Books with author Recorded Books

A timely and powerful story about a teen girl from a poor neighborhood striving for success, from acclaimed author Renee Watson. Jade believes she must get out of her neighborhood if she's ever going to succeed. Her mother says she has to take every opportunity. She has. She accepted a scholarship to a mostly-white private school and even Saturday morning test prep opportunities. But some opportunities feel more demeaning than helpful. Like an invitation to join Women to Women, a mentorship program for "at-risk" girls. Except really, it's for black girls. From "bad" neighborhoods. But Jade doesn't need support. And just because her mentor is black doesn't mean she understands Jade. And maybe there are some things Jade could show these successful women about the real world and finding ways to make a real difference. Friendships, race, privilege, identity - this compelling and thoughtful story explores the issues young women face.

Comedy superstar Mike Myers writes from the (true patriot) heart about his 53-year relationship with his beloved Canada. Mike Myers is a world-renowned actor, director and writer and the man behind some of the most memorable comic characters of our time. But, as he says, "No description of me is truly complete without saying I'm a Canadian". He has often winked and nodded to Canada in his outrageously accomplished body of work, but now he turns the spotlight full-beam on his homeland. His hilarious and heartfelt new book is part memoir, part history, and pure entertainment. It is Mike Myers' funny and thoughtful analysis of what makes Canada Canada and Canadians Canadians and what being Canadian has always meant to him. His relationship with his home and native land continues to deepen and grow, he says. In fact American friends have actually accused him of enjoying being Canadian - and he's happy to plead guilty as charged. A true patriot who happens to be an expatriate, Myers is in a unique position to explore Canada from within and without. With this, his first book, Mike brings his love for Canada to the fore at a time when the country is once again looking ahead with hope and national pride. Canada is a wholly subjective account of Mike's Canadian experience. Mike writes, "Some might say, 'Why didn't you include this or that?' I say there are 35 million stories waiting to be told in this country, and my book is only one of them."

Delve into the stories from Amy Tan's life that inspired best-selling novels like The Joy Luck Club and The Valley of Amazement. Amy Tan has touched millions of people with haunting and sympathetic novels of cultural complexity and profound empathy. With the same spirit and humor that characterize her acclaimed novels, she now shares her insight into her own life and how she escaped the curses of her past to make a future of her own. She takes us on a journey from her childhood of tragedy and comedy to the present day and her arrival as one of the world's best-loved novelists. Whether recalling arguments with her mother in suburban California or introducing us to the ghosts that inhabit her computer, The Opposite of Fate offers vivid portraits of choices, attitudes, charms, and luck in action - a refreshing antidote to the world-weariness and uncertainties we all face today.

Lorene Cary has been praised by the American Library Association for her honest style that brings African American history to life. Ginnie Pryor finally has the chance to escape slavery - but to do so, she must leave her youngest child behind. With her new found freedom come responsibilities and a new identityas abolitionist Mercer Gray. But she cannot forget her abandoned baby boy.

The creator of podcasts and documentaries for the National Theatre of Great Britain, M. G. Leonard delivers a rousing debut. Darkus Cuttle took care of his father ever since his mother died, but one day his father vanished from a locked vault at the Natural History Museum, and now Darkus lives with his eccentric uncle - but one day he finds a large and unusually intelligent and self-aware beetle, and soon he and his two friends are caught up in a struggle to protect an intelligent superspecies of beetles.

Empire Strikes Back meets beetles in the second book of a series about one amazing boy, his loyal friends, and some amazingly intelligent beetles...perfect for fans of Roald Dahl! Cruel beetle fashionista, Lucretia Cutter, is at large with her deadly yellow ladybug spies - and she has a devious plan. When Darkus, Virginia, and Bertolt discover further evidence of her evil, they're determined to stop her. But the three friends are in trouble. Darkus's dad has forbidden them to investigate any further - and disgusting crooks Humphrey and Pickering are out of prison. Hope rests on Novak, Lucretia's daughter and a Hollywood actress, but the beetle villainess is always one scuttle ahead.... Beetles are back in an even-more-thrilling, chilling, and darkly funny sequel that will have listeners clamoring for more.

Joyce never used to care that much about how she looked, but that was before she met JFK—John Ford Kang, the most gorgeous guy in school. And it doesn’t help that she’s constantly being compared to her beautiful older sister, Helen. Then her rich plastic-surgery-addict aunt offers Joyce a gift to “fix” a part of herself she’d never realized needed fixing—her eyes. Joyce has heard of the fold surgery—a common procedure meant to make Asian women’s eyes seem “prettier” and more “American”—but she’s not sure she wants to go through with it. Her friend Gina can’t believe she isn’t thrilled. After all, the plastic surgeon has shown Joyce that her new eyes will make her look just like Helen—but is that necessarily a good thing? Printz Award–winning author An Na has created a surprisingly funny and thought-provoking look at notions of beauty, who sets the standards and how they affect us all. Joyce’s decision is sure to spark heated discussions about the beauty myths readers confront in their own lives.

In this sequel to the beloved Newbery Honor-winning book The Upstairs Room, Annie, a young Jewish girl, continues her dangerous journey in the aftermath of war. A true story. Holland, 1945. World War II has finally ended. After almost three years of hiding from the Nazis, thirteen-year-old Annie has survived the war against all odds. But can she save her family from being torn apart when she returns to her war-ravaged town? In this fascinating autobiographical account, Johanna Reiss shows us that courage isn't reserved just for the battlefield. Her story demonstrates the power of hope and the human spirit to survive despite the chaos, tragedy, and horror of war. Now includes photos and an interview with the author.

Ash Ridley just bonded to a baby phoenix - the most powerful beast in all of Cascadia - and he's hungry, hyperactive, high-maintenance, and hiccups fireballs. Twelve-year-old Ash waves goodbye to her miserable life as a traveling circus stablehand when she and her feisty bird, Flynn, are whisked away to the Academy of Beasts and Magic: a school where wealthy children train unicorns, manticores, and scarf-wearing ice dragons. The downside to owning such a highly magical beast? Everyone wants him. When a mysterious sorcerer suggests the Academy may have dark intentions, Ash realizes her tiny bird might be the key to saving Cascadia...or destroying it.

In the tradition of Chris Grabenstein, Stuart Gibbs, and Pseudonymous Bosch, a hilarious and action-packed romp involving one ordinary boy and a crazy cast of immortals. Elliot Hooper wants nothing more than a regular life for him and his mom. Then a Constellation of the Zodiac crashes from the sky into a pile of cow dung in front of him, and that wish explodes in a spray of...well...you know. Virgo, a 1,964-year-old girl, is on a routine mission to Earth and absolutely forbidden from interacting with mortals. So of course she takes Elliot along with her. But when an evil daemon named Thanatos escapes to wreak terrible havoc, their routine mission turns not so routine. For if Elliot and Virgo don't track down the retired Zeus and the rest of the Olympians and help them catch Thanatos, mortals and gods alike won't be long for this earth. Elliot Hooper's life just got a whole lot more legendary.