance or lose his dream forever.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

After witnessing her friend’s death at the hands of a police officer, Starr Carter’s life is complicated when the police and a local drug lord try to intimidate her in an effort to learn what happened the night Kahlil died.

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

Natasha, whose family is hours away from being deported, and Daniel, a first generation Korean American who strives to live up to his parents’ expectations, unexpectedly fall in love and must determine which path they will choose in order to be together.