Good Audiobooks for Road Trip with Teens

If you have a big road trip coming up, or a lot of car time with a teen this audiobook list is for you! Pop in your email address below, and I’ll send the printable list right to your inbox.

I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives by Martin Ganda
This is a fantastic non-fiction story of two international pen pals that start as a school project and become lifelong friends. I included this one on the 2018 Summer Reading Guide. (Full review here)

Bomb by Steve Sheinkin
This book about the development of the atomic bomb during WWII was so good that I read it by flashlight when the power went out. I read it again when we did it for Everyday Reading Book Club and it was just as good the second time. When I ask for nonfiction books for kids suggestions, this is always the MOST recommended title, but it’s equally amazing for adults.  (Full review here)

Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green
A few years, I listened to and loved The Anthropocene Reviewed, so I was excited when this one came out! It is read by the author which makes it extra fun). I knew next to nothing about tuberculosis and this is a fascinating look at the disease and how much it is woven into culture and history. I think about this one all the time!

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
This is one you MUST listen to – it can only be found on Audible – but it’s so worth the audiobook credit! In this one, Ryland Grace wakes up in a spaceship with no idea where he is, what he’s supposed to do or even what his own name is. As memories slowly start returning, he remembers that the sun was dimming and that there were only a few decades to find both the problem and a solution before life on earth became unsustainable. And he’s now in outer space on a mission alone to save all of humanity. No pressure. It’s full of humor, suspense, and science that’s (mostly) understandable to the layperson.

Lovely War by Julie Berry
The story takes place during World War I and follows four main characters, so you get two love stories for the price of one. Even more interesting? The story is framed by several Greek gods who are in a tiff of their own during World War II (I lied – THREE love stories!). I know it sounds weird, but trust me, it works. It’s in the top 10 books I’ve ever read. My teenagers both love love loved this one on audio!

Big Dumb Eyes by Nate Bargatze
We started listening to this on the road while we were in France – – it’s a great family listen that has us all chuckling. Perfect for listening to in little chunks too if you’re in and out of the car a lot.

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green
I really liked this one! Green reflects on the human experience and reviews many aspects of our existence including anything from teddy bears, Kentucky bluegrass, whispering, Diet Dr. Pepper, sunsets, and so much more. This is his first nonfiction book and I think it’s useful to go in knowing a little about John Green and his style, so if you’ve read one of his fiction books or watched him on Instagram, you’ll probably enjoy it more!

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby is a classic and if you didn’t read it as part of reading assignment in school, it’s definitely worth reading now, especially with Jake Gyllenhaal reading it to you! It would especially be great to read before watching the movie that came out several years ago.

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen
I read this nearly a decade ago and then again for the Everyday Reading Book Club a couple of years ago and LOVED it so much both times! Ella is also such a huge fan that she begged Bart to listen to it after she finished and had the best time listening to him make predictions about the story.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I read the entire trilogy, listened to the audio, and still hold firm that The Hunger Games is unbelievably good. It’s one of my favorites, and I highly, highly recommend this beloved series!

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
I have a long history of loving Harry Potter. When my mom started reading the first one to me and my sisters, we only made it through one chapter before we were completely hooked. I also have some very happy memories of snuggling my nursing baby in the my in-laws’ basement, reading the British versions of several of the books. I have read the entire series multiple times, seen all the movies, and I still never get tired of this story. (Plus, I really love the audiobooks narrated by Stephen Fry!)

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Bilbo Baggins rarely leaves his hobbit home, but is suddenly bombarded with visitors who want to take him on a treacherous journey. The Hobbit is full of adventure you are bound to get sucked into Middle-Earth!

Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien
This epic fantasy trilogy follows Frodo Baggins’ perilous journey to destroy the One Ring and defeat the Dark Lord Sauron. It is filled with iconic characters, mythical creatures, and an entire world waiting to be discovered. The audiobooks that are narrated by Andy Serkis (the actor that plays Gollum in the movie) are especially epic.

Blood in the Water by Tiffany D. Jackson
This middle grade murder mystery had rave reviews and I was in almost immediately. It was a quick read with a twist I did not see coming!

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Starr, is a 16-year old Black girl who is constantly pulled between two worlds. The world of her private, predominantly white school and and the inner-city home and neighborhood she lives in with her family. Everything comes to a head when her childhood best friend Khalil, who was defenseless, gets shot right in front of her by a police officer. What she does after and how it impacts her and her family’s life is powerful. I couldn’t put it down and feel like everyone should read this book.

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower
This was one of the titles on my personal summer reading list – I’d read maybe 30% of the first book then stalled out but after so many people told me to plow through the first one (because it is slow), I finally restarted it and proceeded to finish all 8 books in the series! And boy am I invested! So much so, that I have reread all of them again and now my teenage girls are blowing through the audio.

Ghost by Jason Reynolds
This one made it onto the 2025 Everyday Reading Book Club list! I read the first book in this series years ago and have meant to go back for ages and read all four books in the series about four kids chosen for an elite middle school track team. This is a team that could qualify them for the Junior Olympics but only if they can get their acts together. Super readable and wonderful. We’ll only discuss the first one in book club but I’m planning to read all four!

Percy Jackson by Rick Riordin
I grabbed my mother-in-law’s copy of this book when we were living there and I suddenly found myself without a next book to read to the girls and they are SO INTO it. Seriously, there were shrieks of despair every night when I finished for the evening. I read it back in 2008 and it’s fun to revisit – I enjoyed it MUCH more as a read aloud than I did when I read it solo! (Full review here).

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
If you haven’t read these yet, consider this your sign. The story begins when Lara Jean’s secret love letters (written to every boy she’s ever had a crush on) are accidentally mailed. My 16 year old just blew through this trilogy (Full review here)

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
This was our audiobook pick for one of our family trips and it was a huge hit! I picked the full cast version, which was a great call – there are so many different voices and original music and sound effects and it just made for a stunning listen that we were all very into from the first few minutes. Tress has lived a quiet life until her beloved friend (and . .. .maybe more than friend?) is taken away on a voyage by his father and disaster strikes. Now Tress is ready to leave everything she’s ever known behind to stow away on a ship and sail across the mysterious seas where even a single drop of water can spell death for everyone aboard.

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
Are you one of those readers who revisits Pride & Prejudice every year? Whether you’re a first time reader to this beloved story or diving in for the 20+ time, this is a magical way to watch Jane Austen’s masterful work play out.

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
This book is non-fiction (and the Young Readers Edition) but it’s so amazing, and it’s hard to believe someone didn’t make it up. Olympic runner Louis Zamperini’s plane is shot down in the Pacific during WWII and after surviving on a tiny inflatable raft for 47 days, he’s taken prisoner by the Japanese. And compared to being a POW, the raft time looks like vacation. Probably the best WWII book I’ve read. (Full review here)

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
My mom and I both read this incredible book about a team of young college boys who competed in the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany and pulled off an astounding win against all odds. A year or two later, when we went on a trip to Seattle together, we visited the University of Washington where the team was from and saw their boat hanging on display in the ASUW Shell House.

Jurassic Park books by Michael Crichton
I don’t think this one needs much of an introduction…it’s only one of the largest dinosaur franchises in the world! This would be such a fun series to pair with the movies and compare.

Wings of Fire by Tui T. Sutherland
This middle grade fantasy fiction is a gripping tale about seven dragon tribes that have been at war for generations. A plot is hatched to finally bring an end to the fighting but the five dragonets that are at the heart have a different plan. This series is WILDLY popular!

Warriors by Erin Hunter
The Warrior Cat series is one of those book concepts where you think “I can’t believe someone thought this would be a good book plot.” And then it works better than you ever could have imagined.

Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri
Khosrou (aka Daniel) tells his classmates all about being an Iranian refugee. It all began with his mother’s boldness about her Christianity in a country that wouldn’t allow such religion. It led to secret flights out of the country time and time again and they always led to the same place – sad refugee camps. The book is filled to the brim with fantastic stories of an Iranian family.

An Occasional Happy Family by Cliff Burke
Theo Ripley is already dreading a camping trip to the least popular national park in America – bears, 110-degree heat, no Mom since she passed away – and then dad drops the real bombshell: this “family vacation” is actually a chance to introduce his secret new girlfriend. This one is funny and surprisingly moving!

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
My husband and now my two oldest daughters are HUGE Brandon Sanderson fans and I’ve never read a single book by him! In this fantasy series, the great hero of legend failed to stop the evil overlord, ensuring his rise to power. After enduring years of prison and torture, the hero escapes, creates a group of specialists, and frees the people of the oppressive regime.

Beyonders by Brandon Mull
Jason, along with his friend and sidekick, Rachel, must embark on an epic quest to bring down Maldor the evil ruler. Will the cost be worth it to save the new world they have stumbled upon? 

Resistance by Jennifer Nielsen
We love Jennifer Nielson at our house (the False Prince series has been a hit with Bart, Ella, and me!), and her historical fiction doesn’t miss either. Chaya Lindner is a Jewish teenager in Nazi-occupied Poland who becomes a courier smuggling food, papers, and people between ghettos – and after her resistance cell falls apart, she’s pulled toward the uprising building in Warsaw Ghetto.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
The sci-fi Newbery winner has a been a classic for ages and for good reason. My dad loved this one but it was too scary for me as a child. When I listened as an adult, I fell in love with it! (Full review here)

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
A Newbery award winning book from 1959, tells the story of Kit Tyler, a sixteen year old girl navigating the difficult setting of colonial Connecticut in the 1600’s.

Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan
This is one of the books where I feel deeply sorry for anyone who read this book on paper instead of listening. It’s just SO tremendously well done with the musical accompaniment really bringing the magic of this book to life.

Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan
I read this in one of my children’s lit classes in grad school and just seeing the cover takes me right back to 2009. Esperanza never thought she would leave her incredibly nice ranch, beautiful dresses and all of the help around her home. Unfortunate events strike her family hard and force her and her mom to flee to California and make a home on a Mexican labor camp. Esperanza has to grow up quickly and adjust to her new lifestyle especially when her mom falls ill. 

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
I read this book almost 20 years ago and I still love it. Inkheart is a magical adventure about a young girl who discovers her father can literally read characters out of books – a gift that’s as dangerous as it is enchanting. When a villain escapes from the pages and threatens their family, Meggie is pulled into a world where stories come alive and the line between fiction and reality blurs.

Skyward series by Brandon Sanderson
My husband and now my two oldest daughters are HUGE Brandon Sanderson fans and this was the first book I’ve read by him! This one takes place in the future where pilots are the heroes of the human race and Spensa dreams of becoming one like her father. But her father’s actions years earlier look like they’ll keep her from recognizing her dream.

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
This was one of the very first books I ever wrote about on Everyday Reading and it’s still one of my all-time favorites. Our entire family, including my husband, love this whole series. It’s a perfect fantasy book. (Full review here)

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
This stunning novel takes place in just 60 seconds…the time it takes a kid to decide whether or not he will seek revenge on the guy who killed his brother. Will takes his dead brother, Shawn’s gun, and gets in the elevator on the 7th floor. During his decent, someone connected to Shawn gets on at each floor – someone affected by teenage gun violence with a big message for Will.

The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow
I had a friend rave about this one! It tells Mary’s story, beginning during the events of Pride and Prejudice and carrying on into later years. It’s one of those that you find yourself relating to and rooting for Mary – hoping she will find her own happy ending. We have been watching the tv series adaptation as a family this summer, and I have to say, it’s been a delight!

Touch All the Lines by Steve Cleveland
This one’s from former BYU Men’s Basketball Coach Steve Cleveland, and it’s way more than a sports memoir – each chapter builds around a core value like faith, integrity, and grace, using stories from his life as a coach, father, and man of faith. If you’re looking for something motivating and principle-driven for the road, this sounds like a great pick!

I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai (Young Readers Edition)
At fifteen, Malala Yousafzai was shot by the Taliban for daring to speak out about girs’ education – and somehow, she survived and became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize recipient ever. This memoir is her story, and it’s the kind of book that will make your teen believe one voice really can change the world.

Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen
Lady Georgie comes from a long line of royalty, but after becoming penniless, she finds work spying for Her Majesty the Queen. When a drowned body is found in her London townhome, she must find a way to figure out who actually committed the crime and keep herself safe in the process.

The Calculated Series by Nova McBee
This thriller series that follows Jo River, a teenage math prodigy whose extraordinary talent makes her the target of powerful criminals around the world. As she fights for her freedom, uncovers dangerous conspiracies, and wrestles with questions of identity, forgiveness, and justice, she must decide whether her gift will be used for destruction or to change the world.

And if you’d like a printable copy of this list that you can take to your library or screenshot on your phone for easy access, just pop in your email address below and it’ll come right to your inbox!