2019 Odyssey Award
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2019 Winner
Sadie produced by Macmillan Audio, written by Courtney Summers and narrated by Rebecca Soler, Fred Berman, Dan Bittner, Gabra Zackman, and more.
Part true crime podcast part revenge road trip, “Sadie” is the story of a young girl as she seeks vengeance for her sister’s murder. The full ensemble cast brings together more than thirty voices, with Rebecca Soler authentically capturing Sadie’s stutter and angry, tortured emotions while Dan Bittner gives voice to radio journalist West McCray as he tries to piece together what has happened to Sadie.
2019 Honor Recordings
Du Iz Tak produced by Weston Woods Studios, a division of Scholastic and written by Carson Ellis, narrated by Eli and Sebastian D’Amico, Burton, Galen, and Laura Fott, Sarah Hart, Bella Higginbotham, Evelyn Hipp and Brian Hull
Adorable children’s voices and music brilliantly enhance this unique story of backyard insects who communicate in their own language. This production helps listeners decipher the plot while sound effects and evocative music spark the imagination. An original song written for this production is a wonderfully “scrivadelly” bonus.
Esquivel! Space-Age Sound Artist produced by Live Oak Media, written by Susan Wood, narrated by Brian Amador
The work of innovative composer Juan Garcia Esquivel is uniquely portrayed in this picture book biography by Susan Wood. Brian Amador’s narration, combined with tracks of space aged music and sound effects, presents a carefully orchestrated experience, with each element of the illustrations perfectly represented in stereo sound.
The Parker Inheritance produced by Scholastic Audiobooks, written by Varian Johnson, narrated by Cherise Booth
In pursuit of the mysterious Parker inheritance, author Varian Johnson takes readers down a trail of clues spanning three generations of fear and discrimination in the American South. Narrator Cherise Boothe evokes an appropriate sense of time and place with her compelling cast of characters and authentic range of emotions.
The Poet X produced by HarperAudio, an imprint of HarperCollins Publisher, written and narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo
Award-winning slam poet Elizabeth Acevado infuses her debut novel with palpable energy as she reads this coming-of-age tale. Acevado’s raw, rhythmic delivery is perfect for performing the novel’s free-verse poems, which describe Xiomara Barista’s transformation from an obedient young girl to a free-thinking young woman in Harlem.
2019 Committee Members
Members of the 2019 Odyssey Award Committee: Chair, Stephanie R. Charlefour, Monadnock Regional School District, Swanzey, N.H., Elizabeth Bast, Racine Unified School District - Starbuck Middle School, Racine, Wis.; Melanie Koss, Northern Illinois University Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Dekalb, Ill.; Jennifer L. Longee, Durham (N.C.) Academy Middle School; Andrea Lynn Pavlik, Huntington (N.Y.) Public Library; Jennie Grubb Randolph, Knox County Schools, Knoxville, Tenn.; Lynda Salem Poling, Long Beach Public Library, Long Beach, CA; Sara Saxton, Wasilla (Alaska) Public Library; and Ness Clarke Shortley, Horton Middle School, Pittsboro, N.C.
