Tough Topics Audiobooks

The Redemption of Daya Keane

"*Selected for the Whippoorwill All Read List 2025 “Emotional and empowering, The Redemption of Daya Keane is full of the kind of heart and truth that vibrates off the page.” —Amber Smith, New York Times bestselling author of The Way I Used to Be We Are Okay meets The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School in this heartfelt, queer coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of a small town’s evangelical megachurch culture. The end of Daya Keane’s junior year in Escondido, Arizona, is anything but expected. And it starts when her longtime swoon-worthy crush, Beckett Wild, actually talks to her at a party neither of them should’ve been at. But as Daya’s best friends, Stella and B’Rad, are quick to point out, smart, cute, artistic Beckett is also the poster girl for the wildly popular youth group at Grace Redeemer, the megachurch Daya’s mom prays at and pushes her daughter to attend. Amid the concert-worthy light shows, high-energy live band, and pastor preaching to love thy neighbor so long as thy neighbor “gets right with God” first, Daya struggles to find her place in a house of worship that doesn’t seem to create space for someone like her. Then again, she never planned to fall this hard for a girl like Beckett Wild. Now Daya has to decide how far she’s willing to surrender to Beckett’s world of Grace Redeemer, and who she’s willing to become to be with her. A fearless and profound tale ideal for readers of Jeff Zentner and Jennifer Dugan, The Redemption of Daya Keane gives an intimate and unforgettable look into a world that demands to be seen. "

Gia Gordon (Author), Elisa Meléndez (Narrator)

Audiobook

10 Things I Hate About Prom

"There are more than 10 things to hate about prom, but the worst is having to convince your BFF that you're the one he should take-a sweet friends-to-lovers teen rom-com from the author of Caught in a Bad Fauxmance "A love story meant for the movies, with cheeky and charming nods to our favorite nineties flicks." -K. L. Walther, bestselling author of The Summer of Broken Rules Ivelisse Santos has had Joaquin Romero's back since their first playdate. Not just next-door neighbors, they're platonic soulmates. At least, that's what Ive thinks, until Joaquin decides to ask Tessa Hernandez, the same girl who stole Ive's boyfriend, to prom. Sure, the head cheerleader and the star baseball player going to prom together makes more sense than Joaquin and Ivelisse-leader of tech crew-would. But that doesn't mean it should actually happen. What's worse, Joaquin wants Ivelisse's help planning an elaborate promposal. As much as she wants to say no, she'll take all the quality time with Joaquin she can get before graduation. Even if it means watching her best friend fall for somebody else. Somebody who isn't her."

Elle Gonzalez Rose (Author), Krysta Gonzales (Narrator)

Audiobook

Diary of a Dying Girl: Adapted from Salt in My Soul

"This collection of one girl's real, unflinching diary entries about slowly dying of a terminal illness is an unparalleled exploration of the human spirit and what it means to truly live. Many of the feelings I write about are too difficult to share while I'm alive, so I'm keeping everything in my journal password-protected until the end. Mallory Smith was no ordinary girl, and this is no ordinary story. At age three, Mallory was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis--a disease that attacks the internal organs and would eventually kill her. Despite living on borrowed time, Mallory pursued her passions: volleyball; writing; the environment; her boyfriend, family, and friends. Most importantly, every day she chose to embody the mantra 'live happy.' Mallory also had her struggles--everything from love and sex to living with illness and just being a human on this planet. And she chronicled every bit of it, writing thousands of diary entries before her death in her twenties. This is the poignant, true story of a young woman who refused to be defined by chronic illness. Her light and her life are shared here in her own words to encourage everyone to live life to the fullest, as she did, even as she was dying."

Mallory Smith (Author), Mara Wilson (Narrator)

Audiobook

Hot Boy Summer

"Four gay teens in Texas have the summer of their lives while discovering important truths about realness, belonging, and friendship in this "explosive prose debut for the gays and theys growing up outside of the box" (Booklist, starred review). Mac has never really felt like he belonged. Definitely not at home—his dad's politics and toxic masculinity make a real connection impossible. He thought he fit in on the baseball team, but that's only because he was pretending to be someone he wasn't. Finding his first gay friend, Cammy, was momentous; finally, he could be his authentic self around someone else. But as it turned out, not really. Cammy could be cruel, and his "advice" often came off way harsh. And then, Mac meets Flor, who shows him that you can be both fierce and kind, and Mikey, who is superhot and might maybe think the same about him. Over the course of one hot, life-changing summer, Mac will stand face-to-face with desire, betrayal, and letting go of shame, which will lead to some huge discoveries about the realness of truly belonging. Told in Mac's infectious, joyful, gay AF voice, Hot Boy Summer serves a tale as important as hope itself: four gay teens doing what they can to connect and have the fiercest summer of their lives. New friendships will be forged, hot boys will be kissed…and girl, the toxic will be detoxed."

Joe Jiménez (Author), Avi Roque (Narrator)

Audiobook

Another First Chance

"They Both Die at the End meets You've Reached Sam, in this "superb…thought-provoking" (Booklist, starred review) speculative young adult novel from New York Times bestselling author Robbie Couch that explores all the different ways love can live on after tragedy. It's been one year since eighteen-year-old River Lang's best friend died in a car accident. And every day since, he's had to pass by the depressing billboard that appeared as a result: a texting and driving PSA that reduces Dylan to a cautionary tale. Dylan was so much more than a statistic, though, and River hates that everyone in town seems to have forgotten. When he's caught improving (a.k.a. vandalizing) Dylan's billboard, River is blackmailed into joining the Affinity Trials—a research study that's observing teens who are "struggling socially." As soon as he arrives though, River is thrown together with the last person he wants to spend an entire week with: his ex-best friend and Dylan's former girlfriend, Mavis, who's the only one who knows the truth about the night Dylan died. During the Trials, River befriends a charming quarterback named Nash, and it doesn't take long for romantic feelings to start bubbling to the surface. But bizarre developments within the Trials make him wonder what the researchers are actually studying as they monitor his every move. And when suspicions lead him to a bombshell discovery, River will have to decide just how far he's willing to go for another chance at first love."

Robbie Couch (Author), Briggon Snow, Michael Crouch (Narrator)

Audiobook

Fall of the Iron Gods

"The sequel to Rise of the Red Hand, a searing portrayal of the future of climate change in South Asia. After inflicting a devastating blow on the autocratic provincial government, Ashiva, Synch, and their remaining allies must take on the planetary government, which wants the Red Hand exterminated. The compelling conclusion to the Colorado Book Award winning Rise of the Red Hand, perfect for fans of Marie Lu and Zoe Hana Mikuta’s Gearbreakers. Despite hard-won victories, the revolutionary forces known as the Red Hand are more endangered than ever: the Planetary Alliance Commission—the PAC—has branded them public enemy number one, ramping up their efforts to eliminate the Red Hand’s remaining members even as the pandemic rages on. In order to protect the progress they have made, the team must adopt new tactics. Ashiva, armed with a new bionic upgrade, leads a team back into the fray on a dangerous mission across a toxic wasteland wracked by storms. Synch sets out to fortify their hidden Himalayan stronghold, but his presence may hurt their cause more than the Red Hand knows. And Taru, determined to prove herself, punches deep into the heart of governmental research facilities in a desperate gamble to bring down the regime from the inside. Greedy and unyielding, the PAC is all too willing to sacrifice the people of a province to achieve their optimal results, leaving Ashiva, Synch, and Taru to save their homeland from a government claiming to act for the greater planetary good."

Olivia Chadha (Author), Neil Shah, Sharmila Devar, Soneela Nankani (Narrator)

Audiobook

Rise of the Red Hand

"The South Asian Province is split in two. Uplanders live in a luxurious, climate-controlled biodome, where technology keeps them healthy and youthful forever. Outside, the poor and forgotten scrape by with black-market robotics in slums threatened by rising sea levels, unbreathable air, and deadly superbugs. Ashiva works for the Red Hand, an underground network of revolutionaries fighting the government, which is run by a merciless computer algorithm that dictates every citizen’s fate. As a smuggler with the best robotic arm and cybernetic enhancements the slums can offer, her cargo includes the city’s most vulnerable abandoned children. When the brilliant Uplander hacker Riz-Ali stumbles into the Red Hand’s dangerous activities, he and Ashiva uncover a horrifying conspiracy that the government will do anything to bury. As armed guardians kidnap children, massive robots flatten the slums, and a pandemic threatens to decimate the city, Ashiva and Riz must put aside their differences to fight the system and save the communities they love from destruction."

Olivia Chadha (Author), Neil Shah, Sharmila Devar, Soneela Nankani (Narrator)

Audiobook

Shooting for Stars

"A charming romantic dramedy from the author of The Art of Insanity High schooler Skyler Davidson spends most of her time with her pet rat, Five. The daughter of scientists, she's determined to finish her late mother's research on neutron stars. So she teams up with aspiring videographer, Cooper, to film a submission for a NASA internship-all while keeping it a secret from her dad, who doesn't expect any trouble from his obviously college-bound daughter. As Skyler and Cooper grow closer, it turns out that Skyler's dad has a new love interest as well: a hot makeup influencer who likes to put her nose where it doesn't belong. She'll keep hush on Skyler's NASA plans, if Skyler agrees to get to know her. Now Skyler's tangled up in a budding romance, an unexpected friendship, and the stress of having to retake her SATs. Will Skyler's dream of stars collapse and explode, or can dad and daughter reconcile and change their trajectory?"

Christine Webb (Author), Jorjeana Marie (Narrator)

Audiobook

I Wish You Would: the summer's swooniest YA romance

"TURN EVERY RISK INTO A CHANCE. EVERY KISS INTO A PROMISE. Senior Sunrise is the highlight of the summer - an epic overnight at the beach to kick off senior year. But for Natalia and Ethan it's the first time seeing each other after junior prom, when they almost crossed the line from best friends to something more and ruined everything. Now, after ghosting each other all summer, Natalia is desperate to pretend she doesn't care and Ethan is desperate to fix his mistake. But when it's time for the senior class tradition of writing private letters to themselves - what they wish they would do this year if they were braver - Natalia pours her heart out. So does Ethan. So does their entire class. But before the letters are burned in the bonfire, Natalia has a change of heart and tries to retrieve her letter. In doing so, she accidentally sets the letters free. And as the wind whisks seven of them across the beach, seven of their deepest secrets and wildest dreams are exposed. Can Natalia and Ethan find a future if their secrets are out there? Seven private confessions. Seven time-bombs set loose for anyone to find. One last chance to fall in love. A GORGEOUS YOUNG ADULT ROM-COM FROM SPARKLING NEW VOICE EVA DES LAURIERS, PERFECT FOR FANS OF JENNY HAN, EMERY LORD AND JENNIFER NIVEN."

Eva Des Lauriers (Author), Nezar Alderazi, Stacy Gonzalez (Narrator)

Audiobook

Beyond Clueless

"Marty Sullivan's life ends, basically, when her parents enroll her in a private high school. A private, Catholic, girls-only high school. Meanwhile, at their local public school, her best friend, Jimmy, comes out of the closet and finds himself a boyfriend and a new group of friends. Marty feels left out and alone, until she gets a part in the school musical, Into the Woods, and Jimmy and his new crew are in it, too! Things start looking even better when Marty falls for foxy fellow cast member Felix Peroni. And Felix seems to like her back. But the drama is just beginning . . . Can Marty and Jimmy keep up their friendship? And is Marty's new beau everything he appears to be? Or is Marty too clueless to figure it all out before it's too late?"

Linas Alsenas (Author), Rachel Perry (Narrator)

Audiobook

Giftchild

"Penny adores her best friend Rodney. He's always there for her, and she knows they'd be the perfect couple—except that they're still in high school, and she's watched too many friends go through painful breakups. Besides, Penny has bigger things to worry about—like her mother, who desperately wants to have more children. After an endless string of miscarriages and failed adoptions, Penny's mother is ready to give up hope. But Penny has the perfect plan: if she gets pregnant, she can give her mother the baby she's always wanted. Penny's sure this is the right thing to do, but only after she sets her plan in motion does she realize that sex will change her relationship with Rodney—in ways that she never expected. And the more she tries to fix things for her mother, the more she risks losing everything she wants for herself. All Penny wants is for the people she loves to be happy. So why isn't anything going the way that she planned?"

Janci Patterson (Author), Renée Chambliss (Narrator)

Audiobook

No Big Deal

"A fierce and body-positive celebration of friendship, first crushes and loving yourself. Emily knows she's smart. Emily knows she's funny. Emily knows she's awesome. Emily knows she's fat. She doesn't need anyone to tell her any of these things - she likes herself and she likes her body. She just thinks it's time everyone else caught up. With a newly-slim bestie, a mum knee-deep in fad diets and increasing pressure to change, Emily faces a constant battle to be her true self. But when she meets gorgeous Joe, things start to change. Somehow, she's going to have to convince everyone, including herself, that it's no big deal. “No Big Deal is an iconic love song to everyone out there who knows that life isn't one size fits all.” –Julie Murphy, bestselling author of Dumplin'"

Bethany Rutter (Author), Ella Lynch (Narrator)

Audiobook