Showing results by narrator "Channie Waites" in All Categories

Having lost her mother at a young age, Ella Fitzgerald struggled as a child, especially during the Great Depression. But after winning over the audience with her singing at an Amateur Night at the Apollo, Ella's career began, and she eventually went on to become a world-renowned singer known as the First Lady of Song.

Coming of age as a free-born Black girl in Reconstruction-era Brooklyn, Libertie Sampson was all too aware that her purposeful mother, a practicing physician, had a vision for their future together: Libertie would go to medical school and practice alongside her. But Libertie, drawn more to music than science, feels stifled by her mother’s choices and is hungry for something else - is there really only one way to have an autonomous life? And she is constantly reminded that, unlike her mother who can pass, Libertie has skin that is too dark.

On March 2, 1955, a slim, bespectacled teenager refused to give up her seat to a white woman on a segregated bus in Mont-gomery, Alabama. Shouting "It's my constitutional right!" as police dragged her off to jail, Claudette Colvin decided she'd had enough of the Jim Crow segregation laws that had angered and puzzled her since she was a young child.

While running away from home for reasons that are eminently defensible, Emilie’s plans to stow away on the steamship Merry Bell and reach her cousin in the big city go awry, landing her on the wrong ship and at the beginning of a fantastic adventure. Taken under the protection of Lady Marlende, Emilie learns that the crew hopes to use the aether currents and an experimental engine, and with the assistance of Lord Engal, journey to the interior of the planet in search of Marlende’s missing father.

It's 1863, and dinosaurs roam the streets of New York as the Civil War rages between raptor-mounted armies down South. Magdalys Roca and her friends from the Colored Orphan Asylum are on a field trip when the Draft Riots break out, and a number of their fellow orphans are kidnapped by an evil magistrate, Richard Riker. Magdalys and her friends flee to Brooklyn and settle in the Dactyl Hill neighborhood. Together with the Vigilance Committee, they train to fly on dactylback, discover new friends and amazing dinosaurs, and plot to take down Riker.

When everyone else goes to bed, the ones who stay up feel like they’re the only people in the world. As the hours tick by deeper into the night, the familiar drops away and the unfamiliar beckons. Adults are asleep, and a hush falls over the hum of daily life. Anything is possible.

Hasani’s post-seventh-grade summer to-do list is pretty simple: get a bigger following for her makeup YouTube channel and figure out how to get her parents back together. What she does not expect is that an emotional outburst will spark a latent magical ability in her. Or that the magic will be strong enough to attract the attention of witches. Or that before she can say #BlackGirlMagic, she’ll be shipped off on a scholarship to a fancy finishing school for talented young ladies.

Sojourner Truth was born into slavery but possessed a mind and a vision that knew no bounds. So Tall Within traces her life from her painful childhood through her remarkable emancipation to her incredible leadership in the movement for rights for both women and African Americans. Her story is told with lyricism and pathos by Gary D. Schmidt, one of the most celebrated writers for children in the 21st century. This audiobook is just right for introducing this legendary figure to a new generation of children.

Every Tuesday, Lola and her mommy go to the library. Lola meets her friends there. They share books and don't have to be quiet all the time. The nice librarian tells stories. There is a big machine that buzzes Lola's books in and out, and she can take any books she wants home with her. Lola and her mommy always stop for a treat on the way home. No wonder Lola loves the library. This gentle story of growing with books encourages little ones to discover the joy of reading as well as getting them ready and excited to visit the library.

Micah will freely admit she's a compulsive liar, but that may be the one honest thing she'll ever tell you. Over the years she's fooled everyone: her classmates, her teachers, even her parents. And she's always managed to stay one step ahead of her lies. That is, until her boyfriend dies under brutal circumstances and her dishonesty begins to catch up with her. But is it possible to tell the truth when lying comes as easily as breathing?

Eleven-year-old Ruby is a Black girl who loves studying insects and would do just about anything to be an entomologist, much to the grossed-out dismay of her Gramma. Ruby knows everything there is to know about insects so when she finds the weirdest bug she’s ever seen in her front yard, she makes sure no one is looking and captures it for further study. But then Ruby realizes that the creature isn't just a regular bug.

Rather than focusing on going to bed—and what kid wants to think about going to bed?—this book explores all of the dreamy, wonderful, strange things the next day might bring. Whimsical, witty, and hopeful, Tomorrow Most Likely is a revolutionary rewriting of a classic goodnight book from bestselling author Dave Eggers and award-winning illustrator Lane Smith.

Side by side with Daddy and Grandma, a young girl is determined to take part in her family’s tradition of baking the perfect peach cobbler—just like Mama used to. From picking peaches to stirring and mixing and kneading the dough, it’s a little bit messy. But with sure hands to guide her, and her mother’s memory hanging sweet in the air, she has the recipe to make Mama proud.

Harriet Adu knows that her brother’s death is her fault. I mean, it’s not actually her fault, but it still kinda is, isn’t it? She would do anything to live in a world where she could take back what she said that morning. Then a strange girl shows up at Harriet’s high school—a girl who loves the same weird books Harriet does, who doesn’t vibe with anyone at school the same way Harriet does—and that different world suddenly seems possible. The girl speaks of a place underneath the subways of New York, where people like them can go and find a home.

Identical twins Cassie and Caitlyn Waters may be able to see into the future, but with a teacher who suspects they have powers waiting to catch them midvision and the grandmother they just met in town to teach them how to better control what they foresee, the last thing they need is more trouble. Luckily, a class-wide game of Truth or Dare has begun and the twins are having fun competing. When a vision shows the girls' friend getting hurt, Cassie and Caitlyn know that they're the only ones who can prevent it.

When their mother’s new job forces them to move from bustling San Antonio to middle-of-nowhere Aura, Texas, Caitlyn tries to stay positive, focusing on meeting new people and having new adventures. Cassie, on the other hand, is convinced that it’s only a matter of time until they’ll be sick of Aura and ready to move back to the big city. But being the new kids isn’t their only challenge. The girls start experiencing strange visions, and they must work together to change the future before it can happen.

Jada is hosting her first sleepover, and she has lots of cool scientific activities planned: kitchen chemistry, creating invisible ink, and even making slime! But when her friends get tired of the lessons and just want to hang out, can Jada figure out the formula for fun and save the sleepover?

When the student council decides to host a dance as their next fundraiser, Jada feels nervous and queasy. She's excited to give back, but she can't dance! Still, she's determined to help the cause and show she cares. She practices her moves, gets help from friends, and even does research at the library to prepare - but will it be enough to help her create change in her community?

Magdalys and the squad are flying south on pteroback. South to rescue her older brother. South to war. The squad links up with the dino-mounted troops of the Louisiana Native Guard, an all-black regiment in the Union Army fighting to free their people. They're led by General Sheridan, surrounded by enemy forces in Tennessee and desperate for any edge to sway the tide of battle.

G-baby and her younger sister, Peaches, are still getting used to their "blended-up" family. They live with Mama and Frank out in the suburbs, and they haven't seen their real daddy much since he married Millicent. G-baby misses her best friend back in Atlanta, and is crushed that her glamorous new stepsister, Tangie, wants nothing to do with her. G-baby is so preoccupied with earning Tangie's approval that she isn't there for her own little sister when she needs her most. Peaches gets sick - really sick. Suddenly, Mama and Daddy are arguing like they did before the divorce....