Every year since 2010 the good people at AudioFile magazine have made it their mission to put tons of FREE audiobooks in the hands of teens (ages 13+) all summer long so they can introduce teens to the joys of the listening experience.
I’ve been a big fan of this program for years, but I’m especially excited since talking with AudioFile publisher Michele Cobb on Episode 182 of What Should I Read Next. We chatted about the perfect combination of a great book with a great narrator, why “reading with your ears” is so important, and about the Sync program.
This program is fantastic news for teens who love to read (or who want to try to love to read). But there’s good news for the rest of us, too: these books are available to anyone with a web connection and the ability to use (or learn to use) Sora, the student reading app from Overdrive. (Happily, readers of all ages can use the app and participate in the SYNC program.)
This year’s program runs from April 30th to July 29th. SYNC gives away two complete audiobooks downloads each week: that’s 28 titles total and you can view the whole list right here. The two audiobooks are paired with purpose—you could call it a mini book flight.
Titles are delivered via the Sora app. If you use Overdrive to borrow library books, know that Sora works similarly for SYNC titles, with one important difference—once you download these titles, they’re yours to keep, forever.
Sign up here and follow the prompts to get set up with Sora. I recommend doing it asap, so titles seamlessly appear in your app. The first audiobooks are available this Thursday, April 30. SYNC gives away two downloads each week, all summer long. Titles are only available for 7 days; titles change every Thursday morning.
The titles for this summer’s series are top-notch. Especially catching my eye in this summer’s program are Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson, Picture Us in the Light by Kelly Gilbert (which my own teen daughter LOVED), The Brontë Plot by Katherine Reay, and Kindred by Octavia Butler (featured in Volume II Episode III of One Great Book).
I’m also curious about the Fresh Ink anthology featuring some of my favorite YA writers, edited by Lamar Giles. (His What Should I Read Next episode is terrific: listen to Episode 186: Finding the book that feels like it was written just for you here.
I hope this resource provides you with abundant summer reading. I adore audiobooks, and am thrilled readers will get to try so many new titles this summer—for free.
If you’re hooked on audiobooks—or just want to give them a try—these MMD resources are for you: 20 celebrity memoirs read by their authors; 10 audiobooks to listen to while you clean, purge, or tidy; 13 adventure-filled audiobooks for your next family road trip; 15 audiobooks read by your favorite celebrity narrators; 20 extra-long audiobooks to get the most of those credits
If you have any SYNC tips and tricks, fantastic summer audiobooks to recommend, or past experiences with the SYNC program, please tell us all about it in comments.
Happy reading, everyone!
14 comments
My book club is reading Kindred this month, this would have been perfect as I didn’t manage to get it out of the library in time! I downloaded the free trial of Audible instead, but glad to know about this for future titles!
THANK YOU!!! We are in the car for hours in the summer; this will save me so much $$$!
Tried to sign up and received an email to say Sora is only available to professional educators…
I’ve been doing Sync for years (it’s really a great program) and have just downloaded everything via the Overdrive app I use for library borrows. Everything stays permanently on my Overdrive bookshelf; I’ve never had to download a different app to get to access the books. Loved seeing this year’s list all in one place, Anne. Thanks for posting!
Lorraine,
How do you sign up for this just using overdrive?
Louise, you’ll get that message if you sign up as a school and not as a user. SYNC has detailed sign-up instructions here: https://www.audiobooksync.com/faqs-2020/
I used the setup instructions, typed in the code “audiosynch,” and got an error message that said “this school is not available.” I tried to email their support, and the email address they list for help with the instructions is invalid. I don’t know what else to do.
Sounds great though!
Kara try “audiobooksync” as the code.
My fave audio book last year was Swing by Kwame Alexander and I love the way he reads his stories. The ebook was on special recently and I bought it. I can’t wait to read it and see if I can swing like Kwame.
Thank you for posting this. This will get me to “read” a few books that I would have otherwise not considered.
LOVE Kindred, and Octavia Butler in general! Though I probably wouldn’t recommend her Parable of the Sower series right now…it’s fantastic but might be a little overwhelming to read with the world’s current state of crisis.
Does borrowing it mean it’s downloaded and mine to keep or do I need to do something else? Thanks for sharing!
I have the same question. Hopefully someone will respond!!
I think the confusion comes from the fact that Sora’s sister app Overdrive is used by many patrons to borrow library titles. When you obtain titles through the SYNC program, they are yours to keep.
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