Biography & Memoir Audiobooks

We’re Better Than This: Young Readers’ Edition: My Fight for the Future of Our Democracy

Part memoir, part call to action, this young readers’ edition dives into the inspiring life of the late U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings—from childhood through his time as chairman of the House Oversight Committee—and his tireless fight for justice. Growing up as the child of former sharecroppers in a segregated Baltimore, Elijah Cummings saw firsthand how injustice could run rampant, even in a democracy that promises fairness and equality. But with a strong support system and fiery self-discipline, Elijah utilized the momentum of the civil rights movement to overcome the obstacles of poverty and racism to effect change at a time when our country so badly needed it. In We’re Better Than This, readers will learn not only that we must be and do better than our oppressors but that it is our shared responsibility as a nation to keep our democracy intact because it is the only way to pursue freedom, justice, and equality for all.

Elijah Cummings (Author), Adam Lazarre-White, Maya Rockeymoore Cummings (Narrator)

Audiobook

Highlights Listen & Learn: Lonely Orphan Girl: The Story Of Nellie Bly: An Immersive Audio Study for

Highlights Listen & Learn! Audio Studies are the perfect tools for educators, parents, and students. With full lessons that present key comprehension skills, an educational audiobook, and multiple-choice questions, these studies help listeners better understand elements such as plot, characterization, vocabulary, and other essential foundational skills. This Highlights Listen & Learn! Audio Study, intended for those in grade three, introduces listeners to Elizabeth Jane Cochran, better known as Nellie Bly. She was an uneducated woman who landed a job as a journalist in a time when women were thought to belong at home and not in the workforce. The comprehension skills featured in this Audio Study include understanding informational texts, problems and solutions, and vocabulary building. Highlights has always been an essential part of childhood, inspiring memorable experiences for generations of families. Highlights' Fun with a Purpose philosophy has helped children grow to become their best selves-curious, creative, caring, and confident. Listen & Learn! Audio Studies will entertain and engage young children while encouraging literacy, self-confidence, and joyful learning!

Dana Townsend, Highlights For Children (Author), Highlights For Children, Pete Cross (Narrator)

Audiobook

Amelia Earhart Is on the Moon?

Did you know that Amelia Earhart loved heights so much she built a roller coaster in her backyard? Or that she used to race worms with her sister? Bet you didn't know that she took photographs of garbage cans to pay for flying lessons! Siblings Paige and Turner do?and they've collected some of the most unusual and surprising facts about the legendary pilot, from her childhood in the rural Midwest and the spark of her passion for flying to her record-smashing flights and her infamous disappearance over the Pacific Ocean. Narrated by the two spirited siblings, Amelia Earhart Is on the Moon? is an authoritative, accessible, and one-of-a-kind biography infused with Dan Gutman's signature zany sense of humor.

Dan Gutman (Author), Jesús E. Martínez, Tyla Collier (Narrator)

Audiobook

From the Bellybutton of the Moon and Other Summer Poems/Del ombligo de la luna y otros poemas de Ver

With a poet's magical vision, Francisco X. Alarcón takes young listeners back to his childhood when he traveled with his family to Mexico to visit his grandmother and other relatives. Listeners ride with him in the family station wagon across the misty mountain range to the little town of Atoyac, the beloved town of his ancestors. There he listens his grandma's colorful stories, samples Auntie Reginalda's tasty breakfasts, learns about the keys to the universe, and take playful dips in the warm sea.

Francisco X. Alarcon (Author), Gary Tiedemann (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Upside Down Boy/El niño de cabeza

Fresh from the country, Juanito is bewildered by his new school. Everything he does feels upside down: he eats lunch when it's recess and goes out to play when it's time for lunch, and his tongue feels like a rock when he tries to speak English. But a sensitive teacher and his loving family help Juanito find his voice through poetry, art, and music. Juan Felipe Herrera's playful language and the magical illustrations of Elizabeth Gómez capture the universal experience of entering a new school and feeling lost in a world that seems upside down - at first.

Juan Felipe Herrera (Author), Gary Tiedemann (Narrator)

Audiobook

Coming to England: An Inspiring True Story Celebrating the Windrush Generation

The inspiring true story of Baroness Floella Benjamin: from Trinidad, to London as part of the Windrush generation, to the House of Lords. When she was 11 years old, Floella Benjamin, along with her older sister and two younger brothers, set sail from Trinidad to London, to be reunited with the rest of their family. Alone on a huge ship for two weeks, then tumbled into a cold and unfriendly London, coming to England wasn't at all what Floella had expected. Coming to England is both deeply personal and universally relevant - Floella's experiences of moving home and making friends will resonate with young children, who will be inspired by her trademark optimism and joy. This is a true story with a powerful message: that courage and determination can always overcome adversity.

Floella Benjamin (Author), Floella Benjamin (Narrator)

Audiobook

She Persisted: Clara Lemlich

Inspired by the #1 New York Times bestseller She Persisted by Chelsea Clinton and Alexandra Boiger comes a chapter book series about women who stood up, spoke up and rose up against the odds--including Clara Lemlich! In this chapter book biography by award-winning author Deborah Heiligman, readers learn about the amazing life of Clara Lemlich--and how she persisted.    Clara Lemlich immigrated to New York to escape danger in Ukraine, where she was born. She started working in clothing factories on the Lower East Side, only to realize that workers were being treated unfairly. So she stood up for the rights of workers, especially girls and women--and she won, changing the way factory workers were treated in America forever! Complete with an introduction from Chelsea Clinton!

Chelsea Clinton, Deborah Heiligman (Author), Chelsea Clinton, Emily Lawrence (Narrator)

Audiobook

The People Remember

From award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Ibi Zoboi comes her debut book—a tour de force that uses the principles of Kwanzaa to talk about the history of African Americans. The People Remember tells the journey of African descendants in America by connecting their history to the seven principles of Kwanzaa. It begins in Africa, where people were taken from their homes and families. They spoke different languages and had different customs. Yet they were bound and chained together and forced onto ships sailing into an unknown future. Ultimately, all these people had to learn one common language and create a culture that combined their memories of home with new traditions that enabled them to thrive in this new land. This is an important book to read as a family—a story young readers can visit over and over again to deepen their understanding of African American history in relation to their own lives and current social justice movements. By turns powerful and revealing, this is a lyrical narrative that tells the story of survival, as well as the many moments of joy, celebration, and innovation of Black people in America. Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Ibi Zoboi (Author), Ibi Zoboi, Robin Miles (Narrator)

Audiobook

Playing at the Border: A Story of Yo-Yo Ma

The New York Times bestselling author of Eyes That Kiss in the Corners, Joanna Ho, delivers a poignant biography about the musician Yo-Yo Ma, immigration, and using music to build bridges. “Everyone can benefit from Ho’s message of music bringing calm and peace to the world.” —Booklist  Joanna Ho’s lyrical writing tells an inspiring story of Yo-Yo Ma, who challenges conventions, expectations, and beliefs in order to build bridges to unite communities, people, and cultures. A beautiful biography to enjoy and share in the home and the classroom. Before Yo-Yo Ma became one of the most renowned and celebrated cellists, he wanted to play the double bass. But it was too big for his four-year-old hands. Over time, Ma honed his amazing talent, and his music became a reflection of his own life between borders, cultures, disciplines, and generations. Since then, he has recorded over a hundred albums, won nineteen Grammy Awards, performed for eight American presidents, and received the National Medal of the Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, just to name a few accomplishments. Staying true to himself, Yo-Yo Ma performed at the US-Mexico border at the Rio Grande on April 13, 2019, as part of his multi-continent “Bach Project” tour to prove a point—through music, we can build bridges rather than walls between different cultures.

Joanna Ho (Author), Kevin Shen (Narrator)

Audiobook

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit

This semi-autobiographical classic, written by Judith Kerr, tells the story of a Jewish family escaping Germany in the days before the Second World War. Tacy Kneale, Judith’s daughter, reads this extraordinary audio edition of the unforgettable adventure Michael Morpurgo called “The most life-enhancing book you could ever wish to read.” Suppose your country began to change. Suppose that without your noticing, it became dangerous for some people to live in it any longer, and you found, to your surprise, that your own father was one of those people. This is what happened to Anna in 1933. Anna is too busy with her schoolwork and tobogganing to listen to the talk of Hitler. But one day she and her brother Max are rushed out of Germany in alarming secrecy, away from everything they know. Their father is wanted by the Nazis. This is the start of a huge adventure, sometimes frightening, very often funny and always exciting. Judith Kerr wrote When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit fifty years ago, based on her own journey, so that her own children would know where she came from and the lengths to which her parents went to keep her and her brother safe. It has gone on to become a beloved classic that is required reading for many children all over the world and is an unforgettable introduction to the real-life impact of the Second World War. To celebrate fifty years of this momentous classic this new audio version of the book, read by Judith’s daughter, actor and artist Tacy Kneale, creates a heartfelt and truly memorable rendition of this much-loved story.

Judith Kerr (Author), Tacy Kneale (Narrator)

Audiobook

Two Miserable Presidents: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About the Civil War

New York Times bestselling author and Newbery Honor recipient Steve Sheinkin gives young listeners the causes and curses that divided America into Union and Confederate nations in Two Miserable Presidents: The Amazing, Terrible, and Totally True Story of the Civil War. A Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year A Beacon of Freedom Award Winner Get the feeling something big is about to happen? Welcome to the Civil War―one of the scariest, saddest, and occasionally wackiest stories in American History. 1856: Northern and Southern settlers attack each other in Kansas. 1858: Congressmen start sneaking guns and knives into the Senate chamber. 1860: President James Buchanan is heard wailing, "I am the last president of the United States!" Unraveling a very complicated string of events--the small things, the personal ones, the big issues--Steve Sheinkin takes readers behind the scenes that led to The Civil War. It is a time and a war that threatened America's very existence, revealed in the surprising true stories of the soldiers and statesmen who battled it out. "Chatty and accessible, this book does double duty: it introduces Civil War history for readers who don't know much about it and supplies browsable commentary for those familiar with the big picture...Beginning with a look at the role cotton played in the history, his fast-paced narrative is broken into short, tersely titled vignettes...The horrors of slavery and battlefield slaughter are clear, as are achievements of Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, John Brown, and many more." ―Booklist

Steve Sheinkin (Author), Steve Sheinkin, Vikas Adam (Narrator)

Audiobook

King George: What Was His Problem?: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About the American R

New York Times bestselling author and Newbery Honor recipient Steve Sheinkin gives young listeners an American history lesson they'll never forget in the fun and funny King George: What Was His Problem?: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About the American Revolution. A Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year A New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing What do the most famous traitor in history, hundreds of naked soldiers, and a salmon lunch have in common? They're all part of the amazing story of the American Revolution. Entire books have been written about the causes of the American Revolution. This isn't one of them. What it is, instead, is utterly interesting, ancedotes (John Hancock fixates on salmon), from the inside out (at the Battle of Eutaw Springs, hundreds of soldiers plunged into battle 'naked as they were born') close-up narratives filled with little-known details, lots of quotes that capture the spirit and voices of the principals ('If need be, I will raise one thousand men, subsist them at my own expense, and march myself at their head for the relief of Boston' --George Washington), and action. It's the story of the birth of our nation, complete with soldiers, spies, salmon sandwiches, and real facts you can't help but want to tell to everyone you know. "For middle-graders who find Joy Hakim's 11-volume A History of US just too daunting, historian Sheinkin offers a more digestible version of our country's story...The author expertly combines individual stories with sweeping looks at the larger picture―tucking in extracts from letters, memorable anecdotes, pithy characterizations and famous lines with a liberal hand."―Kirkus Reviews

Steve Sheinkin (Author), Steve Sheinkin, Vikas Adam (Narrator)

Audiobook