Health & Family Audiobooks

Starting from Seneca Falls

Celebrate the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment with another historical novel about women's suffrage from the author of The Hope Chest! Bridie's life has been a series of wrongs. The potato famine in Ireland. Being sent to the poorhouse when her mother's new job in America didn't turn out the way they'd hoped. Becoming an orphan. And then there's the latest wrong--having to work for a family so abusive that Bridie is afraid she won't survive. So she runs away to Seneca Falls, New York, which in 1848 is a bustling town full of possibility. There, she makes friends with Rose, a girl with her own list of wrongs, but with big dreams, too. Rose helps Bridie get a job with the strangest lady she's ever met, Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Mrs. Stanton is planning a convention to talk about the rights of women. For Bridie and Rose, it's a new idea, that women and girls could have a voice. But they sure are sick of all the wrongs. Maybe it's time to fight for their rights!

Karen Schwabach (Author), Bernadette Dunne (Narrator)

Audiobook

Starting Over in Sunset Park

Brooklyn is a strange, intimidating place for a girl who speaks no English when she steps off her very first plane after a flight from the Dominican Republic. Jessica and her mom, Camila, must live in their cousins’ crowded apartment until Camila finds work making holiday decorations and they can afford their own place. Isolated on the playground and baffled in class, unable to understand her teacher’s instructions, Jessica is intensely homesick. But little by little, things get better. She begins to learn English, and she loves the cats she and her mom care for to earn extra money. Left behind by traveling owners, the cats make the best of their situation, inspiring Jessica to do the same.

Jose Pelaez, Lynn Mcgee (Author), Lori Felipe-Barkin (Narrator)

Audiobook

Starting School

Big sister Arizona tells Tex and Indi that if they don't love their first day of kindergarten she'll eat her socks.

Lissa Rovetch (Author), Highlights For Children (Narrator)

Audiobook

Staying Active

Staying active is important to keeping our bodies strong. It is good for our mental and emotional health, too! In this title, beginning readers are introduced to the importance of staying active. Narrative examples and matching photos showcase different ways to move our bodies. Features provide support by summarizing the main text, stating tools that are helpful for activity, and asking readers to think about what they have learned.

Kirsten Chang (Author), Dana Fleming (Narrator)

Audiobook

Steady That Float: Ask Arizona

Arizona and her karate class finally agree on a theme for their float.

Lissa Rovetch (Author), Highlights For Children (Narrator)

Audiobook

Steering Toward Normal

Eighth grade is set to be a good year for Diggy Lawson: He's chosen a great calf to compete at the Minnesota State Fair, he'll see a lot of July, the girl he secretly likes at 4-H, and he and his dad Pop have big plans for April Fool's Day. But everything changes when classmate Wayne Graf's mother dies, which brings to light the secret that Pop is Wayne's father, too. Suddenly, Diggy has a half brother, who moves in and messes up his life. Wayne threatens Diggy's chances at the State Fair, horns in on his girl, and rattles his easy relationship with Pop.What started out great quickly turns into the worst year ever, filled with jealousy, fighting, and several incidents involving cow poop. But as the boys care for their steers, pull pranks, and watch too many B movies, they learn what it means to be brothers and change their concept of family as they slowly steer toward a new kind of normal.Praise for Steering Toward Normal"First-time author Petruck's account of country life is never dull as she depicts the strong work ethic of cattlemen and women, along with the universal conflicts between siblings."--Publishers Weekly"The plot is full of pranks and humorous situations but at its heart, it is a story about navigating the complicated and sometimes unexpected dynamics that come with being part of a family. Petruck captures the setting of rural Minnesota well, creating a small town where it seems like nearly everyone is related or at the very least always knows everyone else's business."--VOYA Magazine"In Petruck's capable hands, raising a steer-caring for it, loving it, and eventually letting it go-becomes a keen metaphor for the loss of a loved one. Diggy is a perceptive narrator, but not unusually so for his age, and it's reassuring to see him sort out his tangled feelings."--Booklist 

Rebecca Petruck (Author), Chris Henry Coffey (Narrator)

Audiobook

Stella

An uplifting and poignant story about a former service beagle named Stella who must find the courage to overcome her fears and use her special nose to save a girl's life Ever since Stella was a puppy, she was trained to use her powerful beagle nose to sniff out chemicals used in explosives and warn her human handler in order to keep people safe. But during a routine security inspection, Stella is distracted and misses the scent of an explosive chemical. The sound of the blast is loud and scary. Stella survives but her handler-her best friend in the whole world-is gone. Stella blames herself, certain she's a bad dog. Scared of loud noises, especially thunder and fireworks, Stella struggles with her anxiety and must be retired from being a service animal. Several families try to foster her, but sometimes Stella is so scared she howls or digs or tears things up with her teeth. She wonders if anyone will want to adopt her. An expert dog trainer, Esperanza, thinks she can help. It's Stella's last chance to prove she can be a good dog. Stella has every reason to love her new family, especially the young human named Cloe who smells like chocolate chip cookies, newly cut grass, the pages of books, and something else-a strange chemical she can't quite identify. Cloe has epilepsy, and a chemical inside her body surges just before she has a seizure. Stella's nose makes the connection. But how can she warn Esperanza without her thinking it's just Stella's usual anxiety? How can she convince her new family that she can be a new kind of service dog and hopefully save Cloe's life? Told from Stella's point of view, listeners will experience life through a dog's eyes, ears, and, especially, her nose. Like Babe the pig or Ivan the gorilla, Stella the beagle is an extraordinary story for kids who love animals. An endearing novel of courage, compassion, friendship, and love.

Mccall Hoyle (Author), Rachel Jacobs (Narrator)

Audiobook

Stella by Starlight

When the Ku Klux Klan makes an unwelcome reappearance in Stella's segregated southern town, bravery battles prejudice in this Depression-era tour de force from Sharon Draper, the New York Times bestselling author of Out of My Mind.Stella lives in the segregated South-in Bumblebee, North Carolina, to be exact about it. Some stores she can go into. Some stores she can't. Some folks are right pleasant. Others are a lot less so. To Stella, it sort of evens out, and heck, the Klan hasn't bothered them for years. But one late night, later than she should ever be up, much less wandering around outside, Stella and her little brother see something they're never supposed to see, something that is the first flicker of change to come, unwelcome change by any stretch of the imagination. As Stella's community-her world-is upended, she decides to fight fire with fire. And she learns that ashes don't necessarily signify an end.

Sharon M. Draper (Author), Heather Alicia Simms (Narrator)

Audiobook

Stella Endicott and the Anything-Is-Possible Poem: Tales from Deckawoo Drive, Volume Five

Metaphor alert! An ode to a certain pig kicks off one wild school day in Kate DiCamillo's latest stop on Deckawoo Drive. Stella Endicott loves her teacher, Miss Liliana, and she is thrilled when the class is assigned to write a poem. Stella crafts a beautiful poem about Mercy Watson, the pig who lives next door--a poem complete with a metaphor and full of curiosity and courage. But Horace Broom, Stella's irritating classmate, insists that Stella's poem is full of lies and that pigs do not live in houses. And when Stella and Horace get into a shouting match in the classroom, Miss Liliana banishes them to the principal's office. Will the two of them find a way to turn this opposite-of-a-poem day around? In the newest spirited outing in the Deckawoo Drive series by Kate DiCamillo, anything is possible--even a friendship with a boy deemed to be (metaphorically speaking) an overblown balloon.

Kate Dicamillo (Author), Bahni Turpin, Christina Rooney (Narrator)

Audiobook

Stephanie's Ponytail (Classic Munsch Audio)

None of the kids in her class wear a ponytail, so Stephanie decides she must have one. The loud, unanimous comment from her classmates is: "Ugly, ugly, very ugly. " Steadfast, when all the girls have copied her ponytail, she resolves to try a new style. With true Munsch flair, each of Stephanie's ponytails is more outrageous than the last, while the cast of copycats grows and grows.  

Robert Munsch (Author), Robert Munsch (Narrator)

Audiobook

Stepping Stones

This contemporary middle-grade graphic novel, adapted for audio with a full cast production, about family and belonging from New York Times bestselling author Lucy Knisley is a perfect listen for fans of Awkward and Be Prepared. Jen is used to not getting what she wants. So suddenly moving the country and getting new stepsisters shouldn't be too much of a surprise. Jen did not want to leave the city. She did not want to move to a farm with her mom and her mom's new boyfriend, Walter. She did not want to leave her friends and her dad. Most of all, Jen did not want to get new 'sisters,' Andy and Reese. As if learning new chores on Peapod Farm wasn't hard enough, having to deal with perfect-at-everything Andy might be the last straw for Jen. Besides cleaning the chicken coop, trying to keep up with the customers at the local farmers' market, and missing her old life, Jen has to deal with her own insecurities about this new family . . . and where she fits in. New York Times bestselling author Lucy Knisley brings to life a story inspired from her own childhood in an amazing journey of unlikely friends, sisters, and home. AUDIO CAST LIST: * Lauren Fortgang as Jen * Sarah Mollo-Christensen as Mom * Patricia Santomasso as Andy with Kristen DiMercurio as Reese, Bailey Carr as Victoria, James Fouhey as Eddie, Neil Hellegers as Steve Morgan, Sean Patrick Hopkins as Walter, Joshua Kane as the Post Office Clerk, Amy Landon as Bonnie, and Barrett Leddy as Mr. Archer 'Funny, sweet, and real.' -Jennifer & Matthew Holm, co-creators of the bestselling Babymouse series 'This book is gorgeous. Highly recommended.' -Kristen Gudsnuk, creator of Making Friends

Lucy Knisley (Author), Amy Landon, Bailey Carr, Barrett Leddy, James Fouhey, Joshua Kane, Kristen Dimercurio, Lauren Fortgang, Neil Hellegers, Patricia Santomasso, Sarah Mollo-Christensen, Sean Patrick Hopkins (Narrator)

Audiobook

Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family's Journey

This unique picture book was inspired by the stone artwork of Syrian artist Nizar Ali Badr, discovered by chance by Canadian children's writer Margriet Ruurs. The author was immediately impressed by the strong narrative quality of Mr. Badr's work, and, using many of Mr. Badr's already-created pieces, she set out to create a story about the Syrian refugee crisis. Stepping Stones tells the story of Rama and her family, who are forced to flee their once-peaceful village to escape the ravages of the civil war raging ever closer to their home. With only what they can carry on their backs, Rama and her mother, father, grandfather and brother, Sami, set out to walk to freedom in Europe. Nizar Ali Badr's stunning stone images illustrate the story. Orca Book Publishers is pleased to offer this book as a dual-language (English and Arabic) edition.

Margriet Ruurs (Author), Falah Raheem, Margriet Ruurs (Narrator)

Audiobook