Showing results by narrator "Ramón de Ocampo" in All Categories

Benny's friend Ray come up with his craziest invention idea yet: a machine that grants wishes. But when Benny realizes he has some wishes that need granting, he starts to wonder if it might just work. A short story from Guys Read: Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka.

Rocky Rivera arrives in the US from the Philippines the year that Jimi Hendrix dies. So begins a blazing coming-of-age story suffused with the tensions of immigration that finds Rocky moving from the counterculture of 1960s San Francisco to the extravagant 1980s Manhattan music scene. The Gangster of Love tells the story of the Rivera family as they make their new life in the States, all the while haunted by the memory of the father and the homeland they left behind.

Young Bhryen's investigation of a stolen item plunges him into a world of forbidden magic and dark powers. Unknown to Bhryen, the crown of Ellaria is already in trouble, as sorcerous powers and the threat of war gathers around eating into the fabric of its fragile peace. Bhryen discovers that he possesses a dangerous gift. With the help of the fey, young boy J'arik, he must learn to master this gift while keeping it a secret from the temple. Though forbidden by the temple laws, using Bhryen's new found gift might be the only thing that can save them all.

Alisak, Prany and Noi - three orphans united by devastating loss - must do what is necessary to survive the perilous landscape of 1960s Laos. When they take shelter in a bombed out field hospital, they meet Vang, a doctor dedicated to helping the wounded at all costs. Soon the teens are serving as motorcycle couriers, delicately navigating their bikes across the fields filled with unexploded bombs, beneath the indiscriminate barrage from the sky.

Javier Peña and Steve Murphy risked their lives hunting large and small drug traffickers in the decades they spent working for the US Drug Enforcement Administration. But their biggest challenge was the hunt for Pablo Escobar in Colombia. The partners, who began their careers as small-town cops, have been immortalized in Netflix’s Narcos, a fictionalized account of their hunt for Escobar. Now, for the first time, they tell the real story of how they brought down the world’s first narco-terrorist and ended the reign of terror of the world’s most wanted criminal.

A literary jigsaw puzzle of a debut novel set in Colombia during the peak of its decades-long conflict, and in New York City. While her parents are away, a teenager finds herself home alone, with the household staff mysteriously gone, no phone connection, and news of an insurgency on the radio - and then she hears a knock at the door.

Ride through Rubberwick in your Rolly Royce with Freddie and Peccary! From solving problems like the mysterious knock-knocking door, to saving the day with a fresh batch of waffle batter, Freddie Parrott knows that he can always count on his loyal butler and best friend, Peccary.

Tony Baloney is a rambunctious macaroni penguin with a tremendous imagination. The middle child in his family, Tony always has to take orders from his big sister and watch out for his younger siblings. But with his trusty stuffed friend Dandelion around, Tony is sure that he won’t get ignored in his family - even if it means getting into a little bit of trouble first.

Set at the height of the Roman Empire, in the last half of the first century AD - about the time of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, when Christianity was still an unimportant Jewish sect - these stories chronicle the cases of one of the few actual crimesolvers that we know of in ancient Rome. The stories are fictional, but the character of Quintilian is based on a real Roman barrister whose writings on rhetoric and on the education of the young are still read today.

What happens when a room full of kids find themselves without a junior-church teacher? They choose one of their own crowd to take her place, of course! Twelve-year-old Kirby McCook, mentored by his grandfather, leads his rambunctious friends through the Bible in this creative and fun Bible storybook. Bible stories laced with middle-grade humor help teach kids that Jesus has been part of the story from the beginning and can be found throughout the Bible, from Genesis through Revelation.

An unfortunate intellectual resigned to a grisly, blue-collar life. Disenchanted with his life and distanced from his family, how much blood will it take to put his existence into perspective?

A zany musical comedy, touching love story, and fast-paced adventure thriller combined with “Elvis Presley meets Star Wars” plot twists. Cosmic Cowboy the Musical stars the love-struck alien Prince Remo, from faraway Planet Vegas (complete with glowing blue-grey skin and personal flying saucer), and the object of his adoration, aspiring Nashville country singer Jenna Lee Jenkins.

Oregon teenager and tennis champ Jeff McKenzie can’t wait for summer vacation. But when he decides to take his Bronco for a joyride on the Hamptons’ farm land, he gets into real hot water. As punishment Jeff is ordered to work on the farm for the first few weeks of summer. Getting up early and working with Mexican immigrants just doesn’t appeal to him. The only thing he looks forward to is seeing the Hamptons’ eldest daughter Alexa, who he is quickly falling for. Gradually he comes to appreciate the hardworking people....

The ad promised you'd be able to see into the spirit world. But they couldn't work for real... could they? A short story from Guys Read: Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka.

When his girlfriend takes a job in Thailand, journalist Mischa goes along for the ride, planning only to enjoy himself as much as possible. But when he hears about the suicide of a young woman, Martiya van der Leun, in the Thai prison where she was serving a life sentence for murder, what begins as mild curiosity becomes an obsession. It is clear that Martiya was guilty, but what was it that led her to kill?

An infamously proficient player-killer—thanks to his unique class and unparalleled bladework—he's hunted by mages, militia, and a max-level prick. Barely hindered by insomnia and self-doubt, he's a hero (plausibly). With the fate of the city resting on his shoulders, he'll need every shred of skill, cunning, and courage he can convince himself to muster. It's that or be crushed under the weight of all his lies.

Melvin is an imaginative and noisy little boy who grows up to be Mel Blanc, Looney Tunes cartoon character pioneer and the voice behind Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Woody Woodpecker, the Tasmanian Devil, and so many more familiar personalities. Listeners are treated to a typical day for young Melvin, when ordinary tasks like getting ready for school, riding the bus, and completing his chores are charged with sound effects and accompanied by his own personal soundtrack.

When a puggle meets two new poodle friends, there is a question the poodles feel they must ask. What are you? What am I? Yes, what are you? I am a dog. No, what are you? So begins a conversation about family and identity, and about the things we're good at... and why we're good at them. Brimming with warmth and playfulness, What Are You? is an exemplary book for early listeners. Equally funny and thoughtful, the book includes prompts to facilitate important first conversations about stereotypes and bias between child and adult.

Around the world, temperatures are rising, ice caps are melting, and innocent animals are in trouble. Humans had their chance to fix it and failed. It’s time for the animals to take their fate into their own paws. It’s time for...the Endangereds. When word reaches the Endangereds that one of the last of a species of nearly extinct sloths is in trouble, the team don’t hesitate to strap on their gear, fire up their helicopter, and rush off into action.

Westly is a caterpillar who is destined to be a monarch butterfly, but when he emerges from his cocoon, he is not what he expected. He's a spider! Westly flees his home among the butterflies and is eventually adopted by the "dirt eaters".