Kevin R. Free has narrated 118 audiobooks on Listento.it by 107 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.7★ across 3,191 ratings. The most-rated is The Sun Does Shine.
The Very Busy Spider
Summary
A spider, blown by the wind to a fence post near a farm yard, begins to build her web and cannot be distracted from the task at hand - not by the horse, cow, sheep, goat, or dog. But when the rooster asks if she wants to catch a pesky fly, the busy spider is able to catch it in her web immediately! "A beautifully executed work for the very young that satisfies the needs of both visually handicapped and sighted children without losing its artistic integrity." (The Horn Book, starred review) "Both sighted and blind children will follow the action with ease...this is a winner." (Booklist, starred review)
©1984 Eric Carle (P)2021 Listening Library
The Very Lonely Firefly
Summary
A Very classic from Eric Carle, creator of The Very Hungry Caterpillar! When a very lonely firefly goes out into the night searching for other fireflies, it sees a lantern, a candle, and the eyes of a dog, cat, and owl all glowing in the darkness. It even sees a surprise celebration of light. But it is not until it discovers other fireflies that it finds exactly what it's looking for! Soothingly told with a gentle rhythm and complete with a surprise sure to "light up" children's faces, The Very Lonely Firefly will fast become a story-time favorite. Listen with a flashlight in the dark or under the table - and imagine the fireflies glow! Praise for The Very Lonely Firefly: "This is a compelling accomplishment [and a] guaranteed winner as a read-aloud or read-alone." (School Library Journal)
©2012 Eric Carle (P)2021 Listening Library
Healthy at Last
Summary
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams is on a mission to tackle one of the most stubborn health problems in the country: chronic disease in the African American community. African Americans are heavier and sicker than any other group in the US, with nearly half of all Black adults suffering from some form of cardiovascular disease. After Adams woke up with severe vision loss one day in 2016, he learned that he was one of the nearly five million Black people living with diabetes - and, according to his doctor, he would have it for the rest of his life. A police officer for more than two decades, Adams was a connoisseur of the fast-food dollar menu. Like so many Americans with stressful jobs, the last thing he wanted to think about was eating healthfully. Fast food was easy, cheap, and comfortable. His diet followed him from the squad car to the state senate and then to Brooklyn Borough Hall, where it finally caught up with him. But Adams was not ready to become a statistic. There was a better option besides medication and shots of insulin: food. Within three months of adopting a plant-based diet, he lost 35 pounds, lowered his cholesterol by 30 points, restored his vision, and reversed his diabetes. Now he is on a mission to revolutionize the health of not just the borough of Brooklyn, but of African Americans across the country. Armed with the hard science and real-life stories of those who have transformed their bodies by changing their diet, Adams shares the key steps for a healthy, active life. With this book, he shows listeners how to avoid processed foods, cut down on salt, get more fiber, and substitute beef, chicken, pork, and dairy with delicious plant-based alternatives. In the process he explores the origins of soul food - a cuisine deeply important to the Black community, but also one rooted in the horrors of slavery - and how it can be reimagined with healthy alternatives. Features more than 50 recipes from celebrities and health experts, including Paul McCartney, Queen Afua, Jenné Claiborne, Bryant Jennings, Charity Morgan, Moby, and more! The journey to good health begins in the kitchen - not the hospital bed! This audio product contains a PDF with supporting material, and the PDF is available to download PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2020 Hay House (P)2020 Hay House
The Underground Railroad Records
Summary
A riveting collection of the hardships, hairbreadth escapes, and mortal struggles of enslaved people seeking freedom: These are the true stories of the Underground Railroad. Featuring a powerful introduction by Ta-Nehisi Coates As a conductor for the Underground Railroad - the covert resistance network created to aid and protect slaves seeking freedom - William Still helped as many as 800 people escape enslavement. He also meticulously collected the letters, biographical sketches, arrival memos, and ransom notes of the escapees. The Underground Railroad Records is an archive of primary documents that trace the narrative arc of the greatest, most successful campaign of civil disobedience in American history. This edition highlights the remarkable creativity, resilience, and determination demonstrated by those trying to subvert bondage. It is a timeless testament to the power we all have to challenge systems that oppress us.
©2020 William Still (P)2020 Random House Audio
The Book of Fatal Errors
Summary
Rufus doesn't just make mistakes - he makes fatal errors. Clumsy and awkward, he feels entrapped by his teasing classmates and their constant laughter. But now it is summer. Rufus is free. He roams the wildlands of his grandfather's mysterious homestead, blissfully unaware of the danger up ahead. And there is much danger. Rufus and his snooty cousin Abigail soon become entangled in the tantalizing world of the feylings, mischievous fairy-like creatures desperate to find their way home. In helping the feylings, Rufus tumbles down a dark path rich with age-old secrets and difficult truths. Any move he makes might be his final fatal error - or perhaps his most spectacular beginning. Award-winning author Dashka Slater spins a tale of friendship, magic, and eternal life in this evocative and witty middle-grade fantasy.
©2020 Dashka Slater (P)2020 Recorded Books
The Cost of Knowing
Summary
Dear Martin meets They Both Die at the End in this gripping, evocative novel about a Black teen who has the power to see into the future, whose life turns upside down when he foresees his younger brother’s imminent death, from the acclaimed author of SLAY. Sixteen-year-old Alex Rufus is trying his best. He tries to be the best employee he can be at the local ice cream shop; the best boyfriend he can be to his amazing girlfriend, Talia; the best protector he can be over his little brother, Isaiah. But as much as Alex tries, he often comes up short. It’s hard to for him to be present when every time he touches an object or person, Alex sees into its future. When he touches a scoop, he has a vision of him using it to scoop ice cream. When he touches his car, he sees it years from now, totaled and underwater. When he touches Talia, he sees them at the precipice of breaking up, and that terrifies him. Alex feels these visions are a curse, distracting him, making him anxious and unable to live an ordinary life. And when Alex touches a photo that gives him a vision of his brother’s imminent death, everything changes. With Alex now in a race against time, death, and circumstances, he and Isaiah must grapple with their past, their future, and what it means to be a young Black man in America in the present.
©2021 Brittney Morris. All rights reserved. (P)2021 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.
Night Hawk
Summary
Award-winning and best-selling author Beverly Jenkins delivers another satisfying and deeply emotional historical romance set during the Revolutionary War. Jenkins continues to win readers with her adventurous tales - where love and high stakes go hand in hand.
©2011 Beverly Jenkins (P)2012 Recorded Books, LLC
Love from the Very Hungry Caterpillar
Summary
Celebrate love with a number one New York Times best-selling title! “You are the cherry on my cake; you make the sun shine brighter; you make my heart flutter.” Featuring the Very Hungry Caterpillar, this special audiobook gives all the reasons why someone special makes the world a better and brighter place. Perfect for that someone special, any day of the year!
©2015 Eric Carle (P)2021 Listening Library
The Call to Unite
Summary
From some of our most prominent spiritual and religious leaders, poets and thinkers, singers and writers, a book of wisdom to light our way in dark times. At the start of 2020, in what felt already like an age of disorder, our world faced one of the gravest global challenges in a century. COVID-19 raced around the earth, and chaos erupted. Yet in the midst of this crisis, billions of human beings responded with love. Across the globe, people sought to connect, whether in person from a socially distant six feet or via a screen from 10,000 miles away. In that moment, Tim Shriver saw an opportunity for those hungry for community to answer a call to heal, a call to hope, a call to unite. He asked monks and nuns, artists and activists, nurses and doctors, ex-presidents and ex-cons to come together to share messages of inspiration, transformation, and love. This book captures the spirit of that 24-hour event. Featuring stories and insights from Bishop TD Jakes, Elizabeth Gilbert, Van Jones, Amy Grant, Dr. Rheeda Walker, Pastor Rick Warren, Rev. Jacqui Lewis, Jewel, Deepak Chopra, and many others, The Call to Unite offers listeners a book of wisdom to turn to in hard times - filled with prayers, poems, spiritual insights, and lessons to live by that will stand the test of time. Those seeking affirmation, solace, and inspiration need only look inside for guidance in finding the light in any crisis. Only in embracing each other can we amplify the love that creates our global community. Only in coming together can we be our happiest, and our best. Read by a full cast of narrators: Mark Bramhall, N’Jamah Camara, Cassandra Campbell, Danny Campbell, Amanda Carlin, Feodor Chin, Kevin R. Free, Deepti Gupta, Dominic Hoffman, Ann Marie Lee, John Lee, Elizabeth Liang, Stephen Mendel, Robin Miles, Sunil Malhotra, Desmond Manny, Arthur Morey, Soneela Nankani, Danny Pardo, Lisa Renee Pitts, Allyson Ryan, Tom Rosshirt, Fred Sanders, Tara Sands, Elliot Schiff, Maria Shriver, Tim Shriver, and Dan Woren * This audiobook includes a downloadable PDF of photographs and acknowledgments. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2021 Tim Shriver (P)2021 Penguin Audio
The Best American Short Stories 2019
Summary
Anthony Doerr, number-one New York Times best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize winner, brings his “stunning sense of physical detail and gorgeous metaphors” (San Francisco Chronicle) to selecting The Best American Short Stories 2019. “As soon as you complete a description of what a good story must be, a new example flutters through an open window, lands on your sleeve, and proves your description wrong,” writes Anthony Doerr about the task of selecting The Best American Short Stories 2019. The year’s best stories are a diverse, addictive group exploring everything from America’s rich rural culture to its online teen culture to the fragile nature of the therapist-client relationship. This astonishing collection brings together the realistic and dystopic, humor, and terror. For Doerr, “with every new artist, we simultaneously refine and expand our understanding of what the form can be”. Table of Contents: Anthony Doerr. "Introduction" Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah. "The Era" Kathleen Alcott. "Natural Light" Wendell Berry. "The Great Interruption: The Story of a Famous Story of Old Port William and How It Ceased to Be Told (1935-1978)" Jamel Brinkley. "No More Than a Bubble" Deborah Eisenberg. "The Third Tower" Julia Elliott. "Hellion" Jeffrey Eugenides. "Bronze" Ella Martinsen Gorham. "Protozoa" Nicole Krauss. "Seeing Ershadi" Ursula K. Le Guin. "Pity and Shame" Manuel Muñoz. "Anyone Can Do It" Sigrid Nunez. "The Plan" Maria Reva. "Letter of Apology" Karen Russell. "Black Corfu" SAïD Sayrafiezadeh. Audition" Alexis Schaitkin. "Natural Disasters" Jim Shepard. "Our Day of Grace" Mona Simpson. "Wrong Object" Jenn Alandy Trahan. "They Told Us Not to Say This" Weike Wang. "Omakase"
©2019 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company (P)2019 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
Something Like Stories: Volume Three
Summary
Embark on a final trip through the Something Like... universe with this special collection of stories that promises heartwarming reunions and gut-wrenching closure. "Something Like Stars" playfully explores what would happen if someone made a movie about Ben, Tim, and Jace. Harold attempts to befriend Noah and Felix in "Something like Us", unrequited feelings challenging their relationship. Marcello prepares for the inevitable while revealing secrets from his past in "Something like Goodbye". And in "Something like Heaven", Ben must decide once and for all who his heart - and his future - belongs to. Eighteen stories await you, some short and sweet, others lengthy and dramatic, all of them emotional. Say farewell to old friends in this ultimate epilogue to the Something Like... series! Each Something Like... book follows a different gay character on their quest for love. Central to the plot is the troubled relationship between Ben and Tim, high school sweethearts who continue to meet at different stages of their lives, their chemistry changing with each encounter. Surrounding them are a wealth of friends and enemies, each with their own story, resulting in an immersive universe filled with optimism and hope, heartbreak and healing. While the series doesn't shy away from sexual content, it also focuses deeply on emotion, promising an experience that will stay with you long after the final minute. Background information from the author: I intended truly did intend for Something like Forever to be the final book in the series. This third volume of short stories began by accident. The artist of the graphic-novel version was drawing bonus illustrations for our supporters on Patreon, when I decided it would be fine to accompany each drawing with a very short piece of writing. That’s why the early stories in this collection are particularly short. Soon I found myself wanting.
©2020 James Bell (P)2020 James Bell
A Complicated Love Story Set in Space
Summary
Black Mirror meets What If It’s Us in this gripping, romantic, and wildly surprising novel about two boys lost in space trying to find their way home - while falling in love - from the critically acclaimed author of We Are the Ants. When Noa closes his eyes on Earth and wakes up on a spaceship called Qriosity just as it’s about to explode, he’s pretty sure things can’t get much weirder. Boy is he wrong. Trapped aboard Qriosity are also DJ and Jenny, neither of whom remember how they got onboard the ship. Together, the three face all the dangers of space, along with murder, aliens, a school dance, and one really, really bad day. But none of this can prepare Noa for the biggest challenge - falling in love. And as Noa’s feelings for DJ deepen, he has to contend not just with the challenges of the present, but also with his memories of the past. However, nothing is what it seems on Qriosity, and the truth will upend all of their lives forever. Love is complicated enough without also trying to stay alive.
©2021 Shaun David Hutchinson. All rights reserved. (P)2021 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.
Light It Up
Summary
A girl walks home from school. She's tall for her age. She's wearing her winter coat. Her headphones are in. She's hurrying. She never makes it home. In the aftermath, while law enforcement tries to justify the response, one fact remains: A police officer has shot and killed an unarmed 13-year-old girl. The community is thrown into upheaval, leading to unrest, a growing movement to protest the senseless taking of black lives, and the arrival of white supremacist counter-demonstrators. Told in a series of vignettes from multiple viewpoints, Light It Up is a powerful, layered story about injustice and strength - as well as an incredible follow-up to the highly acclaimed 2014 novel How It Went Down.
©2019 Kekla Magoon (P)2019 Recorded Books
The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2020
Summary
The best science fiction and fantasy stories from 2019, guest-edited by author of the mega-best-selling Outlander series Diana Gabaldon. Today’s fans of science fiction and fantasy have an appetite for stories that address a wide variety of voices, perspectives, and styles. There is an openness to experiment and pushing boundaries, combined with the classic desire to hear about spaceships and dragons, future technology and ancient magic, and the places where they intersect. Contemporary science fiction and fantasy looks to accomplish the same goal as ever - to illuminate what it means to be human. With a diverse selection of stories chosen by series editor John Joseph Adams and Diana Gabaldon, The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2020 explores the ever-expanding and changing world of SFF today.
©2020 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company (P)2020 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
Black Futures
Summary
An archive of collective memory and exuberant testimony A luminous map to navigate an opaque and disorienting present An infinite geography of possible futures What does it mean to be Black and alive right now? Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham have brought together this collection of work - essays, memes, dialogues, recipes, tweets, poetry, and more - to tell the story of the radical, imaginative, provocative, and gorgeous world that Black creators are bringing forth today. The audiobook presents a succession of startling and beautiful pieces that generate an entrancing rhythm: Listeners will go from conversations with activists and academics to memes and Instagram posts, from powerful essays to insightful infographics. In answering the question of what it means to be Black and alive, Black Futures opens a prismatic vision of possibility for every listener. This audiobook includes a PDF of contributor biographies from the book. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2020 Kimberly Drew, Jenna Wortham (P)2020 Random House Audio
Max and the Midknights: Battle of the Bodkins
Summary
Max takes on knight school in the hilarious sequel to the New York Times best-selling illustrated novel Max and the Midknights, from the author of the Big Nate series! "Fantastic! I loved it!" (Dav Pikley, New York Times best-selling author of the Dog Man series) "Max is epic fun!" (Jeff Kinney, New York Times best-selling author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series) Max didn't expect knight school to be so tough. Luckily, she has her best friends - the Midknights - at her side. But when Byjovia is under attack, the Midknights will have to face beastly creatures, powerful spells, and their greatest foe yet - themselves? Lincoln Peirce, author of the New York Times best-selling Max & the Midknights, brings more laughs, more adventures, and more silliness to Battle of the Bodkins, book two in the Max & the Midknights series.
©2020 Lincoln Peirce (P)2020 Listening Library
Mister Seahorse
Summary
When Mrs. Seahorse lays her eggs, she does it on Mr. Seahorse's belly! She knows he will take good care of them. While he swims waiting for the eggs to hatch, he meets some other underwater fathers caring for their babies: Mr. Tilapia, who carries his babies in his mouth; Mr. Kurtus, who keeps his on his head; and Mr. Catfish, who is babysitting his young hatchlings. Eric Carle has done it again, with a story that introduces the very young to the wonders of aquatic life...and some very special daddies.
©2004 Penguin Random House LLC (P)2021 Listening Library
Leaving Atlanta
Summary
Award-winning novelist Tayari Jones delivers a story based on the 1979-1980 Atlanta child murders. Told from the perspective of three fifth-grade classmates, Leaving Atlanta is a vividly disturbing, but hopeful novel. Tasha, Rodney, and Octavia each share the same wish: to be accepted. But reality soon crashes into their world, bringing with it fear and confusion. Children in their class are being kidnapped. Suddenly, popularity and recognition don't seem so important. Making it home safely through the menacing streets of Atlanta is an everyday challenge. Even their parents are unnerved by this violent outbreak. Who will protect these children now? The convincing characters, voiced by a full cast of narrators, make this a haunting and effective work. Leaving Atlanta confronts complicated and sensitive subjects with just the right amount of sorrow and promise.
©2002 Tayari Jones (P)2003 Recorded Books, LLC