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​Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Penguin RandomHouse Audio, 10 hours, 29 minutes): When Carrie Soto retired from tennis, she held the record for Grand Slam singles titles. Fifteen years later, a British player is about to surpass her. So, like the title says: She’s back. Stacy Gonzalez’s emotional performance as Carrie, including Spanish-sprinkled conversations with her Argentine father/coach, is excellent. The large supporting cast includes former tennis pros Patrick McEnroe and Mary Carillo, and all the news shows and pundit debates are cleverly produced with theme music.--M.W
Ms. Simmons needs her students to know, but “How do you tell a story/ this hard to hear,/ one that hurts/ and still loves?” Music—rhythmic, plaintive, chanting, beckoning --begins and ends Gonzalez’s powerful performance that confronts the challenges of teaching the horrific reality of slavery to young children.
Stacy Gonzalez's fierce narration of Lopez's second-chance romance is a stormy yet satisfying listen. Fleeing an emotionally abusive ex, Gillian Armstead-Bancroft returns to her hometown of Freedom, Kansas, where she has an awkward reunion with her first lover, Nicky Mendoza. They then spend the summer working together on a downtown mural project. Gonzalez flexes her narrative power as the story moves from soft, revelatory passages to scenes of their shared past and the visceral punch of trauma and loss. She teases out Gillian's connection to Latin American folk magic in a gentle, compelling fashion. Gonzalez tracks the rising tension with Gillian's Mexican American family and impeccably delivers the dialogue between the couple. Gonzalez's boundless sensitivity to the longings of the heart completely transforms the story through her audio performance.