Tess of the Road
by Rachel Hartman; read by Katharine McEwan
High School    Listening Library    Rev. 3/18
13 CDs    16.27 hrs.    978-1-5247-7955-9    $70.00

Narrated by McEwan in a crisply enunciated English accent, this fantasy (a companion to Hartman’s Seraphina, rev. 7/12) follows the anarchic Tess as the seventeen-year-old misfit almost ruins her twin sister’s wedding, disguises herself as a boy, and sets off on a journey, reuniting with her quigutul (subspecies of dragon) best friend. Hartman’s writing combines sly humor with piercing insight into her characters and their emotions, and she continues the world-building begun in Seraphina (whose title character is Tess’s half sister and who plays a role here). The audio CD includes a PDF with a list of characters and a glossary.

From the July/August 2018 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.