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

Gossip show Rumor Central has gone beyond Miami to national syndication. So now's the time for Maya Morgan to really make her brand blow up. But her brand starts to blow up in her face when a super-fan takes over her online life, trashing her reputation and putting her gossip future at risk. Now Maya will need every down-and-dirty move - and a little help from her frenemies - to manage this disaster and save everything she's dished so hard to get.

Ashley "Ash" Bishop has always known who he is: a guy who loves soccer, has a crush on his friend Michelle, and is fascinated by the gruesome history of his hometown, Salem, Massachusetts. He's also always known that he's intersex, born with both male and female genitalia. But it's never felt like a big deal until his junior year of high school, when Ash gets his first period in front of the entire boys' soccer team. Now his friends and teachers see him differently, and his own mother thinks he should "try being a girl".

Moon Basin has been haunted for as long as anyone can remember. It started when an explosion in the mine killed 16 people. The disaster made it impossible to live in town, with underground fires spewing ash into the sky. But life in New Basin is just as fraught. The ex-mining town relies on its haunted reputation to bring in tourists, but there’s more truth to the rumors than most are willing to admit, and the mine still has a hold on everyone who lives there.

With a rocky start to senior year, cheerleaders and lifelong best friends Eleanor and Chanel have a lot on their minds. Eleanor is still in physical therapy months after a serious concussion from a failed cheer stunt. Chanel starts making questionable decisions to deal with the mounting pressure of college applications. But they have each other's backs - just as always, until Eleanor's new relationship with star quarterback Three starts a rift between them.

Rise Up! breaks down the origins of racial injustice and its continued impact today, connecting dots between the past and present. By including contemporary examples ripped from headlines and actionable ways young people can help create a more inclusive world, sociologist Crystal Fleming shares the knowledge and values that unite all antiracists: compassion, solidarity, respect, and courage in the face of adversity.

Seventeen-year-old Evie Parker is devastated in the wake of her father’s sudden death. But she knows something her mother doesn’t: The day of his heart attack, her dad was planning to move out. After finding his packed bags, she impulsively put everything away to spare her mom more heartache. To make matters worse, Evie soon learns the reason her father was going to leave: He had been dating his 22-year-old receptionist, Bree, who is now six months pregnant with his child...Evie’s half-sibling.

For the past two years, Lee has been laser-focused on two things: her job as a sound tech at a local coffee shop and her podcast Artists in Love, which she cohosts with her boyfriend, Vincent. Until he breaks up with her on the air right after graduation. When their unexpected split, the loss of her job, and her parent’s announcement that they’re separating coincide, Lee’s plans, her art, and her life are thrown into turmoil.

The teen reality show Miami Divas made media sensations out of Miami's richest "in" crowd - and Maya Morgan is one of them. Now, Maya's been offered her very own show, and she'll do whatever it takes to step up the fame she's worked so hard for - and that includes spilling some secrets her friends wish were left buried. But as Maya gives up the goods for the sake of ratings, someone will do anything to shut her up. Between back-stabbing lies and hard truths, this gossip girl has only one chance to make things right...before it's too late.

West Finch is one hurricane away from falling into the sea. Yet 16-year-old Harlow Prout is determined to save her small Maine hometown. If only she could stop getting in her own way and find someone - anyone - willing to help. But her best friend, Ellis MacQueen, “fixes” problems by running away from them - including his broken relationship with his twin brother, Tommy. And Tommy’s depression has hit a new low, so he’s not up for fixing anything. In the wake of the town’s latest devastating storm, Tommy goes out for a swim that he doesn’t intend to survive.

'Round these ends, it's hard to hold on to your dreams Life's a constant hustle for Mo. Her mum's boyfriend Lloyd is just another man who likes to beat down women; the South Crong streets are fraught with hazards and nasty Gs; and when it comes to matters of the heart...she's still hung up on Sam. No wonder she's vexed so much of the time. Thank god her sistrens, Elaine and Naomi, are on her side: if one of them falls, then they all fall.

In his award-winning memoir Free Lunch, Rex Ogle’s abuela features as a source of love and support. In this companion-in-verse, Rex captures and celebrates the powerful presence a woman he could always count on—to give him warm hugs and ear kisses, to teach him precious words in Spanish, to bring him to the library where he could take out as many books as he wanted, and to offer safety when darkness closed in.

Born and raised in Boulder, Colorado, Essence McKree feels older than any 17-year-old she knows. Ever since weed was legalized, Mom has been working in a pot shop, high more often than not. Lately it's been up to Essa to care for her nine-year-old sister, Puck. When Essa meets Oliver - a brainy indoor type, in town for the summer - she is cautious at first, distrustful of the tourist crowd and suspicious of Oliver's mysterious past in Chicago. But Puck is charmed and pushes Essa toward him. Oliver agrees to accompany Essa on a three-day survival game in the Rocky Mountains....

In the mid-21st century, dogs are all but extinct. An experiment gone awry caused every canine on Earth to become hyperintelligent. When as a species they stopped wagging their tails, hysteria ensued - followed by a program of mass euthanasia. Now the only surviving dogs are relegated to a sanctuary off the coast of Florida: Dog Island. There, they are studied in a wild, feral, and protected state. And there, too, their robot replacements are tested before being sold for mass consumption. Seventeen-year-old Nano Miller was born and bred on Dog Island, as were her two best friends, Jack and Wolf.

Sixteen-year-old Virginia Shreves' life is finally back on course: She's accepted who she is inside and out and is rebuilding her relationship with brother Byron, whose date-rape charge shattered everything. But just as she adjusts to her new normal, her world turns upside down again. Sparks with boyfriend Froggy fade, her best friend bombshells bad news, and then the police arrest Byron.

Sixteen-year-old Zarin Wadia is many things: an Indian girl, a bright and vivacious student, an orphan, a troublemaker whose romantic entanglements are the subject of endless gossip among the girls in her school. "You don't want to get involved with a girl like that," they say. So how is it that Porus, a Parsi boy, has only ever had eyes for her? And how did Zarin and Porus end up dead in a car together, crashed on the side of the highway in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia?

Darrian dreams of writing for the New York Times. To hone his skills and learn more about the power of words, he enrolls in Mr. Ward's class, known for its open-mic poetry and boys vs. girls poetry slam. Everyone in class has something important to say, and in sharing their poetry, they learn that they all face challenges and have a story to tell - whether it's about health problems, aging out of foster care, being bullied for religious beliefs, or having to take on too much responsibility because of an addicted parent.

A congressman's daughter who has to be perfect. A star quarterback with a secret. A guy who's tired of being ignored. A clarinet player who's done trying to fit in. An orphaned rebel who wants to teach someone a lesson. A guy who wants people to see him, not his religion. They couldn't be more different, but before the morning's over, they'll all be trapped in a school that's been rocked by a bombing. When they hear that someone inside is the bomber, they'll also be looking to one another for answers.

Blue skies. Green grass. Clear ocean water. An island paradise like the ones that existed before the Melt. A lucky 500 lottery winners will be the first to go, the first to leave their polluted, dilapidated homes behind and start a new life. It sounds perfect. Like a dream. The only problem? Marin Carey spent her childhood on those seas and knows there's no island paradise out there. She's corsario royalty, a pirate like her father and his father before him, and she knows a con when she sees one. So where are the First Five Hundred really going?

Fifteen-year-old Jo Chastain is about to take on her biggest con yet - impersonating a missing girl. The Lovecrafts are a wealthy Boston family with ties to the unsolved mystery of Vivienne Weir, who went missing at age nine. When Jo takes on Vivi's identity, the Lovecrafts give her everything she could want: love, money, security, and proximity to their intriguing daughter, Temple. But nothing is as it seems in the Lovecraft household, and as hidden crimes reveal themselves, Jo must choose between an illusion of safety or escaping the danger around her.

November is usually quiet in Holcomb, Kansas, but in 1959, the town is shattered by the quadruple murder of the Clutter family. Suspicion falls on Nancy Clutter's boyfriend, Bobby Rupp, the last one to see them alive. New Yorker Carly Fleming, new to the small Midwestern town, is an outsider. She tutored Nancy, and (in private, at least) they were close. Carly and Bobby were the only ones who saw that Nancy was always performing, and that she was cracking under the pressure of being Holcomb's golden girl.