Historical Audiobooks

Kennedy's Last Days: The Assassination That Defined a Generation

Kennedy's Last Days is a gripping account of the events leading up to the most notorious crime of the twentieth century. Adapted from Bill O'Reilly's bestselling historical thriller, Killing Kennedy, this audiobook will have young listenersand grown-ups toohooked on this fascinating and colorful period of history. In the first term of his presidency, as the Cold War escalates, John F. Kennedy struggles to contain the growth of Communism while dealing with the many other complexities facing him as president of the United States. In the midst of a 1963 campaign trip to Texas, Kennedy is gunned down by an erratic young drifter named Lee Harvey Oswald. The former Marine Corps sharpshooter escapes the scene, only to be caught and shot dead while in police custody. With an unforgettable cast of characters, non-stop action, and vivid detail, Kennedy's Last Days is history that reads like a thriller. This is a very special audiobook, irresistible on its own or as a compelling companion to Killing Kennedy.

Bill O'Reilly (Author), Edward Herrmann (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Bronze Bow

In this Newberry Medal-winning novel, Daniel bar Jamin is fired by only one passion: to avenge his father's death by crucifixion by driving the Roman legions from his land of Isreal.

Elizabeth George Speare (Author), Pat Young (Narrator)

Audiobook

Shadow on the Mountain

Shadow on the Mountain recounts the adventures of a 14-year-old Norwegian boy named Espen during World War II. After Nazi Germany invades and occupies Norway, Espen and his friends are swept up in the Norwegian resistance movement. Espen gets his start by delivering illegal newspapers, then graduates to the role of courier and finally becomes a spy, dodging the Gestapo along the way. During five years under the Nazi regime, he gains-and loses-friends, falls in love, and makes one small mistake that threatens to catch up with him as he sets out to escape on skis over the mountains to Sweden. Preus incorporates archival photographs, maps, and other images to tell this story based on the real-life adventures of Norwegian Erling Storrusten, whom Preus interviewed in Norway.

Margi Preus (Author), Jeff Woodman (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Great Trouble: A Mystery of London, the Blue Death, and a Boy Called Eel

"A delightful combination of race-against-the-clock medical mystery and outwit-the-bad-guys adventure." - Publishers Weekly, Starred Eel has troubles of his own: As an orphan and a "mudlark," he spends his days in the filthy River Thames, searching for bits of things to sell. Hes being hunted by Fisheye Bill Tyler, and a nastier man never walked the streets of London. And hes got a secret that costs him four precious shillings a week to keep safe. But even for Eel, things arent so bad until that fateful August day in 1854 - the day the deadly cholera ("blue death") comes to Broad Street. Everyone believes that cholera is spread through poisonous air. But one man, Dr. John Snow, has a different theory. As the epidemic surges, its up to Eel and his best friend, Florrie, to gather evidence to prove Dr. Snows theory - before the entire neighborhood is wiped out. "Hopkinson illuminates a pivotal chapter in the history of public health. . . . Accessible . . . and entertaining." - School Library Journal, Starred "For [readers] who love suspense, drama, and mystery." - TIME for KidsFrom the Hardcover edition.

Deborah Hopkinson (Author), Kimberly Farr, Matthew Frow (Narrator)

Audiobook

Lord of the Nutcracker Men

Ten-year-old Johnny's toymaker father has volunteered for service in the British Army of World War I. At first, his spirits are high as he completes basic training, but his tone becomes grim once he reaches the front. To ease his son's worries, Johnny's dad carves him little figurines that reflect his experiences in the war. Comprised of letters from his father, followed by Johhny's feelings, Lord of the Nutcracker Men is a haunting and poignant tale. Author Iain Lawrence has written numerous books for young adults, including Ghost Boy and The Smugglers.

Iain Lawrence (Author), Steven Crossley (Narrator)

Audiobook

Elsie's Womanhood

It is a time for celebration as Elsie prepares to marry her beloved Edward. Following their wedding, the happy couple honeymoon at Viamede, childhood home of Elsie's mother in the bayou region of Louisiana. Here Elsie's faith matures, and she learns to share her belief with others in a meaningful way. Four children'Elsie, Edward, Violet, and Harold'are born to Elsie and Edward, who experience the joys and heart-aches of parenthood. Meanwhile, the country teeters on the brink of civil war. Mindful of the tragedies unfolding around her, Elsie is touched by the painful divisions brought on by the War between the States and the devastating loss of family and friends that accompanies it.

Martha Finley (Author), Marguerite Gavin (Narrator)

Audiobook

Who Was Johnny Appleseed?

The perfect biography to 'bite into' at the start of a new school year! Children are sure to be fascinated by the eccentric and legendary Johnny Appleseed, a man who is best known for bringing apple trees to the midwest. Over John Chapman's lifetime, he saw the country grow and start to spread westward. Traveling alone- in bare feet and sporting a pot on his head!-Johnny left his own special mark planting orchards that helped nourish new communities.

Joan Holub (Author), Kevin Pariseau (Narrator)

Audiobook

Okay for Now

"The Dump" is what Doug Swieteck calls his new home in upstate New York. He lands there in the summer of 1968, when the Apollo space missions are under way, Joe Pepitone is slugging for the New York Yankees, and the Vietnam War is raging. At home he lives with a father who has lost his way and a brother accused of robbery. And Doug's oldest brother is returning from Vietnam. Who knows what wounds his missions have given him? But Doug has his own mission, too, and it begins when he first sees the plates of John James Audubon's Birds of America at the local library. His mission will lead him to Lil Spicer, who shows him how to drink a really cold Coke, to Mrs. Windermere, who drags him to a theater opening, and to the customers of his Saturday grocery deliveries, who together will open a world as strange to him as the lunar landscape. Swieteck, who first appeared in Gary D. Schmidt's Newbery Honor book The Wednesday Wars, will discover the transforming power of art over disaster in a story about creativity and loss, love and recovery, and survival.

Gary D. Schmidt (Author), Lincoln Hoppe (Narrator)

Audiobook

Across Five Aprils

Southern Illinois is a place of mixed emotions as the American Civil War erupts. For the Creightons, the war lures two sons to the Union army and one to the Confederacy, leaving 10-year-old Jethro to care for the family farm. As the war rages, Jethro does whatever he can to learn about the fates of his brothers, while the Creighton family faces its own danger. Some townspeople can't forgive the Creightons for having a rebel son-and they're willing to use violence to make their feelings known. In a state torn by conflicting loyalties, Jethro is forced to grow up quickly to preserve his family and their home. Across Five Aprils is a powerful classic from Newbery Medal-winning author Irene Hunt. Tom Stechschulte's homespun narration brings out the spirit and courage of a boy who shoulders a tremendous load--and becomes a young man in the process.

Irene Hunt (Author), Tom Stechschulte (Narrator)

Audiobook

Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and the Endurance

In 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton and a crew of twenty-seven men sailed from England in an attempt to cross Antarctica from one side to the other. Their ship, Endurance, became icebound and sank, still one hundred miles from land. What follows is one of the most amazing stories of survival ever recorded. Over the next nineteen months, Shackleton led his men through brutal perils of every kind on ice, land, and sea with one goal—that they all survive. Whether it was a treacherous journey over ice, a storm-racked eight-hundred-mile open-boat journey, or a death-defying trek across a mountain range, Shackleton’s mission never wavered: “But if you’re a leader, a fellow that other fellows look to, you’ve got to keep going.” The story is enhanced with diary excerpts, explanations of the terrain, wildlife, and navigation techniques, and the Antarctic weather that so affected the outcome of the fateful voyage. And narrator Taylor Mali’s dynamic performance transports the listener into the heart of this riveting saga. “The harrowing survival story of English explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and the ill-fated Endurance has intrigued people since the 1914 expedition…[Armstrong] brings the unbelievable journey to life with delicious details: how a handsome young stowaway was discovered too late to cast him off; how the ship itself would become frost-white, looking like ‘another species of sparkling white iceberg as it nosed its way through the pack;’ and how the ice-pack-dwelling Emperor penguins seemed to enjoy the banjo music of crew member Leonard Hussey. The true-to-life story is as thrilling as they come, and Armstrong’s lively, crystal-clear writing style is just as compelling….[An] inspiring nonfiction adventure story that young readers will devour from cover to cover.”--Amazon.com, editorial review

Jennifer Armstrong (Author), Taylor Mali (Narrator)

Audiobook

Jefferson's Sons

What does it mean when the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence is your father and also your slave master? Beverly, Harriet, Madison, and Eston are Thomas Jefferson's children, but their mother is a slave, so they must keep their father's identity secret. They get special treatment-better work, better shoes, even violin lessons-but they are still slaves. Their father has promised to set them all free when each turns twenty-one. Some of them are light-skinned enough that they will be able to enter white society-and thereby turn their backs on home forever. Others won't have that option. So just what did their father mean when he wrote all men are created equal? Told in three parts from the points of view of three of Jefferson's slaves-Beverly, Madison, and a third boy close to the Hemings family-these engaging and poignant voices shed light on what life was like as one of Thomas Jefferson's invisible offspring.

Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (Author), Adenrele Ojo (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Place to Belong

A Japanese-American family, reeling from their ill treatment in the Japanese internment camps, gives up their American citizenship to move back to Hiroshima, unaware of the devastation wreaked by the atomic bomb in this piercing look at the aftermath of World War II by Newbery Medalist Cynthia Kadohata. World War II has ended, but while America has won the war, twelve-year-old Hanako feels lost. To her, the world, and her world, seems irrevocably broken. America, the only home she's ever known, imprisoned then rejected her and her family—and thousands of other innocent Americans—because of their Japanese heritage, because Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Japan, the country they've been forced to move to, the country they hope will be the family's saving grace, where they were supposed to start new and better lives, is in shambles because America dropped bombs of their own—one on Hiroshima unlike any other in history. And Hanako's grandparents live in a small village just outside the ravaged city. The country is starving, the black markets run rampant, and countless orphans beg for food on the streets, but how can Hanako help them when there is not even enough food for her own brother? Hanako feels she could crack under the pressure, but just because something is broken doesn't mean it can't be fixed. Cracks can make room for gold, her grandfather explains when he tells her about the tradition of kintsukuroi—fixing broken objects with gold lacquer, making them stronger and more beautiful than ever. As she struggles to adjust to find her place in a new world, Hanako will find that the gold can come in many forms, and family may be hers.

Cynthia Kadohata (Author), Jennifer Ikeda (Narrator)

Audiobook