I’ve particularly enjoyed exploring YA books by Latinx authors on audio. There’s something so comforting about getting to hear bits of my first language woven in thought these stories, enhancing what for me is still the novelty of seeing my culture on the page. That experience hasn’t always been a smooth one, but I’m pretty jazzed to have found a narrator who hasn’t let me down. Here are five of my favorite YA audiobooks read by Frankie Corzo, a talented storyteller who always nails pace, emotion, tone, and vibe with some lovely Spanish to boot. Team Frankie! In the kingdom of Puerto Leones, the Moria are a hunted people in with magical abilities. As a Robari, the rarest of the Moria, Renata Convida can extract memories with the touch of her hand. She was kidnapped by the Crown as a child and then turned into a weapon, leaving hundreds of her people hollow and eventually dead. Now she’s among the Whispers, the rebel group working to free the remaining Moria and help them escape the kingdom. When the commander of her unit is taken captive by the notoriously cruel prince. Ren must return to the palace she swore she’d never go back to, and there discovers a fate-changing secret from her past. There’s a romance subplot, deception, betrayal, all kinds of secrets, and a moment early on in the book that legit made me yell, “Oh no she did NOT!” The conclusion to the duology, Illusionary, is out now, and it too is that hot fire. Side note: I had a big ol’ quince with a guest list of (deep breath) over 400 people. When I tell you that I related HARD to this book…dios mio. If I close my eyes, I can hear Elvis Crespo’s Suavemente.
