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Five Faves: Audio Books for Older Elementary School Kids

Recently I have posted some of my favorite audio books for Younger Elementary School Kids and Elementary School Kids. But don’t you all worry—I also have some new favorite audio books for Older Elementary School Kids. These are the audio books that sometimes deal with a bit more complexity in the plot or characters. Or perhaps there are some themes that need an older kid to completely understand. But nonetheless, they are all great books that will leave readers thinking long after the audio goes quiet. Enjoy! 

Written by Adrianna Cuevas 
Narrated By Anthony Rey Perez 
Dreamscape Media, LLC, 2021. Duration: 05:43:41 

Cumba is a 12-year-old who lives in Cuba in 1961. Cumba’s parents decide it isn’t safe to continue to live in Cuba since Castro might start requiring kids or teenagers to join the military, so they send him to live in Miami. However, living away from all his family in a new country and trying to learn a new language leaves Cumba feeling homesick and lonely. 

Written by Donna Barba Higuera 
Narrated by Frankie Corzo 
Recorded Books, LLC, 2021. Duration: 08:38:24 

In this sci-fi adventure, Petra and her family board a space ship that is leaving Earth due to the impending doom of a comet about to hit our planet. Petra’s family and others are put into a sleep state where she won’t age or grow with the intent on waking up decades later to populate a new planet. Only, when Petra wakes hundreds of years later, she finds that The Collective has taken over the ship and now Petra is the only one who remembers Earth and what was supposed to happen. 

Written by Phil Stamper 
Narrated by Vikas Adam 
HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 2022. Duration: 05:29:48 

Jake is the only openly gay kid in his school. And Jake’s parents want to support him. When Jake’s dad decides to fly a pride flag on their flagpole at their house, it causes the town to start making rules as to what can or can’t happen—such as no Pride Parades. Only Jake doesn’t think a Pride Parade is a bad idea—since that type of parade is just about bringing people together. Now Jake must decide what he wants to do in his small town that seems to not want to accept him. 

Written by Varsha Bajaj 
Narrated By Reena Dutt 
Books on Tape | Listening Library, 2022. Duration: 04:13:07 

Minni lives in Mumbai—in the poorest part, where water is hard to come by and life is full of unfair circumstances. When Minni starts to look closer at why the rich parts of the city always have enough clean water (enough for swimming pools and water coming out of every faucet) and why her area of town only has water available at certain times (with less and less water available every day), Minni discovers that some people will do anything to steal from the poor to make the rich richer. 

Written by Anne Ursu 
Narrated By Elise Arsenault 
HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 2021. Duration: 09:47:41 

Marya grew up in a world where everyone thought that her brother Luka would one day become a sorcerer and would make her family money. When Luka doesn’t become a sorcerer’s apprentice and Marya may be the reason he lost his chance, she is sent to Dragomir Academy—a place where other girls who have made trouble (of one sort or another) have been sent. Only, Marya realizes that things aren’t always as they seem and she and her friends aren’t just wayward girls who ruin everything.

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