Showing results by narrator "Karise Yansen" in All Categories

It used to be the most WONDERFUL time of the year, but for years Christmas has been taken over by Winterzone. All the things that made Christmas special are gone. Instead, Christmas is run by robots, while 3D holograms of Santa Claus called Santavatars check if you’ve been naughty or nice—and on Christmas Eve, all of the presents are delivered by ZoneDrones instead of Santa’s reindeer! But when they stumble on a curious clue, eleven-year-old Etta and her friend Monty find themselves thrown into a fight to bring back Christmas.

As a young orphan, Jane Eyre is thrown upon the mercy of an aunt and cousins who are anything but merciful, and when they send her away to an austere boarding school for charity cases, it seems she will never be allowed to forget her humble beginnings. However, Jane has a quiet inner strength and resourcefulness, and when she takes on a role as governess at Thornfield Hall, she quickly gains both the affection and respect not only of her young pupil, but also the child's guardian, the fierce and brooding Mr. Rochester.

Things begin to go wrong for Jaz when her mum moves out, leaving her family behind. Determined to fix everything, she creates her own girl's football team to be the star her mum always wanted. First, she recruits a brilliant new group of friends to join her team. But after a shaky start, seven very different personalities to manage and no one at school taking the girls' team seriously, football stardom feels a long way off. Can Jaz keep everyone - and herself - out of trouble long enough to convince her mum to come home?

Twelve-year-old Mia McKenna has grown up in the darkness. It’s all she’s ever known, and she finds comfort in it. Like nearly all the cities in the Kingdom of Lunis, her home of Nubis was plunged into a forever night years ago by the shadowy Reaper King—a figure now only known in nightmares, a cautionary tale warning children to stay safe inside the tall city walls. But all that changes when a mysterious cult storms Nubis, capturing everyone with the ability to protect it.

Anna Heath is divorced, a single mum and trying desperately to keep her life in order. Despite her friends' best efforts, Anna has stopped looking for love and is determined to give her daughter, Ruthie, a Christmas to remember. Sam Jackman has just been dealt with life altering news, and all he could think to do was run. He's left his American football team back in the US, stuck a pin in a map, and landed in Richmond, London.

The Reaper King’s attempt to break free and thrust the rest of the Kingdom of Lunis into darkness has been thwarted, but all is still not well in Nubis, Mia’s moonlit kingdom home. The whole city is on guard for another attempt to resurrect the Reaper King. Though imprisoned, his followers, the Elite, are still inside the city, and tensions among the population are at an all-time high. Meanwhile, Mia struggles to cope with her new Lightcaster powers and to fit in with the rest of the tamers, many of whom are skeptical of her abilities.

Since its publication in 1982, The Color Purple has resonated with generations of readers across the globe. The novel catapulted author Alice Walker to international fame, brought Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg acting acclaim in the 1985 film adaptation, and inspired theatrical productions around the world, including the Tony Award–winning Broadway musical. This cultural touchstone—which so profoundly touches on race, family, survival, spirituality, sisterhood, and love in all forms—continues to beget new iterations, most recently a feature film.

Summer was supposed to be Ginika's time for fun, friends and fairs. But instead she's been sent to live at the dead-end seaside boarding house her grandparents run. Even though her parents say it’s just for a little while, she can’t help feeling abandoned and heartbroken to be missing out on everything she loves back home. And then she meets Peri. He leaps and dives through the water like a dolphin and he talks like a burst of bubbles. He’s not exactly a mermaid, but he’s definitely something Ginika's never seen before.