Audiobooks narrated by Bahni Turpin

Lauren Francis-Sharma's 'Til the Well Runs Dry opens in a seaside village in the north of Trinidad where young Marcia Garcia, a gifted and smart-mouthed 16-year-old seamstress, lives alone, raising two small boys and guarding a family secret. When she meets Farouk Karam, an ambitious young policeman, the risks and rewards in Marcia's life amplify forever. On an island rich with laughter, Calypso, Carnival, cricket, beaches and salty air, sweet fruits and spicy stews, the novel follows Marcia and Farouk from their amusing and passionate courtship through personal and historical events that threaten Marcia's secret, entangle the couple and their children in a scandal, and endanger the future for all of them. 'Til the Well Runs Dry tells the twinned stories of a spirited woman's love for one man and her bottomless devotion to her children. For readers who cherish the previously untold stories of women's lives, here is a story of grit and imperfection and love that has not been told before.

Lauren Francis-Sharma (Author), Bahni Turpin, Ron Butler (Narrator)

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145th Street: Short Stories

A salty, wrenchingly honest collection of stories set on one block of 145th Street. We get to know the oldest resident; the cop on the beat; fine Peaches and her girl, Squeezie; Monkeyman; and Benny, a fighter on the way to a knockout. We meet Angela, who starts having prophetic dreams after her father is killed; Kitty, whose love for Mack pulls him back from the brink; and Big Joe, who wants a bang-up funeral while he's still around to enjoy it. Some of these stories are private, and some are the ones behind the headlines. In each one, characters jump off the page and pull readers right into the mix on 1-4-5.

Walter Dean Myers (Author), Adenrele Ojo, Almarie Guerra, Bahni Turpin, Brandon Gill, Dominic Hoffman, Heather Alicia Simms, Jaqwan J. Kelly, Johnny Heller, Paula Parker, Sullivan Jones (Narrator)

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16 & Pregnant: A Novel

"A powerful and timely exploration of two friends navigating a life-changing event." —Angela Johnson, Michael L. Printz Award–winning author of The First Part Last The bond between two best friends is put to the test when one of them gets pregnant in this contemporary teen novel inspired by MTV's iconic reality show. Erykah was looking forward to junior year at East Prep High. She has a cute boyfriend, gets good grades, and has the best bestie. Money is tight, though that's nothing new in her world. But everything changes when she gets pregnant. Having a baby at sixteen was definitely not part of the plan. Kelly's plan was to dominate junior year—grade-wise and on the basketball court—and eventually get an athletic scholarship. It did not include helping her best friend through a pregnancy. But that's what best friends do, right? Besides, Kelly has every intention of being a good auntie. As the two girls navigate the pregnancy, they'll learn some harsh realities about the world and be forced to make some huge decisions. They'll also discover a deep reserve of strength and compassion…for each other and themselves. 16 & Pregnant: A Novel honestly and openly explores pregnancy through the eyes of two young Black teens in modern-day Nevada. Debut author LaLa Thomas combines personal insights, heartfelt dialogue, and authentic emotions in this powerful portrait of American teen life.

Lala Thomas (Author), Angel Pean, Bahni Turpin (Narrator)

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9 From the Nine Worlds: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of 9 From the Nine Worlds by Rick Riordan, read by Stephen Graybill, Devon Sorvari, Nick Chamian, Sile Bermingham, Paul Boehmer, Robertson Dean, Bahni Turpin, Will Damron and Larry Herron. Travel the Nine Worlds with your favourite characters from the world of Magnus Chase in a brand-new series of adventures. Find out why Amir Fadlan hates clothes shopping in Midgard, see how Mallory Keen learns in icy Niflheim that insulting a dragon can be a good idea, and join Alex Fierro as they play with fire (and a disco sword) in the home of the fire giants, Muspellheim. But watch out for Thor, who is jogging through all Nine Worlds so he can log his million steps - and is raising quite a stink . . .

Rick Riordan (Author), Bahni Turpin, Devon Sorvari, Larry Herron, Nick Chamian, Paul Boehmer, Robertson Dean, Sile Bermingham, Stephen Graybill, Will Damron (Narrator)

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A Comb of Wishes

Set against the backdrop of Caribbean folklore, Lisa Stringfellow’s spellbinding middle grade debut tells of a grieving girl and a vengeful mermaid and will enchant readers who loved Kacen Callender’s Hurricane Child or Christian McKay Heidicker’s Scary Stories for Young Foxes. Ever since her mother’s death, Kela feels every bit as broken as the shards of glass, known as “mermaid’s tears,” that sparkle on the Caribbean beaches of St. Rita. So when Kela and her friend Lissy stumble across an ancient-looking comb in a coral cave, with all she’s already lost, Kela can’t help but bring home her very own found treasure. Far away, deep in the cold ocean, the mermaid Ophidia can feel that her comb has been taken. And despite her hatred of all humans, her magic requires that she make a bargain: the comb in exchange for a wish. But what Kela wants most is for her mother to be alive. And a wish that big will exact an even bigger price… Don’t miss the novel that Newbery-winning author Kelly Barnhill calls “one of the most promising works of fiction in a long time”!

Lisa Stringfellow (Author), Bahni Turpin (Narrator)

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A Crack in the Sea

An enchanting historical fantasy adventure perfect for fans of Thanhha Lai's Newbery Honor-winning Inside Out and Back Again No one comes to the Second World on purpose. The doorway between worlds opens only when least expected. The Raft King is desperate to change that by finding the doorway that will finally take him and the people of Raftworld back home. To do it, he needs Pip, a young boy with an incredible gift-he can speak to fish; and the Raft King is not above kidnapping to get what he wants. Pip's sister Kinchen, though, is determined to rescue her brother and foil the Raft King's plans. This is but the first of three extraordinary stories that collide on the high seas of the Second World. The second story takes us back to the beginning: Venus and Swimmer are twins captured aboard a slave ship bound for Jamaica in 1781. They save themselves and others from a life of enslavement with a risky, magical plan-one that leads them from the shark-infested waters of the first world to the second. Pip and Kinchen will hear all about them before their own story is said and done. So will Thanh and his sister Sang, who we meet in 1978 on a small boat as they try to escape post-war Vietnam. But after a storm and a pirate attack, they're not sure they'll ever see shore again. What brings these three sets of siblings together on an adventure of a lifetime is a little magic, helpful sea monsters and that very special portal, A Crack in the Sea. From the Hardcover edition.

H. M. Bouwman (Author), Bahni Turpin, H. M. Bouwman (Narrator)

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A Duke, the Lady, and a Baby

Created by a shrewd countess, The Widow's Grace is a secret society with a mission: to help ill-treated widows regain their status, their families, and even find true love again-or perhaps for the very first time . . . When headstrong West Indian heiress Patience Jordan questioned her English husband's mysterious suicide, she lost everything: her newborn son, Lionel, her fortune-and her freedom. Falsely imprisoned, she risks her life to be near her child-until The Widow's Grace gets her hired as her own son's nanny. But working for his unsuspecting new guardian, Busick Strathmore, Duke of Repington, has perils of its own. Especially when Patience discovers his military strictness belies an ex-rake of unswerving honor-and unexpected passion . . . A wounded military hero, Busick is determined to resolve his dead cousin's dangerous financial dealings for Lionel's sake. But his investigation is a minor skirmish compared to dealing with the forthright, courageous, and alluring Patience. Somehow, she's breaking his rules, and sweeping past his defenses. Soon, between formidable enemies and obstacles, they form a fragile trust-but will it be enough to save the future they long to dare together?

Vanessa Riley (Author), Bahni Turpin (Narrator)

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A Duke, the Spy, an Artist, and a Lie

Founded by the ton's most ingenious countess, the secret society The Widow's Grace comes to the aid of ill-treated widows and wives and helps them regain their fortunes, their families, and sometimes discover true love . . . For adventurous heiress Cecilia Charity Thomas, marrying charming military lieutenant Viscount Gantry to save him from danger-and herself from mercenary suitors-was a painful mistake. Instead of a passionate life together, she's stranded at his chilly mansion with his unaccepting family. Worse, she finds he is actually a spy dedicated to duty over wedlock. So when she hears her sister has been driven to her death, Cecilia is determined to expose the powerful man responsible. Assisted by The Widow's Grace, she flees to Covent Garden with a new identity. But can she elude her formidable husband-even as the desire between them continues to flare even hotter? Always calm, forever controlled, Gantry has put everything aside to hunt down the traitor who nearly killed him. It's only when Cecilia leaves that he realizes his real duty should have been to her. As she continually outwits him, Gantry realizes his wife is a resourceful, courageous woman he longs to truly know. But when her pursuit threatens influential enemies, will his and Cecilia's only chance to gain justice separate them once and for all?

Vanessa Riley (Author), Bahni Turpin (Narrator)

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A Journal for Jordan

In 2005, First Sergeant Charles Monroe King began to write what would become a two-hundred-page journal for his son in case he did not make it home from the war in Iraq. Charles King, forty-eight, was killed on October 14, 2006, when an improvised explosive device detonated under his Humvee on an isolated road near Baghdad. His son, Jordan, was seven months old. A father figure to the soldiers under his command, Charles moved naturally into writing to his son. He counseled him on everything from how to withstand disappointment and deal with adversaries to how to behave on a date. He finished the journal two months before his death while home on a two-week leave, so intoxicated with love for his infant son that he barely slept. This is also the story of Dana Canedy and Charles together-two seemingly mismatched souls who loved each other deeply. In this audiobook, we relive with Dana the slow unfolding of their love and the birth of their son. A Journal for Jordan is a tender introduction, a loving good-bye, a reporter's inquiry into her soldier's life, and a heartrending reminder of the human cost of war.

Dana Canedy (Author), Bahni Turpin, Mirron Willis (Narrator)

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A Kick in the Belly: Women, Slavery & Resistance

Enslaved West Indian women had few opportunities to record their stories for posterity. Yet from their dusty footprints and the umpteen small clues they left for us to unravel, there's no question that they earned their place in history. Pick any Caribbean island and you'll find race, skin colour, and rank interacting with gender in a unique and often volatile way. In A Kick in the Belly, Stella Dadzie follows the evidence, and finds women played a distinctly female role in the development of a culture of slave resistance-a role that was not just central, but downright dynamic. From the coffle-line to the Great House, enslaved women found ways of fighting back that beggar belief. Whether responding to the horrendous conditions of plantation life, the sadistic vagaries of their captors or the 'peculiar burdens of their sex,' their collective sanity relied on a highly subversive adaptation of the values and cultures they smuggled with them naked from different parts of Africa. By sustaining or adapting remembered cultural practices, they ensured that the lives of chattel slaves retained both meaning and purpose. A Kick in the Belly makes clear that their subtle acts of insubordination and their conscious acts of rebellion came to undermine the very fabric and survival of West Indian slavery.

Stella Abasa Dadzie, Stella Dadzie (Author), Bahni Turpin (Narrator)

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A Kind of Freedom: A Novel

Evelyn is a Creole woman who comes of age in New Orleans at the height of World War II. Her family inhabits the upper echelon of black society, and when she falls for no-name Renard, she is forced to choose between her life of privilege and the man she loves. In 1982, Evelyn's daughter Jackie is a frazzled single mother grappling with her absent husband's drug addiction. Just as she comes to terms with his abandoning the family, he returns, ready to resume their old life. Jackie must decide if the promise of her husband is worth the near certainty that he will leave again. Jackie's son T. C. loves the creative process of growing marijuana more than the weed itself. He finds something hypnotic about training the seedlings, testing the levels, trimming the leaves, and drying the buds. He was a square before Hurricane Katrina, but the New Orleans he knew didn't survive the storm, and in its wake he was changed too. Now, fresh out of a four-month stint for possession with the intent to distribute, he decides to start over until an old friend convinces him to stake his new beginning on one last deal. For Evelyn, Jim Crow is an ongoing reality, and in its wake new threats spring up to haunt her descendants. A Kind of Freedom is an urgent novel that explores the legacy of racial disparity in the South through a poignant and redemptive family history.

Margaret Wilkerson Sexton (Author), Adenrele Ojo, Bahni Turpin, Kevin Kenerly (Narrator)

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A Mouth Full of Blood: Essays, Speeches, Meditations

Random House presents the audiobook edition of Mouth Full of Blood by Toni Morrison, read by Bahni Turpin. A vital new non-fiction collection from one of the most celebrated and revered writers of our time 'Word-work is sublime, she thinks, because it is generative; it makes meaning that secures our difference, our human difference-the way in which we are like no other life. We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.' The Nobel Lecture in Literature, 1993 Spanning four decades, these essays, speeches and meditations interrogate the world around us. They are concerned with race, gender and globalisation. The sweep of American history and the current state of politics. The duty of the press and the role of the artist. Throughout A Mouth Full of Blood our search for truth, moral integrity and expertise is met by Toni Morrison with controlled anger, elegance and literary excellence. The collection is structured in three parts and these are heart-stoppingly introduced by a prayer for the dead of 9/11, a meditation on Martin Luther King and a eulogy for James Baldwin. Morrison's Nobel lecture, on the power of language, is accompanied by lectures to Amnesty International and the Newspaper Association of America. She speaks to graduating students and visitors to both the Louvre and America's Black Holocaust Museum. She revisits The Bluest Eye, Sula and Beloved; reassessing the novels that have become touchstones for generations of readers. A Mouth Full of Blood is a powerful, erudite and essential gathering of ideas that speaks to us all. 'To what do we pay greatest allegiance? Family, language group, culture, country, gender? Religion, race? And, if none of these matter, are we urbane, cosmopolitan or simply lonely? In other words, how do we decide where we belong? What convinces us that we do?' The Alexander Lecture series, 2002

Toni Morrison (Author), Bahni Turpin (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Bahni Turpin