Tough Topics Audiobooks

Sometimes You Win--Sometimes You Learn for Teens: How to Turn a Loss into a Win

"#1 New York Times bestselling author John C. Maxwell brings his common sense self-help lessons to teens! Any setback--a championship loss, a bad grade, a botched audition-can be seen as a step forward when teens possess the right tools to turn that loss into a gain of knowledge. Drawing on nearly fifty years of leadership experience, Dr. Maxwell provides a roadmap for becoming a true learner, someone who wins in the face of problems, failures, and losses. The teachings from Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn have been edited and adapted just for teens. This Young Readers edition features all-new stories of real life figures that overcame adversity early in their lives, including entrepreneur Steve Jobs, Olympic Gold Medalists Gabby Douglas and Mikaela Shiffrin, and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Malala Yousafzai."

John C. Maxwell (Author), Chris Sorensen (Narrator)

Audiobook

In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer

"IRENE GUT WAS just 17 in 1939, when the Germans and Russians devoured her native Poland. Just a girl, really. But a girl who saw evil and chose to defy it. “No matter how many Holocaust stories one has read, this one is a must, for its impact is so powerful.”—School Library Journal, Starred A Book Sense Top Ten Pick A Publisher’s Weekly Choice of the Year’s Best Books A Booklist Editors Choice"

Irene Gut Opdyke (Author), Hope Davis (Narrator)

Audiobook

Better than Perfect

"They say the higher you climb, the harder you fall – how will Juliet cope when her perfect world starts to crumble around her? Juliet seemingly has it all. Popular, pretty, with laidback, loving parents, a devoted boyfriend and an effortless straight A report card. But then the cracks start to show: her parents separate, which leads to her mother taking an overdose. With the stress of college applications looming on the night of her mother’s hospitalization, Juliet takes comfort in the arms of a stranger. Now her relationship with Jason is on the rocks too – can she piece her perfect life back together before the shockwaves threaten to collapse it completely?"

Melissa Kantor (Author), Caitlin Davies (Narrator)

Audiobook

The End of Feeling

"Eighteen-year-old Benjamin Nefer seems to have it all: great looks, incredible football skills, and smooth moves that have won—and broken—the hearts of countless girls at his high school. But his hellish home life has left him feeling empty inside, unable to experience real feelings. He thinks he’s fine being this way forever…until he meets a beautiful and witty seventeen-year-old girl named Charlotte “Charlie” Austin. She may be new in town, but she’s already been warned about Benjamin’s reputation, so it’s easy for her to shoot down his advances. Like him, she’s happier keeping people at a distance, especially since she, too, has secrets she’s not ready to share with anyone. But as the tentative friendship between the charismatic football captain and the new girl grows, Charlie finds herself feeling closer to Benjamin than she’s ever felt with anyone—and he wonders if he’s really capable of loving after all. Can they drop their guard, or is this so-called romance just another game? Revised edition: This edition of The End of Feeling includes editorial revisions."

Cindy C Bennett (Author), Amy McFadden, Nick Podehl (Narrator)

Audiobook

X: A Novel

"Winner of the 2016 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work for Youth/Teens A 2016 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book Cowritten by Malcolm X’s daughter, this riveting and revealing novel follows the formative years of the man whose words and actions shook the world. Malcolm Little’s parents have always told him that he can achieve anything, but from what he can tell, that’s a pack of lies—after all, his father’s been murdered, his mother’s been taken away, and his dreams of becoming a lawyer have gotten him laughed out of school. There’s no point in trying, he figures, and lured by the nightlife of Boston and New York, he escapes into a world of fancy suits, jazz, girls, and reefer. But Malcolm’s efforts to leave the past behind lead him into increasingly dangerous territory. Deep down, he knows that the freedom he’s found is only an illusion—and that he can’t run forever. X follows Malcolm from his childhood to his imprisonment for theft at age twenty, when he found the faith that would lead him to forge a new path and command a voice that still resonates today."

Ilyasah Shabazz, Kekla Magoon (Author), Dion Graham, Ilyasah Shabazz (Narrator)

Audiobook

All the Bright Places Movie Tie-In Edition

"This New York Times bestselling love story about two teens who find each other while standing on the edge is now a Netflix film starring Elle Fanning and Justice Smith! Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might die. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him. Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister's recent death. When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it's unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the 'natural wonders' of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It's only with Violet that Finch can be himself--a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who's not such a freak after all. And it's only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet's world grows, Finch's begins to shrink. Includes a PDF Help Line Resource Guide and a Note Read by the Author."

Jennifer Niven (Author), Ariadne Meyers, Jennifer Niven, Kirby Heyborne (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Law of Loving Others

""Kate Axelrod's atmospheric, intense book captures perfectly the heady feeling of being on the edge of adulthood, when the abstract concept of 'love' starts to have real and sometimes terrifying meaning and consequences." - Emily Gould, author of Friendship  "THE LAW OF LOVING OTHERS . . . Hours after Emma returns home from boarding school, she realizes that her mom is suffering from a schizophrenic break. Suddenly, Emma's entire childhood and identity is called into question.   COULD NOT BE DISCOVERED BY REASON,  Desperate for answers, Emma turns to her boyfriend, Daniel. Will he love her even if she goes crazy too? But it's the lonely, brooding boy Emma meets while visiting her mother at the hospital who really understands Emma. Phil encourages Emma's reckless need for hurt and pain in the face of all this change and she is soon caught in a complicated spiral of loss and mistrust. BECAUSE IT IS UNREASONABLE."  In the span of just one winter break, Emma's relationships alter forever and she is forced to see the wisdom in a line from Anna Karenina: "The law of loving others could not be discovered by reason, because it is unreasonable."   A beautifully grounded coming-of-age novel, THE LAW OF LOVING OTHERS demands that the listener accept the main character, Emma, for who she is, while also creating deep sympathy for all that she is going through."

Kate Axelrod (Author), Hallie Cooper-Novack (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Darkest Part of the Forest

"A girl makes a secret sacrifice to the faerie king in this lush New York Times bestselling fantasy by author Holly Black In the woods is a glass coffin. It rests on the ground, and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives.... Hazel and her brother, Ben, live in Fairfold, where humans and the Folk exist side by side. Since they were children, Hazel and Ben have been telling each other stories about the boy in the glass coffin, that he is a prince and they are valiant knights, pretending their prince would be different from the other faeries, the ones who made cruel bargains, lurked in the shadows of trees, and doomed tourists. But as Hazel grows up, she puts aside those stories. Hazel knows the horned boy will never wake. Until one day, he does.... As the world turns upside down, Hazel has to become the knight she once pretended to be. The Darkest Part of the Forest is bestselling author Holly Black's triumphant return to the opulent, enchanting faerie tales that launched her YA career."

Holly Black (Author), Lauren Fortgang (Narrator)

Audiobook

Twisted Fate

"Told in alternating points of view by a wide cast of characters, Twisted Fate is a tensely wrought psychological thriller, perfect for fans of We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. Two sisters. One mysterious boy. Ally and Sydney couldn’t be more different—one shy, the other popular and outgoing—and when a new boy moves in next door, tensions between the sisters escalate. Graham is attractive, peculiar, and perhaps a little dangerous, and both girls are drawn to him in ways they can’t quite explain. As each girl’s relationship with Graham unfolds the more complicated the truth becomes—until a shocking encounter turns their sleepy coastal town upside down, and makes the sisters question everything they thought they knew about themselves and each other."

Norah Olson (Author), Dan Bittner, Ellen Archer, Emma Galvin, Jason Culp, Michael Crouch, Peter Ganim, Rachel F. Hirsch, Tara Sands, Tavia Gilbert (Narrator)

Audiobook

Playlist for the Dead

"Here's what Sam knows: There was a party. There was a fight. The next morning, his best friend, Hayden, was dead. And all he left Sam was a playlist of songs, and a suicide note: For Sam – listen and you'll understand. Here's what Sam knows: There was a party. There was a fight. The next morning, his best friend, Hayden, was dead. And all he left Sam was a playlist of songs, and a suicide note: For Sam – listen and you'll understand. As he listens to song after song, Sam tries to face up to what happened the night Hayden killed himself. But it's only by taking out his earbuds and opening his eyes to the people around him that he will finally be able to piece together his best friend’s story. And maybe have a chance to change his own. Part mystery, part love story, and part coming-of-age tale in the vein of Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Playlist for the Dead is an honest and gut-wrenching first novel about loss, rage, what it feels like to outgrow a friendship that's always defined you – and the struggle to redefine yourself."

Michelle Falkoff (Author), Davis Brooks (Narrator)

Audiobook

King Dork Approximately

"From Frank Portman comes the long-awaited sequel to the beloved cult classic King Dork, of which John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars, said, "Basically, if you are a human being with even a vague grasp of the English language, King Dork will rock your world."    Aside from the stitches and the head wound, Tom Henderson is the same old King Dork. He's still trying to work out who to blame for the new scar on his forehead, the memory loss, and his father's mysterious death. But illicit female hospital visitations, The Catcher in the Rye, and the Hillmont High sex-pocalypse have made him a new man.    What doesn't make you stronger can kill you, though, and tenth grade, act two, promises to be a killer. Tom's down one bloodstained army coat, one Little Big Tom, and two secret semi-imaginary girlfriends. Now his most deeply held beliefs about alphabetical-order friendship, recycling, school spirit, girls, rock and roll, the stitching on jeans, the Catcher Code, and the structure of the universe are about to explode in his face. If only a female robot's notes could solve the world's problems, he'd have a chance. But how likely is that?    King Dork Approximately--it feels like the first time. Like the very first time. Praise for King Dork Approximately: "A hilarious peek into the male adolescent mind . . . [and] inside this sarcastic teen is the soul of a poet who makes this comedic tale a refreshingly insightful read."-VOYA   "Utterly enjoyable, this book's culture-meets-romantic-confusion focus makes it a teen take on Nick Hornby's High Fidelity."-Booklist   "Tom's irreverent voice and sharply observed, deeply funny insights about public education and the teen social order carry the story."-Publishers Weekly   "Portman has crafted a perceptive protagonist, whose brilliantly wry observations will keep readers laughing and whose voice is infused with an all-too-believable mix of innocence and cynicism."-School Library Journal   "King Dork Approximately is a smart and sardonic sequel, a book for all ages.'-Largeheartedboy.com   "Whether you're male or female, old or young, these two books will put into words feelings that you've always struggled first to express and then to repress.'-Reason.com   "Sarcastic and funny, but it's also super smart and insightful about the lives of teenagers."-Bustle.com"

Frank Portman (Author), Lincoln Hoppe (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Summer to Die

"Acclaimed author Lois Lowry's first novel, A Summer to Die is a poignant and perceptive tale of love and tragedy. Meg isn't thrilled when she gets stuck sharing a bedroom with her older sister Molly. The two of them couldn't be more different, and it's hard for Meg to hide her resentment of Molly's beauty and easy popularity. But now that the family has moved to a small house in the country, Meg has a lot to accept. Just as the sisters begin to adjust to their new home, Meg feels that Molly is starting up again by being a real nuisance. But Molly's constant grouchiness, changing appearance, and other complaints are not just part of a new mood. And the day Molly is rushed to the hospital, Meg has to accept that there is something terribly wrong with her sister. That's the day Meg's world changes forever. Is it too late for Meg to show her true feelings?"

Lois Lowry (Author), Andi Arndt (Narrator)

Audiobook