Books with author Listening Library

How did Jon Scieszka get so funny, anyway? Growing up as one of six brothers was a good start, but that was just the beginning. Throw in Catholic school, lots of comic books, lazy summers at the lake with time to kill, babysitting misadventures, TV shows, jokes told at family dinner, and the result is Knucklehead. Part memoir, part scrapbook, this hilarious trip down memory lane provides a unique glimpse into the formation of a creative mind and a free spirit.

New friends, new enemies...can a magical journal change Autumn's crazy life? This funny and sweet novel by Bella Thorne is perfect for fans of Descendants and Lisa Greenwald and Jessica Brody's books - and anyone looking for an entertaining listen with just a touch of magic! With her fiery red hair, new-girl outsider status, and tendency to be a total klutz, Autumn Falls definitely isn’t flying below the radar at Aventura High. Luckily, she makes some genuine friends who take her under their wing. But she also manages to get on the wrong side of the school’s queen bee, and then finds out the guy she’s started to like, funny and sweet Sean, hangs with the mean crowd. Now her rep and her potential love life are at stake. When Autumn vents her feelings in a journal that belonged to her late father, suddenly her wildest wishes start coming true. Is it coincidence? Or can writing in the journal solve all her problems? And if the journal doesn’t work that way, is there a bigger purpose for it - and for her? AUTUMN FALLS is the first book in the series and has everything listeners will love and relate to: a real girl trying to find her own inner strength and be the best she can be, with a hint of magic and mystery, and a steady stream of OMG-I-can’t-believe-that-just-happened fun.

From New York Times best seller and Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Díaz comes a debut audiobook about the magic of memory and the infinite power of the imagination. A 2019 Pura Belpré Honor Book for Illustration. Every kid in Lola's school was from somewhere else. Hers was a school of faraway places. So when Lola's teacher asks the students to draw a picture of where their families immigrated from, all the kids are excited. Except Lola. She can't remember The Island - she left when she was just a baby. But with the help of her family and friends, and their memories - joyous, fantastical, heartbreaking, and frightening - Lola's imagination takes her on an extraordinary journey back to The Island. As she draws closer to the heart of her family's story, Lola comes to understand the truth of her abuela's words: "Just because you don't remember a place doesn't mean it's not in you." Gloriously and lyrically written, Islandborn is a celebration of creativity, diversity, and our imagination's boundless ability to connect us - to our families, to our past, and to ourselves.

"Denton and his quirky friends are laugh-out-loud funny, even as their riotous adventures raise deeper questions about science, government control, life, and death." (School Library Journal) You only live once - unless you’re Denton Little! Denton Little lives in a world exactly like our own except that everyone knows the day on which they will die. The good news: Denton has lived through his deathdate. Yay! The bad news: He's being chased by the DIA (Death Investigation Agency), he can never see his family again, and he may now die anytime. Huh. Cheating death isn't quite as awesome as Denton would have thought.... Lance Rubin's debut novel, Denton Little's Deathdate, showed listeners just how funny and poignant imminent death could be. Now in this sequel, he takes on the big questions about life. How do we cope, knowing we could die at any time? Would you save someone from dying even if they were a horrible person? Is it wrong to kiss the girl your best friend is crushing on if she's really into you instead? What if she's wearing bacon lip gloss?

Samara Taylor used to believe in miracles. She used to believe in a lot of things. As a pastor's kid, it's hard not to buy in to the idea of the perfect family, a loving God, and amazing grace. But lately, Sam has a lot of reason to doubt. Her mother lands in rehab after a DUI and her father seems more interested in his congregation than his family. When a young girl in her small town is kidnapped, the local tragedy overlaps with Sam's personal one, and the already-worn thread of faith holding her together begins to unravel. In her third novel, acclaimed author Sara Zarr examines the coexistence of affliction and hope, and what happens when everything you thought you believed---about God, about your family, about yourself---is transformed.

I was 13 when my dad caught me with Tommy Webber in the back of Tommy's Buick, parked next to the old Chart House down in Montara at 11 o'clock on a Tuesday night. Tommy was 17 and the supposed friend of my brother, Darren.I didn't love him. I'm not sure I even liked him. In a moment, Deanna Lambert's teenage life is changed forever. Struggling to overcome the lasting repercussions and the stifling role of "school slut", Deanna longs to escape a life defined by her past. With subtle grace, complicated wisdom, and striking emotion, Story of a Girl reminds us of our human capacity for resilience, epiphany, and redemption.

Norman Tuttle is, in a word, awkward. He falls off his father's fishing boat into icy Alaskan waters. He quietly sweats on gorgeous Laura Magruder at the school dance. He gets himself on the bad side of Leonard Kopinski, an overgrown eighth-grader who shaves. As Norman contemplates a long and lonely adolescence on the Last Frontier, he's sure there's more to life than being the klutziest kid in Alaska. In 15 closely linked stories that follow Norman from age 13 to going-on 16, Tom Bodett combines rugged Alaskan adventure with a warm and funny story of a boy who may not be as lonely as he thinks.

From the Newbery Honor-winning, New York Times best-selling author - with all new cover by Dan Santat! Did you know that Cinderella’s stepsisters got their eyes pecked out by birds? Really. And that Rumpelstiltskin ripped himself in half? And that in "The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage", a mouse, a bird, and a sausage all talk to each other? (Okay, I guess that one’s not that grim.) Those are the real fairy tales. But they have nothing on the fairy tales in this audiobook. For more twisted tales, look for A Tale Dark and Grimm and In a Glass Grimmly.

In Fly on the Wall, a moving and hilarious novel from the critically-acclaimed author of Pie in the Sky, a 12-year-old boy goes on a (forbidden) solo journey halfway around the world to prove his independence to his overprotective family. Henry Khoo's family treats him like a baby. He's not allowed to go anywhere without his sister/chaperone/bodyguard. His (former) best friend knows to expect his family's mafia-style interrogation when Henry's actually allowed to hang out at her house. And he definitely can't take a journey halfway around the world all by himself! But that's exactly his plan. After his family's annual trip to visit his father in Singapore is cancelled, Henry decides he doesn't want to be cooped up at home with his overprotective family and BFF turned NRFF (Not Really Friend Forever). Plus, he's hiding a your-life-is-over-if-you're-caught secret: he's the creator of an anonymous gossip cartoon, and he's on the verge of getting caught. Determined to prove his independence and avoid punishment for his crimes, Henry embarks on the greatest adventure ever...hoping it won't turn into the greatest disaster ever. Remy Lai takes listeners on an adventure filled with humor, heart, and hijinks that's a sure bet for fans of Jerry Craft, Terri Libenson, and Shannon Hale!

The final installment in this superheroic series by Matthew Cody (author of Powerless and Super) will answer all your burning questions! The truth about the Super children is finally exposed, and the town of Noble’s Green has created a special boarding school for its superpowered children. That’s where Daniel’s friends are headed, while he - regular kid that he is - is headed to summer school. But all is not well at the Academy for the Extraordinarily Gifted, or in Noble’s Green. A clique of popular kids has taken over the school. And at the same time, vandals have been destroying property all over town, and citizens are beginning to blame their gifted young residents. If Daniel wants to get to the bottom of this puzzle, he may need to turn to his sworn enemy, the Shroud, for help. But can he trust him?

This imaginative new fantasy will charm fans of the Ranger's Apprentice and Rick Riordan. Denizen Hardwick is an orphan, and his life is, well, normal. Sure, in storybooks orphans are rescued from drudgery when they discover they are wizards or warriors or prophesized kings. But this is real life - orphans are just kids without parents. At least that's what Denizen thought.... On a particularly dark night, the gates of Crosscaper Orphanage open to a car that almost growls with power. The car and the man in it retrieve Denizen with the promise of introducing him to a long-lost aunt. But on the ride into the city, they are attacked. Denizen soon learns that monsters can grow out of the shadows. And there is an ancient order of knights who keep them at bay. Denizen has a unique connection to these knights, but everything they tell him feels like a half truth. If Denizen joins the order, is he fulfilling his destiny or turning his back on everything his family did to keep him alive?