Struggling to keep the peace in the backseat? Need something to take your mind off how much longer it'll take to reach your destination?
Keep the good times rolling during your family commutes and summer roadtrips, and fill in a square on your
Summer Challenge reader's log(s), with
audiobook recommendations from OverDrive!
Their list combines much-loved classics with some lesser-known gems. Here are a few of the recommendations (linked to our OverDrive catalog):
A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle
Meg
Murray, her little brother Charles Wallace, and their mother are having
a midnight snack on a dark and stormy night when an unearthly stranger
appears at their door. He claims to have been blown off course, and goes
on to tell them that there is such a thing as a "tesseract," which, if
you didn't know, is a wrinkle in time. Meg's father had been
experimenting with time-travel when he suddenly disappeared. Will Meg,
Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin outwit the forces of evil as
they search through space for their father?
Artemis Fowl, by Eoin Colfer
Artemis combines the astuteness of Sherlock Holmes with the sangfroid of James Bond and the attitude of Attila the Hun. But even Artemis doesn't know what he's taken on when he kidnaps a fairy, Captain Holly Short of LEPrecon Unit. These aren't the fairies of bedtime stories. These fairies are armed and they're dangerous. Artemis thinks he's got them just where he wants them, but then they stop playing by the rules . . .
Because of Mr. Terupt, by Rob Buyea
Led by an energetic teacher, a fifth grade class learns a series of valuable life lessons.
Bud, Not Buddy, by Christopher Paul Curtis
It's 1936, in Flint Michigan. Times may be hard, and ten-year-old Bud may be a motherless boy on the run, but Bud's got a few things going for him:
1. He has his own suitcase full of special things.
2. He's the author of Bud Caldwell's Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself.
3. His momma never told him who his father was, but she left a clue: flyers advertising Herman E. Calloway and his famous band, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression!!!!!!
Bud's got an idea that those flyers will lead him to his father. Once he decides to hit the road to find this mystery man, nothing can stop him—not hunger, not fear, not vampires, not even Herman E. Calloway himself.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl
Willy Wonka's famous chocolate factory is opening at last!
But only five lucky children will be allowed inside. And the winners are: Augustus Gloop, an enormously fat boy whose hobby is eating; Veruca Salt, a spoiled-rotten brat whose parents are wrapped around her little finger; Violet Beauregarde, a dim-witted gum-chewer with the fastest jaws around; Mike Teavee, a toy pistol-toting gangster-in-training who is obsessed with television; and Charlie Bucket, Our Hero, a boy who is honest and kind, brave and true, and good and ready for the wildest time of his life!
Chomp, by Carl Hiassen
When Wahoo Cray's dad—a professional animal wrangler—takes a job with a reality TV show called Expedition Survival!, Wahoo figures he'll have to do a bit of wrangling himself to keep his father from killing Derek Badger, the show's inept and egotistical star. But the job keeps getting more complicated: Derek Badger insists on using wild animals for his stunts; and Wahoo's acquired a shadow named Tuna—a girl who's sporting a shiner courtesy of her father and needs a place to hide out.
They've only been on location in the Everglades for a day before Derek gets bitten by a bat and goes missing in a storm. Search parties head out and promptly get lost themselves. And then Tuna's dad shows up with a gun . . .
It's anyone's guess who will actually survive Expedition Survival. . .
Fortunately, the Milk, by Neil Gaiman
"I bought the milk," said my father. "I walked out of the corner shop, and heard a noise like this: t h u m m t h u m m. I looked up and saw a huge silver disc hovering in the air above Marshall Road.
"Hullo," I said to myself. "That's not something you see every day. And then something odd happened."
Find out just how odd things get in this hilarious story of time travel and breakfast cereal, expertly told by Newbery Medalist and bestselling author Neil Gaiman.
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan
Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school...again. No matter how hard he tries, he can't seem to stay out of trouble. But can he really be expected to stand by and watch while a bully picks on his scrawny best friend? Or not defend himself against his pre-algebra teacher when she turns into a monster and tries to kill him? Of course, no one believes Percy about the monster incident; he’s not even sure he believes himself.
Until the Minotaur chases him to summer camp.
Redwall, by Brian Jacques
This tale is jam-packed with the things we long for in a great adventure: danger, laughter, hairbreadth escapes, tragedy, mystery, a touch of wonder, a truly despicable villain, and a hero we can take to heart.
That hero is Matthias, a young mouse who must rise above his fears and failures to save his friends at Redwall Abbey. The villain is Cluny the Scourge, one of the most deliciously despicable rats of all time. The unforgettable cast of supporting characters includes the stalwart badger Constance, an irrepressible hare named Basil Stag Hare, and the elderly wisemouse Brother Methuselah.
But most of all there is Matthias, seeking his true destiny in a journey that will lead through danger and despair to true wisdom.
Prefer books on CD? Find them
here!
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