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Audiobooks Narrated by Greg Steinbruner
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Traditional stories endure generation after generation because although they are not literal they resound in truths on a human scale. Folktales remind us of wisdom so elemental it is often lost in the rush of everyday life, so that sometimes common sense makes no sense at all.
People just can't live together without telling stories. We tell stories that are funny, ironic, insightful, or just simply pleasing to the tongue and ear. Stories just seem to happen. When a story happens with the force of universality, it finds its way into that pantheon of tales that is the common denominator of cultural exchange. Here are 33 such tales, collected from Brazil, China, Korea, Russia, Tibet, Africa, from America's native peoples, and other lands, and chosen for the universality ....
Best-selling author Arthur Phillips won critical acclaim for his novels Prague and The Egyptologist, and Publishers Weekly called him a "master manipulator" for his ability to write fiction spun out of imagination and illusion. In The Tragedy of Arthur, Phillips tells the (mostly) true story of being asked to write the introduction to a lost Shakespeare play entitled The Most Excellent and Tragical Historie of Arthur, King of Britain. But Phillips knows the play-supposedly found in a safety deposit box in America-is a fake.
Dark times have fallen on McQuarrie Middle School. Dwight's back - and not a moment too soon, as the gang faces the FunTime Menace: a new educational program designed to raise students' standardized test scores. Instead, it's driving everyone crazy with its obnoxious videos of Professor FunTime and his insidious singing calculator! When Principal Rabbski cancels the students' field trip - along with art, music, and LEGO classes - to make time for FunTime, the students turn to Origami Yoda for help. But some crises are too big for Origami Yoda to handle alone: Form a Rebel Alliance the students must. United, can they defeat the FunTime Menace and cope with a surprise attack from Jabba the Puppett?
Johanna Skibsrud won the Scotiabank Giller Prize for this compelling debut novel. Napoleon Haskell lives in Casablanca, Ontario, on the shores of a man-made lake that covers the remains of the former town. When his daughter's life unravels, she retreats to Casablanca and is soon immersed in the complicated family stories that lurk below the surface of everyday life.
Johanna Skibsrud won the Scotiabank Giller Prize for this compelling debut novel. Napoleon Haskell lives in Casablanca, Ontario, on the shores of a man-made lake that covers the remains of the former town. When his daughter's life unravels, she retreats to Casablanca and is soon immersed in the complicated family stories that lurk below the surface of everyday life.
With Dwight attending Tippett Academy this semester, the kids of McQuarrie Middle School are on their own-no Origami Yoda to give advice and help them navigate the treacherous waters of middle school. Then Sara gets a gift she says is from Dwight-a paper fortune-teller in the form of Chewbacca. It's a Fortune Wookiee, and it seems to give advice that's just as good as Yoda's-even if, in the hands of the girls, it seems too preoccupied with romance. In the meantime, Dwight is fitting in a little too well at Tippett. Has the unimaginable happened? Has Dwight become normal? It's up to his old friends at McQuarrie to remind their kooky friend that it's in his weirdness that his greatness lies.
In this second book in the exceptional Curiosity House series by bestselling author Lauren Oliver and shadowy recluse H. C. Chester, four extraordinary children must avenge their friend's death, try to save their home, and unravel the secrets of their past . . . before their past unravels them.
Pippa, Sam, Thomas, and Max are happy to be out of harm's way now that the notorious villain Nicholas Rattigan is halfway across the country in Chicago. But unfortunately their home, Dumfreys's Dime Museum of Freaks, Oddities, and Wonders, is in danger of closing its doors forever.
But their troubles only get worse. The four friends are shocked when their beloved friend, famous sculptor Siegfried Eckleberger, is murdered. As they investigate, they find clues that his death may be tied to the murder of a rich and powerful New York heiress, as well as to their own pasts.
This is the second book in the series and so boasts many wondrous and mysterious things inside, such as:
· Howie, the "Human Owl," whose head turns just about all the way around
· A mean but important house cat
· Some perfectly ghastly wax sculptures
· A very thin boy named Chubby
· An awful mechanical leg
It continues not to have:
· A cautionary tale about running with scissors
· A list of time-consuming chores
· Nutritious and decidedly not delicious vegetables
· A perfectly sweet bedtime story about a wayward bunny
· Two wet kisses on the cheek from your aunt Mildred
Learn more about the series online at www.thecuriosityhouse.com.
Never mix fire with magic!
Conn may only be a wizard's apprentice, but even he knows it's dangerous to play with fire . . . especially around magic. His master, Nevery, warns him that it could all blow up in his face. Besides, they have bigger problems to deal with. There is evil afoot in the city of Wellmet, an evil that isn't human.
But Conn is drawn to the murmurs he hears every time he sets off an explosion'something is trying to talk to him, to warn him. When none of the wizards listen, Conn takes matters into his own hands. His quest to protect everything he loves brings him face-to-face with a powerful sorcerer-king and a treachery beyond even his vivid imagination.
Sarah Prineas works her own spells as she transports us to an extraordinary world where cities are run on living magic and even a thief can become a wizard's apprentice.
Never look back!
Conn has come a long way since the days when he was a thief and a wizard's apprentice. He and the dragon Pip have saved the city of Wellmet from doom more than once, and now his best friend, Duchess Rowan, wants to make him the ducal magister, the city's most important wizard. But the older wizards don't trust Conn . . . especially now that their locus magicalicus stones are disappearing! Once a thief, always a thief, they think.
To solve the mystery of the disappearing stones, Conn goes back to his beginnings, gutterboy, chimney sweep, mudlark, and, yes, thief. It's the only way he can clear his name and find the culprit. But turning back is not easy, and old enemies don't disappear. Can Conn pull himself out of the gutter one more time?
Sarah Prineas magically transports you to an extraordinary world where cities run on living magic and a young thief can become a powerful wizard.
Never turn your back on a dragon!
Sneaking out of prison isn't easy, unless you are a thief, or a wizard. Luckily, Conn is both! Trouble is, once he's out, where does he go? His home is a pile of rubble since he blew it up doing magic. His master, the wizard Nevery, is not happy with him. Worst of all, Conn's been exiled, and staying in the city will mean his death.
But Wellmet is in danger from an evil predator coming to destroy the city, and Conn must set off on a quest to fight it. Suddenly, a huge shadow looms over him and he is swept away by something more awesome than his wildest imaginings. Is Conn brave enough to answer magic's call, or is he really just a thief at heart?
Sarah Prineas's incredible world explodes with adventure'a place where cities run on living magic and heroes come from the most surprising places.
In a city that runs on a dwindling supply of magic, a young boy is drawn into a life of wizardry and adventure. Conn should have dropped dead the day he picked Nevery's pocket and touched the wizard's locus magicalicus, a stone used to focus magic and work spells. But for some reason he did not. Nevery finds that interesting, and he takes Conn as his apprentice on the provision that the boy find a locus stone of his own. But Conn has little time to search for his stone between wizard lessons and helping Nevery discover who'or what'is stealing the city of Wellmet's magic.
