Tag Archive | villains

Audiobooks with true soul & saddened hearts

Jun15

Time to download this week’s soulful audiobooks from SYNC so you can read with your ears – at no cost!

Remember that although these complete audiobooks are only available from Thursday through Wednesday (June 15-21, 2017), you have free use of them as long as you keep them on your computer or electronic device

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

CD cover of The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois| Read by Rodney Gardiner Published by Dreamscape Media | recommended on BooksYALove.comThe Souls of Black Folk (download here free from 15-21 June)
by W.E.B. Du Bois
Read by Rodney Gardiner
Published by Dreamscape Media

Following the Civil War and Emancipation, African-Americans were systematically denied their rights, as Du Bois chronicled in this 1903 work which rings true today, as progress has been uneven, at best.
 
The Red Umbrella (download here free from 15-21 June) CD cover of The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez | Read by Kyla Garcia Published by Ideal Audiobooks | recommended on BooksYALove.com
by Christina Diaz Gonzalez
Read by Kyla Garcia
Published by Ideal Audiobooks<

Abruptly moved to prairieland Nebraska from tropical Cuba when Castro’s control grows tighter in 1963, teen Lucia must cope with new language and new worries – will she and her little brother ever see their parents again?

Displacement, change, and loss – can you relate?
**kmm

Why so candid? Because You’ll Never Meet Me, by Leah Thomas (book review)

Jun10

book cover of Because You'll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas published by Bloomsbury Teen | recommended on BooksYALove.comElectricity flares in rainbow colors – and will kill Ollie.
Moritz has no eyes, yet is not blind.
And a doctor suggests that they correspond…hmmm

Find this penpal story like no other in hardcover or paperback at your local library or favorite independent bookstore. And there’s a sequel!
**kmm

Book info: Because You’ll Never Meet Me / Leah Thomas. Bloomsbury USA Childrens, hardcover 2015, paperback 2017.   [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: One is allergic to electricity, the other is kept alive by a pacemaker – two very different teen boys become more than brothers or best friends through postal mail, uncovering a secret past that endangers them both.

Ollie must stay in a forest cabin, far from any US city because the tiniest bit of electricity sends him into life-threatening seizures, and says that being 14 and alone is extremely boring.

Moritz, seeing with his ears only, lives with his adoptive father in a busy German city, has a pacemaker for his fluttering heart, and at 16 is beyond bored with his schoolmates.

A doctor sets them up as penpals, so the guys begin telling one another their life stories through trans-Atlantic letters.

Their childhoods were quite strange, with parents gone missing and medical lab mishaps, and real-life friendships today are very difficult. Ollie misses Liz, who’s given up hiking in their woods for the normalcy of high school. Moritz finds a tenuous connection with Owen and his sister Fieke as bullies target all three of them.

These letters exchanged by Ollie and Moritz start encouraging each other to dare to live a little, even if it’s dangerous – as dangerous as the secret past that their shared memories begin to reveal.

Followed by Nowhere Near You.

On the run – stories to read with your ears

Jun8

On the run! From the authorities? From the truth? From themselves?

This week’s free audiobooks from SYNC are set in today’s stresses and someday-tomorrow’s conspiracies

Their free download week begins Thursday through Wednesday,  so click on the link following each CD’s title now. Of course, you have free use of them as long as you keep them on your computer or electronic device.

Two great audiobooks weekly through August at  http://www.audiobooksync.com/

CD cover of If I Run by Terri Blackstock | Read by Nan Gurley Published by Zondervan | recommended on BooksYALove.comIf I Run (free download here June 15-21)
by Terri Blackstock
Read by Nan Gurley
Published by Zondervan
 
Her DNA is all over the crime scene, but Casey had no reason to murder her boyfriend. The detective isn’t sure if she’s psychotic or heroic, but she’s consuming all his thoughts and if he can’t find her before the police do…

Plus One (free download here June 15-21, 2017) CD cover of Plus One by Elizabeth Fama | Read by Julia Whelan Published by Elizabeth Fama | recommended on BooksYALove.com
by Elizabeth Fama
Read by Julia Whelan
Published by Elizabeth Fama

Smudges work at night, Rays work by day in this America – no mixing, ever. Until Sol decides the new baby on the Ray side of her family must visit their dying Smudge grandfather – kidnap, fugitive, conspiracy uncovered – what a time for a Ray and a Smudge to fall in love!

Ready to share their secrets? Ready to flee?
**kmm

Beastly fiction – to read with your ears!

Jun1

Time to download this week’s exciting beastly free audiobooks from SYNC so you can read with your ears!

From Thursday morning (June 1) through Wednesday night (June 7), you can click on the link for each title, download the free professionally produced audiobook onto your electronic device, and listen to it whenever you wish – it’s yours to keep, as long as the downloaded file is kept on that device!

Thanks to the audiobook publishers for giving us these free reads all summer long: http://www.audiobooksync.com/

CD cover of Beast by Donna Jo Napoli | Read by Robert Ramirez Published by Recorded Books | recommended on BooksYALove.comBeast  (free download here June 1-7, 2017)
by Donna Jo Napoli
Read by Robert Ramirez
Published by Recorded Books

Transformed into a lion to be hunted by his father, Orasmyn flees Persia for Europe, where encountering a young woman named Belle may change him yet again.

 

Of Beast and Beauty  (free download here June 1-7, 2017) CD cover of Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay | Read by Julia Whelan Published by Tantor Media | recommended on BooksYALove.com
by Stacey Jay
Read by Julia Whelan
Published by Tantor Media

As princess, she will be a sacrifice for her city. As beast, he must risk death to save his people. Imprisoned by destiny and a prisoner through daring – can they change the future of their world, together?

What other retellings of classic fairy tales and legends can you recommend?
**kmm

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End of our world with The Strange Round Bird? by Eden Unger Bowditch (book review)

May30

book cover of Strange Round Bird by Eden Unger Bowditch published by Bancroft | recommended on BooksYALove.comKidnapping? Already happened.
Puzzles with world-shaking answers? Did some.
Partnered with parents to save humanity? Ohhh…

Hopefully, you’ve met Noah, Wallace, Faye, Jasper, and Lucy as they investigated The Atomic Weight of Secrets (my no-spoiler review here) in early 1900s America and then traveled to Italy with them (and the mysterious men in black) to study The Ravens of Solemano (reviewed here) in the further adventures of the Young Inventors Guild.

Happy book birthday this month to The Strange Round Bird!, the conclusion of this exciting trilogy as our five amazing young people are promised a reunion with their talented parents in Egypt… but the evil Komar Romak has followed them again!

Where do you dream that adventure will take you in this world?
**kmm

Book info: The Strange Round Bird, or the Poet, the King, and the Mysterious Men in Black (Young Inventors Guild, book 3) / Eden Unger Bowditch. Bancroft Press, 2017.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book Facebook page] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Arriving in Egypt means reuniting with their beloved parents, but evil forces are intent on preventing the Young Inventors Guild from joining them to solve a mystery which will save humanity from destruction!

An ancient manuscript holds clues about the “strange round bird” – is it the same bird from their childhood song?

Even more mysterious men in black are here in the Cairo castle with the five children and their parents – what is their true purpose?

Noah’s mother is kidnapped from the opera stage – can he rescue her without endangering their mission?

Racing through the marketplaces of Cairo, delving into mysterious secrets, seeking answers without waiting to be ‘old enough to help’ – this thrilling conclusion of The Young Inventors Guild series must overcome the ultimate evil to save the world.

Being different… is dangerous! Audiobook adventures

May25

Difference is the theme for this week’s free audiobooks from SYNC to read with your ears!

Keep these professionally produced audiobooks on your computer, tablet, or phone for listening at any time. However, you must download them between Thursday through Wednesday, as shown in the link after each title below.

Great audiobooks all summer long at SYNC: http://www.audiobooksync.com/

CD cover of Freakling by Lana Krumwiede | Read by Nick Podehl Published by Brilliance Audio | recommended on BooksYALove.comFreakling (download here May 25-31)
by Lana Krumwiede
Read by Nick Podehl
Published by Brilliance Audio

If anyone discovers Taemon’s lack of psi ability or his secret talent, he’ll be exiled – and his own brother is eager to betray him in this debut dystopian novel.

 

Boy (download here May 25-31)CD cover of Boy by Anna Ziegler | Read by Sarah Drew, John Getz, Travis Johns, Amy Pietz, Bobby Steggert Published by L.A. Theatre Works | recommended on BooksYALove.com
by Anna Ziegler
Read by Sarah Drew, John Getz, Travis Johns, Amy Pietz, Bobby Steggert
Published by L.A. Theatre Works

Raised as a girl following an accident as a baby, this Boy must decide how to live as a young person and as an adult.

How can different be safe?
**kmm

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Risking it all to earn a Full Ride scholarship, by Margaret Haddix (book review)

May22

book cover of Full Ride by Margaret Peterson Haddix published by Simon Schuster BFYR | recommended on BooksYALove.comHiding out in a new town,
new name, old worries,
if anyone ever finds out about Daddy…

After her dad is imprisoned for computer fraud, his lawyer helps Becca and her mom forge new identities in a faraway town. But it’s going to be so hard for the teen to keep their secret when her future after high school depends on her academic past.

You can find this suspenseful book about decisions and risks at your local library or independent bookstore in hardcover or paperback.

How far should innocent family members suffer for a criminal’s actions?
**kmm

Book info: Full Ride / Margaret Peterson Haddix. Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2013 (hardcover), 2014 (paperback).  [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: The certainty of college for Becca starts slipping away the moment her father is convicted of computer crimes, just before she starts high school. Racing far away from his Atlanta prison (ten years!?), she and Mom take their new identities (courtesy of Daddy’s lawyer) to an Ohio suburb and lay low.

Three staying-unremarkable years later, it’s time for SATs and college choices, and Becca decides to visit her dream school Vanderbilt (Daddy’s favorite) as her friends tour Southern universities.

How can she pay for any college without completing financial aid forms?
Could she win the Court Scholarship – a full ride?
But what if it’s one of Daddy’s scams that kept money in hiding?

Who to trust, how to live so that no one connects them with Daddy’s nationally reported crimes, how to think about a future past high school – Becca and Mom think they have it under control, but…

Spirited away! Audiobooks that shock & scare

May18

Eerie and scary, shockingly true! If you dare, read this week’s free audiobooks from SYNC with your ears!

The free download time for these complete audiobooks runs from Thursday 5/18/17 through Wednesday evening of 5/24/17. Keep them on your computer or electronic device, so you can listen to them any time you wish.

Thank you to the companies that provide these great audiobooks for us to download – two interestingly paired titles per week – all summer long: http://www.audiobooksync.com/.

CD cover of The Gathering (Shadow House, book 1) by Dan Poblocki | Read by Dan Bittner Published by Scholastic Audiobooks | recommended on BooksYALove.comThe Gathering (Shadow House, Book 1) – download free through 24 May 2017
by Dan Poblocki
Read by Dan Bittner
Published by Scholastic Audiobooks

Five children trapped in malevolent Larkspur House -why were they brought to this terrifying place? can they find the clues and escape? are they alone?

 
In Our Backyard: Human Trafficking in America and What We Can Do to Stop It – download free through 24 May 2017CD cover of In Our Backyard: Human Trafficking in American and What We Can Do To Stop It by Nita Belles | Read by Nicol Zanzarella Published by Oasis Audio | recommended on BooksYALove.com
by Nita Belles
Read by Nicol Zanzarella
Published by Oasis Audio

Expert advice on recognizing and preventing human trafficking, which affects people of all ages and backgrounds.

What other tales of being stolen away – fictional or true – do you recommend?
**kmm

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Z is for Zlatka, making Paper Hearts secretly in Auschwitz (book review) by Meg Wiviott

Apr30

book cover of Paper Hearts by Meg Wiviott published by Margaret K. McElderry Books | recommended on BooksYALove.comForbidden in Auschwitz:
humanity, relationships, possessions,
and yet…

Her life forfeit if discovered, Zlatka rises above despair in the death camp by celebrating another year of friend Fania’s life with a paper origami heart, crafted in secret.

See the actual paper heart today in the Montreal Holocaust Museum – how fragile things like paper and hope can survive such hate…

As National Poetry Month closes, this novel in verse based on a true story of friendships opens our hearts.
**kmm

Book info: Paper Hearts / Meg Wiviott. Margaret K. McElderry Books, hardcover 2015, paperback 2016.  [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Pulled from their Jewish families in different Polish hometowns to this terrible place, this death camp, young women Zlatka and Fania find hidden ways to bolster their spirits as they try to stay alive.

The guards turn girl against girl, and girls try anything to get another ration of moldy bread. Forced to work as slaves in a German metal factory making bomb casings instead of bowls, Zlatka and Fania and a few others do their best to be human to one another.

Watching the seasons pass, praying to Adonai in whispers no one can hear. As winter comes near, Zlatka decides to make a card for Fania, because a birthday – or any day – is a gift too precious to ignore.

Can the young women barter enough bread to get a piece of paper or pencil stub?
Can they keep this secret from Fania and the guards?
Will they live or die or keep existing in between?

Zlatka and Fania each tell their story through chapters of poems, enduring and persevering because friendship can make its own family in the midst of horror and despair. Based on actual people and events at Auschwitz Concentration and Extermination Camp during World War II, this novel in verse celebrates the best and the worst of humanity.

X for X-factor kids, the Randoms on space station, by David Liss (book review)

Apr28

book cover of Randoms by David Liss published by Simon Schuster | recommended on BooksYALove.comChosen for intelligence,
leadership,
and weirdness…

Of course, an intensive school on space station requires the best and brightest students from every known civilization – so why is sci-fi nerd Zeke the fourth kid on Earth’s team?

Because our popular sci-fi movies and television shows were preparing us for the actual alien tech that’s out there!

Look for Randoms in hardcover or paperback at your local library or independent bookstore now before grabbing book 2, Rebels. Book 3, Renegades, hits the shelves in September 2017.

What does your favorite sci-fi teach us about life and friendship?
**kmm

Book info: Randoms (Randoms, book 1) / David Liss. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, hardcover 2015; paperback 2016. [author site]  [publisher site]  [author video] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Recruited by the President for school on a space station, sixth grade gamer and average kid Zeke didn’t expect to be shunned by his fellow Earth students (all incredibly brilliant), visit other planets (picking up more teams for the competition), or discover that his favorite sci-fi shows were based on real alien technologies!

Then the attacks begin!

Earth’s future in the Confederation is at stake, so why was Zeke chosen?
How can he help his team succeed when they want him to stay away?
Can he level up enough that the US government will keep their promise to cure Mom?

Filled with quotes and references to all the science fiction movies, TV shows, games, and books that we love (or hate), Randoms is a rip-roaring ride into interspecies and intergalactic interactions. First in the trilogy, followed by Rebels (book 2) and Renegades (book 3).