Young Readers

The two most important things to know about Pluto Timoney: (1) she’s always loved outer space (obviously); and (2) her favorite season is summer, the time to go to the boardwalk, visit the planetarium, and work in her mom’s pizzeria. This summer, when Pluto’s turning thirteen, is different. Pluto has just been diagnosed with depression, and she feels like a black hole is sitting on her chest, making it hard to do anything. When Pluto’s dad threatens to make her move to the city, Pluto comes up with a plan to do whatever it takes to be her old self again.

When Henry’s father goes missing in the forest on her tenth birthday, her entire world shatters. The last thing she expects is for him to emerge from the trees exactly one year later, unharmed and bearing a gift for her—a strange necklace. Everyone says her father’s reappearance is a miracle, but Henry wants real answers to her questions. Where did her father go? How did he get back? And what’s the truth behind his gift?

Head-spinning, Taylor-Swift-song-level feelings. Their instant connection seems implausible, even impossible, as they start to realize all they have in common. Both are grieving, living in worlds haunted by ghosts; both have a parent who's out of sight, not out of mind; and both were forced to give up their Olympic dreams. Connected by experiences only they understand, Hattie and Presley fall into a whirlwind romance—flirting at their workplace, sleeping side by side beneath the stars, ice skating to a playlist all their own.

Heavy is the crown James has been born to wear, especially as the first Black heir to the British throne. But with his father’s recent passing, and with a new boyfriend to hide, James is woefully unprepared for the sudden shine of public scrutiny. When his secrets come spilling forth across tabloid pages and the man he thought he loved has suddenly disappeared, James finds himself on the precipice of ruin. As every detail of his life becomes public knowledge, his sense of safety is shattered and the people he trusts the most become the likeliest suspects.

Harriet Douglass lives with her historian father on an old plantation in Louisiana, which they’ve transformed into one of the South's few enslaved people’s museums. Together, while grieving the recent loss of Harriet’s mother, they run tours that help keep the memory of the past alive. Harriet's world is turned upside down by the arrival of mother and daughter Claudia and Layla Hartwell—who plan to turn the property next door into a wedding venue, and host the offensively antebellum-themed wedding of two Hollywood stars.

La historia de Estados Unidos es un relato de hombres y mujeres cuya influencia ha sido desproporcionada en la formación del país. Son personas con grandes sueños que, incluso frente a adversidades insuperables, lograron generar cambios cuyos efectos aún resonan en nuestros días. Abraham Lincoln, por ejemplo, redefinió el futuro de una nación con su liderazgo durante la Guerra Civil, mientras que Clara Barton fundó la Cruz Roja Americana, revolucionando la atención en emergencias. Ambos son ejemplos de cómo la determinación y la valentía pueden moldear la historia.

It's summer before eighth grade, and Erica "Chia" Montenegro is feeling so many things that she needs a mood ring to keep track of her emotions. She's happy when she hangs out with her best friends, the Robins. She's jealous that her genius little sister skipped two grades. And she's passionate about the crushes on her Boyfriend Wish list. And when Erica's mom is diagnosed with breast cancer, she feels worried and doesn't know what she can do to help.

Christine has always felt she is just half: Half American, half Japanese. As a biracial Japanese American who was born in Tokyo but raised in the US, she knows all too well what it’s like to be a part of two different worlds but never feeling as though you belong to either. Now on the brink of adulthood, Christine decides it’s time to return to the place she once called home. So she sets forth on a year abroad in Tokyo, believing that this is where she truly belongs. After years of feeling like an outsider, she will finally be complete. Except Tokyo isn’t the answer she thought it would be.

When Cat overhears a conversation about a diamond hidden somewhere in the theatre, she's determined to find the treasure. Ably assisted by Pedro, a musician in the company orchestra, she is thrust into a world of drama and intrigue, where she encounters Covent Garden street gangs, boxing matches, theatre riots and spectacular stage productions. En route, she learns a lot about who she is, and who her real friends are.

Before she became a warrior, Ida B. Wells was an incomparable flirt with a quick wit and a dream of becoming a renowned writer. The first child of newly freed parents who thrived in a community that pulsated with hope and possibility after the Civil War, Ida had a big heart, big ambitions, and even bigger questions: How to be a good big sister when her beloved parents perish in a yellow fever epidemic?

Welles Crowther did not see himself as hero. He was just an ordinary kid who played sports, volunteered at his local fire department, and eventually headed off to college and then Wall Street to start a career. Throughout it all, he always kept a red bandanna in his pocket, a gift from his father. On September 11, 2001, Welles was working on the 104th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center when the Twin Towers were attacked. That day, Welles made a fearless choice and in doing so, saved many lives.

After the overnight mega success of his dad's cookie store, twelve-year-old Ellis Johnson is on top of the world. He’s met celebrities, strangers stop “the Cookie Kid” on the street, and he’s even headed to NYC to be in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with his dad. Ellis is ready for his star turn, playing harmonica on national television—until his big break turns into the most embarrassing moment of his life.

Kids’ movement inspiration wrapped up in a charming story of friendship and determination. One of 12 Dance-It-Out! Creative Movement Stories by an award-winning dance teacher, turned award-winning author, and her ballerina daughter.

Khadija Shami is a Syrian American high school senior raised on boxing and football. Saddled with a monstrous ego and a fierce mother to test it, she dreams of escaping her sheltered life to travel the world with her best friend. Leene Tahir is a Syrian refugee, doing her best to adjust to the wildly unfamiliar society of a suburban Detroit high school while battling panic attacks and family pressures. When their worlds collide the result is catastrophic. But as Khadija digs up Leene’s past, a startling and life-changing discovery forces the two of them closer together.

When Tai Choi leaves her home in the Zhejiang province of China, she believes she’ll be visiting her grandmother. But in truth, despite her mother’s opposition, her father has sold her to pay his gambling debts. Alone and afraid, Tai Choi is put on a ship headed for San Francisco, known among the Chinese as Gold Mountain. When she arrives, she is forced to go by the new name listed on her paper documents: Tien Fu Wu. Her new life as a servant at a gambling den is hard. And if she is to survive, Tien Fu must persevere, and learn who to trust.

From an early age, Cecilia Chiang could be found delighting in the sounds and smells from her favorite room in her home—the kitchen. Little did Cecilia know that she would one day have to escape war and travel to a faraway country, destined to change Chinese cuisine in the United States forever. Experience the dishes Cecilia Chiang enjoyed throughout her life as the seventh daughter in a large family to the owner of the famous Mandarin restaurant in San Francisco.

Demian, Historia de la juventud de Emil Sinclair, es una novela que relata en primera persona el paso de la niñez a la madurez de este personaje, del escritor alemán Hermann Hesse. La obra fue publicada por primera vez en 1919, en los tiempos que siguieron a la Gran Guerra. Emil Sinclair es un niño que ha pasado toda su vida en lo que él llama el Scheinwelt (mundo de ensueño o mundo de la luz), pero una mentira lo lleva a ampliar sus visiones del mundo y a conocer un personaje enigmático de nombre Max Demian.

Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin, the book that changed the course of the nation. It changed American history. Some say it was the most important book in the history of the United States.

After her first adventure in Tokyo, Tessa Miyata is having the best summer of her life with her best friend, Jin. Still, she wonders if she'll ever see Kit, the mythical Unlucky God that Tessa and Jin freed, or the last magical city again. Then, Tessa and Jin get magical, talking invitations informing them that they've been chosen to attend the Academy of Gods—to battle immortals on behalf of the Unlucky God! Win, and they'll be given the gift of immortality. Lose, and they'll forget everything they learned about the magical city and Kit will cease to exist.

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.