Showing results by publisher "Recorded Books" in Literature & Fiction

Lily the sailboat is small but sturdy, in a harbor full of enormous cargo ships, speedy fishing vessels, and bossy tugboats that all have somewhere to go. And something to say—mostly, "Out of my way, Lily!" But Lily has somewhere to go, too.

Black hands in Fayette County, Tennessee, were free to pick cotton and corn but were barred from casting ballots. A whirlwind of change blew through the county when Black landowners like John McFerren and Harpman Jameson organized registration drives to help Black citizens vote—but not without violent attempts to stop it. White farmers evicted Black sharecroppers off their land, leaving families stranded and forced to live in tents. White shopkeepers also refused to sell to them. But the voiceless did finally speak. In 1965 the Voting Rights Act legally ended voter discrimination.

Roberto Alvarez’s world changed the day he could no longer attend Lemon Grove Grammar School in the small, rural community where he lived near San Diego, California. He and the other Mexican American students were told they had to go to a new, separate school on Olive Street. A school just for them. A school where they would not hold back the other students. But Roberto and the Mexican American students and their families believed the new school’s real purpose was to segregate, to separate. They didn’t think that was right, or just, or legal.

Frank the cat has it good: Tons of toys, unlimited Whiskies™ and space and quiet to stretch and nap and think and write. Then his people bring home a box. A box with something unexpected inside. A puppy. A puppy who doesn’t know the rules of naps. A puppy who slobbers and tackles and barks. This won’t do. Frank will just have to find a better home. Should be easy, right?

Sometimes our feelings are so big, our dreams and our worries so wide, that we can’t find the words to express them. How MUCH love we feel; what a new sibling will bring; exactly what it’s like to take a hard tumble, or to want the sun to shine on a rainy day. These thoughts and questions are explored by Hans and Monique Hagen in poems pitched perfectly to the children who wonder.

Copper Inskeep holds Windydown Vale’s deepest and darkest secret: He is the ghoul who haunts the Vale, donning a gruesome costume not only to scare travelers away from the dangers of the surrounding swamps, but also to keep them from discovering Windydown Vale’s best-kept secret. When a terrified girl claims she and her father were attacked by a creature, one that could not have been Copper, her accusation threatens Copper’s secret, his closest friendship, and the fate of all Windydown.

In the new country, Shirley and her family all have big dreams. Take the family store: Shirley has great ideas about how to make it more modern! Prettier! More profitable! She even thinks she can sell the one specialty no one seems to want to try: Mama’s homemade gefilte fish. But her parents think she’s too young to help. And anyway they didn’t come to America for their little girl to work. “Go play with the cat!” they urge.

Kohei Fujiwara has never seen a big ryū in real life. Those dragons all disappeared from Japan after World War II, and 20 years later, they've become the stuff of legend. Their smaller cousins, who can fit in your palm, are all that remain. And Kohei loves his ryū, Yuharu, but...Kohei has a memory of the big ryū. He knows that's impossible, but still, it's there, in his mind. In it, he can see his grandpa—Ojiisan—gazing up at the big ryū with what looks to Kohei like total and absolute wonder.

HIS NAME IS REX DEXTER. Yes. THAT Rex Dexter. The one cursed with the ability to see and talk to dead animals. The solver of atrocities against the four-footed. The savior of the flipper-finned. Save your standing ovation for later, because Rex has bigger things on his mind.

It’s Dat’s first day of school in a new country! Dat and his Mah made a long journey to get here, and Dat doesn’t know the language. To Dat, everything everybody says - from the school bus driver to his new classmates - sounds like gibberish. How is Dat going to make new friends if they can’t understand each other? Luckily there’s a friendly girl in Dat’s class who knows that there are other ways to communicate, besides just talking. Could she help make sense of the gibberish?

A long-ago “accident”. An isolated girl named Aviva. A community that wants to help but doesn’t know how. And a ghostly dybbuk that no one but Aviva can see, causing mayhem and mischief that everyone blames on her.

Kelton Fielding has always felt out of place, never sure what to say to his peers who, truth be told, only tolerate him. When a snowmobile race is announced at McCall’s annual Winter Festival, Kelton sees his chance to impress his classmates. He’ll fix up his old sled and get it running, and he’s planned out a risky shortcut through the wilderness that he’s sure will win him the prize. But when the popular Swann Siddiq and Kelton’s nemesis follow him into the backcountry, Kelton quickly runs into trouble and realizes that the competition is the least of his worries.

Alice Jones’ mother died in a boating accident. Well, that’s what everyone says. Alice doesn’t believe them - her mother’s body was never recovered off the coast of Aviles Island, and Alice has always thought she might still be out there somewhere. Then Alice discovers that the residents of Aviles know how to communicate with loved ones who have died. If Alice can go there and try to contact her mother, she might have all the answers she needs.

Twelve-year-old Grace is desperate for a puppy. All she wants is someone to love - and to love her back. Someone who’ll make her new stepfather’s house feel like home. Christmas morning, Grace springs out of bed hopeful that her dreams are about to come true. But the present that awaits her isn’t soft and furry. It’s not a puppy at all - it’s a pig.

Charlie O’Reilly is an only child. Which is why it makes everyone uncomfortable when he talks about his brother. Liam. His eight-year-old kid brother, who, up until a year ago, slept in the bunk above Charlie, took pride in being as annoying as possible, and was the only person who could make Charlie laugh until it hurt. Then came the morning when the bunk, and Liam, disappeared forever. No one even remembers him - not Charlie’s mother, who has been lost in her own troubles; and not Charlie’s father, who is gone frequently on business trips.

Sunny Beringer hates her first name - her real first name - Sunflower. And she hates that her mom has suddenly left behind her dad and uprooted their family miles away from New Jersey to North Carolina just so she can pursue some fancy degree. Sunny has to live with a grandmother she barely knows, and she’s had to leave her beloved cat and all her friends behind. And no one else seems to think anything is wrong. So she creates “Sunny Beringer’s Totally Awesome Plan for Romance” - a list of surefire ways to make her parents fall madly in love again.

To some kids, Amelia's life sounds like the ultimate fantasy. She and her brothers are homeschooled by their adventurous parents, and the family travels around the country in an RV, scaling mountains, rappelling down canyons, and skiing down double black diamond slopes.There's just one problem - Amelia didn't inherit the family's daredevil gene. She's terrified of heights and would give anything to be reading instead of careening down a mountain. She's also desperate for the chance to attend a regular school and make real friends.

Dominguita can’t wait to go on a mini-vacation with her friend Steph! They are visiting Steph’s river cabin, where they hope they will get to have another adventure - even though Dom is a little nervous about the wildlife (like spiders and mice)! As soon as they arrive, they find out that a neighbor has lost their beloved goat, Esther! Dom and Steph are determined to solve the mystery and use the methods of Dom’s favorite detective, Sherlock Holmes, to bring Esther back home.

With summer gone too quickly, Rube Goldberg must finally face what he’s been dreading all vacation: middle school! He’s not ready for new classes, new people, new everything - and it’s really taking a toll on him. With his anxieties in full gear, all Rube wants to do is do what he does best: invent! When Principal Kim announces that the school is going to throw a Contraption Convention - Con Con - Rube is ready to show off his skills and get out of his funk!

There is a great commotion in the beehive. The bees are cramped, they can’t play games, and after many complex calculations, it seems there is one bee too many! Who was it? Was she eating their honey? Could they identify her buzz? And once they did, what would they do with her?