For Pride Month, AudioSYNC brings us real-life and fictional accounts of teens across the rainbow of gender and sexuality.
You have until Wednesday 28 June 2023 to download either or both of these professionally produced audiobooks into your Sora shelf. Get all the details here.
The Audiofile review page for each audiobook include a link to their podcast discussion of the book!
Two trans feminine, two trans masculine, and two nonbinary young people spoke candidly with Susan Kuklin about their struggles to be accepted.
These real interview transcripts of gender non-conforming teens also include some family members; all narrated by professional voice actors with emotion and empathy.
This week’s free AudioSYNC audiobooks tell of war and weaponry, during declared armed combat and on America’s streets outside the law!
You have until Wednesday 21 June 2023 to download either or both audiobooks into your Sora shelf. They expire in 99 years, so you can listen to them whenever you like, as long as you keep them on your Sora shelf.
Sign up here for a free Sora account and see the entire AudioSYNC season, too.
On to the front lines!
Spearhead (Adapted for Young Adults): An American Tank Gunner, His Enemy, and a Collision of Lives in World War II (free Sora download 6/15-6/21/23) by Adam Makos | Read by Johnathan McClain Published by Listening Library
Tank warfare during World War II was brutal, grinding, and deadly – especially for the first tank in formation.
Hear the true story of a 21-year-old American gunner in the newest Pershing super-tank and a 17-year-old German crewman in the legendary Panzer tank as their units battle to the death in the ruined streets of Cologne!
Tommy: The Gun That Changed America (free Sora download 6/15-6/21/23) by Karen Blumenthal | Read by Maggi-Meg Reed Published by Listening Library
The Thompson sub-machine gun was created by John Thompson as a more efficient weapon during World War I.
But soon the Tommy gun became the gangsters’ firearm of choice during the 1920s and ’30s, to the inventor’s dismay.
An engaging historical look at this iconic gun and its notorious users, as well as its influence on today’s conversations about gun safety and gun rights.
The School That Escaped the Nazis: The True Story of the Schoolteacher Who Defied Hitler (free Sora download 5/12-17/23) by Deborah Cadbury | Read by Julie Teal Published by Hachette Audio
In the early 1930s, principal Anna Essinger was dismayed by the Nazis’ increasing power and decided to move her entire school and its students from Germany to England. Despite challenges and peril, “Tante Anna” saved many children who otherwise would have been imprisoned or worse.
Growing up poor in New York City, Stanley Lieber escaped by reading adventure stories and dreamed of writing his own.
He began working at age 16 as an errand boy for Timely Comics magazine and got to write a Captain America story. But he signed it as Stan Lee, saving his real name for the day he would be a “real” writer.
When veteran writers quit Timely, Stan moved up to full-time writer and editor – as a teenager!
For two decades, he wrote story after story of predictable, perfect heroes as the company grew and became Marvel Comics. So boring.
His wife suggested that he write the superhero story that he’d want to read. So Stan teamed up with artist Jack Kirby, and they created the flawed yet Fantastic Four – a huge hit with comics readers!
What next? Reflecting on his own childhood, Stan invented a lonely, geeky, science-loving hero – the Amazing Spider-Man, drawn by Steve Ditko – an even bigger hit with readers!
Finally, the Marvel Comics’ bosses decided that Stan should make a series of unconventional superheroes, and the Marvel Comics Universe was born.
Continuing with Stan’s move to Hollywood as his superheroes became movie stars, this lively picturebook includes great background information. You can find free activity sheets here, courtesy of the publisher.
Who’s your favorite Marvel superhero? **kmm
Book info: With Great Power: The Marvelous Stan Lee: An Unauthorized Biography / Annie Hunter Erickson; illustrated by Lee Gatlin. Page Street Kids, 2021. [author interview] [artist site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.
Once again, audiobook publishers have teamed up to give us two FREE professionally produced titles through AudioSYNC every week for a summer of great listening, starting today!
Each theme-related pair of audiobooks will be available for one week (Thursday-Wednesday) so I will alert you about new titles for all 13 weeks.
You’ll need to download the free Sora reading app (instructions and sign-up link here) if you don’t already use it with your school or library.
It’s all free, and once you save either or both weekly selections to your Sora shelf, you can read them with your ears whenever you like – no expiration dates.
AudioSYNC summer begins now, with these two titles about the Freedom to Know:
Mummies and pyramids – we modern-day people know some things about ancient Egypt’s afterlife.
However, for the real inside story, we need a tour guide like Bastet the cat who will explain all of its important rules and symbolism.
“My pre-death career was as Pharaoh’s cat,” says Bastet, as he introduces the major gods (like his namesake) who placed the pharaohs as rulers over Egypt, as well as the four sons of Horus who guard those who have died.
After death, ancient Egyptians believed that the soul split into two parts, reuniting in the body nightly. Mummification was perfected to preserve bodies and prevent a second, final death.
Bastet the cat gives us a detailed (but not gory) tour through mummification’s steps and the meanings of the many symbols placed on each mummy’s coffins and sarcophagus.
Everything a person needed in life will also be required in their afterlife, so ancient Egyptian tombs contain food, clothes, furniture, and mummified cats for good luck. The walls are painted with servants, animals, more food and entertainments.
The journey to the Land of the Dead is perilous, so our guide shows ancient ones everything they need to get there safely!
Travel along with knowledgeable and witty Bastet to learn the symbolism of scarab beetles, what shabti dolls are, and why both legs are shown on Egyptian paintings of people.
Lavishly illustrated in the two-dimensional style that we associate with hieroglyphics and paintings inside pyramids, this book cleverly conveys familiar and little-known information about ancient Egyptian beliefs and practices.
Ever tried writing your name in hieroglyphics? **kmm
Book info: The Unofficial Guide to the Ancient Egyptian Afterlife / Sophie Berger & Laura Winstone. Cicada Books, 2022. [publisher interview] [illustrator site] [publisher site] Review copy, page image, and cover image courtesy of the publisher.
Last name mispronounced by every teacher? Check. Being called every Asian nationality except Thai? Check. Getting teased for not knowing the right clothes to wear. Check.
In elementary school, Christina wasn’t happy about moving from Dallas to a smaller Texas town so her Thai dad and white mom could open a Thai-Chinese restaurant.
The only Asian kid in town, she was delighted to become best friends with Megan, whose father had emigrated from Iran.
Then they get to middle school, where popular kids get by with everything, including racist remarks.
Most popular of all are the cheerleaders, so Christina and Megan decide to try out!
Oh, Megan isn’t her partner? Oh, the finalists will be voted on by the entire 7th grade?! Oh, this is scarier than roller coasters!!
Based on the author’s real-life experiences as a Thai American kid in a small Texas town, this great graphic novel shows us that your best efforts are more important than winning every contest.
What middle school memory stands out most for you? **kmm
Book info: The Tryout / Christina Soontornvat; art by Joanna Cacao. Graphix / Scholastic, 2022. [author site] [illustrator site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.
A mechanical gecko, a garden atop a traveling snail’s shell, an armored jet-propelled ancient fish…
Imaginary beings are at the heart of Shaun Tan’s most beloved books: The Arrival, Tales from Outer Suburbia, The Lost Thing (also made into an award-winning short film – trailer here).
Collected in this large and beautiful book are 25 years of the Australian artist’s paintings and drawings from those books, as well as many standalone works.
“The first thing I remember drawing was a creature… and not much has changed since.” (page 7)
Tan writes intriguing commentary about influences on his style and subject matter – old monster movies, Aboriginal stories, birds in his family’s neighborhood – and how his imagination reinterpreted them as he told stories through images.
Enjoy these large-scale pictures of mechanico-animal beings, humans living alongside unusual beasties, and transformational situations, then flip to the back and read Tan’s notes about how each creature was made.
Includes this set of creature Emoticons, 2016, pencil on paper, digitally composited, originally published in The Stick and Der Spiegel, as shown on Tan’s website.
What creature from your own imagination would you like to meet? **kmm
Book info: Creature: Paintings, Drawings, and Reflections / Shaun Tan. Levine Querido, 2022. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher; Emoticons illustration from https://www.shauntan.net/creature-book-1.
Close your eyes and imagine how Picasso would paint a donut. I bet you see strong colors and lots of angles in his famous Cubist abstract style.
How would other noted artists portray that donut?
This delicious book answers that curious question with donuts in the style of 16 well-known artists from Da Vinci to Van Gogh, Seurat to Matisse, Dali to Basquiat.
Each two-page spread features information on the artist’s life and works, what’s distinctive about their style, and a huge donut in that style.
Artist Chloe Tyler who so brilliantly created all these donuts also includes an extensive glossary, as well as tips & tricks for tasty technique to help you echo a famous artist’s style on your next project.
Which artist would you like to share a real donut with? **kmm
Book info: Cultured Donuts: Take a Bite Out of Art History / Chloe Tyler. Flowerpot Press, 2022. [author/artist interview] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.
Resisting South Africa’s colonial government, everyday working-class people stood up for basic rights, often risking their lives during the first half of the 20th century.
Six key court cases involving these “rebels and revolutionaries” set the stage for South Africa’s notorious apartheid policy:
“Until the Ship Sails” – For decades, Asian men brought to work in Transvaal faced tight restrictions of “the Black Act” – in 1908, Gandhi urged them to resist non-violently. How long would the hundreds arrested be detained aboard old ships?
“In the Shadow of a High Stone Wall” – Striking against unjust working conditions in 1911 put Irish emigrants in a wretched prison. Without bail money, they were denied access to their lawyers. Would their 1912 lawsuit for unfair treatment keep other poor South Africans from the same fate?
“Come Gallows Grim” – Companies and gold mines began hiring low-paid Black workers after World War I, leading to riots by displaced white workers who saw the government as allied with mine owners. Death and destruction during martial law in 1922, many captured, including Taffy Long. Two trials, calls for clemency, fears of more riots. When would the shadow of the hangman’s noose leave South Africa?
“The Widow of Marsbastad” – In a 1956 township without running water, they tell stories about 1925 when an old law was suddenly applied to Black women, requiring them to carry a Night Pass while delivering laundry to white customers or be arrested on the spot! Brave women volunteered go out at night to challenge this new restriction. Would the outcome of their cases affect Pass Laws proposed later under apartheid?
“A House Divided” – A land-use dispute in the 1920s pits two factions of the Bafokeng people against one another – the hereditary chief with inconsistent decisions and his councillors who see their tribe’s bankruptcy ahead. Both sides appeal to different departments of the colonial South African government. Will unwritten tribal laws prevail and send dissenters into exile from their homelands?
“Here I Cross to the Other Side” – Tuma leaves Besotho to work in the gold mines during World War II, toiling far underground, with an angry white bossman, too little food, not enough safety precautions. Enduring the same brutal conditions for 20 years led to his father’s early death during Tuma’s first contract time. Why are white mineworkers protected by a union, while Black workers are paid less and forbidden to talk about organizing? Strike!
This stunning graphic novel combines deep research with the visual works of South African artists Liz Clarke, Dada Khanyisa, Mark Modimola, Saaid Rahbeeni, The Trantraal Brothers, and Tumi Mamabola. Each chapter is followed by intriguing historical documents from legal archives and photos of key participants in each case.
Where do you resist injustice today? **kmm
Book info: All Rise: Resistance and Rebellion in South Africa 1910-1948 – a Graphic History / Richard Conyngham; illustrated by Liz Clarke, Dada Khanyisa, Mark Modimola, Saaid Rahbeeni, The Trantraal Brothers, Tumi Mamabola. Published by Catalyst Press, 2021. [author interview] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.
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