Showing results by narrator "Ramon De Ocampo" in All Categories

The filming of an underwater TV show goes awry when the crew gets interrupted by a shark. Poor Shark, he wasn't trying to scare them, he's just misunderstood! Then he's accused of trying to eat a fish. Will Shark ever catch a break? After all, he wasn't going to eat the fish, he was just showing it his new tooth! Or was he? Explosively funny, extraordinarily clever, and even full of fun shark facts, this surprisingly endearing story gets to the heart of what it feels like to be misunderstood by the people around you.

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.

Drawing from his own experience leading worship in a large congregation and feeling the pull of performance, Manuel Luz guides us on a journey through worship that takes us far beyond style and deep into our own souls. He calls us back to an honest worship that moves past facades and pulls us inward toward the true self God is forming within each of us.

There comes a time when offering your life for your child’s doesn’t work, when you realize that it’ll never be enough. The cold needle in his warm vein was a welcome comfort to my son at first. But then it became the monster that kept us apart. Heroin lied, and my son believed. It took him to a world where the last year didn’t happen, to a place where his father was still alive. What Beck didn’t understand was that it couldn’t bring his father back from the dead. It couldn’t take away his pain, not permanently.

Sociologist Albert Amao analyzes the accuracy of self-help and positive-thinking claims in this groundbreaking - and wholly unexpected - exploration of what works, what doesn't, and why. Contrary to the critics who blithely dismiss self-help methods, or the New Age gurus who sell them as miracles, Amao - writing with sobriety and scholarship and drawing on deep personal experience - explores the conditions under which self-help is authentic.

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.

There's nothing Jake likes more than some good trash-picking, so when his elderly neighbors move out and leave an especially promising-looking pile of household refuse on the curb, he goes right for it. He only has the chance to grab one box before his mom catches him and orders him in for dinner, though. When mysterious goings-on begin to occur in the neighborhood, the trio investigates the hidden box from Jack's garage. In it, they find the Secret Parent's Handbook.

Angelica Marie Hutcherson only agreed to write 250 words on the Academic Battle for the Homecoming Edition of the school's newspaper because the editor won't accept any of her other stories. But as Angelica starts to do her research, she comes to a startling realization: The Academic Battle, the Homecoming game, and the class election have all accidentally been scheduled on the same day, and it's too late to do anything about it!

His friends warned him not to try the fried pudding at the carnival, but Dan didn't listen. A short story in comics from Guys Read: Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka.

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.

From the Chelsea House Galaxy of Superstars series, this is an exciting biography of one of today’s hottest stars.

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.

Blown helplessly off course by a sudden gale, 14-year-old Andy Galloway is washed ashore on Admiralty Island, an immense wilderness known as the "Fortress of the Bears". As he struggles to survive, Andy discovers an unlikely ally in a large dog running with a pack of wolves. The dog leads Andy to food: but also to the strange cave of a mysterious, and almost certainly dangerous, hermit.

A championship surfer, Jack Lopez accurately depicts the art of surfing in this tale described as The Outsiders for a new age.

In the Break tells the story of 15-year-old Jamie and Juan, best friends who live and breathe surfing. They don’t have a care in the world when they’re out on the water. But when an argument between Jamie and his abusive step-father comes to blows, Jamie turns to the one person who can help. Together the two (plus Jamie’s sister Amber) head for Mexico - surfboards stowed in the back.

The second volume in the Guys Read Library of Great Reading is chock-full of mystery, intrigue, and nefarious activity. Featuring some of the best writers around, and compiled by certified guy Jon Scieszka, Guys Read: Thriller is a pulse-pounding collection of brand-new short stories, each one guaranteed to keep you riveted until the final page.

At their renowned writing school, every student is simultaneously terrified of and attracted to the charismatic poet and professor Miranda Sturgis, whose high standards for art are both intimidating and inspiring. As two students, Roman and Bernard, strive to win her admiration, the lines between mentorship, friendship, and love are blurred. Roman’s first book wins a prestigious prize. Meanwhile, Bernard labors for years over a single poem. Secrets of the past begin to surface, and friendships are broken....

New York Times Notable Book author Charles Yu wrote the best-selling novel How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe. In his stunning, often humorous, collection Sorry Please Thank You, Yu draws on pop culture and science to make incisive observations about society - and offer touching insight into the human condition. In two of Yu’s remarkable stories, he focuses on a big-box-store night-shift employee with girl trouble and a company that outsources grief for profit.

Daunted by the hand he has been dealt, 12-year-old Horatio Tuckerman is having a tough time. Two years ago, his dad died of lung cancer. Embittered and anguished, Horatio's life has been a whirlwind of change since losing his best friend. A one-time city kid, Horatio now lives in a small Wisconsin town. His grandfather O.P. (the Old Professor) has moved in and taken over his bedroom. Even worse, his mother Evie, a dentist, is dating a guy nicknamed "Pink Gums Paul."

A young writer, living abroad, returns home to his native Argentina to say goodbye to his dying father. In his parents' house, he finds a cache of documents - articles, maps, photographs - and unwittingly begins to unearth his father’s obsession with the disappearance of a local man. Suddenly he comes face to face with the ghosts of Argentina's dark political past and long-forgotten memories of his family’s resistance against an oppressive military regime.

Middle school is off to a rocky start for Marvin Watson. Doomed to misfit status, his only friends are a girl with major orthodontics, the smelliest boy in school, and the trio of sarcastic man-size moths that live in his attic. No one said middle school would be easy! Also, no one said that Marvin's town would be threatened by mutant bugs, including a very hungry Shakespeare-quoting spider. But life in the suburbs is full of surprises.