Biography & Memoir Audiobooks

Sing a Song of Tuna Fish

Esmé tells us about the night she and her mother became "egg vigilantes" against an illegally parked car; her freewheeling first school, where kids sat on sofas instead of at desks and could choose disco dancing instead of math; her dangerous neighborhood, which her father made seem friendly and wondrous; the Passover dinner when she stole a matzoh right out from under a rabbi; the awe-inspiring, life-threatening Chicago snowstorms; and lessons about love from tea-reading gypsies and Popeye cartoons. In stories that perfectly evoke the perspective of her ten-year-old self, author Esmé Raji Codell demonstrates her gift for making the ordinary extraordinary, and the unusual familiar. SING A SONG OF TUNA FISH is a memoir of a Chicago childhood; a tribute to the art of attention; and most of all, a joyful listening experience for kids and families.

Esme Raji Codell (Author), Esme Raji Codell (Narrator)

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Wild Boy

One day, villagers from Lacaune, in the mountains of southern France, returned from the woods with a startling story. They'd glimpsed a naked boy digging in the leaves. A year later - in 1798 - the strange, scarred boy appeared again, and this time woodsmen captured him and marched him down the mountain to the village square, where everyone crowded around to take in the spectacle. And so began the curious public life of the boy known as the Savage of Aveyron, whose journey took him all the way to Paris. In a moving work of nonfiction that flows like a novel, the acclaimed author of The Fairy Ring invests another compelling story from history with vivid and arresting new life.

Mary Losure (Author), Michael Page (Narrator)

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Lives of the Scientists: Experiments, Explosions (and What the Neighbors Thought)

Scientists have a reputation for being focused on their work—and maybe even dull. But take another look. Did you know that it’s believed Galileo was scolded by the Roman Inquisition for sassing his mom? That Isaac Newton loved to examine soap bubbles? That Albert Einstein loved to collect joke books, and that geneticist Barbara McClintock wore a Groucho Marx disguise in public? With juicy tidbits about everything from favorite foods to first loves, the subjects of Kathleen Krull and Kathryn Hewitt’s Lives of the Scientists: Experiments, Explosions (and What the Neighbors Thought) are revealed as creative, bold, sometimes eccentric—and anything but dull. “Living, breathing anecdotes—the stuff of which the best biography is made.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Lives of the Musicians

Kathleen Krull (Author), Charlie Thurston (Narrator)

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China Homecoming

China Homecoming is the incredible true story of award-winning author Jean Fritz’s childhood in China. Speaking Chinese, Jean felt welcome when she revisited China. Memories of her childhood washed over her as she visited her old home and the British School she had attended. Both had changed just as history had changed her hometown of Wuhan, but listeners will be moved at what it meant to Jean when she was declared an honorary citizen. “An intriguing fusion of autobiography, history, and travelogue…A personal, and finally, moving book. It is also a vivid portrait of a developing nation and a reminder that history is people who live through events and then go on.”—Booklist

Jean Fritz (Author), Susan Boyce (Narrator)

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Hideous Love: The Story of the Girl Who Wrote Frankenstein

An all-consuming love affair. A family torn apart by scandal. A young author on the brink of greatness. Hideous Love is the fascinating story of gothic novelist Mary Shelley, who as a teen girl fled her restrictive home only to find herself in the shadow of a brilliant but moody boyfriend, famed poet Percy Shelley. It is the story of the mastermind behind one of the most iconic figures in all of literature: a monster constructed out of dead bodies and brought to life by the tragic Dr. Frankenstein. Mary wrote Frankenstein at the age of nineteen, but inspiration for the monster came from her life,the atmospheric European settings she visited, the dramas swirling around her, and the stimulating philosophical discussions with the greatest minds of the period, like her close friend Lord Byron. This luminous verse novel from award-winning author Stephanie Hemphill reveals how Mary Shelley became one of the most celebrated authors in history. Stephanie Hemphill is also the award-winning author of Wicked Girls: A Novel of the Salem Witch Trials, a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist; Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book; Sisters of Glass; and Things Left Unsaid: A Novel in Poems. She lives in Chicago, Illinois.

Stephanie Hemphill (Author), Michelle Ford (Narrator)

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Three Cups of Tea: Young Readers Edition

This young readers edition of the worldwide bestseller Three Cups of Tea has been specially adapted for younger readers and updated by Greg Mortenson to bring his remarkable story of humanitarianism up to date for the present. Includes new photos and illustrations, as well as a special interview by Greg's twelve-year-old daughter, Amira, who has traveled with her father as an advocate for the Pennies for Peace program for children. From the Trade Paperback edition.

David Oliver Relin, Greg Mortenson (Author), Atossa Leoni, Vanessa Redgrave (Narrator)

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Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker

In exuberant verse and stirring pictures, Patricia Hruby Powell and Christian Robinson create an extraordinary portrait of the passionate performer and civil rights advocate Josephine Baker, the woman who worked her way from the slums of St. Louis to the grandest stages in the world. Meticulously researched by both author and artist, Josephine's powerful story of struggle and triumph is an inspiration and a spectacle, just like the legend herself.

Patricia Hruby Powell (Author), Lizan Mitchell (Narrator)

Audiobook

26 Fairmount Avenue #1: 26 Fairmount Avenue

In a heartwarming first-person account, dePaola retells his experiences at home and in school when he was a boy. 26 Fairmount Avenue is full of humor, drama, suspense and just the day to day ups and downs of a little boy's life.

Tomie Depaola (Author), Tomie Depaola (Narrator)

Audiobook

26 Fairmount Avenue: Books 1 and 2, 26 Fairmount Avenue; Here We All Are

In a heartwarming first-person account, dePaola retells his experiences at home and in school when he was a boy. 26 Fairmount Avenue is full of humor, drama, suspense and just the day to day ups and downs of a little boy's life.

Tomie Depaola (Author), Tomie Depaola (Narrator)

Audiobook

How They Choked: Failures, Flops, and Flaws of the Awfully Famous

Over the course of history, famous people made mistakes that were so monumental they could never escape them, no matter how brilliant their successes! Ferdinand Magellan is credited as the first man to sail around the world . . . but he only actually made it halfway. His terrible treatment of everyone he met cut his life journey short. Queen Isabella of Spain is remembered for financing Columbus's expeditions--and for creating the Spanish Inquisition. J. Bruce Ismay commissioned the unsinkable marvel of the sea, the "Titanic"--and then jumped the line of women and children to escape death on a lifeboat. Readers will be fascinated well past the final curtain and will empathize with the flawed humanity of these achievers. Famous successful "failures" include: Marco Polo - Queen Isabella of Spain - King Montezuma II - Anne Boleyn - Ferdinand Magellan - Isaac Newton - Benedict Arnold - George Armstrong Custer - Vincent Van Gogh - Susan B. Anthony - Thomas Alva Edison - J. Bruce Ismay - Amelia M. Earhart - Joseph Jefferson Jackson ("Shoeless Joe")

Georgia Bragg (Author), L.J. Ganser (Narrator)

Audiobook

Gus & Me: The Story of My Granddad and My First Guitar

Long before there was a band, there was a boy: a young Keith Richards, who was introduced to the joy of music through his beloved granddad, Theodore Augustus Dupree, affectionately known as "Gus," who was in a jazz big band and is the namesake of Keith's daughter, Theodora Dupree Richards. Gus & Me offers a rare and intimate look into the childhood of the legendary Keith Richards through this poignant and inspiring story that is lovingly illustrated with Theodora Richards's exquisite pen-and-ink collages. This unique autobiographical picture book honors the special bond between a grandfather and grandson and celebrates the artistic talents of the Richards family through the generations. It also includes selected photographs from the Richards family collection and an exclusive audio CD featuring bonus content.

Keith Richards (Author), Keith Richards (Narrator)

Audiobook

Guys Read: True Stories

Visiting the dentist, in ancient Egypt Spending a night in the jungle, with giant tarantulas Wrestling with a grizzly bear, and living to tell the tale The fifth installment in the Guys Read Library of Great Reading features ten stories that are 100% amazing, 100% adventurous, 100% unbelievable, and 100% true. A star-studded group of award-winning nonfiction authors and journalists provides something for every reader, all aligned with the Common Core State Standards. Compiled and edited by real-life literature legend Jon Scieszka, Guys Read: True Stories is a mind-blowing collection of essays, biographies, travelogues, and more, all proving that the truth is most definitely out there.

Candace Fleming, Douglas Florian, Elizabeth Partridge, James Sturm, Jim Murphy, Jon Scieszka, Nathan Hale, Steve Sheinkin, Sy Montgomery, T. Edward Nickens, Thanhha Lai, Thanhhà Lai (Author), Adam Conner, Bruce Thomas, Ethan Sawyer, Freda Foh Shen, George Newbern, Greg Itzin, Hillary Huber, Jack Garrett, Jim Beaver, Macleod Andrews, Robin Weigert, Thaao Penghlis (Narrator)

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