Biography & Memoir Audiobooks

One day, villagers from Lacaune, in the mountains of southern France, returned from the woods with a startling story. They'd glimpsed a naked boy digging in the leaves. A year later - in 1798 - the strange, scarred boy appeared again, and this time woodsmen captured him and marched him down the mountain to the village square, where everyone crowded around to take in the spectacle. And so began the curious public life of the boy known as the Savage of Aveyron, whose journey took him all the way to Paris. In a moving work of nonfiction that flows like a novel, the acclaimed author of The Fairy Ring invests another compelling story from history with vivid and arresting new life.

Mary Losure (Author), Michael Page (Narrator)

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Bomb

In December of 1938, a chemist in a German laboratory made a shocking discovery: When placed next to radioactive material, a Uranium atom split in two. That simple discovery launched a scientific race that spanned 3 continents. In Great Britain and the United States, Soviet spies worked their way into the scientific community; in Norway, a commando force slipped behind enemy lines to attack German heavy-water manufacturing; and deep in the desert, one brilliant group of scientists was hidden away at a remote site at Los Alamos. This is the story of the plotting, the risk-taking, the deceit, and genius that created the world's most formidable weapon. This is the story of the atomic bomb. Bomb is a 2012 National Book Awards finalist for Young People's Literature.

Steve Sheinkin (Author), Roy Samuelson (Narrator)

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O Meu Pé de Laranja-lima

Neste audiolivro, Rafael Cortez lê na íntegra a obra de José Mauro de Vasconcelos. Para dar vida ao garotinho Zezé, Rafael empresta não só sua voz, seu violão, sua emotividade e sua técnica de ator, mas sua própria história. Os trechos de canções citadas no livro foram interpretados por Rafael, que cantou as melodias originais, quando conhecidas, e criou melodias para obras não localizadas. Para as aberturas de capítulos e passagens de blocos de texto, ele desenvolveu três temas de violão solo. Zezé é uma criança precoce que cria um mundo de fantasia para refugiar-se da dura realidade em que vive com a família. RAFAEL CORTEZ é ator, violonista clássico, compositor, humorista e jornalista. Na televisão, consolidou sua carreira no programa CQC da TV Bandeirantes. Como solista de violão, lançou em 2011 o CD Elegia da Alma. Hoje atua na Rede Globo de Televisão. Escritor, nascido no Rio de Janeiro, em 1920, José Mauro de Vasconcelos é autor de mais de vinte livros, entre eles, Rosinha, Minha Canoa e As Confissões de Frei Abóbora.

José Mauro De Vasconcelos (Author), Rafael Cortez (Narrator)

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Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary

As a fourteen-year-old he was Malcolm Little, the president of his class and a top student. At sixteen he was hustling tips at a Boston nightclub. At twenty "Detroit Red" was in prison. It was there Malcolm Little started the journey that would lead him to adopt the name Malcolm X, and develop his beliefs about what being black means in America: beliefs that shook America then, and still shake America today. His significant role in the Nation of Islam and eventual split from it, along with his journey to Mecca, followed by his assassination in Harlem are chronicled in this fascinating portrait.

Walter Dean Myers (Author), J. D. Jackson (Narrator)

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Caught by the Sea

Another such wave could easily be the end of us I had to do something, fix something, save the boat, save myself. But what? Gary Paulsen takes readers along on his maiden voyage, proving that ignorance can be bliss. Also really stupid and incredibly dangerous. He tells of boats that owned him, good, bad, and beloved, and how they got him through terrifying storms that he survived by sheer luck. His spare prose conjures up shark surprises and killer waves as well as moonlight on the sea, and makes readers feel what it's like to sail under the stars or to lie at anchor in a tropical lagoon where dolphins leap, bathed in silver. Falling in love with the ocean set Gary Paulsen on a lifelong learning curve, and readers will understand why his passion has lasted to this day. *"Slashes of humor help weather the rough seas in this memoir that will appeal to reluctant readers and boaters of all ages" - Voice of Youth Advocates, starred

Gary Paulsen (Author), Patrick Lawlor (Narrator)

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Yellow Star

In 1939, the Germans invaded the town of Lodz, Poland, and moved the Jewish population into a small part of the city called a ghetto. As the war progressed, 270,000 people were forced to settle in the ghetto under impossible conditions. At the end of the war, there were about 800 survivors. Of those who survived, only twelve were children. This is the story of one of the twelve. "A stunning, poetic recreation of a life lived within the horror that was the Holocaust." - Jane Yolen, author of The Devil's Arithmetic and Briar Rose "In vivid free verse, Jennifer Roy tells a story of hope and courage as gripping as Schindler's List." - Eric A. Kimmel, author of Gershon's Monster, a Sydney Taylor Book Award winner "' "Beautifully told and unforgettable, Yellow Star reminds us that hope and innocence can shine through the darkest tragedy."-'- David Lubar, author of Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie and Dunk

Jennifer Roy (Author), Tavia Gilbert (Narrator)

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Paiute Princess: The Story of Sarah Winnemucca

Born into the Northern Paiute tribe of Nevada in 1844, Sarah Winnemucca straddled two cultures: the traditional life of her people, and the modern ways of her grandfather's white friends. Sarah was smart and good at languages, so she was able to link the worlds. As she became older, this made her a great leader. Sarah used condemning letters, fiery speeches, and her autobiography, "Life Among the Piutes, "to provide detailed accounts of her people's turmoil through years of starvation, unjust relocations, and violent attacks. With sweeping illustrations and extensive backmatter, including hand-drawn maps, a chronology, archival photographs, an author's notes, and additional resource information, Deborah Kogan Ray offers a remarkable look at an underrepresented historical figure.

Deborah Kogan Ray (Author), Angela Lin, Christina Moore (Narrator)

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Sir Charlie: Chaplin, the Funniest Man in the World

See him? That little tramp twitching a postage stamp of a mustache, politely lifting his bowler hat, and leaning on a bamboo cane with the confidence of a gentleman? A slapstick comedian, he blazed forth as the brightest movie star in the Hollywood heavens. Everyone knew Charlie-Charlie Chaplin. Escaping the London slums of his tragic childhood, he took Hollywood like a conquistador with a Cockney accent. With his gift for pantomime in films that had not yet acquired vocal cords, he was soon rubbing elbows with royalty and dining on gold plates in his own Beverly Hills mansion. He was the most famous man on earth-and he was regarded as the funniest. He comes to life in this astonishing rags-to-riches saga of an irrepressible kid whose childhood was dealt from the bottom of the deck.

Sid Fleischman (Author), Fred Sullivan (Narrator)

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Ballet for Martha

In 1944 the modern American ballet Appalachian Spring premiered at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. The collaborators behind the performance anxiously awaited the critical response to their artistic achievement: would the world understand what they had done? In Ballet for Martha, the journey to this stage and the success shared among choreographer Martha Graham, composer Aaron Copland and artist Isamu Noguchi is expressively captured by acclaimed children's book authors Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan. Together they tell the exceptional story of the collaborative efforts behind the creation of Appalachian Spring. Martha Graham, famous American dancer and pioneering choreographer, ignited the process with her innovative dance routines and desire to create a ballet that would represent America. With Martha's spirit and choreography in mind, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Aaron Copland built upon the melodies of an old Shaker hymn to create the original score. He titled it simply Ballet for Martha. Upon Martha's request, artist Isamu Noguchi created the stage design for the ballet, using a simple and angular style that reflected the movements of Martha's choreography. This story, first chronicled in the award-winning book, is now brought to life in an original audiobook production by Brilliance Audio. Acclaimed actress Sarah Jessica Parker captures the voices and emotions of Martha Graham, Aaron Copland, and Isamu Noguchi as they work together to produce the dance, score, and set of this beloved American ballet. Accompanying the narration is a full performance by the Seattle Symphony of the very score which fueled and inspired the ballet. Listeners will be delighted by the layered collaborations brought together in this audio production. From the three trail-blazing artists who labored to capture America through lyrical movement, lilting melody, and avant-garde design, to the literary, vocal, and orchestral talents of today, Ballet for Martha is a beautiful, musical journey for listeners of all ages.

Jan Greenberg, Sandra Jordan (Author), Sara Paretsky, Sarah Jessica Parker, Seattle Symphony, The Seattle Symphony Conducted By Gerard Schwarz (Narrator)

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Beyond Courage

Under the noses of the German military and French police, Georges Loinger smuggles Jewish children out of occupied France into Switzerland. In Belgium, Youra Livchitz and two other resisters ambush a train destined for a death camp, allowing scores of Jews to flee from the cattle cars. Four brothers lead more than 1,200 ghetto refugees deep into the Byelorussian forest, where they build a partisan fighting force and self-sufficient village. Forced to make detonators for German bombs, Estusia Wajcblum smuggles out gunpowder, grain by grain, to be used to blow up the crematoriums in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Despite debilitating wounds to both his feet, fourteen-year-old Idel Kagan helps dig an escape tunnel out of a forced labor camp in Poland. Sarika Yehoshua forms an all-girl unit of guerrilla fighters in the mountains of Greece, teaching them to shed their traditional ways and become soldiers. And twelve-year-old Motele Shlayan entertains German officers with his violin moments before setting off a bomb. Through meticulously researched and stirring accounts - some well known and some chronicled here in book form for the first time - Doreen Rappaport brings to light the defiance of tens of thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II. These resisters answered the genocidal madness and unspeakable depravity that was Hitler's Holocaust with the greatest weapons of all - courage, ingenuity, the will to survive, and the resolve to save others or to die trying.

Doreen Rappaport (Author), Emily Beresford, Jeff Crawford (Narrator)

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Titanic: Voices From the Disaster

EARLY MORNING ON APRIL 15, 1912, the RMS Titanic, on her glorious maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, sank after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic. Thus the ship declared to be unsinkable was lost in one of the most infamous tragedies in history. Even now, a century later, the events surrounding the Titanic continue to haunt and intrigue us. Critically acclaimed author Deborah Hopkinson weaves together the voices of Titanic survivors and witnesses to the disaster to bring the horrors of that terrible night to life. There's nine-year-old Frankie Goldsmith; Violet Jessop, a young stewardess; Jack Thayer, an American high school senior; Colonel Archibald Gracie, a well-to-do gentleman; William Murdoch, a brave seaman; Charlotte Collyer, a young mother on her way to start a new life; and many others. Their recollections are filled with heart-stopping action, devastating drama, and fascinating historical details.

Deborah Hopkinson (Author), , Mark Bramhall, Peter Altschuler, Various, Various Readers (Narrator)

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Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever

Bill O'Reilly, Dwight Jon Zimmerman (Author), Bill O'reilly, Edward Herrmann (Narrator)

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