American Child

Children of the Seminole Nation would listen to stories such as this to learn about the Florida Everglades where they lived. In this story, you’ll learn about the beginning of life in the Florida Everglades.

What would you find in a time capsule of the Jamestown Colony? Perhaps a portrait of John Smith, glass beads, or skeletal remains? Listeners examine artifacts like these as they explore the history of the first permanent English settlement in North America in this Time Capsule History book.

With little more than a run-down Jeep and their newborn baby in tow, author Micah Perks' parents set out in 1963 to build a school and a utopian community in the mountains. The school would become known as a place to send teens with drug addictions and emotional problems, children with whom Micah and her sister would grow up. This complex memoir mixes a moving celebration of the utopian spirit and its desire for community and freedom with a lacerating critique of the consequences of those desires - especially for the children involved.

In Cuba, it is believed that a mysterious water serpent - the Madre de aguas - is responsible for providing and protecting the fresh water of the island. But the serpent is missing, and a drought has gripped the island. Uchenna, Elliot, and Professor Fauna fly to Cuba and endeavor to rescue the Madre de aguas. Unfortunately, it tries to kill them. Meanwhile, the Schmoke Brothers' goons are driving around Havana, dumping pink sludge into the sewers. What is going on? Can Elliot and Uchenna end the drought?

Joan of Arc was born in a small French village during the worst period of the Hundred Years' War. For generations, France had been besieged by the British. At age 11, Joan began to see religious visions telling her to join forces with the King of France. By the time she was a teenager, she was leading troops into battle in the name of her country. Though she was captured and executed for her beliefs, Joan of Arc became a Catholic saint and has since captured the world's imagination.

Isabel and Nicki Hoffman may be twins, but they're each one of a kind. Isabel loves dancing with her friends, while Nicki prefers skateboarding alone. In December 1999, the girls create a list of challenges to complete before midnight on New Year's Eve. But just before the new millennium arrives, disaster strikes. Will the most momentous night of their lives be a twin win or a sister setback?

After conquering the mountains in Afghanistan, Peak Marcello goes to Myanmar, a country that has been in the grips of a brutal military regime for more than fifty years, to visit Alessia. When he’s invited to climb Hkakabo Razi, one of the most isolated mountains in the world, Peak can’t pass up the opportunity. But getting to the mountain will involve a four-week trek through tropical rainforests rife with hazards—from venomous reptiles and leeches to corrupt police and military.

Twelve-year-old Ann Maria Weems works from sunup to sundown, wraps rags around her feet in the winter, and must do whatever her master or mistress orders—but she has something that many plantation slaves don't have. She has her wonderful family around her. To Ann, her teasing brothers, her older sister, and her protective and loving parents are everything. And then one day, they are gone. Separated from her family by her master and shipped off as a housemaid, Ann learns something about independence and about love before the opportunity for escape arrives.

When the barnyard animals are invited to a party by their neighbors, they dress in their Sunday best and set off for a day of merriment. But when dinnertime arrives, the famished animals are perplexed to find a simple meal of cornbread. Most of them are polite, but Rooster turns his beak up in disgust and rudely leaves the party, missing the treasures hidden for the guests.

Award-winning author Joyce Hansen gives voice to 13 amazing African American women who have overcome adversity to make their mark in history. Each of these women will capture your heart and mind as you listen to their inspiring life stories. Hear about the life of acclaimed actress Ruby Dee and 1983 Pulitzer Prize winner Alice Walker. Meet the first African American woman to travel into space and the first African American resident neurosurgeon. These fascinating women remind us that with determination, we can overcome any obstacle.

Flight is the hilarious and tragic story of an orphaned Indian boy - "Zits" - who travels back and forth through time in a charged search for his true identity. With powerful, swift prose, Flight follows the troubled teenager as he learns that violence is not the answer.

Even as a child, Martin Luther King, Jr. was shocked by the terrible and unfair way African-American people were treated. When he grew up, he decided to do something about it - peacefully, with powerful words. He helped gather people together for nonviolent protests and marches, and he always spoke up about loving other human beings and doing what’s right. He spoke about the dream of a kinder future, and bravely led the way toward racial equality in America.

At 17, Karen Chen has already achieved what some girls can only dream of - and it's only the beginning for her. The daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, she began figure skating at five. Ten years and many grueling training sessions later, she won a bronze medal at the 2015 US Championships after sustaining a nearly career-ending ankle fracture a year earlier. In 2017, she became the US National Champion, winning gold twice and receiving the highest score ever recorded for the short program at the US National level.

When Ruby Bridges was just six years old, she became the first African American student to integrate an elementary school in the South. Based on the pivotal events that happened in 1960 and told from her own point of view for the first time, in a poetic reflection on her experience that changed the face of history and the trajectory of the civil rights movement. I Am Ruby Bridges offers hope and confidence to all children and is a perfect learning tool for schools and libraries to teach the story of Ruby Bridges as never before.

A two-time Newbery Honor Book author, Jim Murphy is among the world’s finest writers of nonfiction for children. In A Savage Thunder he takes listeners back to the American Civil War to tell the terrible yet extraordinary story of the Battle of Antietam. With the entire world watching, two armies met in Maryland in 1862. The Union needed a victory. The Confederacy hoped to continue its success. When the smoke cleared, 23,000 men were dead or wounded—and the momentum had shifted to the Union.

A book that instantly captured the hearts of readers across the country, An American Childhood is Pulitzer Prize-winning author Annie Dillard’s poignant, vivid memoir of growing up in Pittsburgh in the 1950s.

W.C. Jameson tells the secrets of lost army payrolls and smuggled gold scattered about the countryside, nearly forgotten but awaiting discovery. Jameson, a folklorist, musician, and environmentalist, has been on close to two hundred expeditions for lost stashes of gold, silver, or other treasures.

The haunting of the Bell family at their home in Tennessee started out harmless enough with knocking and scratching noises. But soon, members of the family were scratched, kicked, and slapped by a spirit who identifies herself as a witch named Kate Batts. Centuries later, this legendary ghost story continues to haunt all who hear it.

One of the most well-known constellations in the night sky, the Big Dipper, traces its origins to a Native American legend. Many animals attempted to break through Sky in order to spread light and warmth onto the Earth. Only one of them, a Great Bear—also known as Ursa Major—succeeds. How does Great Spirit reward him?

The First People had only four lights to illuminate the world. The First People asked First Man and First Woman to give them more daylight. In this traditional Navajo story, learn how First Man and First Woman created the sun, moon, and stars to give light to the First People.