Kaya: The Journey Begins Audiobook By Janet Beeler Shaw cover art

Kaya: The Journey Begins

American Girl: Historical Character (TM): Kaya, Book 1

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Kaya: The Journey Begins

By: Janet Beeler Shaw
Narrated by: Kyla Garcia
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $12.60

Buy for $12.60

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

Kaya’s adventure begins in the first book in her series.

Kaya knows in her heart that her beautiful Appaloosa mare, Steps High, is the fastest horse in the herd. But when boasting leads to a daring bareback race, Kaya pushes Steps High too hard. She puts herself and the horse in danger and earns a terrible nickname for being untrustworthy. Kaya vows to be a girl her horse and her people can trust. When enemy raiders storm Kaya’s village, she tries to save Steps High but gets taken captive herself, along with her sister. All Kaya can think of is escape, but how?

This audiobook includes a historical “Looking Back” section.

This audiobook includes a downloadable PDF containing a glossary of Nez Perce words heard throughout the story.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2014 American Girl (P)2023 Listening Library
Action & Adventure Animal Fiction Animals Fiction Geography & Cultures Horses Native American Heartfelt
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Kaya: The Journey Begins

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Humanizing Disability

As a disabled fan of American Girl, the depiction of Speaking Rain, Kaya'aton'my's sister, is something I deeply appreciate. She's accommodated in order to be a contributing member of society, and is valued for what she can do. She isn't pushed to do things she isn't capable of by the adults, but they help her to learn skills that help her contribute. As for who she is, she's compassionate and loyal, always sticking by her sister even if Kaya's mistakes negatively affect her.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good Story; Narration is Flat and Emotionless

The story itself is quite good; I had some minor issues with the changes created from retelling the original American Girl 6-book format into the 2-book format here, but overall it retained its original charm much better than I'd expected. The narration, however, is terrible.

Garcia speaks clearly and enunciates well, and some of the character voices she does are actually very good, but the narration itself sounded flat and emotionless. It reminded me of a bored adult reading a book to very young children and trying to force some excitement into their voice. My roommate literally asked me at one point if I was listening to an AI audiobook reading, and he wasn't joking. (He didn't even seem convinced when I told him it was a real VA.)

I thought about returning it, but I really wanted this title in audiobook form, and like I said the story itself is good, so I just decided to ignore it as much as I could. (I have the same complaints about the second book in the series, which is also read by Garcia.)

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!