This summer, SYNC will be providing two free teen audiobooks each week from April 27th to August 16th. Each week will focus on a specific theme, pairing a classic YA title with a more modern YA title. These two titles will be available to download for free this week only (from 6/1 to 6/8) at the SYNC website. The sixth week will start on Thursday, June 1st with Beast and Of Beast and Beauty . The theme for the sixth week is “prom and anti-prom.”
Napoli’s genius in recrafting folk and fairy tales into young adult novels shines in this retelling of “Beauty and the Beast.” This lush novel begins at a leisurely pace in Persia before Prince Orasmyn, trapped by an ancient curse in the body of a lion, desperately makes his way to the traditional French manor house setting. Robert Ramirez delivers a clear, carefully paced reading of Orasmyn’s inner struggle, first as cursed prince, then as trapped beast. When reading Belle, he attempts to deliver another voice and intonation, quite subtly. But the strength of this narration lies in the forceful intensity of despair and desire Orasmyn repeatedly expresses, keeping the listener grounded in the moment, a necessity given the ending of the story. This title is owned in book format by other libraries in our constorium.
It’s pointless. Hopeless. Even if she weren’t afraid of me, we’ll always be enemies at the core . . .
In the city of Yuan, the blind Princess Isra is raised to be a human sacrifice. Her death will ensure her city’s vitality.
In the desert, a mutant beast named Gem fights to save his people, known as the Monstrous, from starvation.
Neither dreams that, together, they can return balance to their worlds. When Gem is captured for trying to steal Yuan’s enchanted roses, he becomes a prisoner of the city. Isra enlists his help, and soon begins to care for him—and to question everything she has been brought up to believe.
She’s a queen; I’m her prisoner. I am her monster and she is mine. The library owns this in book format as well.
Check out the rest of the month’s schedule here… you can even get text alerts about upcoming titles!
