Historical Audiobooks | Teen & YA

"An epic and exhilarating story of deception, love and revenge, from the extraordinary Sunday Times and New York Times number-one-bestselling author of DIVINE RIVALS. Perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Sarah J Maas and Shelby Mahurin. Brienna is an arden, a student of the five passions – art, music, wit, dramatics and knowledge. On the summer solstice in her seventeenth year, she hopes to become mistress of the passion – one who has mastered her area of study. But Brienna knows that she was not granted a coveted place at her passion-house because of talent, like her arden-sisters. She is here because someone wished her hidden. Brienna has never learned her father’s identity. All she knows is that her mother was Valenian – from the land of elegance, etiquette and learning – and her father was Maevan. Brienna has never set foot in Maevana, but knows it is a wild, windswept place, fiercely proud of its ancient heritage of magical warrior queens – yet now suffering under the rule of a tyrannical king. Then Brienna begins to have visions: the inherited memories of a long-dead Maevan ancestor, who hid the legendary Stone of Eventide. If the Stone can be found, the rightful queen of Maevana can be restored to the throne. And Brienna has the power to do it. Swept into a dangerous new life of secret alliances, generations-old enmities, deep family secrets and smouldering first love, Brienna must ask herself what is stronger: the bond of chosen family, or that of blood . . ."

Rebecca Ross (Author), Suzanne Elise Freeman (Narrator)

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Claiming My Place: Coming of Age in the Shadow of the Holocaust

"'[Narrator Ilyana Kadushin] presents a perfectly paced narration and crafts just the right tones for the emotions this serious and inspiring memoir requires.' — Booklist A Junior Library Guild selection Claiming My Place is the true story of a young Jewish woman who survived the Holocaust by escaping to Nazi Germany and hiding in plain sight. Meet Barbara Reichmann, once known as Gucia Gomolinska: smart, determined, independent, and steadfast in the face of injustice. A Jew growing up in predominantly Catholic Poland during the 1920s and ’30s, Gucia studies hard, makes friends, falls in love, and dreams of a bright future. Her world is turned upside down when Nazis invade Poland and establish the first Jewish ghetto of World War II in her town of Piotrko´w Trybunalski. As the war escalates, Gucia and her family, friends, and neighbors suffer starvation, disease, and worse. She knows her blond hair and fair skin give her an advantage, and eventually she faces a harrowing choice: risk either the uncertain horrors of deportation to a concentration camp, or certain death if she is caught resisting. She decides to hide her identity as a Jew and adopts the gentile name Danuta Barbara Tanska. Barbara, nicknamed Basia, leaves behind everything and everyone she has ever known in order to claim a new life for herself. Writing in the first person, author Planaria Price brings the immediacy of Barbara’s voice to this true account of a young woman whose unlikely survival hinges upon the same determination and defiant spirit already evident in the six-year-old girl we meet as this story begins. The final portion of this narrative, written by Barbara’s daughter, Helen Reichmann West, completes Barbara’s journey from her immigration to America until her natural, timely death. This program includes an afterword read by Helen Reichmann West"

Helen Reichmann West, Planaria Price (Author), Ilyana Kadushin (Narrator)

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The Viking's Chosen

"His orders are clear: launch a raid against England, and bring home the spoils of war. But the prophecy is also clear: General Torben will take a foreign bride-one who is a seer and a healer just like his mother. The eldest princess of England is said to be just that: a beautiful, charming, and headstrong woman. But he's a Viking army general, and she's an English princess-and one who is already promised to the king of Tara. Two worlds collide in this historical epic that's centered upon an undeniable chemistry that smolders against the odds. Richly written and injected with moments of humor, this action-packed romantic tale will leave you breathless."

Quinn Loftis (Author), Andrea Emmes, Chris Andrew Ciulla (Narrator)

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Mara, Daughter of the Nile

"This compelling story of adventure, romance, and intrigue, set in ancient Egypt, was written by the three-time Newbery Honor and Edgar Award winning author Eloise Jarvis McGraw. Mara is a proud and beautiful slave girl who yearns for freedom in ancient Egypt, under the rule of Queen Hatshepsut. Mara is not like other slaves; she can read and write, as well as speak the language of Babylonian. So, to barter for her freedom, she finds herself playing the dangerous role of double spy for two arch enemies-each of whom supports a contender for the throne of Egypt. Against her will, Mara finds herself falling in love with one of her masters, the noble Sheftu, and she starts to believe in his plans of restoring Thutmose III to the throne. But just when Mara is ready to offer Sheftu her help and her heart, her duplicity is discovered, and a battle ensues in which both Mara's life and the fate of Egypt are at stake. "Dangerous espionage, an unusual love story, and richly drawn background make this a book to capture quick and lasting interest."-Horn Book "Thoroughly engrossing."-Kirkus Reviews"

Eloise Jarvis Mcgraw (Author), Tara Sands (Narrator)

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[German] - Deutsche Geschichte von 1871 bis zur Gegenwart: Wie Deutschland wurde, was es ist

"Deutsche Geschichte seit 1871 – das ist die Geschichte der Wege und Irrwege, die ein schwieriges Vaterland zurücklegte, bis es doch noch zu Einheit und Freiheit in einem demokratischen Staatswesen fand. Peter Zolling erzählt diese Geschichte fesselnd, konzentriert aufs Wesentliche und mit Gespür für das erhellende Detail. Dieses Hörbuch ist ein Schlüssel zum Verständnis der deutschen Gegenwart – nicht nur für junge Hörer."

Peter Zolling (Author), Friedhelm Ptok, Peter Zolling, Sabine Kastius (Narrator)

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Dreamland Burning

"A compelling dual-narrated tale from Jennifer Latham that questions how far we've come with race relations. Some bodies won't stay buried. Some stories need to be told. When seventeen-year-old Rowan Chase finds a skeleton on her family's property, she has no idea that investigating the brutal century-old murder will lead to a summer of painful discoveries about the present and the past. Nearly one hundred years earlier, a misguided violent encounter propels seventeen-year-old Will Tillman into a racial firestorm. In a country rife with violence against blacks and a hometown segregated by Jim Crow, Will must make hard choices on a painful journey towards self discovery and face his inner demons in order to do what's right the night Tulsa burns. Through intricately interwoven alternating perspectives, Jennifer Latham's lightning-paced page-turner brings the Tulsa race riot of 1921 to blazing life and raises important questions about the complex state of US race relations--both yesterday and today."

Jennifer Latham (Author), Luke Slattery, Pyeng Threadgill (Narrator)

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Votes for Women!: American Suffragists and the Battle for the Ballot

"On August 18, 1920, American women finally won the right to vote. Ratification of the 19th Amendment was the culmination of an almost eighty-year fight in which some of the fiercest, most passionate women in history marched, protested, and sometimes broke the law in to achieve this huge leap toward equal rights. In this expansive yet personal volume, author Winifred Conkling covers not only the suffragists' achievements and politics but also the private journeys that fueled their passion and led them to become women's champions. From Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who founded the suffrage movement at the 1848 Seneca Falls convention; to Victoria Woodhull, the first female candidate for president; to Sojourner Truth and her famous speech, 'Ain't I a Woman?'; to Alice Paul, who was arrested and force-fed in prison, Conkling combines thorough research with page-turning storytelling to bring the battle for the right to vote to vivid life. Votes for Women! also explores the movement's often powerful, sometimes difficult relationship with the temperance and abolition movements, and takes unflinching look at some of the uglier moments in the fight for the women's vote. Votes for Women! is a mesmerizing read perfect for fans of propulsive narrative nonfiction stories like Most Dangerous and The Family Romanov. Author bio: Winifred Conkling is the award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction for young readers, including Radioactive!: How Irene Curie and Lise Meitner Revolutionized Science and Changed the World?, Passenger on the Pearl: The True Story of Emily Edmonson's Flight from Slavery and the middle-grade novel Sylvia and Aki, winner of the Jane Addams Children's Literature Award and the Tomas Rivera Award. She studied journalism at Northwestern University and received an MFA in writing for children and young adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts."

Winifred Conkling (Author), Christina Moore (Narrator)

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What the Night Sings

"A Morris Award Finalist Longlisted for the National Book Award For fans of The Book Thief and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas comes a lushly illustrated novel about a teen Holocaust survivor who must come to terms with who she is and how to rebuild her life. 'A tour de force. This powerful story of love, loss, and survival is not to be missed.' --KRISTIN HANNAH, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale After losing her family and everything she knew in the Nazi concentration camps, Gerta is finally liberated, only to find herself completely alone. Without her papa, her music, or even her true identity, she must move past the task of surviving and on to living her life. In the displaced persons camp where she is staying, Gerta meets Lev, a fellow teen survivor who she just might be falling for, despite her feelings for someone else. With a newfound Jewish identity she never knew she had, and a return to the life of music she thought she lost forever, Gerta must choose how to build a new future. 'What the Night Sings is a book from the heart, of the heart, and to the heart. Vesper Stamper's Gerta will stay with you long after you turn the last page. Her story is one of hope and redemption and life--a blessing to the world.' --Deborah Heiligman, award-winning author of Charles and Emma and Vincent and Theo A WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST CHILDREN'S BOOK OF 2018 A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF 2018"

Vesper Stamper (Author), Deborah Grausman, Vesper Stamper (Narrator)

Audiobook

Tess of the Road

"Award-winning Rachel Hartman's newest YA is a tour de force and an exquisite fantasy for the #metoo movement. 'Tess of the Road is astonishing and perfect. It's the most compassionate book I've read since George Eliot's Middlemarch.' --NPR In the medieval kingdom of Goredd, women are expected to be ladies, men are their protectors, and dragons can be whomever they choose. Tess is none of these things. Tess is. . . different. She speaks out of turn, has wild ideas, and can't seem to keep out of trouble. Then Tess goes too far. What she's done is so disgraceful, she can't even allow herself to think of it. Unfortunately, the past cannot be ignored. So Tess's family decide the only path for her is a nunnery. But on the day she is to join the nuns, Tess chooses a different path for herself. She cuts her hair, pulls on her boots, and sets out on a journey. She's not running away, she's running towards something. What that something is, she doesn't know. Tess just knows that the open road is a map to somewhere else--a life where she might belong. Returning to the spellbinding world of the Southlands she created in the award-winning, New York Times bestselling novel Seraphina, Rachel Hartman explores self-reliance and redemption in this wholly original fantasy. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR * BOSTON GLOBE * The Chicago Public Library * KIRKUS REVIEWS Four starred reviews! 'The world building is gorgeous, the creatures are vivid and Hartman is a masterful storyteller. Pick up this novel, and savor every page.' --Paste Magazine"

Rachel Hartman (Author), Katharine Lee Mcewan (Narrator)

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Very, Very, Very Dreadful: The Influenza Pandemic of 1918

"From National Book Award finalist Albert Marrin comes a fascinating look at the history and science of the deadly 1918 flu pandemic--and its chilling and timely resemblance to the worldwide coronavirus outbreak. In spring of 1918, World War I was underway, and troops at Fort Riley, Kansas, found themselves felled by influenza. By the summer of 1918, the second wave struck as a highly contagious and lethal epidemic and within weeks exploded into a pandemic, an illness that travels rapidly from one continent to another. It would impact the course of the war, and kill many millions more soldiers than warfare itself. Of all diseases, the 1918 flu was by far the worst that has ever afflicted humankind; not even the Black Death of the Middle Ages comes close in terms of the number of lives it took. No war, no natural disaster, no famine has claimed so many. In the space of eighteen months in 1918-1919, about 500 million people--one-third of the global population at the time--came down with influenza. The exact total of lives lost will never be known, but the best estimate is between 50 and 100 million. In this powerful book, filled with black and white photographs, nonfiction master Albert Marrin examines the history, science, and impact of this great scourge--and the possibility for another worldwide pandemic today. A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year!"

Albert Marrin (Author), Jim Frangione (Narrator)

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No Saints in Kansas

"A gripping reimagining of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood and the brutal murders that inspired it November is usually quiet in Holcomb, Kansas, but in 1959, the town is shattered by the quadruple murder of the Clutter family. Suspicion falls on Nancy Clutter's boyfriend, Bobby Rupp, the last one to see them alive. New Yorker Carly Fleming, new to the small Midwestern town, is an outsider. She tutored Nancy, and (in private, at least) they were close. Carly and Bobby were the only ones who saw that Nancy was always performing, and that she was cracking under the pressure of being Holcomb's golden girl. The secret connected Carly and Bobby. Now that Bobby is an outsider, too, they're bound closer than ever. Determined to clear Bobby's name, Carly dives into the murder investigation and ends up in trouble with the local authorities. But that's nothing compared to the wrath she faces from Holcomb once the real perpetrators are caught. When her father is appointed to defend the killers of the Clutter family, the entire town labels the Flemings as traitors. Now Carly must fight for what she knows is right."

Amy Brashear (Author), Eva Kaminsky (Narrator)

Audiobook

Before the Devil Breaks You

"The Diviners are back in this thrilling and eerie third installment by #1 New York Times bestselling author Libba Bray. After battling a sleeping sickness, The Diviners are up against a group of new and malevolent foes--ghosts! Out in Ward's Island sits a mental hospital full of lost souls from people long forgotten. Ghosts who have unusual and dangerous ties to the Man in the Stovepipe Hat also known as the King of Crows. With terrible accounts of murder and possession flooding in from all over New York City, the Diviners must band together and brave the ghosts haunting the asylum to bring down the King of Crows. Heart-pounding action and terrifying moments will leave you breathless in the third book of the four-book Diviners series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Libba Bray."

Libba Bray (Author), January LaVoy (Narrator)

Audiobook

Historical Audiobooks in Teen & YA