A Million Shades of Gray
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Narrated by:
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Keith Nobbs
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By:
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Cynthia Kadohata
About this listen
Y'Tin is brave.
No one in his village denies that. And while his mother may wish that he'd spend more time on schoolwork than on training his elephant, she knows that it takes a great deal of courage and calm to handle elephants the way that Y'Tin does. He is the best handler in the village - and at 13 years old, the youngest. Maybe he'll even open up his own school someday to teach other Dega how to train wild elephants! That was the plan, anyway - back before the American troops pulled out of the Vietnam War, back before Y'Tin's village was attacked by North Vietnamese forces, back before they had to start digging a massive, menacing pit, back before Y'Tin watched his life change in a million terrible ways.
Now, his bravery is truly put to the test: He can stay in his village, held captive by the North Vietnamese, or he can risk his life (and save his elephant's) by fleeing into the jungle.
Newbery Medal-winning author Cynthia Kadohata brings us close to a world few people know about -- but will never forget. Heartbreaking yet full of hope, Y'Tin's story is one of lasting friendships, desperate choices, and all that we lose when we are forced to change. ©2010 Cynthia Kadohata (P)2010 Simon & SchusterListeners also enjoyed...
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To Live
- A Novel
- By: Yu Hua, Michael Berry
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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This searing novel, originally banned in China but later named one of that nation's most influential books, portrays one man's transformation from the spoiled son of a landlord to a kindhearted peasant. After squandering his family's fortune in gambling dens and brothels, the young, deeply penitent Fugui settles down to do the honest work of a farmer. Forced by the Nationalist Army to leave behind his family, he witnesses the horrors and privations of the Civil War, only to return years later to face a string of hardships brought on by the ravages of the Cultural Revolution.
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Wow!
- By Phillip King on 05-30-18
By: Yu Hua, and others
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What Elephants Know
- By: Eric Dinerstein
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Abandoned in the jungle of the Nepalese Borderlands, two-year-old Nandu is found living under the protective watch of a pack of wild dogs. From his mysterious beginnings, fate delivers him to the king's elephant stable, where he is raised by unlikely parents - the wise head of the stable, Subba-sahib, and Devi Kali, a fierce and affectionate female elephant. When the king's government threatens to close the stable, Nandu, now 12, searches for a way to save his family and community. A risky plan could be the answer.
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loved it
- By Christina McGrath on 12-30-21
By: Eric Dinerstein
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Tomorrow, When the War Began
- Tomorrow Series #1
- By: John Marsden
- Narrated by: Suzi Dougherty
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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While Ellie and her friends are away in the bush, the world changes. Suddenly they are in the toughest situations humans can confront, facing life and death decisions. They are thrown into a world where they find courage, initiative, spirit and wisdom, or they die.
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BEST 4.99$ I EVER SPENT!!!!
- By Trj on 04-05-10
By: John Marsden
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War Child
- A Child Soldier's Story
- By: Emmanuel Jal
- Narrated by: Ademola Adeyemo
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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In the mid-1980s, Emmanuel Jal was a seven-year-old Sudanese boy, living in a small village with his parents, aunts, uncles, and siblings. But as Sudan's civil war moved closer - with the Islamic government seizing tribal lands for water, oil, and other resources - Jal's family moved again and again, seeking peace. Then, on one terrible day, Jal was separated from his mother. Soon, Jal was conscripted into that army, one of 10,000 child soldiers, and fought through two separate civil wars over nearly a decade.
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War Chilc
- By Luis on 05-20-09
By: Emmanuel Jal
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Copper Sun
- By: Sharon M. Draper
- Narrated by: Myra Lucretia Taylor
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Fifteen-year-old Amari witnesses the murder of her family and the destruction of her remote African village. She endures countless humiliations as she is beaten, branded, and forced to board a slave ship. The atrocities continue as she struggles through endless days of backbreaking work and daily degradation on a plantation.
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Wonderful Story
- By Gabrielle on 04-05-11
By: Sharon M. Draper
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Slave
- By: Mende Nazar, Damien Lewis
- Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Mende Nazer tells the story of her kidnap, at age 12, from an idyllic life with her family in a village in Sudan, and being sold into slavery. Trafficked to Europe and the London home of a diplomat, Nazer escaped - only to find she had to fight for asylum.
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Heartbreaking dose of reality
- By Sarah on 09-02-09
By: Mende Nazar, and others
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Tears of the Desert
- A Memoir of Survival in Darfur
- By: Halima Bashir, Damien Lewis
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Halima Bashir was born into the Zaghawa tribe, whose customs have remained unchanged for centuries, in the remote western deserts of Sudan in the region of South Darfur. Halima's father named his daughter after the traditional medicine woman of the village, and she grew up in a happy and close-knit childhood environment. Her father became a wealthy man by his tribe's standards, so he could afford to send Halima to school and university. Halima went on to study medicine, and at 24 she returned to her tribe and began practicing as their first ever qualified doctor.
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A story that takes you there
- By Justicepirate on 05-22-17
By: Halima Bashir, and others
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To Have and to Hold
- A Cactus Creek Novel
- By: Leigh Greenwood
- Narrated by: Devon Sorvari
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
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Colby Blaine has been a loner his whole life. And he isn't about to change now. But that doesn't mean he can ignore people in trouble. When he rides up to an inexperienced wagon train under attack, he doesn't hesitate to jump into the fray. Naomi Kessling is certainly grateful to Colby for saving her family and agreeing to lead their train to safer territory.
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Boring!
- By A. Mueller on 02-15-16
By: Leigh Greenwood
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She Would Be King
- A Novel
- By: Wayétu Moore
- Narrated by: Wayétu Moore
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Wayétu Moore’s powerful debut novel, She Would Be King, reimagines the dramatic story of Liberia’s early years through three unforgettable characters who share an uncommon bond. Gbessa, exiled from the West African village of Lai, is starved, bitten by a viper, and left for dead, but still she survives. June Dey, raised on a plantation in Virginia, hides his unusual strength until a confrontation with the overseer forces him to flee. Norman Aragon, the child of a white British colonizer and a Maroon slave from Jamaica, can fade from sight when the earth calls him.
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Beautiful example of magical realism.
- By Danielle on 10-07-18
By: Wayétu Moore
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The Bitter Side of Sweet
- By: Tara Sullivan
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Fifteen-year-old Amadou counts the things that matter. For two years what has mattered are the number of cacao pods he and his younger brother, Seydou, can chop down in a day. This number is very important. The higher the number, the safer they are, because the bosses won't beat them. The higher the number, the closer they are to paying off their debt and returning home to Moke and Auntie. Maybe. The problem is, Amadou doesn't know how much he and Seydou owe, and the bosses won't tell him.
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Sweetness and bitterness...
- By Daryl on 04-21-16
By: Tara Sullivan
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Oil on Water
- By: Helon Habila
- Narrated by: Richard Allen
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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In the oil-rich and environmentally devastated Nigerian Delta, a British oil executive's wife has been kidnapped. Two journalists - a young upstart, Rufus, and a once-great, now disillusioned veteran, Zaq - are sent to find her. In a story rich with atmosphere and taut with suspense, Oil on Water explores the conflict between idealism and cynical disillusionment in a journey full of danger and unintended consequences.
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Entertaining and Timely
- By Lynn on 07-16-11
By: Helon Habila
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Jungle of Bones
- By: Ben Mikaelsen
- Narrated by: LJ Ganser
- Length: 5 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Dylan Barstow has finally crossed the line. After getting caught on a late-night joyride in a stolen car, Dylan is shipped off to live with his ex-Marine uncle for the summer. But Uncle Todd has bigger plans for Dylan than push-ups and early-morning jogs. Deep in the steamy jungles of Papua New Guinea, there's a WWII fighter plane named SECOND ACE that's been lost for years, a plane that Dylan's own grandfather barely escaped from with his life. In all this time, no one has ever been able to track down SECOND ACE - but now Dylan and his uncle are going to try.
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Excellent book!
- By t4ester on 10-02-17
By: Ben Mikaelsen
What listeners say about A Million Shades of Gray
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- marina yacoe
- 11-30-18
Good
Good book performance pretty good story kinda sad, good good sad and teaches you about war
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- Shelley Strack
- 12-16-22
Good
I loved everything about this book there were no dislikes. The story was wonderful. Thank you.
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- Lyn
- 07-17-12
An overlooked era
What did you love best about A Million Shades of Gray?
an opportunity to understand a different culture
What was one of the most memorable moments of A Million Shades of Gray?
the recurring comment they had been let down by the Americans
Have you listened to any of Keith Nobbs’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
no
If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
coming of age in Thailand
Any additional comments?
this part of American history has been buried and these people deserve a voice
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1 person found this helpful
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- J Conifer
- 11-06-12
Wonderful book! Not so much about elephants.
I listened to this book on a long drive in one day. As the story progressed I was occasionally irritated by the simplistic writing style, however the author created such empathetic characters in Y'Tin and his family that I stopped being annoyed and became very enthusiastic about the way she shared a rarely-exposed side of war. Younger readers rarely have a chance to consider the other side of the story for people who live through a war. With the young protagonist, Y'Tin, who comes to question issues around why the Americans, including a special forces unit that his father worked with, left without "winning" the war, how friends can undergo changes as their normal lives are deconstructed, and how family and extended family, in this case the elephant "Lady", are so important. The questions he ponders during his time in the jungle after fleeing the North Vietnamese army are thought provoking to readers/listeners of all ages. I really enjoyed this book because it reminded me that wars have two sides (at least) and are rarely "won". An while it was not so much about elephants, there are wonderful passages about Y'Tin's relationship with Lady and tidbits about elephants and their place in the southeast asian culture.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Hope T Cruz D D S
- 07-23-12
Beautiful narrative
Where does A Million Shades of Gray rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Delicately told story about a teenager's struggle with his passion and obstacles the world presented. The most disappointing thing about this audiobook was that it ended. Of course, it was only four-ish hours of listening. What was I expecting? After pondering my disappointment, I realized the purpose of the story and was pleasantly at peace with the ending.
Which scene was your favorite?
When the boy was completely loosing hope, life presented him an alluringly good omen.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Definitely!
Any additional comments?
Can the author make a sequel?
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- Lisa
- 11-04-10
beautiful writing
This was well read and held your interest. The point of view of a young boy in Vietnam during the war there is unique to children's literature in English, I think, and the writing is tight and well plotted, and lovely. Very appropriate for a 4th - 6th grade reader, and can be listened to by all ages.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Jan
- 07-16-12
Unique setting. Kid making hard choices...
Worth the four hour listen for the setting and most of the story. Writing style was irritating to me... the omniscient point of view felt like it was jerking me around. Y-Tin, a young elephant handler in Vietnam watches as his village is attacked and nearly half living there were slaughtered. He witnesses friends killed, homes burned, escapes, travels though the jungle and chooses to give up his elephant to save her... it had potential to be superior book, but I just didn't feel the magic.
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2 people found this helpful