The Red Pencil
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $14.81
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Andrea Davis Pinkney
About this listen
"Amira, look at me," Muma insists. She collects both my hands in hers. "The Janjaweed attack without warning. If ever they come - run."
Finally, Amira is 12. Old enough to wear a toob, old enough for new responsibilities. And maybe old enough to go to school in Nyala - Amira's one true dream.
But life in her peaceful Sudanese village is shattered when the Janjaweed arrive. The terrifying attackers ravage the town and unleash unspeakable horrors. After she loses nearly everything, Amira needs to dig deep within herself to find the strength to make the long journey - on foot - to safety at a refugee camp. Her days are tough at the camp, until the gift of a simple red pencil opens her mind - and all kinds of possibilities.
New York Times best-selling and Coretta Scott King Award-winning author Andrea Davis Pinkney's powerful verse tells an inspiring tale of one girl's triumph against all odds.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.
©2014 Andrea Davis Pinkney (P)2014 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
A Long Walk to Water
- By: Linda Sue Park
- Narrated by: David Baker, Cynthia Bishop
- Length: 2 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1985 southern Sudan is ravaged by war. Rebels and government forces battle for control, with ordinary people…people like the boy, Salva Dut…caught in the middle. When Salva's village is attacked, he must embark on a harrowing journey that will propel him through horror and heartbreak, across a harsh desert, and into a strange new life. Years later, in contemporary South Sudan, a girl named Nya must walk eight hours a day to fetch water. The walk is grueling, but there is unexpected hope.
-
-
Clean Water Please
- By Sher from Provo on 06-02-16
By: Linda Sue Park
-
Other Words for Home
- By: Jasmine Warga
- Narrated by: Vaneh Assadourian
- Length: 3 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jude never thought she’d be leaving her beloved older brother and father behind, all the way across the ocean in Syria. But when things in her hometown start becoming volatile, Jude and her mother are sent to live in Cincinnati with relatives. At first, everything in America seems too fast and too loud. The American movies that Jude has always loved haven’t quite prepared her for starting school in the US - and her new label of “Middle Eastern”, an identity she’s never known before. But this life also brings unexpected surprises.
-
-
Great story for students!
- By Anonymous User on 12-10-19
By: Jasmine Warga
-
A Single Shard
- By: Linda Sue Park
- Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm
- Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tree-ear is an orphan boy in a 12th-century Korean potters’ village. When he accidentally breaks a pot, he must work for the master to pay for the damage by setting off on a difficult and dangerous journey that will change his life forever.
-
-
Don't miss this book
- By D. Court on 05-02-04
By: Linda Sue Park
-
The Night Diary
- By: Veera Hiranandani
- Narrated by: Priya Ayyar
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1947, and India, newly independent of British rule, has been separated into two countries: Pakistan and India. The divide has created much tension between Hindus and Muslims, and hundreds of thousands are killed crossing borders. Half-Muslim, half-Hindu twelve-year-old Nisha doesn't know where she belongs or what her country is anymore. When Papa decides it's too dangerous to stay in what is now Pakistan, Nisha and her family become refugees and embark first by train but later on foot to reach her new home.
-
-
Captivating
- By Christy on 01-29-19
-
Brown Girl Dreaming
- By: Jacqueline Woodson
- Narrated by: Jacqueline Woodson
- Length: 3 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into a child's soul as she searches for her place in the world.
-
-
Memoir of a childhood, in verse.
- By Adam Shields on 02-18-19
-
Playing Atari with Saddam Hussein
- Based on a True Story
- By: Jennifer Roy, Ali Fadhil
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 3 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the start of 1991, 11-year-old Ali Fadhil was consumed by his love for soccer, video games, and American television shows. Then, on January 17, Iraq's dictator, Saddam Hussein, went to war with 34 nations led by the United States. Over the next 43 days, Ali and his family survived bombings, food shortages, and constant fear. Ali and his brothers played soccer on the abandoned streets of their Basra neighborhood, wondering when or if their medic father would return from the war front. Cinematic, accessible, and timely, this is the story of one ordinary kid's view of life during war.
-
-
A Really Epic Book!
- By Lakshmi on 08-13-20
By: Jennifer Roy, and others
-
A Long Walk to Water
- By: Linda Sue Park
- Narrated by: David Baker, Cynthia Bishop
- Length: 2 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1985 southern Sudan is ravaged by war. Rebels and government forces battle for control, with ordinary people…people like the boy, Salva Dut…caught in the middle. When Salva's village is attacked, he must embark on a harrowing journey that will propel him through horror and heartbreak, across a harsh desert, and into a strange new life. Years later, in contemporary South Sudan, a girl named Nya must walk eight hours a day to fetch water. The walk is grueling, but there is unexpected hope.
-
-
Clean Water Please
- By Sher from Provo on 06-02-16
By: Linda Sue Park
-
Other Words for Home
- By: Jasmine Warga
- Narrated by: Vaneh Assadourian
- Length: 3 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jude never thought she’d be leaving her beloved older brother and father behind, all the way across the ocean in Syria. But when things in her hometown start becoming volatile, Jude and her mother are sent to live in Cincinnati with relatives. At first, everything in America seems too fast and too loud. The American movies that Jude has always loved haven’t quite prepared her for starting school in the US - and her new label of “Middle Eastern”, an identity she’s never known before. But this life also brings unexpected surprises.
-
-
Great story for students!
- By Anonymous User on 12-10-19
By: Jasmine Warga
-
A Single Shard
- By: Linda Sue Park
- Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm
- Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tree-ear is an orphan boy in a 12th-century Korean potters’ village. When he accidentally breaks a pot, he must work for the master to pay for the damage by setting off on a difficult and dangerous journey that will change his life forever.
-
-
Don't miss this book
- By D. Court on 05-02-04
By: Linda Sue Park
-
The Night Diary
- By: Veera Hiranandani
- Narrated by: Priya Ayyar
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1947, and India, newly independent of British rule, has been separated into two countries: Pakistan and India. The divide has created much tension between Hindus and Muslims, and hundreds of thousands are killed crossing borders. Half-Muslim, half-Hindu twelve-year-old Nisha doesn't know where she belongs or what her country is anymore. When Papa decides it's too dangerous to stay in what is now Pakistan, Nisha and her family become refugees and embark first by train but later on foot to reach her new home.
-
-
Captivating
- By Christy on 01-29-19
-
Brown Girl Dreaming
- By: Jacqueline Woodson
- Narrated by: Jacqueline Woodson
- Length: 3 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into a child's soul as she searches for her place in the world.
-
-
Memoir of a childhood, in verse.
- By Adam Shields on 02-18-19
-
Playing Atari with Saddam Hussein
- Based on a True Story
- By: Jennifer Roy, Ali Fadhil
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 3 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the start of 1991, 11-year-old Ali Fadhil was consumed by his love for soccer, video games, and American television shows. Then, on January 17, Iraq's dictator, Saddam Hussein, went to war with 34 nations led by the United States. Over the next 43 days, Ali and his family survived bombings, food shortages, and constant fear. Ali and his brothers played soccer on the abandoned streets of their Basra neighborhood, wondering when or if their medic father would return from the war front. Cinematic, accessible, and timely, this is the story of one ordinary kid's view of life during war.
-
-
A Really Epic Book!
- By Lakshmi on 08-13-20
By: Jennifer Roy, and others
-
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
- Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope
- By: William Kamkwamba, Bryan Mealer
- Narrated by: Chike Johnson
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is the remarkable story about human inventiveness and its power to overcome crippling adversity. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind will inspire anyone who doubts the power of one individual's ability to change his community and better the lives of those around him.
-
-
Inspirational Story for TED Talk Fans
- By Heather on 08-07-18
By: William Kamkwamba, and others
-
The Girl Who Drank the Moon
- By: Kelly Barnhill
- Narrated by: Christina Moore
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every year the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest. They hope this sacrifice will keep her from terrorizing their town. But the witch in the forest, Xan, is kind and gentle. She shares her home with a wise Swamp Monster named Glerk and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon, Fyrian. Xan rescues the abandoned children and delivers them to welcoming families on the other side of the forest, nourishing the babies with starlight on the journey.
-
-
Wonderful, Delightful, Engaging
- By Tom on 08-31-17
By: Kelly Barnhill
-
Front Desk
- By: Kelly Yang
- Narrated by: Sunny Lu
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mia Tang has a lot of secrets. Number one: She lives in a motel, not a big house. Every day, while her immigrant parents clean the rooms, 10-year-old Mia manages the front desk of the Calivista Motel and tends to its guests. Number two: Her parents hide immigrants. And if the mean motel owner, Mr. Yao, finds out they've been letting them stay in the empty rooms for free, the Tangs will be doomed. Number three: She wants to be a writer. But how can she when her mom thinks she should stick to math because English is not her first language?
-
-
Expands Compassion & Understanding (Kids&Adults!)
- By R in Oak Park on 10-12-19
By: Kelly Yang
-
Swindle
- By: Gordon Korman
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 4 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Popular author Gordon Korman has sold millions of copies of his irreverant books for young readers. In this fast-paced caper, 11-year-old Griffin Bing finds something far more profitable than cobwebs during a haunted house sleepover - a rare Babe Ruth baseball card. But when a swindler scams the card from Griffin for only $125, the resourceful sixth grader and his friends plot their revenge.
-
-
No at all what I expected
- By Lynn on 01-11-12
By: Gordon Korman
-
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
- By: Kate DiCamillo
- Narrated by: Judith Ivey
- Length: 1 hr and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kate DiCamillo takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the depths of the ocean to the net of a fisherman, from the top of a garbage heap to the fireside of a hoboes' camp, from the bedside of an ailing child to the bustling streets of Memphis. And along the way, we are shown a true miracle, that even a heart of the most breakable kind can learn to love, to lose, and to love again.
-
-
Stunning, Healing
- By Chris on 07-21-06
By: Kate DiCamillo
-
Journey to the River Sea
- By: Eva Ibbotson
- Narrated by: Imelda Staunton
- Length: 3 hrs
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Maia, an orphan, can't wait to reach her distant relatives a thousand miles up the Amazon. She imagines a loving family with whom she will share great adventures. Instead she finds two spiteful cousins who see the jungle as the enemy and refuse to go outdoors.
-
-
Abridged
- By apples on 04-03-21
By: Eva Ibbotson
-
Chains
- The Seeds of America Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Laurie Halse Anderson
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the Revolutionary War begins, 13-year-old Isabel wages her own fight...for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate, become the property of a malicious New York City couple, the Locktons, who have no sympathy for the American Revolution and even less for Ruth and Isabel. When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion.
-
-
Fabulous!!!
- By Myrisha Goodson on 06-12-22
-
Mr. Lemoncello's Library: Books 1-3
- Mr. Lemoncello's Library
- By: Chris Grabenstein
- Narrated by: Jesse Bernstein, Chris Grabenstein
- Length: 19 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discover what James Patterson calls “the coolest library in the world” in the New York Times bestselling, award-winning Mr. Lemoncello’s Library series!
-
Patient Zero (Revised Edition)
- Solving the Mysteries of Deadly Epidemics
- By: Marilee Peters
- Narrated by: Jo Vannicola
- Length: 5 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
More people have died in disease epidemics than in wars or other disasters, but the process of identifying these diseases and determining how they spread is often a terrifying gamble. Epidemiologists have been ignored, mocked, or silenced all while trying to protect the population and identify “patient zero”—the first person to have contracted the disease, and a key piece in solving the epidemic puzzle. Patient Zero tracks the gripping tales of eight epidemics and pandemics—how they started, how they spread, and the fight to stop them.
By: Marilee Peters
-
Inside Out and Back Again
- By: Thanhha Lai
- Narrated by: Doan Ly
- Length: 2 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written in rich, free-verse poems, this moving tale follows a young Vietnamese girl as she leaves her war-torn homeland for America in 1975. With Saigon about to fall to the communists, 10-year-old Hà, her mother, and brothers are forced to flee their beloved city and head to the United States. But living in a new country isn’t easy for Hà, and she finds adapting to its strange customs ever challenging.
-
-
Shouldn't be a children's book
- By SJC on 07-24-12
By: Thanhha Lai
-
A Thousand Splendid Suns
- By: Khaled Hosseini
- Narrated by: Atossa Leoni
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss, and by fate. As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them, in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul, they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation.
-
-
Completely brilliant
- By Suze Weinberg on 06-01-07
By: Khaled Hosseini
-
Alone
- By: Megan E. Freeman
- Narrated by: Gail Shalan
- Length: 4 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When 12-year-old Maddie hatches a scheme for a secret sleepover with her two best friends, she ends up waking up to a nightmare. She’s alone - left behind in a town that has been mysteriously evacuated and abandoned. With no one to rely on, no power, and no working phone lines or internet access, Maddie slowly learns to survive on her own. Her only companions are a Rottweiler named George and all the books she can read. After a rough start, Maddie learns to trust her own ingenuity and invents clever ways to survive in a place that has been deserted and forgotten.
-
-
WARNING
- By Cynthia A Samuels on 09-18-22
By: Megan E. Freeman
Critic reviews
Related to this topic
-
Ninth Ward
- By: Jewell Parker Rhodes
- Narrated by: Sisi Aisha Johnson
- Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Acclaimed novelist Jewell Parker Rhodes is an American Book Award winner. Rhodes’ Ninth Ward is a stunning tale set against the horrors of Hurricane Katrina. Orphaned 12-year-old Lanesha lives with Mama Ya-Ya, the midwife who birthed her, in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward. Although Lanesha is different—able to see ghosts like that of her dead mother—she never feels unloved, an empowerment that helps her survive the devastating storm.
-
-
The only thing worse than narrator is story itself
- By Erin on 02-13-13
-
Sold
- By: Patricia McCormick
- Narrated by: Justine Eyre
- Length: 3 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in a small hut on a mountain in Nepal. Though she is desperately poor, her life is full of simple pleasures, like playing hopscotch with her best friend from school and having her mother brush her hair by the light of an oil lamp. But when the harsh Himalayan monsoons wash away all that remains of the family's crops, Lakshmi's stepfather says she must leave home and take a job to support her family.
-
-
Perfectly Haunting....
- By Theodore on 01-13-13
-
Thousand Pieces of Gold
- By: Ruthanne Lum McCunn
- Narrated by: Emily Zeller
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lalu Nathoy's father called his thirteen-year-old daughter his treasure, his "thousand pieces of gold," yet when famine strikes northern China in 1871, he is forced to sell her. Polly, as Lalu is later called, is sold to a brothel, sold again to a slave merchant bound for America, auctioned to a saloonkeeper, and offered as a prize in a poker game. This biographical novel is the extraordinary story of one woman's fight for independence and dignity in the American West.
-
-
Disjointed account of an extraordinary life
- By David on 05-01-15
-
Island of a Thousand Mirrors
- By: Nayomi Munaweera
- Narrated by: Priya Ayyar
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Yasodhara tells the story of her own Sinhala family, rich in love, with everything they could ask for. As a child in idyllic Colombo, social hierarchies, their parents’ ambitions, teenage love shape Yasodhara and her siblings’ lives, and, subtly, the differences between Tamil and Sinhala people; but the peace is shattered by the tragedies of war. Yasodhara's family escapes to Los Angeles. But Yasodhara's life has already become intertwined with a young Tamil girl's.
-
-
Pronunciation
- By Mahidevran on 04-07-18
By: Nayomi Munaweera
-
The Hundred Wells of Salaga
- A Novel
- By: Ayesha Harruna Attah
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards
- Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Aminah lives an idyllic life until she is brutally separated from her home and forced on a journey that turns her from a daydreamer into a resilient woman. Wurche, the willful daughter of a chief, is desperate to play an important role in her father's court. These two women's lives converge as infighting among Wurche's people threatens the region, during the height of the slave trade at the end of the nineteenth century. The Hundred Wells of Salaga offers a remarkable view of slavery and how the scramble for Africa affected the lives of everyday people.
-
Nowhere is a Place
- By: Bernice McFadden
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nothing can mend a broken heart quite like family. Sherry has struggled all her life to understand who she is, where she comes from, and, most important, why her mother slapped her cheek one summer afternoon. The incident has haunted Sherry, and it causes her to dig into her family's past. Like many family histories, it is fractured and stubbornly reluctant to reveal its secrets. But Sherry is determined to know the full story. In a few days' time, her extended family will gather for a reunion, and Sherry sets off across the country with her mother, Dumpling, to join them.
-
-
A Mother and Daughter Tear. It. Up.
- By Susie on 01-15-14
By: Bernice McFadden
-
Ninth Ward
- By: Jewell Parker Rhodes
- Narrated by: Sisi Aisha Johnson
- Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Acclaimed novelist Jewell Parker Rhodes is an American Book Award winner. Rhodes’ Ninth Ward is a stunning tale set against the horrors of Hurricane Katrina. Orphaned 12-year-old Lanesha lives with Mama Ya-Ya, the midwife who birthed her, in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward. Although Lanesha is different—able to see ghosts like that of her dead mother—she never feels unloved, an empowerment that helps her survive the devastating storm.
-
-
The only thing worse than narrator is story itself
- By Erin on 02-13-13
-
Sold
- By: Patricia McCormick
- Narrated by: Justine Eyre
- Length: 3 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in a small hut on a mountain in Nepal. Though she is desperately poor, her life is full of simple pleasures, like playing hopscotch with her best friend from school and having her mother brush her hair by the light of an oil lamp. But when the harsh Himalayan monsoons wash away all that remains of the family's crops, Lakshmi's stepfather says she must leave home and take a job to support her family.
-
-
Perfectly Haunting....
- By Theodore on 01-13-13
-
Thousand Pieces of Gold
- By: Ruthanne Lum McCunn
- Narrated by: Emily Zeller
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lalu Nathoy's father called his thirteen-year-old daughter his treasure, his "thousand pieces of gold," yet when famine strikes northern China in 1871, he is forced to sell her. Polly, as Lalu is later called, is sold to a brothel, sold again to a slave merchant bound for America, auctioned to a saloonkeeper, and offered as a prize in a poker game. This biographical novel is the extraordinary story of one woman's fight for independence and dignity in the American West.
-
-
Disjointed account of an extraordinary life
- By David on 05-01-15
-
Island of a Thousand Mirrors
- By: Nayomi Munaweera
- Narrated by: Priya Ayyar
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Yasodhara tells the story of her own Sinhala family, rich in love, with everything they could ask for. As a child in idyllic Colombo, social hierarchies, their parents’ ambitions, teenage love shape Yasodhara and her siblings’ lives, and, subtly, the differences between Tamil and Sinhala people; but the peace is shattered by the tragedies of war. Yasodhara's family escapes to Los Angeles. But Yasodhara's life has already become intertwined with a young Tamil girl's.
-
-
Pronunciation
- By Mahidevran on 04-07-18
By: Nayomi Munaweera
-
The Hundred Wells of Salaga
- A Novel
- By: Ayesha Harruna Attah
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards
- Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Aminah lives an idyllic life until she is brutally separated from her home and forced on a journey that turns her from a daydreamer into a resilient woman. Wurche, the willful daughter of a chief, is desperate to play an important role in her father's court. These two women's lives converge as infighting among Wurche's people threatens the region, during the height of the slave trade at the end of the nineteenth century. The Hundred Wells of Salaga offers a remarkable view of slavery and how the scramble for Africa affected the lives of everyday people.
-
Nowhere is a Place
- By: Bernice McFadden
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nothing can mend a broken heart quite like family. Sherry has struggled all her life to understand who she is, where she comes from, and, most important, why her mother slapped her cheek one summer afternoon. The incident has haunted Sherry, and it causes her to dig into her family's past. Like many family histories, it is fractured and stubbornly reluctant to reveal its secrets. But Sherry is determined to know the full story. In a few days' time, her extended family will gather for a reunion, and Sherry sets off across the country with her mother, Dumpling, to join them.
-
-
A Mother and Daughter Tear. It. Up.
- By Susie on 01-15-14
By: Bernice McFadden
-
Midnight Robber
- By: Nalo Hopkinson
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's Carnival time and the Caribbean-colonized planet of Toussaint is celebrating with music, dance, and pageantry. Masked "Midnight Robbers" waylay revelers with brandished weapons and spellbinding words. To young Tan-Tan, the Robber Queen is simply a favorite costume to wear at the festival - until her power-corrupted father commits an unforgiveable crime. Suddenly, both father and daughter are thrust into the brutal world of New Half-Way Tree....
-
-
Even Through the Dimensions, Girls Are Not Safe
- By mary on 12-11-12
By: Nalo Hopkinson
-
Jerusalem Maiden
- By: Talia Carner
- Narrated by: Lise Bruneau
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the waning days of the Ottoman Empire, a young Orthodox Jewish woman in the holy city of Jerusalem is expected to marry and produce many sons to help hasten the Messiah's arrival. While the feisty Esther Kaminsky understands her obligations, her artistic talent inspires her to secretly explore worlds outside her religion, to dream of studying in Paris - and to believe that God has a special destiny for her. When tragedy strikes her family, Esther views it as a warning from an angry God....
-
-
No dreaming, No painting, No thinking . . .
- By Debbie on 04-18-15
By: Talia Carner
-
A Thousand Beginnings and Endings
- By: Ellen Oh, Elsie Chapman
- Narrated by: Kim Mai Guest, Vikas Adam
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Star-crossed lovers, meddling immortals, feigned identities, battles of wits, and dire warnings: these are the stuff of fairy tale, myth, and folklore that have drawn us in for centuries. Fifteen best-selling and acclaimed authors reimagine the folklore and mythology of East and South Asia in short stories that are by turns enchanting, heartbreaking, romantic, and passionate. From fantasy to science fiction to contemporary, from romance to tales of revenge, these stories will beguile listeners from start to finish.
-
-
great stories, terrible narrators
- By Amazon Customer on 05-11-19
By: Ellen Oh, and others
-
First They Killed My Father
- A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers
- By: Loung Ung
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of seven children of a high-ranking government official, Loung Ung lived a privileged life in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh until the age of five. Then, in April 1975, Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army stormed into the city, forcing Ung's family to flee and, eventually, to disperse. Loung was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans, her siblings were sent to labor camps, and those who survived the horrors would not be reunited until the Khmer Rouge was destroyed.
-
-
Brutal, Heartbreaking
- By Gillian on 01-27-15
By: Loung Ung
-
Henna House
- By: Nomi Eve
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Yemen in 1920: After passage of the Orphan's Decree, any unbetrothed Jewish child left orphaned will be instantly adopted by the local Muslim community. With her parents' health failing, and no spousal prospects in sight, Adela Damari's situation looks dire until her uncle arrives from a faraway city, bringing with him a cousin and aunt who introduce Adela to the powerful rituals of henna tattooing.
-
-
historical fiction, read like an autobiography.
- By Anonymous User on 02-11-19
By: Nomi Eve
-
Vampires in the Lemon Grove
- Stories
- By: Karen Russell
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey, Joy Osmanski, Kaleo Griffith, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the collection's marvelous title story, two aging vampires in a sun-drenched Italian lemon grove find their hundred-year marriage tested when one of them develops a fear of flying. In "The Seagull Army Descends on Strong Beach, 1979", a dejected teenager discovers that the universe is communicating with him through talismanic objects left in a seagull's nest. "Proving Up" and "The Graveless Doll of Eric Mutis" find Russell veering into more sinister territory.
-
-
Stylish modern magic realism
- By Ryan on 04-10-13
By: Karen Russell
-
I Will Send Rain
- A Novel
- By: Rae Meadows
- Narrated by: Emily Sutton-Smith
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Annie Bell can't escape the dust. It's in her hair, covering the windowsills, coating the animals in the barn, and in the corners of her children's dry, cracked lips. It's 1934, and the Bell farm in Mulehead, Oklahoma, is struggling as the earliest storms of the Dust Bowl descend. The wheat harvests are drying out, and people are packing up their belongings as storms lay waste to the Great Plains.
-
-
We've seen pictures of the Dust Bowl
- By Henwhisperer on 10-12-16
By: Rae Meadows
-
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
- Fairyland, Book 1
- By: Catherynne M. Valente
- Narrated by: Catherynne M. Valente
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
September is a girl who longs for adventure. When she is invited to Fairyland by a Green Wind and a Leopard, well, of course she accepts. (Mightn’t you?) But Fairyland is in turmoil, and it will take one 12-year-old girl, a book-loving dragon, and a strange and almost human boy named Saturday to vanquish an evil Marquess and restore order.
-
-
The most charming book I have read since childhood
- By David on 09-15-11
-
An Unseemly Wife
- By: E. B. Moore
- Narrated by: Natalie Gold
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Not all journeys come to an end.... 1867: Ruth Holtz has more blessings than she can count - a loving husband, an abundant farm, beautiful children, and the warm embrace of the Amish community. Then, the English arrive, spreading incredible stories of free land in the West and inspiring her husband to dream of a new life in Idaho. Breaking the rules of their Order, Ruth’s husband packs up his pregnant wife and their four children and joins a wagon train heading west.
-
-
disappointed
- By dave on 01-02-23
By: E. B. Moore
-
Arcadia
- By: Lauren Groff
- Narrated by: Andrew Garman
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lauren Groff’s acclaimed debut novel The Monsters of Templeton was short-listed for the Orange Prize. Her second novel, Arcadia opens in the late 1960s with a group of young idealists forming a commune in western New York State. Into this group is born Bit, who grows into a quiet, distant man. Over the course of 50 years, Bit witnesses the utopia crumble and the world change in unimaginable ways.
-
-
Luscious prose, intimate and realistic
- By Kathleen on 03-22-12
By: Lauren Groff
-
Homeless Bird
- By: Gloria Whelan
- Narrated by: Zehra Jane Naqvi
- Length: 3 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Like many girls her age in India, thirteen-year-old Koly faces her arranged marriage with hope and courage. But Koly's story takes a terrible turn when in the wake of the ceremony, she discovers she's been horribly misled—her life has been sold for a dowry. Can she forge her own future, even in the face of time-worn tradition? Perfect for schools and classrooms, this universally acclaimed, bestselling, and award-winning novel by master of historical fiction Gloria Whelan is a gripping tale of hope that will transport listeners of all ages.
-
-
Beautiful
- By Zrexsmom on 10-30-24
By: Gloria Whelan
-
Other Voices, Other Rooms
- By: Truman Capote
- Narrated by: Cody Roberts
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the age of 12, Joel Knox is summoned to meet the father who abandoned him at birth. But when Joel arrives at the decaying mansion in Skully's Landing, his father is nowhere in sight. What he finds instead is a sullen stepmother who delights in killing birds; an uncle with the face - and heart - of a debauched child; and a fearsome little girl named Idabel who may offer him the closest thing he has ever known to love.
-
-
Capote’s coming of age story
- By Daniel Diffin on 11-08-23
By: Truman Capote
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Night Diary
- By: Veera Hiranandani
- Narrated by: Priya Ayyar
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1947, and India, newly independent of British rule, has been separated into two countries: Pakistan and India. The divide has created much tension between Hindus and Muslims, and hundreds of thousands are killed crossing borders. Half-Muslim, half-Hindu twelve-year-old Nisha doesn't know where she belongs or what her country is anymore. When Papa decides it's too dangerous to stay in what is now Pakistan, Nisha and her family become refugees and embark first by train but later on foot to reach her new home.
-
-
Captivating
- By Christy on 01-29-19
-
When Stars Are Scattered
- By: Victoria Jamieson, Omar Mohamed
- Narrated by: full cast, Dominic Hoffman, Christine Avila, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Omar and his younger brother, Hassan, have spent most of their lives in Dadaab, a refugee camp in Kenya. Life is hard there: never enough food, achingly dull, and without access to the medical care Omar knows his nonverbal brother needs. So when Omar has the opportunity to go to school, he knows it might be a chance to change their future...but it would also mean leaving his brother, the only family member he has left, every day.
-
-
Informative . Very interesting !
- By vanessa nance on 04-01-22
By: Victoria Jamieson, and others
-
Playing Atari with Saddam Hussein
- Based on a True Story
- By: Jennifer Roy, Ali Fadhil
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 3 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the start of 1991, 11-year-old Ali Fadhil was consumed by his love for soccer, video games, and American television shows. Then, on January 17, Iraq's dictator, Saddam Hussein, went to war with 34 nations led by the United States. Over the next 43 days, Ali and his family survived bombings, food shortages, and constant fear. Ali and his brothers played soccer on the abandoned streets of their Basra neighborhood, wondering when or if their medic father would return from the war front. Cinematic, accessible, and timely, this is the story of one ordinary kid's view of life during war.
-
-
A Really Epic Book!
- By Lakshmi on 08-13-20
By: Jennifer Roy, and others
-
A Single Shard
- By: Linda Sue Park
- Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm
- Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tree-ear is an orphan boy in a 12th-century Korean potters’ village. When he accidentally breaks a pot, he must work for the master to pay for the damage by setting off on a difficult and dangerous journey that will change his life forever.
-
-
Don't miss this book
- By D. Court on 05-02-04
By: Linda Sue Park
-
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (Young Readers Edition)
- By: William Kamkwamba, Bryan Mealer
- Narrated by: Korey Jackson
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a terrible drought struck William Kamkwamba's tiny village in Malawi, his family lost all of the season's crops, leaving them with nothing to eat and nothing to sell. William began to explore science books in his village library, looking for a solution. There, he came up with the idea that would change his family's life forever: he could build a windmill. Made out of scrap metal and old bicycle parts, William's windmill brought electricity to his home and helped his family pump the water they needed to farm the land.
-
-
if You Try, You Can Do Anything!
- By Customer789 on 04-14-24
By: William Kamkwamba, and others
-
A Long Walk to Water
- By: Linda Sue Park
- Narrated by: David Baker, Cynthia Bishop
- Length: 2 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1985 southern Sudan is ravaged by war. Rebels and government forces battle for control, with ordinary people…people like the boy, Salva Dut…caught in the middle. When Salva's village is attacked, he must embark on a harrowing journey that will propel him through horror and heartbreak, across a harsh desert, and into a strange new life. Years later, in contemporary South Sudan, a girl named Nya must walk eight hours a day to fetch water. The walk is grueling, but there is unexpected hope.
-
-
Clean Water Please
- By Sher from Provo on 06-02-16
By: Linda Sue Park
-
The Night Diary
- By: Veera Hiranandani
- Narrated by: Priya Ayyar
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1947, and India, newly independent of British rule, has been separated into two countries: Pakistan and India. The divide has created much tension between Hindus and Muslims, and hundreds of thousands are killed crossing borders. Half-Muslim, half-Hindu twelve-year-old Nisha doesn't know where she belongs or what her country is anymore. When Papa decides it's too dangerous to stay in what is now Pakistan, Nisha and her family become refugees and embark first by train but later on foot to reach her new home.
-
-
Captivating
- By Christy on 01-29-19
-
When Stars Are Scattered
- By: Victoria Jamieson, Omar Mohamed
- Narrated by: full cast, Dominic Hoffman, Christine Avila, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Omar and his younger brother, Hassan, have spent most of their lives in Dadaab, a refugee camp in Kenya. Life is hard there: never enough food, achingly dull, and without access to the medical care Omar knows his nonverbal brother needs. So when Omar has the opportunity to go to school, he knows it might be a chance to change their future...but it would also mean leaving his brother, the only family member he has left, every day.
-
-
Informative . Very interesting !
- By vanessa nance on 04-01-22
By: Victoria Jamieson, and others
-
Playing Atari with Saddam Hussein
- Based on a True Story
- By: Jennifer Roy, Ali Fadhil
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 3 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the start of 1991, 11-year-old Ali Fadhil was consumed by his love for soccer, video games, and American television shows. Then, on January 17, Iraq's dictator, Saddam Hussein, went to war with 34 nations led by the United States. Over the next 43 days, Ali and his family survived bombings, food shortages, and constant fear. Ali and his brothers played soccer on the abandoned streets of their Basra neighborhood, wondering when or if their medic father would return from the war front. Cinematic, accessible, and timely, this is the story of one ordinary kid's view of life during war.
-
-
A Really Epic Book!
- By Lakshmi on 08-13-20
By: Jennifer Roy, and others
-
A Single Shard
- By: Linda Sue Park
- Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm
- Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tree-ear is an orphan boy in a 12th-century Korean potters’ village. When he accidentally breaks a pot, he must work for the master to pay for the damage by setting off on a difficult and dangerous journey that will change his life forever.
-
-
Don't miss this book
- By D. Court on 05-02-04
By: Linda Sue Park
-
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (Young Readers Edition)
- By: William Kamkwamba, Bryan Mealer
- Narrated by: Korey Jackson
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a terrible drought struck William Kamkwamba's tiny village in Malawi, his family lost all of the season's crops, leaving them with nothing to eat and nothing to sell. William began to explore science books in his village library, looking for a solution. There, he came up with the idea that would change his family's life forever: he could build a windmill. Made out of scrap metal and old bicycle parts, William's windmill brought electricity to his home and helped his family pump the water they needed to farm the land.
-
-
if You Try, You Can Do Anything!
- By Customer789 on 04-14-24
By: William Kamkwamba, and others
-
A Long Walk to Water
- By: Linda Sue Park
- Narrated by: David Baker, Cynthia Bishop
- Length: 2 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1985 southern Sudan is ravaged by war. Rebels and government forces battle for control, with ordinary people…people like the boy, Salva Dut…caught in the middle. When Salva's village is attacked, he must embark on a harrowing journey that will propel him through horror and heartbreak, across a harsh desert, and into a strange new life. Years later, in contemporary South Sudan, a girl named Nya must walk eight hours a day to fetch water. The walk is grueling, but there is unexpected hope.
-
-
Clean Water Please
- By Sher from Provo on 06-02-16
By: Linda Sue Park
What listeners say about The Red Pencil
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jennifer C.
- 03-25-23
Wonderful story in verse
Amira lives in Darfur. At twelve, she is gaining more responsibility in her peaceful village and dreams of going to school. But Amira's life is turned upside down when her village is attacked by the Janjaweed. With many in the village being massacred, Amira and her surviving family members travel with other survivors to a refugee camp in Kalma. The horrors of the attack leave Amira mute for a time, but her healing is facilitated through a red pencil and a pad of paper.
The story is told through poetry and illustrations, both of which are absolutely beautiful. This is one of several books told in verse that I have read in the last year, and I am fast finding it to be a wonderful medium for storytelling. There is a sparseness to the poetry that seems to evoke more emotion and imagery, and I'm glad I get to experience it. If you are worried that you won't be able to truly experience or understand the story because it is told through poetry, do not fret. Pinkney does a fantastic job.
It is also clear that she did a fantastic amount of research on the war in Darfur. She doesn't shrink from portraying the devastation caused by the war, while also showing how one's artistic expression can bring about healing and growth. The characters are survivors and, though there are the atrocities of war, there is also hope and healing.
For those who also enjoy audiobooks, this one was narrated by the author, and she does a wonderful job. The illustrations are available to the listener, as well, which I appreciated as they are an important part of the story being told.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- KevCon
- 12-19-16
Well-told story that grabs the reader
A must-read short story for young readers, told, through kid-friendly poetry, about a girl's struggle through war. Practical, visionary, and sweepingly beautiful, the author paints, with vivid brushstrokes, a world that is changing, and amidst it, a story about how to find hope.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- chaba6team
- 11-18-17
Poetic and Educational
This is well done and artistic. Hard to catch the full attention of a 10 yo boy and husband but they were glad to learn from it. Having spent time in Africa, we appreciated the beautiful imagery and culturally accurate writing.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- maria
- 10-02-23
Very important topic to be discussed
I had never read a novel written in verse, but throughly enjoyed the experience. The pacing is too slow in the beginning but it picks up in the second part.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!