#lancerubin

Lance Rubin's debut novel, Zed Moonstein Makes A Friend, will be published August 26, 2025.

Zed Moonstein struggles with making friends, so he secretly downloads the app, MonoFriends, that the company his mother works for is creating. His new A.I. friend, Matt, is fun and really gets him. Unfortunately, the A.I.’s charm becomes threatening.

Interested? Follow the link to read BWS Book review: Zed Moonstein Makes a Friend.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, read by Bahni Turpin

This audio(book) is truly outstanding- as great and powerful as All American Boys, and I really appreciated the female perspective.  The story centers around Starr who witnesses a police officer shoot her friend, who was unnecessarily pulled over and simply reaching for a hairbrush.  This story is a beautiful addition to the Black Lives Matter movement, but is so much more than that.

I loved Starr's voice and the storyline with all its complexities. So. Well. Done!  I bought multiple copies so students and staff alike in my high school library can read it, and loved it so much I lobbied for (and won) it a spot on our central Ohio Battle of the Books list for 2018!

The narrator, Bahni Turpin, was phenomenal, and brought out the nuances in the story with strong, clear voices that rang with the depth of their emotions.

Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith, Read by Tonya Cornelisse

A lovely story about a girl who buys a winning lottery for her best friend, who she loves, yet feels she can’t tell him her feelings.  Interesting to consider the positive and poor choices one can easily make when one wins the lottery, as well as the way our parents -dead and alive-affect our choices.  A great choice for HS libraries and safe enough for middle school libraries. I also love that her cousin Leo is gay and in a relationship-that is one of the story arcs but not the heart of the story.

The narrator, Tonya Cornelisse, did a lovely job expressing Alice’s feelings and giving each male character separate and authentic voices.

Audiobook provided digitally on the Penguin Randomhouse Volumes App.  All opinions are my own.

Girling Up: How to be Strong, Smart and Spectacular by Mayim Bialik, PhD, read by the author

I really liked Mayim's book-she addresses all personal and health issues in a frank and thoughtful way.  She is realistic, discusses how to deal with depression, stress, eating healthy, exercise and even sex in ways that pre-teen girls can relate to and learn from.  I was really happy with her thoughts & find this an excellent book for late elementary and middle school libraries, and also recommend a copy for high school libraries as well for the girls who need a strong and supportive role model.

I always love when the author reads her own work, and Dr. Bialik was no exception! I love when the author tells her own personal stories that she speaking in her authentic voice.

Audiobook provided digitally on the Penguin Randomhouse Volumes App.  All opinions are my own.

Denton Little’s Death Date by Lance Rubin, read by the author

Fascinating and hilarious!

I love this premise -how would you live your life differently if we all knew our death dates in advance?

 We attend, and speak at, our own funeral, have a blast at our wake, and have a pretty good reason for pressuring people into doing what we want (I'm going to die tomorrow...)

Yes every turn that Denton takes, from his funeral eulogy where he tells everyone what a jerk his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend is, only to have him show up and try and kill him on his death day, to his crazy antics with his girlfriend as well as his best friend's sister, keep this wild ride going!

The author, Lance Rubin, is a sketch comedian so his reading of his own novel makes it that much more hilarious.  Overall, a great listen, especially now that the sequel, Denton Little's Still Not Dead, is finally out!

Audiobook provided by the fabulous Jodie Cohen at Listening Library/BOT. All opinions are my own.

I just have to include a very favorite audiobook, the A Tyranny of Petticoats: 15 Stories of Belles, Bank Robbers and Other Badass Girls, edited by Jessica Spotswood.  Read by the reader of The Hate I Give, Everything, Everything and The Sun is Also a Star, Bahni Turpin  has pretty much become one of the narrator’s I most frequently hear when I turn on an audiobook.  

I was especially impressed because other collections of short stories I have  listened to have each been read by a different narrator, so the fact that Bahni Turpin was able to give unique voices to each female protagonist was definitely an amazing feet.

A Tyranny of Petticoats is a compilation of short stories from amazing authors like Kekla Magoon, Elizabeth Wein, and Andrea Cremer.  What I realize I love about short stories is that I’m never bored-the author sets up the premise quickly, the conflict has to rise right away, and the plot has to resolve in a satisfying, yet succinct way.  No trilogy to wade through or throw away subplots, just wham, bam, thank you ma’am -literally, thank you to both the female authors and female protagonists who packed lots of punches (again literally and figuratively).

I just love historical fiction as well;  I read about many different fascinating times and places and loved each author’s note  that detailed the true history surrounding the fictional story.  And yes, as always, Elizabeth Wein has a flying story that made me cry. And yes, Andrea Cremer had a story with some awesome magic and great characters.  Also impressive, all of the stories were equally good, a rare feat for a collection.  A “sequel” of sorts looks like it is coming out next year, and I can’t wait!  Definitely add this to your “must listen” list!