Young Readers Fiction

The St. Charles Players present a unique telling of Jules Verne's classic underwater adventure, in a new multi-cast dramatization performed in exciting Radio Theatre style.

Mrs. Z’s class is holding a variety show, and everyone has signed up to demonstrate their special skill! Everyone that is, except Ayana Ndoum. She’s good at reading, but someone’s already reciting a poem out loud. She’s good at synchronized swimming, but they can't get a pool onstage. What could her act be? Before she can figure it out, she has an even bigger problem to deal with: Why is her dad at school?

Twelve-year-old Ellie can’t help that she’s a witch, the most hated member of society. Determined to prove her worth and eschew her heritage, Ellie applies to the Fairy Godmother Academy—her golden ticket to societal acceptance. But Ellie’s dreams are squashed when she receives the dreaded draft letter to serve as a knight of King Arthur’s legendary Round Table. She can get out of the draft—but only if she saves a lost cause.

Addy is haunted by the tragic fire that killed her parents, leaving her to be raised by her grandmother. Now, years later, Addy’s grandmother has enrolled her in a summer wilderness program. There, Addy joins five other Black city kids - each with their own troubles - to spend a summer out West. Deep in the forest, the kids learn new (and to them) strange skills: camping, hiking, rock climbing, and how to start and safely put out campfires. Most important, they learn to depend upon each other for companionship and survival. But then comes a devastating forest fire.

Just down the road from their families, Deo and his friends play soccer in the dusty fields of Zimbabwe, cheered on by Deo's older brother, Innocent. It is a day like any other ..until the soldiers arrive and Deo and Innocent are forced to run for their lives, fleeing the wreckage of their village for the distant promise of safe haven. Along the way, they face the prejudice and poverty that await refugees everywhere, and must rely on the kindness of people they meet to make it through.

The number one sports series for kids takes listeners on the court and behind the scenes with beloved NBA icon Kobe Bryant in this inspiring biography.

Whitney Wallace, our elementary-school-aged heroine, has a pretty active imagination and no problems getting into trouble. Now, you can listen to three of her fun adventures in one amazing volume.

R.E.P.A.I.R. is Recognition, Entry, Process, Awareness, Insight, and Rhythm. Enter a six-stage program with your child to cross the Bridge of Recovery and make available a whole new world of hope. Uncover and acknowledge feelings by discovering emotion; build self-esteem and optimism with the "Magic Mirror"; discern healthy and unhealthy messages; learn self-soothing skills with "Dear Diary" letters to the inner-child; reveal inner states with picture drawing, break free from the confines of false shame; cultivate self-care skills and practices, and more on the road to healing.

Patty Appleton is making history. As one of the Senate’s first female Congressional Pages, she’s not only paving the way for other politically minded girls, she has a front-row seat to debates dividing the nation, especially around women’s rights and roles. The battle between the old ways and the new polarizes the women in Patty’s life, and she finds herself torn between traditional expectations—to be anobedient daughter aspiring to become a perfect wife—and questions new friends like fiercely feminist Simone encourage her to ask. But the questions don’t stop at women’s rights.

Drew is an army brat, a hotshot athlete poised to be his high school’s star pitcher, when he has to move for the sixth time in fifteen years—this time to West Berlin, where American soldiers like his dad hold an outpost of democracy against communist Russia in Hitler’s former capital. Meanwhile, in East Berlin, his cousin Matthias has grown up in the wreckage left by Allied bombing during World War II, on streets ruled by the Communist Party’s secret police.

One of the worst acts of racial violence in American history took place in 1921, when a White mob numbering in the thousands decimated the thriving Black community of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Burning recreates Greenwood at the height of its prosperity, explores the currents of hatred, racism, and mistrust between its Black residents and Tulsa's White population, narrates events leading up to and including Greenwood's devastation, and documents the subsequent silence that surrounded this tragedy.

Are you afraid of monsters? Do you ever shiver when you hear things go bump in the night? Well, as fate would have it, sometimes the scariest things in this world are actually very real...Through six unique, timeless ghost stories, your child will shiver, shake, and positively scream as they experience some real-life horrors that exist right under our very noses. If you think monsters are scary, just wait until you find out what can happen when you make fun of the dead, play games with a Ouija board, or venture down a dark and unfamiliar road.

Among these biographies, listeners will find aviators and artists, politicians and pop stars, athletes and activists. The exceptional men featured include artist Aaron Douglas, civil rights leader John Lewis, dancer Alvin Ailey, filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, musician Prince, photographer Gordon Parks, tennis champion Arthur Ashe, and writer James Baldwin.

Derek Fallon won the lottery and now gets to split over a billion dollars with a friend - the buying possibilities are endless! Let the shopping begin! But Derek is soon challenged with new obstacles that he hadn’t thought of before. Having money to spend should make his life easier, but it’s bringing with it lots of anxiety. It’s up to Derek to find a balance with his newfound wealth, and to consider the best ways to spend his money.

This is the vibrant story of George, Garrett, Rall, and Rasul - four children raised by Nanny, their fiercely devoted grandmother. The boys hold one another close through early brushes with racism, memorable experiences at the family barbershop, and first loves and losses. And with Nanny at their center, they are never broken. George M. Johnson capture the unique experience of growing up as a Black boy in America, and their rich family stories are interspersed with touching letters from the grandchildren to their beloved matriarch.

Harriet Price is the perfect student: smart, dutiful, over-achieving. Will Everhart is a troublemaker who's never met an injustice she didn't fight. When their swim coach's inappropriate behavior is swept under the rug, the unlikely duo reluctantly team up to expose his misdeeds, pulling provocative pranks and creating the instantly legendary Amelia Westlake - an imaginary student who helps right the many wrongs of their privileged institution. As tensions burn throughout their school - who is Amelia Westlake? - and between Harriet and Will, how long can they keep their secret?

Growing up as the child of former sharecroppers in a segregated Baltimore, Elijah Cummings saw firsthand how injustice could run rampant, even in a democracy that promises fairness and equality. But with a strong support system and fiery self-discipline, Elijah utilized the momentum of the civil rights movement to overcome the obstacles of poverty and racism to effect change at a time when our country so badly needed it.

The Scouts are hitting the nature trail to earn their "Camp Out" badge. But not all of the troopers are gung-ho about sleeping beneath the stars. Violet can't bear the thought of leaving her comfy bed behind, while everything about the great outdoors seems to make Junebug sneeze. But when Miss Poppy goes missing, can the Scouts work together to track down their troop leader?

Como la primera mujer de la raza negra y con raíces en Asia Meridional que se convierte en vicepresidenta de los Estados Unidos, así como la segunda mujer negra en la historia elegida al Senado de los Estados Unidos, Kamala Harris está abriendo nuevos caminos en su ruta hacia el escenario nacional. Pero, ¿de qué manera alcanzó sus metas? ¿Qué valores e influencias la guiaron e inspiraron sobre la marcha?

Wyatt Hill is the quiet giant of Mrs. Z’s class—a third-grader who looks like a fifth grader, nearly as tall as Mrs. Z herself. Because of his size, everyone expects him to play sports or be a tough guy, but that isn’t Wyatt’s way. He adores his stuffed lizard, Lizzie, and the lively conversations they share. He notices who’s having a bad day in class and wonders why boys don’t get to play hopscotch, which looks like a very fun game. And he is starting to put words down on paper in a way that might finally express all his thoughts about the world, which are so hard to say out loud.