Review of The Teacher of Nomad Land, by Daniel Nayeri

Audiobooks, Award Winners, Children's Fiction Review, Historical, Starred Review 0

The Teacher of Nomad Land

A World War II Story

by Daniel Nayeri
read by Daniel Nayeri

Listening Library, 2025. 3 hours, 23 minutes.
Review written December 12, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review
2025 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature Winner

Ahhhh. The Teacher of Nomad Land is my favorite Daniel Nayeri book so far. And he’s already won the Printz Award and Newbery Honor. Traditionally, it usually turns out that the winner of the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature does not win the Newbery Medal. Will this year break the pattern?

But about the book. As the subtitle indicates, this is a World War II story, and it’s set in Iran. Iran wasn’t the main stage in World War II and was officially neutral – but that made it a place where people from all over the world could meet one another – with lots of room for misunderstandings.

Our story begins in Isfahan when Babak’s father has recently been killed by the Russian army. His father had been visiting the nomads in their summer home, teaching their children, and the army fired at them, thinking they were insurgents. Babak promises his little sister Sanna that even though they are orphans, he won’t let them be split up, but their relatives don’t give them any choice.

So Babak works as an errand boy for a year, trying to save money to take Sanna away with him so they can be together. They will ask the nomads to take them in before they leave for their winter home.

After a year of saving, the money doesn’t work out, but Babak and Sanna set out anyway. Babak brings along his father’s blackboard, rigged with leather straps to carry on his back. He offers to teach the nomads’ children and tries to be as good a teacher as his father was, but his first attempt isn’t enough for the chief of the nomads.

But then the adventure really begins. As Babak and Sanna try to find their way back to Isfahan, staying together no matter what, they encounter a ruthless Nazi spy who takes all their food. Later, they meet the Jewish refugee boy from Poland that the German is looking for. Together, they try to make their way to somewhere safe, but there’s lots of misunderstanding along the way, not to mention the need for food and water.

The most brilliant scene of all is when Babak figures out how to facilitate communication between the nomads, British soldiers, and Russian soldiers – using I think it was five different languages.

Along the way, Babak learns to emulate his father and think like a teacher, gleaning plenty of wisdom as he does so.

I also love that the book isn’t overindulgent in its length, despite the heavy topic of war time – under four hours in an audiobook! – just right for a children’s book. Yes, it’s about war time, so there are dangerous and scary situations, but the kids at the center of it come through brilliantly.

danielnayeri.com

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Review of Not for the Faint of Heart, by Lex Croucher

Alternate History, Audiobooks, Fantasy, Starred Review 0

Not for the Faint of Heart

by Lex Croucher
read by Kit Griffiths and Olivia Dowd

Macmillan Young Listeners, 2024. 11 hours, 36 minutes.
Review written June 26, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Not for the Faint of Heart had the look of the author’s other book, Gwen and Art Are Not in Love, so I was pretty sure I’d enjoy it. And sure enough, I was right about all of that.

Both books are set in alternate universes, dealing with descendants of legends. In Gwen and Art it was descendants of King Arthur, and in Not for the Faint of Heart, we’ve got grandchildren of Robin Hood and his Merry Men. In both books, the world has been altered to be LGBTQ-friendly in the medieval context, with plenty of LGBTQ characters and relationships. And both books are light-hearted and a whole lot of fun – with some serious thought thrown in, of course.

The book begins when Clem, a teenage girl who’s an apprentice healer, gets herself kidnapped by the Merry Men in place of her older mentor, who would have trouble with camping in the forest.

But the band of Merry Men isn’t like the heroes Clem has heard legends about. For one thing, they’re not all men, and they’re more militaristic than the folks from the tales. The band that took her away is led by Mariel Hood-Hartley, the granddaughter of Robin Hood, and daughter of Robin Hood’s son-in-law, Jack Hartley, the current commander of the Merry Men, and the one who insists on militaristic order. They’ve kidnapped Clem because she and her mentor have worked as healers on the Sheriff’s men, and they want to set an example. Clem is firm that if someone needs a healer, she will step up.

Mariel is our other viewpoint character. She is trying to please her father and earn her captaincy, but she can never seem to do so. When the larger group is ambushed on their secret forest paths and leaders are captured by the Sheriff, they’re sure that someone has betrayed them. But Mariel disagrees with the other captains about who’s responsible, and sees this as a chance to prove herself to her father.

Of course, we’re not surprised when the two viewpoint characters are attracted to each other. There’s romance and misunderstandings – all in the context of thinking about what is the true mission of the Merry Men and are they really fighting for the people of the wood? And plenty of fighting and plotting along the way.

Yes, there are some casualties of the fighting, but the book is mainly a light-hearted romp through a world that might have been, with romance and thoughts about how to do good in the world – and it leaves you feeling good.

lexcroucher.co.uk

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Review of Swordheart, by T. Kingfisher

Audiobooks, Fantasy, Fiction Review, Starred Review 0

Swordheart

by T. Kingfisher
read by Jesse Vilinsky

Tantor Media, 2021. 14 hours, 32 minutes.
Review written December 9, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Here’s a fantasy tale with a self-described middle-aged widow as the main character! That alone would have made the book delightful. (She turned out to be in her late thirties, but still.)

As the book opens, Halla has been locked in her room by her dead husband’s relatives until she’ll agree to marry a cousin with clammy hands. This is all the fault of great-uncle Silas, the only one who’d been willing to take her in after her husband died. After years of caring for Silas, when he died, he left all his money to Halla. Now the relatives insist that she marry the cousin to keep the money in the family.

Locked in her room, Halla realizes that if she kills herself, the money will stay out of their hands and go to her nieces and give them nice dowries. But how does one, in fact, kill oneself? Well, Silas collected artifacts, and there’s long been an old sword hanging on her wall.

But when Halla unsheathes the sword, a warrior appears. His name is Sarkis, and he was bound to the sword over 400 years before. But he’s never had a wielder quite like Halla.

After breaking Halla out of her own home, they go on a quest to get help from the temple of the Rat God, whose priests are sworn to help people in legal trouble. But the journey, both there and back, is full of obstacles and unexpected challenges. And it’s no surprise to the reader that Halla and Sarkis begin to have feelings for each other.

This book was delightful all along the way. Halla is a wonderful character, full of curiosity and always asking questions, sometimes as a way to disarm people who would otherwise be threats. Sarkis, quite naturally, is used to solving problems by cutting off heads or burning down villages. He’s voiced with what I think is a Scottish accent (might be Irish?), and his perplexity with Halla is great fun to experience. And a strong reason I’m recommending the audiobook as a wonderful way to experience this novel.

The priest of the Rat God who travels back with them is a nonbinary person, and it was refreshing how everyone in that medieval fantasy world uses they/them pronouns without batting an eye.

Some of the obstacles they encountered made the story feel a bit circuitous, but in the end I was happier to have that much more time in this world. Although I’m coming to the book four years after publication, I see that a sequel is expected in August 2026, so I feel like I’m right on time.

redwombatstudio.com

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Review of The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris, by Evie Woods

Audiobooks, Fiction Review, Romance, Starred Review 0

The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris

by Evie Woods
read by Breffni Holahan

One More Chapter, 2025. 8 hours, 30 minutes.
Review written December 1, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Here’s a lovely feel-good romance – with the special touch that it’s set in Paris! Except, wait a minute, it’s not set in Paris. I made the same mistake the protagonist Edie made when she answered an ad to work in a Boulangerie on Rue de Paris and thought of course it’s in Paris – but no, it’s on Paris Street (the “Rue de Paris” – of course!) in Compiègne, a town an hour away from Paris. Okay, but it is true that Edie is from Ireland, and the narrator reads with an Irish accent.

Edie’s mother recently died, and she spent her first decade as a young adult mostly caring for her mother during her long illness, so now in her thirties, Edie is at loose ends, and couldn’t resist the chance to go to Paris – or so she thought.

The owner of the bakery where she’s working is secretive and gruff, and Evie’s not sure she can do the job. But over time, and with a bit of a magic ingredient, Evie makes some friends, including a handsome man who’s a bit mysterious himself.

The story feels a little bit predictable, but the journey there is delightful. Yes, the small business is in danger of going under. Yes, there’s conflict with the handsome young man. No, they don’t tell each other everything when they first meet.

There’s also a small paranormal element to the book, plus rich historical detail – I didn’t realize that Compiègne was an important historical site in both World War I and World War II. We learn this via one of the bakery customers who speaks English and leads tours, and we’re as interested as Evie. But the bakery itself also has an important history during World War II.

And that’s all I should say, to give you a little bit of surprise. Yes, it’s predictable, but the story is sweet, and can fulfill a vicarious dream of running off not to Paris, but at least to France and finding love and purpose and joy.

eviewoods.com

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Review of When We Ride, by Rex Ogle, read by Ramón de Ocampo

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

When We Ride

by Rex Ogle
read by Ramón de Ocampo

Recorded Books, 2025. 3 hours, 28 minutes.
Review written July 11, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

I’ve come to know and love Rex Ogle’s writing from his award-winning memoirs about growing up in poverty and his recent Printz Honor book about being homeless as a teen after he came out as gay.

When We Ride is equally heartrending. This time a novel in verse. Fair warning: Like the others, it’s not exactly pleasant reading. But the novel is worse than the memoirs because now we have absolutely no guarantee the main character will get through it and come out okay. And here’s a heads’ up without being too spoilerish: The ending does not at all leave me feeling happy.

However, reading this short novel will build your empathy. I heard the author speak at ALA Annual Conference, and he said he wrote it in verse to give it lots of white space, since that’s the only kind of book his best friend from high school would ever read.

And the book is about two best friends in their senior year of high school. They live across the street from each other, and they’ve been friends since elementary school, so close they call each other Brother. Benny is the one telling the story. He’s working hard to go to college and get funds to pay for it. His mother is a drug addict who’s gotten clean, and she wants nothing more than for Benny to make a success of himself. And be nothing like her. She gave Benny her own car and rides the bus to her two jobs. And she works hard to provide for Benny, who also works at a diner in a job he hates, but works to help out his Mom.

Benny’s best friend Lawson, though, has taken another route to make ends meet. He’s dealing drugs. It starts as only weed, but things progress over the course of the year. Lawson doesn’t have a car, and most of the poems in this book begin with Lawson calling and saying, “I need a ride.”

Since Benny is Hispanic, it’s all too easy for him to imagine being pulled over by cops when Lawson is carrying drugs and Benny’s entire future being ruined. Lawson tells him if Benny doesn’t know he has drugs, there will be no problem. And as his brother, isn’t he supposed to be there when Lawson needs him? So Benny goes back and forth with guilt and anger and fear.

All the adults in Benny’s life tell him that Lawson is bad news and he needs to stop spending any time with him. But the reader (or listener) comes to understand how deep that tie of brotherhood runs and to see the great things about Lawson that keep Benny’s loyalty. But none of that makes Lawson’s path any safer.

This book is short, but hard-hitting. These characters will live in my head for a long time. It made me care about someone I would have otherwise dismissed – helping me understand more deeply my own belief that all people are made in the image of God. Yes, even drug dealers. When you know someone’s story, it’s so much easier to see their humanity.

rexogle.com

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Review of Happy Land, by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Fiction Review, Historical 0

Happy Land

by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
read by Bahni Turpin and Ashley J. Hobbs

Books on Tape, 2025. 10 hours, 19 minutes.
Review written November 21, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

First, a big thank you to Suzanne, who recommended this book when she signed up for my email newsletter, Book Talking with Sondy. My hold finally came in, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

This is a book that combines characters you care about with little-known history and present-day injustices. There are two perspectives and two narrators in this audiobook. First, in the present day, Nikki has been summoned unexpectedly from her home in DC to her grandmother in North Carolina. Nikki hasn’t seen her grandmother since her mother and grandmother had an extreme falling-out. Now Nikki’s own daughter is at loose ends after graduating from high school without a plan going forward, and Nikki hasn’t been doing well in her career as a real estate agent. But she doesn’t know why her grandmother has summoned her to the mountain where their family has lived for generations.

The second perspective is Luella, Nikki’s grandmother’s great-grandmother. Luella was born in slavery, but after gaining freedom, her community was in danger from the Klan in South Carolina. So the entire community, led by her father, a preacher, traveled to a mountain on the border with North Carolina. At the urging of William Montgomery, a charismatic young man who asked her to marry him – they founded not just a community, but a kingdom. And William was elected the king and Luella the queen.

At first, the folks of the kingdom rented the land from a widow who needed their help running her hotel, but they worked toward owning the land. There were many obstacles along the way and much personal turmoil. And this is all based on an actual “kingdom” that existed in America not long after the Civil War.

Meanwhile, in the present, Nikki learns about the kingdom – but that her grandmother is in danger of losing the land, where she’s lived since she was born on the premises. And along the way, she sees how connected her grandmother is to the land and to the community – but needs to find out more about why her grandmother and mother stopped speaking to each other. Can she mend the generational rift? Can she save the land that her family has owned for 150 years?

I didn’t completely understand the law that allows people who inherit one portion of property to sell off other portions of property at auction without folks who live there knowing about it. Since I was listening, I didn’t even catch the name of this type of law, but the author names it as a major way that land has been stolen from African Americans, destroying generational wealth. So one of the big conflicts in the book has to do with an actual current issue.

And it’s all told in a compelling story. Luella’s life wasn’t easy, even though she was a queen. And Nikki, after her, has some choices to make as she learns about her connection to royalty and the Kingdom of the Happy Land.

The author’s blog points to a fascinating webpage about the actual Kingdom of the Happy Land. Amazing stuff!

dolenperkinsvaldez.com

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Review of The Davenports, by Krystal Marquis, read by Joniece Abbot-Pratt

Audiobooks, Historical, Romance, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

The Davenports

by Krystal Marquis
read by Joniece Abbott-Pratt

Listening Library, 2023. 12 hours, 2 minutes.
Review written April 29, 2023, from a library eaudiobook
Starred Review

The Davenports reminds me of a Jane Austen book – a wealthy family trying to get their kids married off – only this one is set in 1910, and the family are successful Black Americans in Chicago. The father of the Davenport clan was born enslaved, but after escaping, ended up making a fortune with a carriage company. And he’s happily giving his family a much better life – maybe sheltering them a little too much.

Now the two daughters and one son are at an age to be married – but nobody falls in love with the person their parents want and expect them to marry. And it’s quite fun watching it happen.

There are four viewpoint characters: Olivia Davenport is getting ready for her second season and really needs to find a husband this time around. When Jacob Lawrence shows up from England, everyone thinks she’s found one. But then she stumbles into meetings of activists when she’s doing charity work and learns the plight of her people in the South.

Olivia’s friend Ruby has been in love with Olivia’s brother, John Davenport, since they were kids. Her father is running for mayor of Chicago, and her parents want Ruby to go ahead and get him to propose. Maybe if she makes him jealous….

Younger sister Helen Davenport is never happier than working in the garage on the modern horseless carriages. Maybe she can help John convince their father to expand the business to automobiles. But instead, her parents hire an etiquette tutor to bring Helen into line.

The final viewpoint character is Amy-Rose, long time friend and maid to the Davenport girls. She’s been saving her money, and now she’s almost ready to start her own business and open a salon.

I thought I knew where this book was going, but all the romances run into snags toward the end of the book, and the author’s note hints at a sequel. So I’m looking forward to more time with the Davenport family in the future. The author’s note also tells us that the family was based on an actual family led by a formerly enslaved Black man who got rich in the carriage business. She wondered what life might have been like for his daughters. And her wondering gave us this delightful book.

krystalmarquis.com

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Review of If Looks Could Kill, by Julie Berry

Audiobooks, History, Paranormal, Teen Fiction Review 0

If Looks Could Kill

by Julie Berry
read by Jayne Entwistle

Simon & Schuster Audio, 2025. 15 hours, 24 minutes.
Review written November 14, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

This brilliant novel is Medusa vs. Jack the Ripper! But not a Greek Medusa. Instead, Medusas are something like vampires, getting created by a kind of infection. But then they stand against those who would prey on vulnerable women.

The setting of the book is the Bowery in New York City in 1888. Jack the Ripper, the Whitechapel Killer, is fleeing London after a very strange encounter with his last victim. Meanwhile, in New York, 18-year-old Tabitha Woodward is adjusting to her new life in the Salvation Army and her annoying partner, Pearl. Tabitha and Pearl visit the saloons and bars, selling the Salvation Army’s newsletter and coaxing people to come hear the preaching. They meet the people in the city and see a girl get pulled into the orbit of a notorious madam.

And I don’t want to give anything away, but yes, the story ends up being Medusas vs. Jack the Ripper. With the innocent and earnest Salvation Army girls in the middle of it.

I appreciated the long historical note at the back reflecting the author’s deep research. She chose a likely suspect for Jack the Ripper who actually came to New York after the murders. She even gave him a plausible motive, using the theosophical teachings popular at the time to use almost-living organs to try to cure his own illness. She honored his victims, who may not have been prostitutes at all. And I especially love the way she also researched the early Salvation Army and showed Tabitha and Pearl’s deep faith and desire to help people in trouble in the slums of New York. I was afraid when they showed up that they’d be a caricature, but they were the opposite of that.

And I do love a story where the helpless become powerful! But these Medusas don’t blindly use their power. It’s not a matter of one look turns the viewer to stone – they have to mean it. And they grapple with the meaning of that power. There are scary moments, and a few in-the-nick-of-time rescues, but it all adds up to a fascinating historical story with lots of suspense. There’s even a developing sweet romance.

I heard about this book at ALA Annual Conference last June, but wasn’t able to get an Advance Reader Copy, so I was looking forward to its publication ever since and got on the holds list for the audio the first day I purchased it for the library. I knew to expect good things from Julie Berry, and I was not disappointed.

julieberrybooks.com

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Review of Before the Coffee Gets Cold, by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Audiobooks, Fiction Review, Science Fiction, Starred Review 0

Before the Coffee Gets Cold

by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
read by Arina Li

Harlequin Audio, 2020. 6 hours, 53 minutes.
Review written November 11, 2025, from a library eaudiobook
Starred Review

I placed a hold on Before the Coffee Gets Cold after I read and loved What You Are Looking For Is in the Library, by Michiko Aoyama, and many blurbs about the book compared it to Before the Coffee Gets Cold.

And yes, it’s a good comparison. Both books are set in Tokyo and are international bestsellers translated from Japanese. Both tell stories of separate people whose lives are changed after they visit a particular place. Both have a touch of magic – this one a much stronger thread, enough that I’m going to call it science fiction. Of course I enjoyed What You Are Looking For Is in the Library more because the magical place is a library – but I enjoyed this book, too.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold is a time travel story. Normally, I’m not the audience for time travel stories. (Though because I only review books I like, my readers might not realize there are plenty of time travel stories I’ve decided not to review.) But I like the way the time travel in this book came with rules that did away with any nasty paradoxes or feelings of “that wouldn’t happen that way.” (Okay, there’s one exception to that, which I’ll list at the end. But it didn’t nag at me like in some books.)

The setting is a café where visitors can time travel. But the rules are many. Nothing they do in the past will change the present. They can only time travel in one particular seat. And they can’t leave that seat while they are time traveling. So of course they can only talk with people who are also in the café at the time they travel to. And perhaps most crucial – the time travel begins when a particular cup of coffee is poured – and they have to drink the entire cup – and finish before the coffee gets cold.

The rules make the story more fun. And no real explanation is given, despite what the first featured visitor wants. That’s simply the way the time travel works. By not trying to explain it and by making the rules somewhat inconvenient – it’s easier for the reader not to question how it works.

The book features four time travelers. First is a young woman who wants to revisit the conversation in the café when her boyfriend told her he was moving to America. Then comes a wife whose husband is inflicted with Alzheimer’s and has forgotten who she is. We’ve got a sister who wants to see her sister one last time, and a woman who wants to reassure herself that her daughter will be okay.

Along the way, we get to know the owner and workers in the café and its regular visitors, including the ghost of a woman who time traveled too long, and her coffee got cold.

Oh, and what’s the one little nagging question? When somebody goes back in time to a time when they know the person they want to talk to was in the café – where did their own past self go? (Maybe I missed the part where they made sure it was before or after they themselves were there, but I wasn’t super clear on how that part worked.) The story was done well enough, I didn’t really think about that until after the encounter, though.

It’s one of those charming feel-good books, and I just learned that so far there are four sequels, though unfortunately the library doesn’t own the audiobook versions. But I do like all that can be done within those simple time-traveling rules, and how much it can reflect on life, relationships, and interactions.

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Review of The Poisoned King, by Katherine Rundell

Audiobooks, Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Starred Review 0

The Poisoned King

by Katherine Rundell
read by Sam West

Listening Library, 2025. 7 hours, 7 minutes.
Review written November 7, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

With Book 2 of the books set in the magical Archipelago, I’m loving this series more than ever. I believe you don’t have to read the first book, Impossible Creatures, to enjoy this one, because it’s a mostly self-contained story. But I highly recommend that you do read the first, because both are wonderful!

This book does start with Christopher, an Outlander Guardian from our world, being summoned back to the Archipelago by Jacques, the tiny jaculus dragon. He’s summoned because dragons have been dying throughout the Archipelago, and they want a Guardian to figure out what’s wrong and save them.

Once he arrives, he gets guidance from a sphinx – who pulls him into the story of Anya, Princess of Dousha. And her story is the story of the poisoned king – for her grandfather the king was poisoned, her father was framed for his murder, and now Anya’s life is in danger because she’s next in line for the throne.

So the adventure in this book is to find out what happened to the dragons and the king, clear Anya’s father’s name, and get vengeance on the person behind all that. The idea is simple, and the adventure is wonderful.

Again, the book is full of impossible, fantastical creatures. I like the Gagana birds who follow Princess Anya around and look after her. We do meet some friends from the previous book, all working for the good of the islands. The eventual plan to make things right is ingenious, and not without danger. And it’s mostly carried out by children – Christopher and Anya.

The narrator of this series is phenomenal as well. He does excellent voices for the many creatures, and his storytelling voice is perfect for the dry humor throughout the book. One example is the chapter title, “A Discovery: Oysters Both Look and Taste Like Snot.” There are also many wise sayings (such as “Fear has wisdom in it, if you treat it well.”), which he declares with wonderful gravity.

I recently finished another Book 2 and was annoyed the story wasn’t done. With this book, I’m delighted it’s Book 2, because it has the feel of a series. I’m hoping for many more grand adventures in the magical world of the Archipelago. If you haven’t visited it yet, here’s another opportunity!

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