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Review_AUDIO

carries listeners convincingly and sympa- more like a traditional author-read audio- tasy novels, originally published in 2007,
thetically through each family member’s book production. The anecdotes from her makes excellent use of cinematic music
struggle to come to terms with George’s marriage to actor Chris Pratt (which ended and digital sound effects. Multiple actors
culpability. A Ballantine hardcover. (Sept.) just before the book’s publication) shift voice the central characters, who are oddly
confusingly between past and present named after famous prisons: there’s the
tense in the audiobook. But this ties into a 13-year old protagonist Alcatraz Smedry,
Nonfiction recurring theme of Faris’s narrative: that his grandfather Leavenworth, best friends
complete closure in matters of the heart Sing and Quentin, and Bastille, a strong,
★ Nomadland: Surviving America doesn’t really exist. The audiobook will clever, angry, and thoroughly obnoxious
in the Twenty-First Century likely be of greatest interest to fans of girl who tags along. They are fighting the
Jessica Bruder, read by Karen White. Faris’s podcast, rather than finding a “evil librarians” who are attempting to
HighBridge Audio, unabridged, 8 CDs, 10 hrs., broader audience. A Dutton hardcover. take over the world. Alcatraz, struggling
$34.99 ISBN 978-1-6816-8718-6 (Oct.) with his irresolution and lack of confi-
Actor White engages listeners in dence, has, like the other members of his
Bruder’s sociological study of a group of Leonardo Da Vinci family, an unusual talent: in his case, the
low-income, mostly white elderly Walter Isaacson, read by Alfred Molina. S&S ability to destroy whatever he touches.
Americans who travel from job to job in Audio, unabridged, 14 CDs, 17 hrs., $49.99 This is evoked with lots of loud and sug-
RVs to avoid the cost of a permanent ISBN 978-1-5082-4198-0 gestive sound effects during the big battle
home. These are men and women in their Screen, television, and stage actor scenes. The production includes 17 actors,
60s, 70s, and even 80s who consider Molina (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Not Without most of whom seem to have very minor
themselves not homeless but houseless, My Daughter), elegantly narrates roles, but their variety and a remarkably
having lost their homes or opted to ditch Isaacson’s sweeping biography of good musical score contribute to the jolly
their mortgages, taxes, and repair bills. Leonardo da Vinci. Molina effortlessly mood of violent mayhem. Ages 9–up. A
Listeners will feel as if they are right there navigates Italian place names and sur- Scholastic hardcover. (Dec.)
in Bruder’s passenger seat, traveling with names, and there is a sharp intelligence
her to RV campsites, researching, and throughout his performance, as he joins Elizabeth and Zenobia
sharing grief and friendship with the Isaacson in peeling back the layers of a Jessica Miller, read by Shiromi Arserio. Tantor
“workampers.” Among the people pro- man whose surviving notebooks are Audio, unabridged, 4 CDs, 4.5 hrs., $34.99
filed is 64-year-old Linda May, who lives crammed with fantastic designs but only ISBN 978-1-5414-1196-8
in a tiny trailer she calls the Squeeze contain tantalizing hints of a personal life. Actor Arserio’s crisp narration of Miller’s
Inn—“yeah, there’s room, squeeze in”— Isaacson manages to piece together chron- middle grade novel captures the moody
and works as a “host” in trailer camps reg- ologically the artist’s life from his appren- atmosphere of its gothic setting and the
istering newcomers, repairing RVs, and ticeship at age 14 in Florence under endearing nature of the friendship
cleaning toilets all day. She then heads to Andrea del Verrochio to his death in between its two protagonists. Mixing
Amazon warehouses for long, exhausting France in 1519, focusing primarily on his elements of ghost story and coming-of-
night shifts sorting packages. White’s evolution as an artist. Isaacson reads the age tale, the story follows a young, timid
friendly voice and easygoing conversa- foreword and the conclusion, in which he girl named Elizabeth, who, after being
tional rhythm embeds listeners in the ruminates on the legacy of an artist whose abandoned by her mother, moves with
misery but also the camaraderie of these trail of unfinished projects vastly out- her distracted scientist father into his
under-the-radar 21st-century nomads. A numbers his completed works. The only childhood home, an empty mansion called
Norton hardcover. (Oct.) hiccup in this excellent audio production Witheringe House. Lonely and unable to
is that the nearly 150 illustrations men- attract her dad’s attention, Elizabeth
Unqualified tioned throughout are available in PDF finds companionship in Zenobia, a snarky
Anna Faris, read by the author. Penguin Audio, form but are not easily accessible for those friend who no one else can see. As Elizabeth
unabridged, 6 CDs, 6.5 hrs., $40 ISBN 978-1- listening on the go. Still, it’s a great per- and Zenobia roam the mansion, they
5247-7880-4 formance by Molina and a pleasure to detect ghosts and spirits that Elizabeth’s
Faris—actress, producer, and host of listen to. A Simon & Schuster hardcover. father and the stoic housekeeper dismiss
the Anna Faris Is Unqualified podcast— (Oct.) as figments of Elizabeth’s imagination.
narrates this lighthearted mix of autobi- Arserio reads the tale in low and myste-
ography and ruminations on love and rela- rious tones that add intrigue and sus-
tionships. As narrator, Farris projects the Children’s/YA pense. The book balances gruesome,
down-to-earth persona that fans of her spooky elements with the friendly banter
character on the sitcom Mom would Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians between Elizabeth and Zenobia; Arserio’s
expect, with whimsy mixed with grit. Brandon Sanderson, read by a full cast. narration provides the right proportions
The podcast elements take on a conversa- GraphicAudio, adapted, 5 CDs, 6 hrs., $19.99 of tension and humor. Ages 9–13. An
tional tone, with audience shout-outs and ISBN 978-1-62851-444-5 Amulet hardcover. (Sept.)
asides, while the memoir portions seem This first of a series of young adult fan-

80 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ JANU AR Y 22, 2018