“How do you tell your part in the biggest tale in history? “I ask because it’s what I have to do. I’m Zoe Boutin Perry: A colonist stranded on a deadly pioneer world. Holy icon to a race of aliens. A player (and a pawn) in a interstellar chess match to save humanity, or…
In a sanctuary in another universe, scientists, philosophers, and mathematicians are protected from the outside world. The parallels to a cloister are accentuated by the music introducing each chapter, which is reminiscent of Gregorian chant—but different. Similarly, this world is like Earth, and the culture is like Western culture on Earth—but different. A lover of…
Five years after confinement by the Nazis in the Lodz Ghetto, in Poland, nine-year-old Syvia Perlmutter and her family are among the 800 Jews (including 12 children) who are rescued after Nazi guards flee the approaching Allied armies. Reader Gilbert’s youthful tones to represent Syvia heighten the youngster’s fear of the Nazis as she hides…
Little Century is a charged and eloquent novel about a young woman caught in the midst of the range wars in the American West at the turn of the century. Orphaned after the death of her mother, 18-year-old Esther Chambers heads west in search of her only living relative. In the lawless frontier town…
Almost everyone in town blames eight-year-old Violet Morgan for the death of her nine-year-old sister Daisy. Sing in the Morning, Cry at Night opens on September 4, 1913, two months after the Fourth of July tragedy. Owen, the girls’ father, “turns to drink” and abandons his family. Their mother Grace falls victim to the seductive…
Two New York women with similar stories–separated by a century– are richly portrayed by Tavia Gilbert. In September 1911, Clara, a nurse on Ellis Island, is heartbroken over the death of her beloved in a factory fire. One hundred years later, Taryn is devastated to learn that her husband was a victim of the Twin…
Narrator Tavia Gilbert’s clear, youthful diction adds appeal to her portrayal of college student Lauren Durough. She captures Lauren’s determination to be independent, even though she relies on her parents for her college tuition. With empathy Gilbert portrays Lauren’s job interview with octogenarian Abigail Boyle. Abigail agrees to hire Lauren to transcribe the journal of…
A highly skilled narrator helps provide an authentic-sounding setting for this story of love and betrayal within an Old Order Mennonite community. The story is told from the first-person point of view of the two lead characters, Rachel and her twin sister’s late father-in-law. Tavia Gilbert’s narration is confident and assured; her strong characterizations ensure…
Since Gilbert has also narrated Kallos’ two previous novels, it’s no wonder that her exquisite performance is so perfectly attuned to the author’s tone and cadence. In the current day and through flashbacks, listeners meet high-school language-arts teacher Charles Marlow; his ex-wife, Alison; and their children, severely autistic Cody and college-bound Emmy. The present-day action…
When Josie Jensen, an awkward 13-year-old musical prodigy, crashes headlong into newcomer Samuel Yazzie, an 18-year-old Navajo boy full of anger and confusion, an unlikely friendship blooms. Josie teaches Samuel about words, music, and friendship, and along the way finds a kindred spirit. Upon graduation, Samuel abandons the sleepy, small town in search of a…