What secrets should remain hidden? Read with your ears to find out!

It’s already our final week of free audiobooks from SYNC for summer 2018!

Download by clicking the link after either title (or both!), save to your device, then listen whenever you like.

If you missed any of the free downloads, check for those titles at your local library through WorldCat (https://www.worldcat.org/).

Big thanks to the audiobook publishers who allow us to download their professionally produced works during this great program every summer!

Monstrous Beauty (download here free 19-25 July 2018)
by Elizabeth Fama
Read by Katherine Kellgren
Published by Macmillan Audio

Perhaps knowing more about the ancestress reputed to be a mermaid will help 17-year-old Hester figure out why love has equaled death for women in their family for generations…

The Lost World (download here free 19-25 July 2018)
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Read by Glen McCready
Published by Naxos Audiobooks

Dinosaurs in South America? Of course intrepid British scientists in the early 20th century will journey there, facing many perils along the way! A late-career story by the author famed for his Sherlock Holmes books.

What were your favorite AudioSYNC audiobooks this summer?
**kmm

Tales of outcasts, then and now – audiobooks with shivers!

Jul12

This year’s program of free audiobooks from SYNC is nearly over, so grab these eerie tales before Wednesday (19 July 2018), so you can listen to them any time on your computer or electronic device.

Click the link for either or both of these professionally recorded audiobooks, download for free, then read with your ears using the free Audible app.

How to Hang a Witch (download here free from 12-19 July 2018)
by Adriana Mather
Read by Adriana Mather
Published by Listening Library

A teen descendant of witch-persecutor Cotton Mather moves to Salem and is taunted by girls who are Descendants of those witches and haunted by a centuries’ old ghost – a curse? or worse?

The Scarlet Letter (download here free from 12-19 from July 2018)
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Read by Donada Peters
Published by Listening Library

The classic tale of personal strength in the face of societal expectations – Hester Prynne won’t name the father of her child and must wear the A of adultery in 1642 Boston.

Other Massachusetts-based stories to recommend?
**kmm

Witches, curses, tragedy dark and deep – to read with your ears!

Jun28

Dark tales for stormy summer nights in these two free audiobooks from SYNC!

Or listen to these tragic stories in bright sunlit days later by downloading either or both now and saving them on your computer or electronic device.

Macbeth (download here free from 28 June- 4 July 2018)

by William Shakespeare

Read by Josh Cooke, JD Cullum, Dan Donohue, Jeannie Elias, Chuma Gault, James Marsters, Jon Matthews, Alan Shearman, André Sogliuzzo, Kate Steele, Kristoffer Tabori, Joanne Whalley

Published by L.A. Theatre Works

“The Scottish play” of three witches, murder, and dark tragedy – recorded by full professional cast with live audience.

The Curse of Crow Hollow (download here free from 28 June- 4 July 2018)
by Billy Coffey
Read by Gabe Wicks
Published by Thomas Nelson

When four teens encounter an old woman who laid a curse when her husband died, a sickness begins striking folks in Crow Hollow – Appalachian witchcraft or worse?

Have you read either of these spooky titles before?
**kmm

Tales of despair & hope – listen up!

Jun14

So many stories of enslavement and escape – here are two to read with your ears!

Thank you to the publishers of these audiobooks for making them freely available each week through http://www.audiobooksync.com/.

Download either or both titles by clicking on the link from Thursday through Wednesday (14-20 June 2018), then listen to them whenever you want.

CD cover of My Name is Not Friday, by Jon Walter | Read by Dion Graham Published by Scholastic Audio | recommended on BooksYALove.com My Name Is Not Friday (download here free 14-20 June 2018)
by Jon Walter
Read by Dion Graham
Published by Scholastic Audio

During the Civil War, young free-man Samuel stands up for his brother and is sold from their Northern orphanage into Southern slavery where he vows to remember his own name and regain his freedom.

Come August, Come Freedom: the Bellows, the Gallows, and the Black General Gabriel (download here free 14-20 June 2018)
by Gigi Amateau
Read by J.D. Jackson
Published by Candlewick on Brilliance Publishing

Born into slavery, talented blacksmith Gabriel is inspired by Haitian revolutionaries to organize enslaved people of Virginia to rebel in 1800 – a little-known true story.

This Juneteenth, what other historical stories of rebellion and freedom should we be hearing?
**kmm

Listen, listen to maker-stories – free this week!

May24

This week’s free audiobooks from SYNC include stories about young women creating something personal and important.

Download these complete audiobooks from Thursday through Wednesday 24-30 May, so you can listen to them using a free Audible app, as long as they’re on your computer or electronic device.

Click on the link for either or both books to start the simple download process.

When Dimple Met Rishi (download here free from May 24-30, 2018)
by Sandhya Menon
Read by Sneha Mathan, Vikas Adam
Published by Dreamscape Media

Dimple wants to win the app development contest, Mom wants to arrange the ideal Indian marriage, and Rishi wants Dimple to agree with their parents that he is the one for her! Was a summer after graduation ever so complicated? (I recommended this fun book last May at https://booksyalove.com/?p=8797)

Baker’s Magic (download here free from May 24-30, 2018)
by Diane Zahler
Read by Tavia Gilbert, Michael Crouch, Stephen DeRosa, Kenneth Cavett, L.J. Ganser, Robin Miles, Stina Nielsen, Elisabeth Rodgers
Published by Live Oak Media

Bee discovers that her baking reflects her moods, a rare gift that takes the 12 year old orphan from small village to castle to pirate ship as she helps a new (and royal) friend escape an evil mage.

What stories about creating and making would you recommend?
**kmm

Violence and truth – books to read with your ears!

May10

This week’s free audiobooks from SYNC bring us 9-year-olds faced with violence and hard choices, on opposite sides of the world.

Download either or both titles by Wednesday (5/16/18), then listen to your selection any time you like, using the free Overdrive app.

Bookmark the SYNC site now so you can download great audiobooks all summer long: http://www.audiobooksync.com/

CD cover of Johnny Get Your Gun, by John Ball | Read by Dion Graham Published by Brilliance Publishing | recommended on BooksYALove.com Johnny, Get Your Gun (free download 5/10-16/18)
by John Ball
Read by Dion Graham
Published by Brilliance Publishing

Fight the school bully? A 9 year old boy with a gun sparks violence in his impoverished LA neighborhood as racial tensions flare during the 1960s.

On Two Feet and Wings (free download 5/10-16/18) CD cover of On Two Feet and Wings, by Abbas Kazerooni | Read by Abbas Kazerooni Published by Brilliance Publishing | recommended on BooksYALove.com
by Abbas Kazerooni
Read by Abbas Kazerooni
Published by Brilliance Publishing

Abbas can become a soldier at age 9 in the Iran-Iraq War or escape to Turkey without money, family, or friends! Autobiography narrated by the author.

Other stories of young kids prevailing in terrible times?
**kmm

W for Wow! It’s AudioSync time again = free audiobooks all summer long.

Apr26

Free audiobooks!
Two new titles every week!
All summer long – starting today!

We’re getting a week’s headstart on summer reading for your ears, as AudioSync opens its free audiobook download season now.

Click on each CD title to reach the download site for this week’s free audiobooks from SYNC so you can read with your ears!

You only need to input your name and email address to download these complete audiobooks, then you can listen to them as long as they’re saved on your computer or electronic device.

I’ll remind you each Thursday of the new weekly selections so you can get them before their free status expires on Wednesday.

CD cover of The Great War: Stories Inspired by Items From the First World War. by David Almond, John Boyne, Tracy Chevalier, Ursula Dubosarsky, Timothée de Fombelle | Read by Nico Evers-Swindell, JD Jackson, Gerard Doyle, Richard Halverson, Sarah Coomes, Nick Podehl Published by Candlewick on Brilliance Publishing | recommended on BooksYALove.com The Great War: Stories Inspired by Items From the First World War

by David Almond, John Boyne, Tracy Chevalier, Ursula Dubosarsky, Timothée de Fombelle
Read by Nico Evers-Swindell, JD Jackson, Gerard Doyle, Richard Halverson, Sarah Coomes, Nick Podehl
Published by Candlewick on Brilliance Publishing

Original short stories based on common things used by soldiers and civilians in World War I, narrated in Scots, British, Australian, African-American, French, and Irish accents.

A Study in Charlotte

by Brittany Cavallaro
Read by Graham Halstead, Julia Whelan
Published by HarperAudio

The great-great-great-grandkids of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson must work together to solve the murder of a boarding school classmate – before they are considered the prime suspects! (first in a trilogy)

What other novels of conflict would you recommend?
**kmm

S is elegant Sinclair’s, site of Mystery of the Jeweled Moth, by Katherine Woodfine (book review)

Apr21

Jewel thief on the loose,
Gangs terrorizing 1909 London’s Chinatown,
A young woman’s body in the river!
Has crime boss the Baron returned?

At Sinclair’s department store, Sophie sells ladies’ hats, Lil models elegant dresses, and both young women keep their eyes open for strange events, like the disappearance of a valuable moth-shaped brooch during an engagement party.

Time for disguises and etiquette review as they drop in on debutantes, check over clues with buddies Billy and Joe, and research the Moonbeam Diamond’s curse!

My no-spoiler recommendation of book 1, Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow, introduces Sophie and Lil as Sinclair’s Department Store opens amid rumor and mystery. Watch for book 3, Mystery of the Painted Dragon.

What disguise would you choose when sleuthing about?
**kmm

Book info: The Mystery of the Painted Dragon (Sinclair’s Mysteries, book 2) / Katherine Woodfine. Kane Miller Publishing, 2017. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

O = Outside In with self-taught sculptor, hidden treasures, by Jennifer Bradbury (book review)

Apr17

Secret sculpture garden
filled with Ramayana stories,
art threatened by destruction!

Ram lives by his wits and quick feet, as many orphans do in cities and towns of India.

Discovering an immense garden of sculptures hidden in the forest leads him to work and food and thrilling tales from the Ramayana.

But will his repeated journeys into another sector of the city lead the authorities to this art paradise on ‘unused land’?

This fictionalized account of the amazing Rock Garden created from cast-off materials by self-taught artist Nek Chand over 20 years was inspired by the author’s time in Chandigarh, India.

What’s your favorite “people’s art” installation?
**kmm

Book info: Outside In / Jennifer Bradbury. Caitlyn Dlouhy Books/Atheneum BFYR, 2017. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

B for Jerry Borrowman, author of Compassionate Soldier (book review)

Apr2

B is for battles fought honorably,
for being merciful to wounded enemies,
for being human in wartime.

Borrowman’s research reveals the true stories of men and women who saw past the label of “enemy” to behave with honor during the American Revolution, Civil War, World War I and onward to Vietnam and Iraq.

A British rifle inventor refuses to shoot George Washington in the back during the Revolutionary War.

Rudi, an ordinary German boy who defied Hitler’s SS recruiters, was saved by a Nazi prison guard.

The best non-fiction reads like a novel, not a fact list – check out Compassionate Soldier at your local library or independent bookstore.

What other true stories of compassion to enemies do you know?
**kmm

Book info: Compassionate Soldier: Remarkable True Stories of Mercy, Heroism, and Honor From the Battlefield / Jerry Borrowman. Shadow Mountain Publishing, 2017. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

BooksYALove

Recommending young adult books beyond bestsellers

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What secrets should remain hidden? Read with your ears to find out!

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Tales of outcasts, then and now – audiobooks with shivers!

Like this:

Witches, curses, tragedy dark and deep – to read with your ears!

Like this:

Tales of despair & hope – listen up!

Like this:

Listen, listen to maker-stories – free this week!

Like this:

Violence and truth – books to read with your ears!

Like this:

W for Wow! It’s AudioSync time again = free audiobooks all summer long.

Like this:

S is elegant Sinclair’s, site of Mystery of the Jeweled Moth, by Katherine Woodfine (book review)

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O = Outside In with self-taught sculptor, hidden treasures, by Jennifer Bradbury (book review)

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B for Jerry Borrowman, author of Compassionate Soldier (book review)

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