Audiobooks by Kelly Barnhill

Award-winning author Kelly Barnhill brings her singular talents to a raw, powerful fable of love, sacrifice, and family. Mothers fly away like migrating birds. This is why farmers have daughters. A fifteen-year-old teenager is the backbone of her small Midwestern family, budgeting the household finances and raising her younger brother while her mom, a talented artist, weaves beautiful tapestries. For six years, it’s been just the three of them—her mom has brought home guests at times, but none have ever stayed. But when her mom brings home a six-foot-tall crane with a menacing air, the girl is powerless to stop him forcing his way into their lives and her mom’s heart. Utterly enchanted and numb to his sharp edges, she abandons the world around her to weave the masterpiece the crane demands. In this stunning contemporary retelling of “The Crane Wife” by the author of When Women Were Dragons and The Girl Who Drank the Moon, a fiercely pragmatic teen forced to grow up faster than was fair will do whatever it takes to protect her family—and change the story.

Kelly Barnhill (Author), Laura Knight Keating (Narrator)

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When Women Were Dragons: an enduring, feminist novel from New York Times bestselling author, Kelly B

'Completely fierce, unmistakably feminist, and subversively funny. When Women Were Dragons brings the heat to misogyny with glorious imagination and talon-sharp prose.' - Bonnie Garmus, LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY In a world where girls and women are taught to be quiet, the dragons inside them are about to be set free ... In this timely and timeless speculative novel, set in 1950s America, Kelly Barnhill exposes a world that wants to keep girls and women small - and examines what happens when they rise up. Alex Green is four years old when she first sees a dragon. In her next-door neighbour's garden, in the spot where the old lady usually sits, is a huge dragon, an astonished expression on its face before it opens its wings and soars away across the rooftops. And Alex doesn't see the little old lady after that. No one mentions her. It's as if she's never existed. Then Alex's mother disappears, and reappears a week later, one quiet Tuesday, with no explanation whatsoever as to where she has been. But she is a ghostly shadow of her former self, and with scars across her body - wide, deep burns, as though she had been attacked by a monster who breathed fire. Alex, growing from young girl to fiercely independent teenager, is desperate for answers, but doesn't get any. Whether anyone likes it or not, the Mass Dragoning is coming. And nothing will be the same after that. Everything is about to change, forever. And when it does, this, too, will be unmentionable... Perfect for fans of THE HANDMAID'S TALE, VOX, and THE POWER.

Kelly Barnhill (Author), Kimberly Farr, Mark Bramhall (Narrator)

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The Ogress and the Orphans

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER from the Newbery Medal winning author of THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON Stone-in-the-Glen, once a lovely town, has fallen on hard times. Fires, floods, and other calamities have caused the townsfolk to lose their library, their school, their park, and all sense of what it means to be generous, and kind. The people put their faith in the Mayor, a dazzling fellow who promises he alone can help. After all, he is a famous dragon slayer. (At least, no one has seen a dragon in his presence.) Only the clever orphans of the Orphan House and the kindly Ogress at the edge of town can see how dire the town's problems are. When one of the orphans goes missing from the Orphan House, all eyes turn to the Ogress. The orphans, though, know this can't be: the Ogress, along with a flock of excellent crows, secretly delivers gifts to the people of Stone-in-the-Glen. But how can the orphans tell the story of the Ogress's goodness to people who refuse to listen? And how can they make their deluded neighbours see the real villain in their midst? The orphans have heard a whisper that they will 'save the day', but just how, they will have to find out ...

Kelly Barnhill (Author), Suzanne Torren (Narrator)

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The Witch's Boy

When Ned and his identical twin brother tumble from their raft into a raging river, only Ned survives. Villagers are convinced the wrong boy lived. But when a Bandit King comes to steal the magic Ned's mother, a witch, is meant to protect, it's Ned who safeguards the magic and summons the strength to protect his family and community. Meanwhile, across the enchanted forest that borders Ned's village lives Aine, the resourceful and pragmatic daughter of the Bandit King, who is haunted by her mother's last words to her: 'The wrong boy will save your life, and you will save his.' When Aine's and Ned's paths cross, can they trust each other long enough to stop the war that's about to boil over between their two kingdoms? 'The Witch's Boy should open young readers' eyes to something that is all around them in the very world we live in: the magic of words.' --The New York Times

Kelly Barnhill (Author), Ralph Lister (Narrator)

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The Girl Who Drank The Moon

Every year, the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest. But Xan is in fact a good witch who rescues the children. One year, Xan accidentally feeds a baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling the ordinary child with extraordinary magic. Xan decides she must raise this girl, whom she calls Luna, as her own. As Luna's thirteenth birthday approaches, her magic begins to emerge - with dangerous consequences...

Kelly Barnhill (Author), Christina Moore (Narrator)

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Dreadful Young Ladies and Other Stories

From award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Kelly Barnhill comes a stunning collection of nine stories teeming with uncanny characters whose lives unfold in worlds at once strikingly human and eerily original. When Mrs. Sorensen's husband dies, she rekindles a long-dormant love with an unsuitable mate in "Mrs. Sorensen and the Sasquatch." In "Open the Door and the Light Pours Through," a young man wrestles with grief and his sexuality in an exchange of letters with his faraway beloved. "Dreadful Young Ladies" demonstrates the strength and power-known and unknown-of the imagination. The World Fantasy Award-winning novella The Unlicensed Magician introduces the secret, magical life of an invisible girl once left for dead. By an author hailed as "a fantasist on the order of Neil Gaiman" (Minneapolis Star Tribune), the stories in Dreadful Young Ladies feature bold, reality-bending fantasy underscored by rich universal themes of love, death, jealousy, and hope.

Kelly Barnhill (Author), John Lee (Narrator)

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Das Mädchen, das den Mond trank (Gekürzte Lesung)

Mondlicht ist pure Magie. Das weiß jeder. Es war einmal eine Stadt am Rande des dunklen Waldes. Dort lebte die Hexe Xan. Keiner hatte sie je gesehen, doch sie war böse. Und gefährlich. Das wusste jeder. Jedes Jahr holte sie sich das jüngste Kind und verschonte dafür die Stadt. Na gut, sie holte es sich nicht, die Bewohner der Stadt setzten es im Wald aus, und Xan nahm es mit. So war es immer gewesen. Bis in einem Jahr das Mädchen Luna an der Reihe war, Xan ihm aus Versehen Mondlicht zu trinken gab und Luna herausfand, dass die Geschichte über die böse Hexe eine einzige große Lüge war ...

Kelly Barnhill (Author), Simon Jäger (Narrator)

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The Girl Who Drank the Moon

A young girl raised by a witch, a swamp monster, and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon must unlock the dangerous magic buried deep inside her in this epic coming-of-age fairy tale from the highly acclaimed author of The Witch's Boy. Every year, the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest. They hope this sacrifice will keep her from terrorizing their town. But the witch in the forest, Xan, is kind and gentle. She shares her home with a wise Swamp Monster named Glerk and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon, Fyrian. Xan rescues the abandoned children and delivers them to welcoming families on the other side of the forest, nourishing the babies with starlight on the journey. One year, Xan accidentally feeds a baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling the ordinary child with extraordinary magic. Xan decides she must raise this girl, whom she calls Luna, as her own. When Luna approaches her thirteenth birthday, her magic begins to emerge on schedule--but Xan is far away. Meanwhile, a young man from the Protectorate is determined to free his people by killing the witch. Soon, it is up to Luna to protect those who have protected her--even if it means the end of the loving, safe world she's always known. The acclaimed author of The Witch's Boy has created another epic coming-of-age fairy tale destined to become a modern classic.

Kelly Barnhill (Author), Christina Moore (Narrator)

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Guys Read: Terrifying Tales

Be afraid, be very afraid of Terrifying Tales, the sixth volume in the Guys Read Library of Great Reading. Eleven masters of suspense—Kelly Barnhill, Michael Buckley, Adam Gidwitz, Adele Griffin and Lisa Brown, Claire Legrand, Nikki Loftin, Daniel José Older, Dav Pilkey, R.L. Stine, and Rita Williams-Garcia—have come together to bring you a bone-chilling collection of original ghost stories with illustrations by Gris Grimly, perfect for sharing around the campfire, reading under the covers with a flashlight, and scaring your friends’ pants off. Compiled and edited by kid-lit madman Jon Scieszka, Guys Read: Terrifying Tales is a creepy-fun read (if you’re brave enough, that is).

Adam Gidwitz, Adele Griffin, Claire Legrand, Daniel Jose Older, Dav Pilkey, Jon Scieszka, Kelly Barnhill, Lisa Brown, Michael Buckley, Nikki Loftin, R. L. Stine, R.L. Stine (Author), Andrew Eiden, Arnell Powell, Christian Barillas, Johnny Heller, Matthew Frow, Paul Boehmer, Vikas Adam (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Witch's Boy

When Ned and his identical twin brother tumble from their raft into a raging, bewitched river, only Ned survives. Villagers are convinced the wrong boy lived. Sure enough, Ned grows up weak and slow, and stays as much as possible within the safe boundaries of his family's cottage and yard. But when a Bandit King comes to steal the magic that Ned's mother, a witch, is meant to protect, it's Ned who safeguards the magic and summons the strength to protect his family and community. In the meantime, in another kingdom across the forest that borders Ned's village, lives the resourceful and pragmatic daughter of the Bandit King, who is haunted by her mother's last words to her: "The wrong boy will save your life and you will save his." When Aine's and Ned's paths inevitably cross, they must learn to trust each other and make their way through the woods together to return the magic to its resting place and stop a war that is about to boil over.

Kelly Barnhill (Author), Ralph Lister (Narrator)

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Iron Hearted Violet

The end of their world begins with a story. This one. In most fairy tales, princesses are beautiful, dragons are terrifying, and stories are harmless. This isn't most fairy tales. Princess Violet is plain, reckless, and quite possibly too clever for her own good. Particularly when it comes to telling stories. One day she and her best friend, Demetrius, stumble upon a hidden room and find a peculiar book. A forbidden book. It tells a story of an evil being -- called the Nybbas -- imprisoned in their world. The story cannot be true -- not really. But then the whispers start. Violet and Demetrius, along with an ancient, scarred dragon, may hold the key to the Nybbas's triumph . . . or its demise. It all depends on how they tell the story. After all, stories make their own rules. Iron Hearted Violet is a story of a princess unlike any other. It is a story of the last dragon in existence, deathly afraid of its own reflection. Above all, it is a story about the power of stories, our belief in them, and how one enchanted tale changed the course of an entire kingdom.

Kelly Barnhill (Author), Simon Vance (Narrator)

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