Showing results by narrator "Emily Ellet" in All Categories

In R. J. Palacio's best-selling collection of stories, Auggie & Me, which expands on characters in Wonder, audiences were introduced to Julian's grandmother, Grandmère. Here, Palacio presents Grandmère's heartrending story: how she, a young Jewish girl, was hidden by a family in a Nazi-occupied French village during World War II; how the boy she and her classmates once shunned became her savior and best friend.

June Moody is a 30-something English professor. Her old friend and longtime nemesis Sadie MacTavish, a mega-successful author, invites June and her college friends to a baby shower at her sprawling estate in the San Juan Islands. June is less than thrilled to spend time with Sadie and her husband - June's former crush - but agrees to go. The party gets off to a shaky start when old grudges resurface, but when they wake the next morning, they find something worse: Sadie is missing, the house is in shambles, and bloodstains mar the staircase.

After her mother is sent to prison for art forgery, Edie Brown returns to Northern Vermont to rebuild her family’s fine art and antiques business. She’s certain she can do it now that her mother is gone. After all, butting heads with her mom over bad business practices was what drove Edie away three years ago, including a screw-up that landed Edie on probation for selling stolen property. When Edie scores a job appraising a waterfowl decoy collection at a hoarder’s farmhouse, she’s determined to take advantage of the situation to rebuild the business’s tarnished reputation.

Jackie wants to be many things, but a martyr has never been one of them. She is an ex-emotional eater and mother of four, who has finally lost the weight she long yearned to be free of. In her new sharp-edged body, she goes by Jacqueline. But leaving her old self behind proves harder than she ever imagined. And while she believes she should be happier, misery still chases her, and motherhood threatens to subsume what little is left of her. Her only salve is her best friend Theresa, whose seemingly perfect life she desperately covets.

Starting high school brings big changes for Immie and Jack, who’ve been everything to each other ever since Jack crashed his skateboard into Immie’s yard when they were seven years old. All of a sudden, a game-winning goal catapults Jack into star status with the soccer team, and Immie is meeting new girl friends whose questions are making her wonder about the identity of her father for the first time in her life.

When 12-year-old Alex makes up her mind to join her middle school's football team, she doesn't expect it to be easy. But she also never anticipated she'd be met with scorn and derision from her exclusively male teammates. Football has always been a source of happiness for Alex. She and her single father never miss a Steelers game on TV, and Alex knows she has a talent for throwing the perfect spiral. But the guys suck the joy right out of the game for Alex - going out of their way to trip her up during tryouts and teaming up against her just to watch her fail.

Residents of the posh Upstate New York neighborhood of Deer Crossing enjoy all the amenities wealth provides. From drive-up dog-grooming to monthly botox parties, these lucky suburbanites have everything they could ever want. And one thing they don’t. Stalker Caroline Case, who wheels her infant along their streets each night with just one goal … to spy on anyone too careless or too foolish to close their window blinds.

Charly Highsmith is a survivor. Abandoned by her parents, she spent her teens looking after her autistic brother on the bitter streets of Denver, Colorado, with nothing but a jacket and a backpack. But things are better now. Charly and Jacob live in a two-bedroom apartment near a mall, and with the passing of their long-lost father, they've inherited a cabin high in the Rocky Mountains. Charly's eager to go there. Relive the good times she had as a child, running through the forest with Jacob and her cousins.

I have survived the outbreak of the zombie apocalypse—but this is only the beginning of my fight for survival.

My best friend has been murdered and turned into a zombie. I’ve fled what came way too close to a mad scientist’s lair for anyone’s good. I’ve stepped over the dead bodies of men, women, and children who I’ve risked my life for. Watched what little hope and security thousands of people have clung to for weeks go up in flames—and half of them even looking enthusiastic about it.

Negotiation has always been at the heart of solving problems at work. Yet today, when people in organizations are asked to do more with less, be responsive 24/7, and manage in rapidly changing environments, negotiation is more essential than ever. What has been missed in much of the literature of the past 30 years is that negotiations in organizations always take place within a context - of organizational culture, of prior negotiations, of power relationships - that dictates which issues are negotiable and by whom.

Head-in-the-clouds romantic Madison and driven pragmatist Lanie are unlikely best friends, but the two would do anything for each other. So when Madison's life starts to fall apart, Lanie agrees to join Madison for the test run of Disney's newest resort experience during their first college spring break: Happily Ever Island—an immersive vacation destination, where guests can become their favorite Disney character for a week. Madison decides to go as the iconic princess herself, Cinderella, with Lanie as bow-wielding Merida.

Haunted by grief, plagued by hunger, were on the run again. And mostly not from the undead this time, since I have my own special way of dealing with the zombies. It's the living who think that survival of the fittest puts them on top of the food chain now. But there is hope for humanity yet, even if mine is possibly lost for good. Resistance is rising, the intrepid few still fighting for a better tomorrow. Maybe not all is lost for those believing they are beyond being saved or who don't give a crap about such mundane concepts.

In the last few years, Paris has undergone a huge transformation. It's fostered one of the coolest creative scenes in Europe, some of the continent's best nightlife, and a "bistronomy" movement that has influenced dining around the globe. Yet while millennial travelers pour into the city, travel guides continue to focus on a staid checklist approach to Paris's big attractions. There's currently no book on the market aimed at younger (perhaps more budget-conscious) American visitors that truly captures the city's revived energy - until this one.

Evan Tailor needs to kill an Archmage. If he can survive a party first. With the Silver Queen calling in her debt, Archmage Roark's oaths binding him into assistance and silence, and new classes pulling at Evan from all sides, this year is not turning out to be the peaceful and prosperous introduction to abjuration magic that Evan had hoped for.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan-favorite and LGBTQIA+ icon Tara Maclay gets the main character treatment in this YA prequel full of '90s nostalgia, mysterious murders, and a star-crossed romance, written by New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Ashley Poston.

With humor, compassion, and encouragement, Nicole Phillips draws on scientific research and real-life examples to help us recognize unhelpful negative thought patterns, show kindness toward others even when we don't feel like it, and discover how one little change actually changes everything.

Fresh out of college, Meghan Tschanz left everything to join a mission trip around the globe, and quickly witnessed oppression experienced by women that she never thought possible. Over the next several years, she befriended women around the globe who had survived sex trafficking, female genital mutilation, and violence so extreme Meghan wondered at the women's survival. Through listening to their stories, Meghan started to notice a pattern - one that pointed to systems of injustice that harmed and held women back - systems, Meghan realized, she was often complicit in.

Encountering Jesus in the Real World of the Gospels draws listeners into a deeper understanding of ancient Israel and first-century Judaism to better understand Jesus' ministry. Instead of viewing the Gospels through 21st-century eyes, author Cyndi Parker introduces listeners to the larger context with the weight of the Old Testament behind them.

As a street chaplain, activist, and cofounder of Open Table Nashville, Lindsey Krinks takes us on an unforgettable spiritual journey to tent cities, alleys, slums, and the front lines of movements for justice. Praying with Our Feet challenges preconceptions about people who live on the streets, calling us to move from charity to justice and to get our hands dirty in the struggle for a better world.