Action & Adventure Audiobooks

Casper Candlewacks in the Claws of Crime!

Jeremy Strong described Ivan's first Casper Candlewacks book as a 'funny and engaging debut'. This is the triumphant follow-up from the funniest new voice in fiction and once again unsung hero, Casper must save the day.Most villages have an idiot but Casper's village is full of them. So being bright makes poor Casper something of an outsider.An infamous cat burglar has struck in the village of Corne-on-the-Kobb, stealing a precious jewelled sword and kidnapping Casper's baby sister. To make matters worse a gaggle of amateur detectives are on the case, questioning the villagers and getting in the way. Armed only with his wits, an egg-boiling lie-detecting machine and his best friend Lamp, can Casper rescue his sister and save the day?A side-splittingly funny tale for girls and boys

Ivan Brett (Author), David Thorpe (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Peppers and the International Magic Guys

Take a peek behind the scenes at the wonderful world of THE PEPPERS... A show-stopping adventure starring an unbeatable double act - the Pepper twins, Monty & Esme.The Pepper twins Esme and Monty are spending the summer holidays with their bumbling Uncle Potty.Potty is an enthusiastic member of the International Magic Guys organisation so when it is threatened with closure the twins must use every trick in the book to save it... But no one can find the book, the escapologist is all tied up and the human cannonball has put Potty's assistant out of action. Can the twins still pull off the performance of a lifetime?The book includes real magic tricks and tips which readers can try at home!

Sian Pattenden (Author), Penny McDonald (Narrator)

Audiobook

Jessica Rules the Dark Side

In this sequel to the breakout hit Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, Jessica Packwood finds being a newly married teenage vampire princess isn't all that easy. She might be living in a Romanian castle with her husband Lucius Vladescu, but she's also surrounded by undead subjects who aren't ready to welcome her as queen. Then Lucius is accused of murdering a vampire Elder, leaving Jessica more alone than ever. Now she must race against time to clear Lucius' name and save both their lives, even if it means enlisting the help of those she knows are keeping dark secrets.

Beth Fantaskey (Author), Jeff Woodman, Jennifer Ikeda, Katherine Kellgren (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Healing Wars: Book I: The Shifter

Fifteen-year-old Nya is an orphan struggling for survival in a city crippled by war. She is also a Taker—with her touch, she can heal injuries, pulling pain from another person into her own body. But unlike her sister Tali and the other Takers who become Healer’s League apprentices, Nya’s skill is flawed: she can’t push that pain into pynvium, the enchanted metal used to store it. All she can do is shift it from person to person, a dangerous skill that she must keep hidden from forces occupying her city. If discovered, she’d be used as a human weapon against her own people. Rumors of another war make Nya’s life harder, forcing her to take desperate risks just to find work and food. She pushes her luck too far and exposes her secret to a pain merchant eager to use her shifting ability for his own sinister purpose. At first, Nya refuses, but when Tali and other League Healers mysteriously disappear, she’s faced with some difficult choices. As her father used to say, principles are a bargain at any price, but how many will Nya have to sell to get Tali back alive?

Janice Hardy (Author), Luci Christian Bell (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Healing Wars: Book II: Blue Fire

Part fugitive, part hero, fifteen-year-old Nya is barely staying ahead of the Duke’s trackers. Wanted for a crime she didn’t mean to commit, she risks capture to protect every Taker she can find, determined to prevent the Duke of Baseer from using them in his fiendish experiments. But resolve isn’t enough to protect any of them, and Nya soon realizes the only way to keep them all out of the Duke’s clutches is to flee Geveg. Unfortunately, the Duke’s best tracker has other ideas. Nya finds herself trapped in the last place she ever wanted to be, forced to trust the last people she ever thought she could. More is at stake than just the people of Geveg, and the closer she gets to uncovering the Duke’s plan, the more she discovers how critical she is to his victory. To save Geveg, she just might have to save Baseer—if she doesn’t destroy it first.

Janice Hardy (Author), Luci Christian Bell (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Case of the Gypsy Goodbye: An Enola Holmes Mystery

As Enola searches for the missing Lady Blanchefleur del Campo, she discovers that her brother Sherlock is just as diligently searching for Enola herself! He is in possession of a most peculiar package- a message from their long-lost mother. Sherlock and Enola must solve a triple mystery: What has happened to their mother? And to Lady Blanchefleur? And what does either have to do with their brother, Mycroft?

Nancy Springer (Author), Katherine Kellgren (Narrator)

Audiobook

Mudshark

Mudshark is cool. He's fast-thinking and fast-moving, and with his photographic memory, He's the go-to guy with the answers. Lost your shoe? Your dad's car? Can't find your homework? The mudshark Detective Agency is on the case. At least, it is until the Psychic Parrot takes up residence in the school library. The word in school is that the parrot can out- think Mudshark. And right now, the school needs someone who's good at solving problems. There's an escaped gerbil running the halls' a near-nuclear emergency in the faculty restroom, and an unexplained phenomenon involving disappearing erasers. Once Mudshark solves the mystery of the erasers, he plans to investigate the Psychic Parrot... Here is another winning tale from Gary Paulsen, about whom Booklist writes in a starred review, "When it comes to telling funny stories about boys, no one surpasses Paulsen." In Mudshark,Paulsen introduces listeners to a resourceful boy who will have kids everywhere thinking, and laughing.

Gary Paulsen (Author), Tasso Feldman (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Reluctant Dragon

The Reluctant Dragon is far more interested in writing and reading poetry than in belching fire to frighten and threaten the townspeople. He befriends a young villager and has a wonderful adventure facing St. George, the famous slayer of dragons, in a mock battle of ferocious, but harmless fun. When a dragon is discovered up on the Downs, the Boy is not in the least surprised. He's always known the cave there was a dragon cave, so it seems only right for a dragon to be living in it. The Boy decides to pay a visit to the cave, and he thinks he knows just what to expect. But this particular dragon is not a bit like the ones in fairy tales! AUTHOR Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932) was a children's novelist and bank executive, with a long a successful career at the Bank of England. Grahame was born in Scotland, but after the death of his mother when he was five, went to live with his grandmother in a charming country village in Berkshire, England. Grahame and his siblings had an idyllic childhood, their surroundings inspired the setting for The Wind in the Willows. Grahame's writing career was inspired by the stories he told his beloved only child, who suffered poor health his very short life. COMMENTARY Reviews for Alcazar AudioWorks' production of The Reluctant Dragon The Reluctant Dragon is a wonderful story of a kind hearted dragon that just doesn't fit the dragon stereotype. The dragon makes some unlikely friends: a young boy who loves to write poetry and St. George, the knight and dragon fighter. The trio make a plan to satisfy the townspeople and help the dragon. All is well in the end; it is a delightful, contemporary fairytale. Alcazar Audio Works brings the story to life with the voice talents of Bruce Blau, Bobbie Frohman, Susan McCarthy, Linda Montgomery, David Thorn, and Jim Johanson. Each section or chapter of the book plays on a separate track, so it is easy to pick up the story where you left off. We had a long drive ahead of us, I popped this CD into the player, and off we went to story land to visit the old town and climb the hill to a cave to find the dragon. We cheered and laughed as we listened to the tale. Before I knew it, we had arrived at our destination and the end of the story. My heartfelt thanks goes to Alcazar Audio Works for a wonderfully quick trip with contented children. Reviewed By: Kate O'Mara - EHO Eclectic Homeschool Online Quotes from/about The Reluctant Dragon or Kenneth Grahame ""Warm colors and visual details portray a lively medieval village and complement Grahame's expressive prose. Ages 8-11."" Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. -Publishers Weekly ""The richly expressive prose of Kenneth Grahame continues to delight. The illustrations...bring to life the medieval-village scenes, full of warm colors and busy activities.""--""The telling is delightfully tongue-in-cheek...His star attraction is an imaginative animal and he makes this reluctant dragon live."" Unabridged --School Library Journal, starred review ""A wonderful story about peace, war, and using your brain...A medieval fable with implications for the nuclear age.""-Entertainment Weekly "[A] classic tale of loyalty and compassion."-School Library Journal (starred review) "The richly expressive prose of Kenneth Grahame continues to delight...full of warm colors and busy activities."-Language Arts The Reluctant Dragon is a mild-mannered specimen of his breed who, unlike the ""active and earnest"" fellows who used to charge around battling knights, has survived long enough to develop his passion for poetry. He is befriended by an intelligent young shepherd boy, who is placed in an awkward position when the villagers discover the dragon's presence. Although the dragon has harmed no one, the villagers are so aroused that they call on Saint George to battle this ""pestilential scourge."" When Saint George arrives the dragon flatly refuses to fight, and the boy is left to find a solution to the impasse. This is a brilliantly written satirical fantasy, lambasting the traditional knight-and-dragon stories and providing a wonderful protagonist that boys of all ages (and many girls) will want to identify with. The fantastical pleasure of friendship with a dragon is enhanced by encounters with the famous knight, a theatrical battle, and plenty of intelligent wit to amuse both children and adults. The language is advanced, suitable for reading aloud or for confident self-readers. Some of the humor will be above young readers' heads, but there is enough action to make it interesting for younger ages.-Amazon.com "

Kenneth Grahame (Author), A Full Cast, Bobbie Frohman (Narrator)

Audiobook

Ready Freddy: Shark Tooth Tale

Get to know Freddy Thresher, the first grade shark expert with an uncanny knack for mischief. Join Freddy in this adventure as he schemes and scrimps, trying to earn enough money to buy an awesome fossilized shark tooth. Packed with humor, illustrations, and even factual information about sharks, the Ready, Freddy! series is perfect for the chapter book reader.

Abby Klein (Author), Fred Berman (Narrator)

Audiobook

Otherworld Chronicles: The Invisible Tower

Part of the spell has already been broken. The first stones have begun to crumble. In Artie Kingfisher's world, wizards named Merlin, fire-breathing dragons, and swords called Excalibur exist only in legends and lore until the day his video game Otherworld springs to life. You are special, Arthur, Says the mysterious message in his game. In one weeks time you will come to me at the it. Cryptic clues lead Artie to a strange place called the Invisible Tower, where he discovers that nothing in his life is as it seems. Artie is none other than King Arthur, brought to life in the twenty-first century. Artie has won the battle in the virtual Otherworld now the key to saving the real Otherworld lies in his hands as well. Green dragons, hungry wolves, powerful sorcerers suddenly Artie must battle them all as he wields Excalibur and embarks on a quest worthy of the Knights of the Round Table. With his sister, Kay, by his side, Artie steps into the Otherworld straight toward his destiny.

Nils Johnson-Shelton (Author), Patrick Lawlor (Narrator)

Audiobook

Winterling

We live here, my girl, because it is close to the Way, and echoes of its magic are felt in our world. The Way is a path leading to another place, where the people are governed by different rules. Magic runs through them and their land. With her boundless curiosity and wild spirit, Fer has always felt that she doesn't belong. Not when the forest is calling to her, when the rush of wind through branches feels more real than school or the quiet farms near her house. Then she saves an injured creature he looks like a boy, but he's really something else. He knows who Fer truly is, and invites her through the Way, a passage to a strange, dangerous land. Fer feels an instant attachment to this realm, where magic is real and oaths forge bonds stronger than iron. But a powerful huntress named the Mr rules here, and Fer can sense that the land is perilously out of balance. Fer must unlock the secrets about the parents she never knew and claim her true place before the worlds on both sides of the Way descend into endless winter. Sarah Prineas captivates in this fantasy-adventure about a girl who must find within herself the power to set right a terrible evil.

Sarah Prineas (Author), Erin Moon (Narrator)

Audiobook

Stealing Magic: A Sixty-Eight Room Adventure

Ruthie and Jack thought that their adventures in the Thorne Rooms were over . . . until miniatures from the rooms start to disappear. Is it the work of the art thief who's on the loose in Chicago? Or has someone else discovered the secret of the Thorne Rooms' magic? Ruthie and Jack's quest to stop the thief takes them from modern day Chicago to 1937 Paris to antebellum South Carolina. But as more items disappear, including the key that allows them to shrink and access the past worlds, what was once just an adventure becomes a life and death race against the clock. Can Ruthie and Jack catch the thief and help the friends they meet on the way before the magic-and the rooms-are destroyed forever? Fans of magic, mystery, and adventure will love this rollicking sequel to Marianne Malone's The Sixty-Eight Rooms.

Marianne Malone (Author), Cassandra Campbell (Narrator)

Audiobook