Young Readers

In this young readers' edition of Thank You for Voting, debut author and journalist Erin Geiger Smith presents a fascinating look into America’s voting history and inspires young people to get involved! Voting is a privilege and a right, but it hasn’t always been for many people. From the founding fathers to Jim Crow to women's suffrage to gerrymandering - and everything in between - listeners will get a look at the complex history of voting and become empowered to ask big questions.

Questions in this audiobook can be fun and challenging at the same time. This is an ideal solution for kids with gaming and social media addiction. Video games and other addictions can ruin a healthy childhood, and it’s so frustrating for parents. Solving riddles helps to stimulate the brain, boost creativity, and learn new things. Both kids and adults can enjoy this at the same time. You can enjoy this at home, on the road, at bedtime, or use this in a school competition.

No Better Friend tells the incredible true story of Frank Williams, a radarman in Britain's Royal Air Force, and Judy, a purebred pointer, who met as prisoners of war during World War II. Judy, who became the war's only official canine POW, was a fiercely loyal dog who sensed danger - warning her fellow prisoners of imminent attacks and protecting them from brutal beatings. Frank and Judy's friendship, an unbreakable bond forged in the worst circumstances, is one of the great recently unearthed stories of World War II.

Ruby's world has changed more than she ever could have imagined. She's in love with a powerful Frost King. She's the heir to the Fire Throne. And she may be a Nightblood - the spawn of a vengeful deity hellbent on releasing an imprisoned army of shadowy wraiths. Once freed, these beasts will roam the earth, devouring the spirits of every last person until he or she is nothing but an empty husk. Ruby is able to control the shadows to a degree, even hosting one in her own body. But will this tenuous connection - which threatens to consume her - be enough to hold the beasts back?

Tensions are rising between the Quatrans and the Specters, and the Quatra Fleet is gearing up for an epic fight. With a galaxy on the brink of war and loyalties divided, the friendship of four cadets will be tested. Orelia has been arrested for espionage, and her future is looking bleak...until the Quatrans make her a surprising offer that could save her life - and the lives of everyone in the galaxy. Reeling from his breakup, Arran finds comfort in a sympathetic boy from Loos, someone who understands how hard it can be to fit in.

Brothers Cole and Tinn are determined to solve a mystery almost as old as they are: What happened to their long-missing father? Joseph Burton vanished without a trace, leaving the babies’ mother to raise them—one human, one a goblin changeling—alone. Some say Joseph abandoned his family, others that he met foul play looking for a way to get rid of the changeling imposter. Cole is determined to learn his father’s true fate, so he and Tinn set out on a dangerous quest to the deepest, most deadly limits of the Oddmire.

Gymnast Caroline Kepler has three state balance beam titles, a new trick even most elites can’t do, and undeniable chronic back pain. While she might never be an Olympian, she has dreams of leveling up to elite, making Nationals, and competing in college. But when one epic face-plant changes all that and Caroline’s back pain goes from chronic to career-ending, her dreams are shattered and her life is flipped upside down. Enter Alex Zavala, a three-sport athlete who’s both incredibly cute and incredibly off-limits.

Dan Brown meets Jason Bourne in this riveting middle-grade mystery thriller. When a young boy is discovered in Washington DC's National Gallery without any recollection of who he is, so begins a high-stakes race to unravel the greatest mystery of all: his identity. As the stakes continue to rise, the boy must piece together the disjointed clues of his origins while using his limited knowledge to stop one of the greatest art frauds ever attempted.

Everyone makes mistakes. But what happens when your mistake hurts someone else? Told in eight perspectives, Operation Frog Effect celebrates standing up and standing together and tells the unforgettable story of how eight very different kids take responsibility for their actions and unite for a cause in which they all believe.

"Talk about out of the frying pan, into the fire! I was pretty sure that my freaky stepsister and that freaky field guide of hers would ruin my life. But now it looks like they're going to ruin all of Florida, too! Okay, maybe that's not fair. Maybe all these stupid giants would be waking up anyway, but if it wasn't for her and that book, I'd be home playing video games and this would be someone else's giant problem!"

When Caitlyn Breen enters the tiny Mitchell School in rural Mitchell, Vermont, she is a complete outsider: the seventh grade has just 10 other kids, and they've known each other since kindergarten. Her classmates are in for a shock of their own: Paulie Fink - the class clown, oddball, troublemaker, and evil genius - is gone this year.

Of the millions of men, women, and children transported from Africa to America to be enslaved, eighty-six-year-old Cudjo Lewis was then the only person alive to tell the story of his capture and bondage—fifty years after the Atlantic human trade was outlawed in the United States. Cudjo shared his firsthand account with legendary folklorist, anthropologist, and writer Zora Neale Hurston.

Dr. Kendi expertly crafts a propulsive telling of Malcolm X’s life—from birth to death. He provides context for both Malcolm’s choices—and those around him—not just painting an intimate picture of a famous figure, but of the social and political landscape of America during the civil rights movement.

In this engaging young readers edition of The Monster’s Bones, David K. Randall journeys from prehistory to present day on a gripping, gritty expedition through the history of one of the world’s greatest scientific discoveries. At its heart are two men from vastly different backgrounds: socialite Henry Fairfield Osborn, the president of the fledgling—and struggling—American Museum of Natural History, and intrepid fossil hunter Barnum Brown, who blazed a path out of his small-town life in Kansas with an uncanny gift for uncovering dinosaur bones.

Young minds are constantly seeking direction and inspiration. But in today’s environment full of distractions, it’s not easy to find the right resource for what kids really need. That’s why this book is so timely. This book understands the hurdles kids face – the need for role models, the struggle with challenges, and the desire for meaningful connections. It’s the solution you’ve been looking for: a collection of 15 awe-inspiring stories from basketball legends, each a testament to overcoming adversity and achieving greatness.

Outside of the people in the Bible, Augustine of Hippo is the most influential person in church history. Yet how many people know his story? In this book, Simonetta Carr introduces young listeners to the life and ministry of Augustine. Listeners will come to know Augustine's personal struggles and the high value he came to place on the Bible and truth. Listeners will also see the difficult days in which Augustine lived, learning about his disputes with false teachers and the turbulent times during the fall of the Roman Empire.

Simonetta Carr’s newest children’s biography introduces us to a father of the Chinese evangelical church, Pastor Wang Mingdao. Mingdao is remembered for standing firm for the true gospel, even though it cost him his earthly freedom. Even after a moment of weakness during persecution, Mingdao found restoration in Christ and kept the faith through twenty-three years of imprisonment. His courage and strength provide a modern example of how Christians can trust the Lord and remain faithful in times of hardship and persecution.

At age twenty, Julia Gonzaga was one of the most envied women in Italy. A property owner, she entertained artists, poets, and musicians at her castle; and she was the prettiest woman in the country! Yet Julia was confused and anxious about God and her own sin. No matter how hard she tried not to sin, she often put her desires to please other people before obeying God. She finally found peace when she understood the gospel, and then she devoted her life to sharing the good news with others.

No one could have imagined that the frail seven-year-old slave girl who arrived in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1761 would become the first published African American, achieving fame for her poetry in both America and England. Upon her arrival, Phillis quickly learned to read the Bible and other classic literature, publishing her first poem in 1767 when she was thirteen and a book of poetry in 1773. Her poetry encouraged freedom for all people, and she proved to a doubting generation that intelligence and creativity are not limited to a particular race.

In 1730, nineteen-year-old Marie Durand was arrested and taken from her home in a village in Southern France for the crime of having a brother who was a Protestant preacher. Imprisoned in the Tower of Constance, Marie would spend the next thirty-eight years there. Simonetta Carr introduces us to the inspiring life of a woman who could have recanted her Protestant faith and gained release, but held fast to the truth and encouraged others to do so as well.