Friday Night Highlights: After School Audiobooks

Posted November 12, 2021 by Richetta in Audiobook, Currently Reading, Friday Night Highlights, Thoughts & Ideas / 0 Comments

As a mama, daylight saving time is kicking my butt this week with the kids’ bedtime adjustments. So I haven’t read a whole lot of ebooks or physical books this week. But I have made some progress with a few audiobooks. I might even start a new feature called After School Audiobooks Drive…🤔

First, though I want to say thank you to Libro.fm for their Educator ALC program. I received these gifted audiobooks through this program. This does not affect my review or thoughts on the books. I like Libro.fm because when you purchase audiobooks it supports independent bookstores. I 💖 indie bookstores!!!

Sitting in the Pickup Line

Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed by Saraciea Fennell

So I love this book! It debuted at the beginning of November after a delayed publish date. It’s a collection of personal experience essays centered on the Latinx experience. What I love most so far is the Afro Latinx representation in the book. The exploration of identity both perceived and actual is a common topic that many of the writers discuss in their essays. I also love that each author narrates their own essay. I plan to go back for a more indepth read with either an ebook or physical copy. This is definitely going to be an educator recommend. Purchase on Libro.fm

Driving Home With the Kids

Marcus Makes a Movie by Kevin Hart

This book had me and the kids cracking up from the first paragraph. Kevin Hart narrates it. The book was hilarious. It’s about a young boy who wants to turn his comic book character creations into a movie when he joins an afterschool club. Kevin Hart is definitely in his usual character. I’m happy we gave it a chance. The kids have already requested a second playing. A complete review will be coming soon. (3 hours, 8 minutes; Narrator: Kevin Hart) Purchase on Libro.fm

Stuntboy, in the Meantime by Jason Reynolds

This audiobook was amazing! It had an entire cast of voice actors playing various characters in the book and it had sound effects. It’s about a boy who has super powers, and his superpower is to make sure other superheroes like his parents and best friends stay safe. It also deals with divorce and the main character Portico Reeves deals with anxiety because of his parents fighting. In the book it’s called “the frets.” Everytime it is mentioned in the audiobook an alarm goes off and my kids yell right along with the narrator, “Oh no! It’s the frets!” We just finished this the other day, so now I plan to go back and read the ebook with them. It is a graphic novel, so I am looking forward to it. It comes out Nov. 30. So I will be posting a review closer to that date. But I can already tell you the kids have asked me to buy it for them for Christmas. (2 hours, 47 minutes, Narrators: A whole cast) Preorder on Libro.fm

Jo Jo Makoons: The Used-to-Be Best Friend by Dawn Quigley

We actually just started this audiobook today and are only a few minutes into it. But I like the explanation intro at the beginning that explained that Jo Jo is an Ojibwe girl, but she lives on a made-up reservation. My daughter was mad we had to get out of the car and can’t wait to listen to the rest of it because Jo Jo is the same age she is. I liked right away the use of Ojibwe words and how Jo Jo says her name and then sounds it out phonetically. She said if you can say other people’s names then you can say hers. Love that pride!!!! I will let you know how the rest goes. It’s a short one so it won’t take us long to listen to all of it. (52 minutes, Narrator: Jennifer Bobiwash) Purchase on Libro.fm

Friday Night Highlights is a quick Friday evening post featuring anecdotes and highlights of my current reads of the week. If you feel inspired, it’s the perfect time to grab a new book for your next weekend read.