Audiobooks narrated by Joniece Abbott-Pratt

As 1947 opens, Eva Cardon is the twenty-four-year-old owner of Washington, D.C.'s, most famous Black-owned restaurant. When her path crosses with Courtland, a handsome white senator from Georgia, both find themselves drawn to one another-but the danger of a relationship between a Black woman and a white man from the South could destroy them and everything they've worked for. Few women own upscale restaurants in civil rights era Washington, D.C. Fewer still are twenty-four, Black, and wildly successful. But Eva Cardon is unwilling to serve only the wealthiest movers and shakers, and she plans to open a diner that offers Southern comfort to the working class. A war hero and one of Georgia's native sons, Courtland Hardiman Kingsley IV is a junior senator with great ambitions for his time in D.C. But while his father is determined to see Courtland on a path to the White House, the young senator wants to use his office to make a difference in people's lives, regardless of political consequences. When equal-rights activism throws Eva and Courtland into each other's paths, they can't fight the attraction they feel, no matter how much it complicates their dreams. For Eva, falling in love with a white Southerner is all but unforgivable-and undesirable. Her mother and grandmother fell in love with white men, and their families paid the price. Courtland is already under pressure for his liberal ideals, and his family has a line of smiling debutantes waiting for him on every visit. If his father found out about Eva, he's not sure he'd be welcome home again. Surrounded by the disapproval of their families and the scorn of the public, Eva and Courtland must decide if the values they hold most dear-including love-are worth the loss of their dreams . . . and everything else. The author of When Stars Rain Down returns with a historical love story about all that has-and has not-changed in the United States - Historical romance set in civil rights era Washington, D.C. - Stand-alone novel - Book length: approximately 120,000 words

Angela Jackson-Brown (Author), Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Neill Thorne (Narrator)

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I am I. M. Pei

The world-renowned architect I. M. Pei is the twenty-fourth hero in the New York Times bestselling picture book biography series, adapted for audio. This friendly, fun biography series focuses on the traits that made our heroes great--the traits that kids can aspire to in order to live heroically themselves. Each book tells the story of an icon in a lively, conversational way that works well for the youngest nonfiction readers and that always includes the hero's childhood influences. This book features I. M. Pei, the award-winning Chinese American architect whose projects include the John F. Kennedy Library and the pyramid at the Louvre.

Brad Meltzer (Author), Caroline Mclaughlin, Catherine Ho, Feodor Chin, Francois Chau, Graham Halstead, James Sie, Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Rob Shapiro (Narrator)

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The Girl in the Middle: Growing Up Between Black and White, Rich and Poor

A moving and vivid memoir of a young girl—long before her starring role in the Degrassi series—who was always switching between worlds, wanting only to be loved When Anais Granofsky’s parents meet in the early 1970s, they are foreign and fascinating to each other. Stanley is the son of a very wealthy Toronto Jewish family; Jean is one of fifteen children from a poor Black Methodist family, direct descendants of the freed Randolph slaves. When Jean becomes pregnant at nineteen, Stanley doesn’t anticipate being cut off by his parents. Nor does the couple anticipate that Stanley, soon to rename himself Fakeer, will find his calling in the spiritual teachings of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh on an ashram in India. The Girl in the Middle is the story of a child who spends her life navigating between two very different worlds. Alone, Anais and her mother teetered on the poverty line, sharing a mattress in a single room in social housing in Toronto, while her grandparents lived a twenty-minute car ride away on the mansion-lined Bridle Path. As Anais grows up, she spends weekends having lunch with her grandmother by the pool, while during the week, she and her mother often don’t know where their next meal will come from, even after Fakeer’s return. Anais realizes that if she wants to be loved, she has to switch identities to please each of the adult women in her family. It isn’t until she gets a role in the TV series Degrassi Junior High that Anais finds a third world—her own—and begins to define an identity for herself. The Girl in the Middle offers a powerful lens to explore how two families, one white and one Black, faced systemic oppression spanning multiple generations and came out at opposite economic classes—and how they clashed when they shared a granddaughter. With compassion and vivid storytelling, Granofsky shares her experience of living in opposite worlds, and demonstrates how generational shame, grief and prejudice ultimately lead to love and forgiveness.

Anais Granofsky (Author), Joniece Abbott-Pratt (Narrator)

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Squad Goals

Camp is in session in this cheer-tastic middle-grade novel about making new friends, finding your place, and learning to embrace your inner Magic. Magic Olive Poindexter has big shoes to fill. Her mother was a professional cheerleader, her father is a retired NBA legend, her big sister is the new face of the oh-so-glamorous Laker Girls, and her grandmother was the first black cheerleader ever on Valentine Middle School's HoneyBee cheer squad. Magic wants nothing more than to follow in their footsteps. But first, she has to survive Planet Pom Poms, the summer cheer camp where she'll audition for a spot on the HoneyBee squad. But with zero athletic ability and a group of mean girls who have her number, Tragic Magic is a long way from becoming the toe-touching cheerleader heroine she dreams of being. Things start to look up when her best friend Cappie joins her at camp-until Cappie gets bitten by the popularity bug, that is. To make matters worse, Magic's crushing hard on football star Dallas Chase. Luckily, Magic's not alone: with the help of a new crew of fabulous fellow misfits and her Grammy Mae's vintage pom poms by her side, Tragic Magic might just survive-and even thrive-at cheer camp.

Erika J. Kendrick (Author), Joniece Abbott-Pratt (Narrator)

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Fat Girls Hiking: An Inclusive Guide to Getting Outdoors at Any Size or Ability

Fat Girls Hiking brings a proud, body-positive attitude to the world of hiking and outdoor recreation. Summer Michaud-Skog, founder of the Fat Girls Hiking community, has created a book brimming with heartfelt stories, practical advice, personal profiles of Fat Girls Hiking community members, and trail reviews. It all serves to spread the Fat Girls Hiking message of inclusivity in the outdoors. Equal parts empowering and practical, Fat Girls Hiking adds an important voice to the conversation about diversity in the outdoors, raising the visibility of hikers who have too long been marginalized. As the Fat Girls Hiking motto goes, “Trails Not Scales!”

Summer Michaud-Skog (Author), Alexandra Hunter, Frankie Corzo, Joniece Abbott-Pratt (Narrator)

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Because Claudette

From NYT bestselling author Tracey Baptiste comes a singular picture book, adapted for audio, that is both a biography about Claudette Colvin, the teen whose activism launched the Montgomery bus boycott, and a celebration of collective action. When fifteen-year-old Claudette Colvin boarded a segregated bus on March 2, 1955, she had no idea she was about to make history. At school she was learning about abolitionists like Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth, which helped inspire her decision to refuse to give up her seat to a white woman, which led to her arrest, which began a crucial chain of events: Rosa Park's sit-in nine months later, the organization of the Montgomery bus boycott by activists like Professor Jo Ann Robinson and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the Supreme Court decision that Alabama's bus segregation was unconstitutional-a major triumph for the civil rights movement. Because of Claudette's brave stand against injustice, history was transformed. Now it's time for young readers to learn about this living legend, her pivotal role in the civil rights movement, and the power of one person reaching out to another in the fight for change.

Tracey Baptiste (Author), Joniece Abbott-Pratt (Narrator)

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When Things Get Dark: Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson

A chilling anthology collecting stories from today's best horror writers, inspired by and in tribute to the genius of Shirley Jackson Shirley Jackson is a seminal writer of horror and mystery fiction, whose legacy resonates globally today. Chilling, human, poignant, and strange, her stories have inspired a generation of writers and readers. This anthology, edited by legendary horror editor Ellen Datlow, brings together today's leading horror writers to offer their own personal tribute to the work of Shirley Jackson. Featuring Joyce Carol Oates, Josh Malerman, Carmen Maria Machado, Paul Tremblay, Richard Kadrey, Stephen Graham Jones, Elizabeth Hand, Kelly Link, Cassandra Khaw, Karen Heuler, Benjamin Percy, John Langan, Laird Barron, Jeffrey Ford, M. Rickert, Seanan McGuire, Gemma Files, and Genevieve Valentine.

Benjamin Percy, Elizabeth Hand, Ellen Datlow, Josh Malerman, Joyce Carol Oates, Seanan Mcguire (Author), Bernadette Dunne, Cassandra Campbell, Erin Moon, Feodor Chin, John Lescault, Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Kate Mulligan, Nicol Zanzarella (Narrator)

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Life, I Swear: Intimate Stories from Black Women on Identity, Healing, and Self-Trust

Foreword by Elaine Welteroth In this stunning essay collection inspired by the popular podcast Life, I Swear, prominent Black women reflect on self-love and healing, sharing stories of the trials and tribulations they’ve faced and what has helped them confront pain, heal wounds, and find connection. With essays by Eniafebiafe Isis Adewale • Lauren Ash • Gabrielle Williams • Lindsey Farrar • Nneke Julia • Elaine Welteroth • Meryanne Loum-Martin • Lili Lopez • Deun Ivory • Morgan Ashley • Dydine Umunyana • Adriana Parrish • Orixa Jones • Offeibea Obubah • Alex Elle • Kalkidan Gebreyohannes • Esther Boykin • Brooke Hall • Qimmah Saafir • Josefina H. Sanders • Julee Wilson • Shay Jiles • Danasia Fantastic Life, I Swear is a chronicle of transformation and growth by and for modern-day Black women. Some of today’s most influential Black female voices chronicle their private journeys, offering testimonies of living through pain and joy with raw honesty and unapologetic self-love. In each episode of her podcast, Life, I Swear, diversity and inclusion storyteller Chloe Dulce Louvouezo explores the nuances of our diverse experiences. In one-on-one interviews and personal prose, the podcast centers on personal stories that offer universal insights into topics relevant to modern women’s lives, from identity and family to trauma and motherhood, told through the lens of Black women. A catalyst for change, this revelatory book builds on the premise of the podcast by diving deeper into themes of mental health, identity and resilience. Life, I Swear is sure to spark lively, thought-provoking, and necessary conversations that encourage Black women to return home to themselves through self-examination and grace.

Chloe Dulce Louvouezo (Author), Joniece Abbott-Pratt (Narrator)

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The Mind of a Millionairess

"Wealth education is not just for the privileged; it's for the hungry, the teachable-whoever is ready to stretch, grow, and go." It's time for women to become more empowered to invest than ever before. No matter what business a woman is in, it's key that she is not just entrepreneurial minded but investment minded. Most women are one paycheck or one man away from being bankrupt or homeless. Even those with businesses pour their earnings back into the business, and in the end, never truly see long-term wealth. It's time for that to change. The days of us just waiting for someone to save us financially are over. It's time for us to save ourselves. It's time for women to embrace their own financial instinct.

Jewel Tankard, Kim Kiyosaki (Author), Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Wesleigh Siobhan (Narrator)

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I am Oprah Winfrey

Deeply influential cultural icon Oprah Winfrey is the twenty-fifth hero in this New York Times bestselling picture book biography series, adapted for audio. This friendly, fun biography series focuses on the traits that made our heroes great--the traits that kids can aspire to in order to live heroically themselves. Each book tells the story of an icon in a lively, conversational way that works well for the youngest nonfiction readers and that always includes the hero's childhood influences. This book features critically acclaimed talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who used her struggles in childhood as motivation to become 'Queen of All Media.'

Brad Meltzer (Author), Caroline Mclaughlin, Catherine Ho, Graham Halstead, James Sie, Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Karen Chilton, Kevin R. Free, Zoleka Vundla (Narrator)

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Camp Daze

Goosebumps creator R. L. Stine teams up with the pop-culture phenomenon Garbage Pail Kids for the third volume in this New York Times bestselling middle-grade series. The Garbage Pail Kids are off to sleepaway camp in the third installment of the New York Times bestselling Garbage Pail Kids series! Welcome to the town of Smellville, where ten kids all live in a big tumbledown house and have as much fun as they possibly can. People may think that they're gross and weird and slobby and strange, but they're not bad kids-they just don't know any better. In this hilarious series from bestselling author R. L. Stine, the Garbage Pail Kids-from Adam Bomb to Brainy Janey-get into mischief at their middle school. These all-new stories are guaranteed to amuse and entertain readers of all ages.

R. L. Stine (Author), Bradford Hastings, Dascha Polanco, Eileen Stevens, Inés Del Castillo, James Murray, Jim Meskimen, Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Jordan Fisher, Kirby Heyborne, Ramón De Ocampo, Tara Sands (Narrator)

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Partly Cloudy

From award-winning author Tanita S. Davis comes a nuanced exploration of the microaggressions of middle school and a young Black girl named Madalyn who learns that being a good friend means dealing with the blue skies and the rain—and having the tough conversations on days that are partly cloudy. Perfect for fans of A Good Kind of Trouble and From the Desk of Zoe Washington. Lightning couldn’t strike twice, could it? After a terrible year, Madalyn needs clear skies desperately. Moving in with her great-uncle, Papa Lobo, and switching to a new school is just the first step. It’s not all rainbows and sunshine, though. Madalyn discovers she’s the only Black girl in her class, and while most of her classmates are friendly, assumptions lead to some serious storms. Papa Lobo’s long-running feud with neighbor Mrs. Baylor brings wild weather of its own, and Madalyn wonders just how far things will go. But when fire threatens the community, Madalyn discovers that truly being neighborly means more than just staying on your side of the street— it means weathering tough conversations—and finding that together a family can pull through anything. Award-winning author Tanita S. Davis shows us that life isn’t always clear, and that partly cloudy days still contain a bit of blue worth celebrating.

Tanita S. Davis (Author), Joniece Abbott-Pratt (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Joniece Abbott-Pratt