If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko
Read by Ariadne Meyes and Francois Battiste
The narration in this audio book was very interesting. There were multiple narrators with dramatization. Two narrators dramatized the voices of the other characters in the book. I do not believe that this was the best choice of narrative style for this title because it was hard to tell apart the different characters. Most of the characters were young adults and so when the two narrators would change a character their voices did not support that character.
The narrator’s voice was clear and engaging, mostly because of the interesting storyline. Their voices were pleasant to listen to over a long period of time and it was free of obvious intakes of breath or speech peculiarities. The narrator’s were accurate and appropriate and mostly consistent with accents and pronunciation. The main characters were young adults in the seventh grade and the narrator’s voice sometimes did not match the age and speech patterns of the characters. You could tell the narrator’s had to really try to change their voices for other characters. Their attitudes were consistent. The narrator does use variations in pitch and volume to keep the listener engaged and to add drama and interest to the scenes. The narrator’s voices do somewhat seem appropriate to the setting, which was during the school year in the seventh grade.
The pace of the narrator speaking was smooth and easy to follow. It was not slow, which would make it less interesting. The narrators were very good at being able to vary the pace to match the dramatic and emotional highs and lows of the plot. These narrators were very emotional with plenty of teenage attitude. The narrators maintained pace through the entire production.
There is introductory music and concluding music; however, there was no music between sections of the book. The music at the beginning of the book does linger for a little too long. I think production would have been just as good without it lingering for that long; however, music at the beginning was important to engage to the listener. There were no sound effects used in the making of this audio book.
At the beginning of each chapter the narrator briefly says what chapter we are on and the title of the chapter. The end points for each CD are logically (at least) chosen. The two narrators announce the title and they do read introductory and ending material. This is definitely a plus so that the listener has more information about what they are about to read. There is no advertising and that would be a positive.
There are no built in extras that do not appear in the print version. There are no author interviews or music. I think music might detract from the quality of the storyline, unless the story is about music. There are not materials that appear in the print version that are included in the audio. It is basically the same. There are no illustrations in the print version, aside from the cover art.
The sound quality is clean, clear, and crisp. There is rarely a hiss, overlap, skips, gaps or overdubs. I can usually tell where the recording sessions begin and ends because there is a long silent pause. The quality of the “white noise” in the background is consistent throughout the audio book. There is tracking at regular intervals. The intervals are short enough to be useful, mainly to grasp what you just heard or to jot down some notes. The cover is fairly attractive. A big beautiful tree is featured just like the illustration in the print version. The packaging is sturdy but because it is brand new. Maybe after a couple of years, it could get flimsy. The liner notes are correct, legible, and informative. The sound level is consistent throughout, never having to adjust my equipment to compensate. The editing is careful, for there are no repeated sentences. The time in between sections and chapters is enough time to reflect on what you just listened to.
Read by Ariadne Meyes and Francois Battiste
The narration in this audio book was very interesting. There were multiple narrators with dramatization. Two narrators dramatized the voices of the other characters in the book. I do not believe that this was the best choice of narrative style for this title because it was hard to tell apart the different characters. Most of the characters were young adults and so when the two narrators would change a character their voices did not support that character.
The narrator’s voice was clear and engaging, mostly because of the interesting storyline. Their voices were pleasant to listen to over a long period of time and it was free of obvious intakes of breath or speech peculiarities. The narrator’s were accurate and appropriate and mostly consistent with accents and pronunciation. The main characters were young adults in the seventh grade and the narrator’s voice sometimes did not match the age and speech patterns of the characters. You could tell the narrator’s had to really try to change their voices for other characters. Their attitudes were consistent. The narrator does use variations in pitch and volume to keep the listener engaged and to add drama and interest to the scenes. The narrator’s voices do somewhat seem appropriate to the setting, which was during the school year in the seventh grade.
The pace of the narrator speaking was smooth and easy to follow. It was not slow, which would make it less interesting. The narrators were very good at being able to vary the pace to match the dramatic and emotional highs and lows of the plot. These narrators were very emotional with plenty of teenage attitude. The narrators maintained pace through the entire production.
There is introductory music and concluding music; however, there was no music between sections of the book. The music at the beginning of the book does linger for a little too long. I think production would have been just as good without it lingering for that long; however, music at the beginning was important to engage to the listener. There were no sound effects used in the making of this audio book.
At the beginning of each chapter the narrator briefly says what chapter we are on and the title of the chapter. The end points for each CD are logically (at least) chosen. The two narrators announce the title and they do read introductory and ending material. This is definitely a plus so that the listener has more information about what they are about to read. There is no advertising and that would be a positive.
There are no built in extras that do not appear in the print version. There are no author interviews or music. I think music might detract from the quality of the storyline, unless the story is about music. There are not materials that appear in the print version that are included in the audio. It is basically the same. There are no illustrations in the print version, aside from the cover art.
The sound quality is clean, clear, and crisp. There is rarely a hiss, overlap, skips, gaps or overdubs. I can usually tell where the recording sessions begin and ends because there is a long silent pause. The quality of the “white noise” in the background is consistent throughout the audio book. There is tracking at regular intervals. The intervals are short enough to be useful, mainly to grasp what you just heard or to jot down some notes. The cover is fairly attractive. A big beautiful tree is featured just like the illustration in the print version. The packaging is sturdy but because it is brand new. Maybe after a couple of years, it could get flimsy. The liner notes are correct, legible, and informative. The sound level is consistent throughout, never having to adjust my equipment to compensate. The editing is careful, for there are no repeated sentences. The time in between sections and chapters is enough time to reflect on what you just listened to.
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