ALA Youth Media Awards
Odyssey Award
Best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States
Honors
Ghost is narrated by Guy Lockard. I was surprised that this one did not win the Newbery Award as I saw a lot of interest in it towards the end of the year.
Nimona is narrated by Rebecca Soler, Jonathan Davis, Marc Thompson, January LaVoy, Natalie Gold, Peter Bradbury and David Pittu. I’m not sure how a graphic novel works as an audiobook as they are so visual. I may have to try this one out, just out of curiosity.
Winner
Read by Allan Corduner
Summary from Goodreads:
Kraków, 1939. A million marching soldiers and a thousand barking dogs. This is no place to grow up. Anna Łania is just seven years old when the Germans take her father, a linguistics professor, during their purge of intellectuals in Poland. She’s alone.
And then Anna meets the Swallow Man. He is a mystery, strange and tall, a skilled deceiver with more than a little magic up his sleeve. And when the soldiers in the streets look at him, they see what he wants them to see.
The Swallow Man is not Anna’s father—she knows that very well—but she also knows that, like her father, he’s in danger of being taken, and like her father, he has a gift for languages: Polish, Russian, German, Yiddish, even Bird. When he summons a bright, beautiful swallow down to his hand to stop her from crying, Anna is entranced. She follows him into the wilderness.
Over the course of their travels together, Anna and the Swallow Man will dodge bombs, tame soldiers, and even, despite their better judgment, make a friend. But in a world gone mad, everything can prove dangerous. Even the Swallow Man.
Historical fiction is not my favorite genre, but this one does sound interesting. It has received mixed reviews, so it may be one of those books that you either love or hate.
