Eleven-year-old Sallie March is a whip-smart tomboy and voracious reader of Western adventure novels. When she and her ladylike older sister Maude are orphaned for the second time, they decide to take matters into their own hands and escape their self-serving guardians for the wilds of the frontier and an adventure the likes of which Sallie has only read about. This time however, the wanted woman isn’t a villain out of a dime novel — it’s Sallie’s very own sister!
Narrated by the irrepressible Sallie, what follows is the rollicking, edge-of-your-seat story of what really happened out there on the range. Not the lies the papers printed, but the honest-to-goodness truth of how things went from bad to worse and how two very different sisters went from being orphans to being outlaws and lived to tell the tale!
Packed with memorable characters, rip-roaringly fast-paced action, and laugh-out-loud moments, The Misadventures of Maude March is Newbery Honor winner Audrey Couloumbis’s most unforgettable work yet.
Audrey Couloumbis’ first book for children, Getting Near to Baby, available on audio from Listening Library, won the Newbery Honor in 2000. She is also the author of Say Yes (2002), an IRA Children’s Book Award winner and Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book. Today she lives in upstate New York and Florida with her husband, Akila, and their dog, Phoebe. They have two grown children. You can visit Audrey’s Web site at: www.audreycouloumbis.com.
Jennifer Holm's New York Times bestselling, Newbery Honor Winner is the story of a summer of adventures and secrets that will change everything, at a time in America’s history, just after World War II, when being Italian-American meant confronting prejudice because you'd been the enemy not that long ago .
It’s 1953 and 11-year-old Penny dreams of a summer of butter pecan ice cream, swimming, and baseball. But nothing’s that easy in Penny’s family. For starters, she can’t go swimming because her mother’s afraid she’ll catch polio at the pool. To make matters worse, her dog, Scarlett O'Hara, is sick. Her favorite uncle is living in a car. Her best friend is turning into a criminal. And no one will tell Penny the truth about how her father died.
Inspired by three time Newbery Honor winner Jennifer Holm’s own Italian American family, Penny from Heaven is a story about families—about the things that tear them apart and the things that bring them back together.
"Holm impressively wraps pathos with comedy in this coming-of-age story, populated by a cast of vivid characters."—Booklist
Bellerophon and the winged horse Pegasus launch into the blue sky in search of the dreaded three-headed Chimera, but will success go to the hero's head? Orpheus, devastated by the death of his wife, Eurydice, dares the dangers of the Kingdom of the Dead in an attempt to bring her back to life. Echo loves Narcissus but he only loves himself: a story that can only end in sadness. These and other colourful legends from Ancient Greece are retold in lively form by Benjamin Soames, with classical music providing further excitement.
In December 1850, the dark hours before dawn make 12-year-old Patrick O'Connell shiver. He lives with his mother and older sister in a wet and drafty shack. Patrick has been the man of the family ever since Da, his father, sailed from Ireland to America. But now he has a problem he can't solve: there isn't enough money to pay the rent. Suddenly, the village priest pounds on their door. He brings a bank draft with a letter from Da telling them to come to America. Soon Patrick and his family set off for Liverpool to board a ship. They think their problems are finally over, until Patrick meets some helpful strangers who are more than eager to help him care for his new fortune. Filled with irony and excitement, Newbery Award-winner Avi's adventurous tale is a vivid picture of life in 19th-century Ireland and England. With dramatic flair, narrator Simon Prebble provides the perfect voice for unsavory villains, colorful peasants, and the proper lords and ladies of the gentry.
On a cold January day in 1851, twelve-year-old Patrick O'Connell huddles on the deck of the Robert Peel. He is leaving his impoverished home behind in Ireland, while in America, his father is waiting with the promise of a new life. But as Patrick watches the shoreline fade from view, he feels torn with worry. His new friend Laurence Kirkle, who is running away from home, waits for food in the ship's hold. If the captain finds the young stowaways, both boys will be arrested. Will Patrick and his companion be able to reach America safely? A master storyteller, Avi has won many awards including a Newbery Award and Newbery Honor. In this dramatic tale, he vividly depicts the overwhelming difficulties Irish immigrants faced in the mid-1800s. From the unsettling opening to the astonishing finish, Simon Prebble expertly narrates the biting irony and riveting suspense of each exciting plot twist. If you enjoy Patrick's thrilling travels, you won't want to miss his exciting adventures before sailing for America in Beyond the Western Sea Book One: The Escape from Home.
Our Island Story by H. E. Marshall is an Edwardian history book for younger listeners (aged six'twelve) which tells the story of England, concluding with the reign of Queen Victoria. Antonia Fraser and many other current historians declare that it was this book that opened the delights of history for them. It fell from fashion in the 1960s, but its recent re-release in hardback has seen it become a publishing surprise in the UK, with sales of some 75,000 copies in a few months. Now, Naxos AudioBooks releases it unabridged in three volumes, divided into three clear periods of history. Though slightly edited to take account of historical changes and attitudes, it is presented unabridged.
Our Island Story by H. E. Marshall is an Edwardian history book for younger listeners (aged six–twelve) which tells the story of England, concluding with the reign of Queen Victoria. Antonia Fraser and many other current historians declare that it was this book that opened the delights of history for them. It fell from fashion in the 1960s, but its recent re-release in hardback has seen it become a publishing surprise in the UK, with sales of some 75,000 copies in a few months. Now, Naxos AudioBooks releases it unabridged in three volumes, divided into three clear periods of history. Though slightly edited to take account of historical changes and attitudes, it is presented unabridged.
We all know about the famous generals and the major battles of the Civil War. But for the soldiers who actually fought, the war was all too real. It was especially traumatic for the thousands of soldiers who ranged in age from 10 to 15. Some young soldiers joined the fray to escape the boredom of farm work or to "set the South straight." Many of them kept diaries and wrote letters home. Through their eyes, we see what life was like on the edge of chaos. Some of their writing describes the gruesome details of forced marches and deaths on the battlefield. Balanced with anecdotes of practical jokes they played on one another and interesting people they met, their stories touch our minds and hearts. Ed Sala's interpretation of this well-documented history brings the Civil War to life in a way that few historians could. These everyday details of the war, told in the straightforward language of the young, provide a moving, unforgettable history lesson.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Eddy Okubo, a Japanese American teenager, is more determined than ever to prove his loyalty and worth as an American soldier. Graham Salisbury poignantly pens the historically accurate but fictional account of the special mission given to 26 Japanese American soldiers in the midst of WWII and a young man's struggle between heritage and patriotism.
With a list of characters from Achilles to Zeus-and all the gods and mortals in between-The Ancient Greek World is one of the most comprehensive history textbooks on one of the most momentous civilizations in history. The Greeks are considered the first people in the ancient Western world to record their own history, and remnants of their cultural, philosophical, political and architectural advances remain to this day. Homer, Sophocles, Aeschylus, Socrates, Aristotle and Plato set the ground rules for modern literature, theater and philosophy. The Parthenon still stands as an example of structural ingenuity. And many countries still practice democracy and participate in the Olympics. From everyday life to political upheaval-like the Pelopponesian War and Alexander the Great's conquests-the Greeks believed they were an exceptional people, and their influence is still present today. As part of the World in Ancient Times series, this text is a witty, resourceful guide for anyone who wishes to learn more about this stunning culture. Listeners will feel they've traveled back in time with the stirring narration of Jeff Woodman.
Peewee idolizes Jake, a big brother whose dream of auto mechanic glory are fueled by the hard road coming to link their Indiana town and futures with the twentieth century. And motoring down the road comes Irene Ridpath, a young librarian with plans to astonish them all and turn Peewee's life upside down.
This novel, with its quirky characters, folksy setting, classic cars, and hilariously larger-than-life moments, is vintage Richard Peck-an offbeat, deliciously wicked comedy that is also unexpectedly moving.
Twelve-year-old Sumiko feels her life has been made up of two parts: before Pearl Harbor and after it. The good part and the bad part. Raised on a flower farm in California, Sumiko is used to being the only Japanese girl in her class. Even when the other kids tease her, she always has had her flowers and family to go home to.
Now, other Americans start to suspect that all Japanese people are spies for the emperor and Sumiko and her family find themselves being shipped to an internment camp in one of the hottest deserts in the United States. The vivid color of her previous life is gone forever, and now dust storms regularly choke the sky and seep into every crack of the military barrack that is her new “home.”
Sumiko soon discovers that the camp is on an Indian reservation and that the Japanese are as unwanted there as they’d been at home. But then she meets a young Mohave boy who might just become her first real friend….
With searing insight and clarity, Newbery Medal—winning author Cynthia Kadohata explores an important and painful topic through the eyes of a young girl who yearns to belong. Weedflower is the story of the rewards and challenges of a friendship across the racial divide, as well as the based-on-real-life story of how the meeting of Japanese Americans and Native Americans changed the future of both.
