PRH 2020 ALA Midwinter Prizes Three: Audio
Skip Dye, Senior V.P., Library Sales and Digital Strategy, led the Penguin Random House contingent attending the ALA meeting, and offers his overview: “We had a very productive and enjoyable ALA Midwinter meeting in Philadelphia, engaging with librarians from large and small communities across the country. It was a terrific opportunity for us to share our pride in and enthusiasm for our lists, and to reiterate to them how grateful we are for all they do to grow our authors’ readership through circulating their print, audio, and e-books to their patrons. As you have been reading in Igloo, dozens of our recently published children’s and adult titles have been bestowed 2020 prizes and honors by ALA-affiliated organizations. These recognitions are as exciting as the purchase orders pouring in for them from our library partners.”
For this final 2020 ALA Midwinter awards wrap up, here’s three lists respectively honoring our adult, young adult, and children’s audiobook recordings:
RUSA Listen List
Highlighting “extraordinary narrators and listening experiences that merit special attention by a general adult audience and librarians who advise them.”
Seven out of the thirteen 2020 titles are published by Penguin Random House Audio, with a strong showing on “Listen-Alike” titles:
Listen List:
- BECOMING by Michelle Obama; read by the author
- DAISY JONES AND THE SIX by Taylor Jenkins Reid; read by Jennifer Beals, Benjamin Bratt, Judy Greer and Pablo Schreiber
- GOOD TALK by Mira Jacob; read by the author with a full cast
- NOTES FROM A YOUNG BLACK CHEF by Kwame Onwuachi and Joshua David Stein; Read by Kwame Onwuachi
- THE POISON THREAD by Laura Purcell; read by Jayne Entwistle and Elizabeth Knowelden
- RED AT THE BONE by Jacqueline Woodson; read by Jacqueline Woodson, Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Peter Francis James, Shayna Small and Bahni Turpin
- WE CAST A SHADOW by Maurice Carlos Ruffin; read by Dion Graham (Listen
“Listen-Alike” List:
- LET’S GO (So We Can Get Back) by Jeff Tweedy, read by Jeff Tweedy (Listen-Alike for Daisy Jones and the Six)
- MORE FUN IN THE NEW WORLD by John Doe, Tom Desavia, read by John Doe, Tom Desavia and Various (Listen-Alike for Daisy Jones and the Six)
- EXHALATION by Ted Chiang, read by Edoardo Ballerini, Dominic Hoffman, Amy Landon, Ted Chiang (Listen-Alike for Full Throttle: Stories)
- MY ABSOLUTE DARLING by Gabriel Tallent, read by Alex McKenna (Listen-Alike for Ghost Wall)
- COPPERHEAD by Alexi Zentner, read by Kirby Heyborne (Listen-Alike for Ghost Wall)
- MIND AND MATTER by John Urschel, Louisa Thomas, read by Sullivan Jones (Listen-Alike for Notes from a Young Black Chef)
- BECAUSE INTERNET by Gretchen McCulloch, Louisa Thomas, read by Gretchen McCulloch (Listen-Alike for Talking to Strangers)
- THE WATER DANCER by Ta-Nehisi Coates; read by Joe Morton (Listen-Alike for The Water Dancer)
- MY BELOVED WORLD by Sonia Sotomayor, read by Rita Moreno (Listen-Alike for Becoming)
- RE JANE: A Novel by Patricia Park, read by Diana Bang (Listen-Alike for The Bride Test)
YALSA Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults
“The list is aimed towards young adults aged 12-18 that would appeal to all subsects of the teen audience.”
These are the sixteen PRH titles, four of which are designated as top ten picks:
- BECOMING by Michelle Obama, read by the author (top ten)
- CHESHIRE CROSSING by Andy Weir, read by Sophie Amoss, Brittany Pressley, Kristen DiMercurio, Rebecca Soler, Lisa Flanagan, James Monroe Iglehart, Neil Hellegers, Sean Patrick Hopkins, Peter Coleman and Pete Bradbury
- DAISY JONES AND THE SIX by Taylor Jenkins Reid, read by Jennifer Beals, Benjamin Bratt, Judy Greer and Pablo Schreiber
- DIG by A.S. King, read by A.S. King, Mike Chamberlain, Tonya Cornelisse and Kirby Heyborne (top ten)
- THE FOUNTAINS OF SILENCE by Ruta Sepetys, read by Maite Jáuregui, Ruta Sepetys, Richard Ferrone, Neil Hellegers, Joshua Kane, Liza Kaplan and Oliver Wyman (top ten)
- FRANKLY IN LOVE by David Yoon, read by Raymond J. Lee
- LOVELY WAR by Julie Berry, read by Jayne Entwistle, Allan Corduner, Julie Berry, Dion Graham, Fiona Hardingham, John Lee, Nathaniel Parker and Steve West
- NOTES FROM A YOUNG BLACK CHEF by Kwame Onwuachi and Joshua David Stein; Read by Kwame Onwuachi
- PATRON SAINTS OF NOTHING by Randy Ribay, read by Ramon de Ocampo
- ROLLER GIRL by Victoria Jamieson, read by Almarie Guerra and a full cast
- SHOUT by Laurie Halse Anderson, read by the author (top ten)
- STRONGER, FASTER, AND MORE BEAUTIFUL by Arwen Elys Dayton, read by Michael Crouch, Karissa Vacker, Brittany Pressley and a full cast
- THE THINGS SHE’S SEEN by Ambelin Kwaymullina and Ezekiel Kwaymullina, read by Miranda Tapsell
- TWO CAN KEEP A SECRET by Karen M. McManus, read by Sophie Amoss and Kirby Heyborne
- WHITE BIRD by R. J. Palacio, read by Hillary Huber, Emily Ellet, Michael Crouch, Robbie Daymond, Graham Halstead, Lauren Ezzo, Sean Patrick Hopkins, Robert Fass, Tristan Morris, Adam Alexi-Malle, P.J. Ochlan, Karissa Vacker, Elizabeth Knowelden and Lisa Flanagan
- WICKED FOX by Kat Cho, read by Emily Woo Zeller
ALSC Notable Children’s Recordings
The Notable Children’s Recordings list includes recordings for children 14 years of age and younger of especially commendable quality that demonstrate respect for young people’s intelligence and imagination; exhibit venturesome creativity; and reflect and encourage the interests of children and young adolescents in exemplary ways.
This year’s list features 10 Listening Library titles out of the 27 named:
- CHARLOTTE’S WEB by E. B. White; read by Meryl Streep, January LaVoy, Kirby Heyborne, MacLeod Andrews, Emily Rankin, Kimberly Farr, Mark Deakins, Lincoln Hoppe, Tavia Gilbert, Robin Miles, Cassandra Campbell, Danny Campbell and a full cast
- KLAWDE: Evil Alien Warlord Cat: The Spacedog Cometh by Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth; read by Oliver Wyman, Vikas Adam and Dan Bittner
- MAX AND THE MIDKNIGHTS by Lincoln Peirce; read by Kristen DiMercurio, Marc Thompson, Christopher Gebauer and Jessica Almasy
- ROLLER GIRL by Victoria Jamieson; read by Almarie Guerra and a full cast
- SONG FOR A WHALE by Lynne Kelly, narrated by Abigail Revasch
- THE BRIDGE HOME by Padma Venkatraman; read by the author
- TO NIGHT OWL FROM DOGFISH by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer; read by Imani Parks, Cassandra Morris and a full cast
- TRISTAN STRONG PUNCHES A HOLE IN THE SKY by Kwame Mbalia; read by Amir Abdullah
- WE’RE NOT FROM HERE by Geoff Rodkey, narrated by Dani Martinek
- WHEN THE GROUND IS HARD by Malla Nunn; read by Bahni Turpin
Penguin Random House had a great ALA Midwinter, with a multitude of our books and audios honored. Congratulations to everyone!