Dogsong

Paulsen's 1986 Newbery Honor Book introduces 14-year-old Alaskan Russel Suskitt, who is worried that his people are losing their traditional skills with dogs by surrendering to snowmobiles. Setting out on a modern quest with a dog team borrowed from a village elder, Russel crosses mountains and tundra in search of his destiny. The novel has just been released for the first time as an audiobook, but narrator Robert Ramirez is a familiar voice to audio bookworms. Ramirez places the dogs and the dangers, from polar bears to ice floes, in stark relief, his voice a fine match for Paulsen's powerful words. He believably uses tone to project the passionate intensities of youth. Ramirez's steady, inviting voice makes this a glorious blizzard of a book that sends shivers down the listener's spine. M.M.C. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine