Get 3 months for $0.99 a month + $20 Audible credit

LIMITED TIME OFFER
The Thing I'm Most Afraid Of cover art

The Thing I'm Most Afraid Of

 Preview
Get this deal Try for $0.00
Offer ends December 1, 2025 11:59pm PT.
Join Audible for only $0.99 a month for the first 3 months, and get a bonus $20 credit for Audible.ca. Bonus credit notification will be received via email.
1 audiobook per month of your choice from our unparalleled catalog.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Thing I'm Most Afraid Of

Written by: Kristin Levine
Narrated by: Chelsea Kwoka
Get this deal Try for $0.00

$14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime. Offers ends December 1, 2025 11:59pm PT.

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.81

Buy Now for $26.81

About this listen

 A new middle-grade tale from critically acclaimed, award-winning author Kristin Levine about facing your fears, set in Vienna during the Bosnian genocide.

Most twelve-year-olds would be excited to fly to Austria to see their dad for the summer but then Becca is not most twelve-year-olds. Suffering from severe anxiety, she fears that the metal detectors at the airport will give her cancer and the long international flight will leave her with blood clots. Luckily, she's packed her Doomsday Journal, the one thing that always seems to help. By writing down her fears and what to do if the worst happens, Becca can get by without (many) panic attacks.

Routines and plans help Becca cope but living in a new country is full of the unexpected--including Becca's companions for the summer. Like Felix, the short and bookish son of Becca's dad's new girlfriend. Or Sara, the nineteen-year-old Bosnian refugee tasked with watching the two of them for the summer. As Becca explores Vienna and becomes close to her new friends, she soon learns she is not alone in her fears. What matters most is what you do when faced with them. Fiction Growing Up Growing Up & Facts of Life Historical Fiction Literature & Fiction Social & Life Skills Friendship

What the critics say

Praise for The Thing I'm Most Afraid Of:

“An engaging historical novel with an unusual, vividly realized setting. . . A moving resolution.” —Booklist

“In this thoughtful novel populated with well-developed characters, Levine slowly and realistically reveals Becca’s growth. . . An important story about anxiety, change, and courage.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Becca is an engaging and sympathetic narrator, and Levine (The Jigsaw Jungle) writes her experience of anxiety with nuance and sensitivity. The past is never forgotten in Vienna, and Levine threads the city’s history into this novel . . . while Sara’s recollections of the Bosnian War are heartrendingly effective.” —Publisher’s Weekly

“In this historical novel set in 1993, fears and anxieties are taking over 12-year-old Becca Greenburg’s life. . . As Becca . . . learn[s] that having and being a support for others builds inner strength . . . her anxieties do not vanish, but she learns how to live in spite of them. VERDICT: A slice of history that echoes another country’s struggle with anti-immigrant sentiment.” —School Library Journal
No reviews yet