Showing results by narrator "Imani Parks" in All Categories

Garvey's father has always wanted Garvey to be athletic, but Garvey is interested in anything but sports. Garvey is kind, funny, smart and a loyal friend. He is also overweight, teased by bullies and lonely. When his only friend encourages him to join the school chorus, Garvey's life begins to change. The chorus finds a new soloist in Garvey, and through chorus, Garvey finds a way to finally accept himself.

Garvey's father has always wanted Garvey to be athletic, but Garvey is interested in astronomy, science fiction, reading - anything but sports. Feeling like a failure, he comforts himself with food. Garvey is kind, funny, smart, a loyal friend, and he is also overweight, teased by bullies, and lonely. When his only friend encourages him to join the school chorus, Garvey's life changes. The chorus finds a new soloist in Garvey, and through chorus Garvey finds a way to accept himself and a way to finally reach his distant father.

Makeda June Kirkland is eleven-years-old, adopted, and black. Her parents and big sister are white, and even though she loves her family very much, Makeda often feels left out. When Makeda's family moves from Maryland to New Mexico, she leaves behind her best friend, Lena - the only other adopted black girl she knows - for a new life. In New Mexico, everything is different. At home, Makeda's sister is too cool to hang out with her anymore and at school, she can't seem to find one real friend.

Have you ever thought about bringing your dragon to the library? Don't do it! You might have the best intentions, but that dragon will cause nothing but trouble. Using rhyming text and a diverse cast of characters, this charming story provides some important - and not so important - library etiquette in a very entertaining way.

On a cold winter night, Iris and her best friend, Daniel, sneak into a clearing in the woods to play in the freshly fallen snow. There, Iris finds the crumbling gravestone of a young girl, Avery Moore. Immediately, strange things start to happen to Iris. She feels the pull of the abandoned grave, calling her back to the clearing. Iris and Daniel start to research the area for a school project. They discover that Avery's grave is actually part of a neglected and forgotten Black cemetery, dating back to a time when White and Black people were kept separate in life - and in death.

Many of us as women feel conflicted about Jesus’s calling on our lives because a woman trying to love God beyond her heart and soul, with her mind and strength, can be thought of as crossing some line or unspoken boundary. Bible teacher Kat Armstrong challenges us to ask, “Why am I allowing limitations on my pursuit of Jesus’s calling?”

JC shines like a 4th of July sparkler. She has the best ideas and the biggest, funniest laugh, and the party starts when she arrives. Serena St. John is proud to be known as her best friend. Everything changes when JC returns from the hospital with a new kidney—and a new best friend. Lonely Serena works on her vlogs, hoping to earn a shot at becoming a classroom reporter. If she can be smart and funny on video, why can't she manage that in real life? As Serena discovers her voice through vlogging, she learns that she's not just there to reflect JC's light—she can shine on her own.

From the Great Depression through the post-World War II years, Joseph “Ziggy” Johnson has been the pulse of Detroit’s famous Black Bottom. A celebrated gossip columnist for the city’s African-American newspaper, the Michigan Chronicle, he is also the emcee of one of the hottest night clubs, where he’s rubbed elbows with the legendary black artists of the era, including Ethel Waters, Billy Eckstein, and Count Basie. Ziggy is also the founder and dean of the Ziggy Johnson School of Theater. But now the doyen of Black Bottom is ready to hang up his many dapper hats.

At the suggestion of their friend Luke, Fiona and Finn volunteer at an animal rescue shelter, where they meet two sweet dogs who are in need of comfort, too. Perhaps with time, patience, and their father’s gentle words in their hearts, hope will spark once more.

Pablo, Violet, and their classmate Garry are on a field trip to the Environmental Science Center when they are transported to the Maker Maze! In the maze, they’ll work with wacky scientist Dr. Crisp to complete three challenges all about wind, solar, and tidal energy. But then Violet begins to feel bad about how much energy she’s been using. Can she, Pablo, and Garry learn how to use energy in a way that doesn't hurt the earth?

Young children will learn a valuable lesson about teamwork from this funny, favorite folktale of Little Red Hen working hard to plant her wheat.

Avielle LeBeau is beginning her second year at Briarcliff Prep, and she's got big dreams. Top of the list? Starting her own student life magazine and rooming with her besties Rhyon and Zazie. But a housing mix-up splits Avi from her friends—and to make matters worse, she's rooming with her rival, Fallon Walsh, instead. How does one girl juggle school, a fracturing friendship, living with a mean girl, and getting caught in a potential love triangle between the ex she can't move on from and a friend who’s becoming something more? It's a lot.

Laila gave Lucy a cupcake on the second day of kindergarten, and they've been inseparable ever since. But the summer before eighth grade, they find out that since they live on opposite sides of town, they’ll go to different high schools. Yuck! Then Laila’s invited to compete at the Golden Cookie competition, which awards its winner admission and a full ride to the prestigious Sunderland boarding school, and it’s the perfect opportunity.

Baker extraordinaire Laila Thomas and budding journalist Lucy Flores are living it up at the top of the junior high food chain as eighth graders. But between busy schedules and kinda-boyfriends, these two best friends haven’t gotten to hang out as much. So, when Jaden, an ex-competition rival, begs the duo to step back into the world of cooking competitions and crime—the answer is yes. Jaden is desperate: His father is accused of stealing prized jewels on the set of an amateur kids’ holiday baking show.

The new Park Row Magic Academy construction is underway, and Kyana is searching for magic activities to fill the school break. When she visits the building for supplies, she's grabbed by an Available spirit! Even though she's able to slip its grasp, something is wrong—she can't stop crying and laughing uncontrollably. Is she cursed? Then Ashley shares an invitation to a camp for magical learning. Ash thinks that whatever curse is messing with Kyana, Dr. Minzy, a famous teacher there, will know how to fix it. But once they reach the secret camp site, the magical portal suddenly collapses!