Showing results by narrator "Rachel Jacobs" in All Categories

What happens when a major earthquake changes your entire world, and the boy you thought you hated ends up saving your life? Three times! Courtland Reese is the guy everyone hates and makes fun of because … well, he is weird. He communicates with animals. Strange or interesting, I can’t quite figure out, but when he saves me from being trampled by my horse, I start to understand him a little better, and maybe I'd like to get to know him better.

An epic saga from New York Times best-selling author Stephanie Dray based on the true story of an extraordinary castle in the heart of France and the remarkable women bound by its legacy.

Years ago, a reclusive mega-bestselling children’s author quit writing under mysterious circumstances. Suddenly he resurfaces with a brand-new book and a one-of-a-kind competition, offering a prize that will change the winner’s life in this absorbing and whimsical novel.

New York City, 1956: Nineteen-year-old Marion Brooks knows she should be happy. Her high school sweetheart is about to propose and sweep her off to the life everyone has always expected they’d have together: a quiet house in the suburbs, Marion staying home to raise their future children. But instead, Marion finds herself feeling trapped. So when she comes across an opportunity to audition for the famous Radio City Rockettes—the glamorous precision-dancing troupe—she jumps at the chance to exchange her predictable future for the dazzling life of a performer.

Alice has always wanted to be a writer. Her talent is innate, but her stories remain safe and detached, until a devastating event breaks her heart open, and she creates a stunning debut novel. Her words, in turn, find their way to readers, from a teenager hiding her homelessness, to a free diver pushing himself beyond endurance, an artist furious at the world around her, a bookseller in search of love, a widower rent by grief. Each one is drawn into Alice’s novel; each one discovers something different that alters their perspective, and presents new pathways forward for their lives.

Dear Ask Annie: I know my best friend is the one, but how do I tell her that? Annie Archer has a problem… She can't get one email—one mind-boggling letter from her advice column out of her head. The one? Does the one even exist? She should be able to answer this question, just like all the others. Except, she doesn't have firsthand experience with the one. In fact, except for those few months back in tenth grade when she went temporarily insane and fell for her best friend—she's never been in love.

From werewolves and vampires, to demons and aliens, the monster is one of the most recognizable figures in horror. But what makes something, or someone, monstrous? Award-winning and up-and-coming authors like Richard Kadrey, Cassandra Khaw, Indrapramit Das, Priya Sharma, and more attempt to answer this question. These all-new stories range from traditional to modern, from mainstream to literary, from familiar monsters to the unknown . . . and unimaginable.

Every year in the United States there are fifteen thousand murders, give or take a few hundred. Of those, nearly forty percent go unsolved. In this six-part audio series, Christina Walsh is determined to change that. After struggling with the loss of her father, she sets out on a journey to bring the justice that has eluded her to the families of other victims. And she starts with a particularly strange case. The murder of world-renowned violinist Leona McPherson who mysteriously disappeared years ago after a concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.

Although Sarah Grayson is often tending to the contained chaos of her delightful secondhand store in North Harbor, Maine, plus dealing with the quirky personality of her rescue cat, Elvis, she still takes an occasional night off. But her evening out comes to an abrupt end when Sarah discovers Stella Hall, a member of the library board, standing over a body in the street.

She doesn't need a hero. She is a hero. On a planet called Etheria, two forces battle for control. The Horde, with its skillfully trained soldiers and advanced technology, has one goal: to conquer all of Etheria in the name of Hordak. The other force, the Rebellion, is made up of princesses and has been fighting to maintain harmony and freedom for all of Etheria's people. Hidden among them all is a hero to be. Her destiny was written by the First Ones a thousand years ago. Now she is about to rise again.

Thirteen-year-old Tally discovers several surprising things about her roommate - including the possibility of an eating disorder - during a seventh-grade class trip in this timely novel from the author of Maybe He Just Likes You, Star-Crossed, and Halfway Normal.

Deep in the dark forest, in a cottage that spins on birds’ legs behind a fence topped with human skulls, lives the baba yaga. A guardian of the water of life, she lives with her sisters and takes to the skies in a giant mortar and pestle, creating tempests as she goes. Those who come across the baba yaga may find help, or hinderance, or horror. She is wild, she is woman, she is witch—and these are her tales.

While most of her peers were obsessed with their iPhones, Instagramming and Snapchatting their lives, and glued to streaming TV, 19-year-old Amy Crouch was growing up with minimal technology. In My Tech-Wise Life, she and her father, Andy Crouch, share how intentional and controlled use of modern devices, apps, and services has helped her avoid many of the negative experiences of her peers and cultivate positive experiences interacting with the real world.

When they meet in the 1930s, Doris and Tup’s love is immediate. They marry quickly and Doris commits to the only life Tup ever wanted: working the Senter family farm. Soon their first child, Sonny, is born and Doris and Tup understand they are blessed. More children arrive - precocious, large-hearted Dodie and quiet, devoted Beston - but Doris and Tup take nothing for granted. When an unimaginable tragedy turns the family of five into a family of four, everything the Senters held faith in is shattered.

Emily Morris got her happily-ever-after earlier than most. Married at a young age to a man she loved passionately, she was building the life she always wanted. But when enormous stress threatened her marriage, Emily made some rash decisions. That’s when she fell in love with someone else. That’s when she got pregnant. Resolved to tell her husband of the affair and to leave him for the father of her child, Emily’s plans are thwarted when the world is suddenly split open on 9/11. It’s amid terrible tragedy that she finds her freedom, leaving New York City to start a new life.

From the outside, Queenie the cat and Arthur the dog appear to have a lot in common. Both pets live in the charming Blackberry Hill inn. They both love their humans, twins Harmony and Bro. They both have a fondness for sausage. But that doesn't change the fact that they are mortal enemies. Goofy, big-hearted Arthur loves everyone he's ever met...except the snobby, scheming cat who's devoted her life to ruining his.

The Listening Leader is a practical guide that will inspire school, district, and teacher leaders to make substantive change and increase equitable student outcomes. Rooted in the values of equity, relationships, and listening, this luminous book helps reimagine what is possible in education today. Drawing from more than 20 years of experience in public schools, Shane Safir incorporates hands-on strategies and powerful stories to show us how to leverage one of the most vital tools of leadership: listening.

The students of LA’s elite Warner Prep can’t wait for their Senior Excursion—five days of Instagrammable adventure in one of the world’s most exclusive locations. This is not your average field trip. Which is why eight students can’t believe their bad luck when they end up on a digital detox in an isolated Colorado ski chalet. Their epic trip is panning out to be an epic bore . . . until their classmates start dropping in a series of disturbing deaths. The message is clear: this trip is no accident.

Taking good care of yourself in the first three months of your new baby’s life—the fourth trimester—brings crucial benefits for you, for your baby, and for your partner and family. With this important book, you now have the resources to have an ideal fourth trimester experience. Cynthia Gabriel, a doula and the author of the best-selling book Natural Hospital Birth, delivers all the information, guidance, and encouragement you need as a new mother to take care of your body, mind, and spirit during the vital months of the fourth trimester.

Meredith has plans. Big plans. She is done being safely wrapped in bubble wrap. She is ready to live. That's what her list is all about—living and experiencing. Is it fate that her list of learning, trying, and experiencing continues to bring her into the path of grumpy Levi Bailey? She isn't sure—but she doesn't mind. Levi is just a misunderstood cinnamon roll and Meredith plans to enjoy every second of helping him realize that.