Showing results by narrator "Michael Crouch" in All Categories

The bestselling author of Mosquitoland brings us another batch of unforgettable characters in this tragicomedy about first love and devastating loss. Victor Benucci and Madeline Falco have a story to tell. It begins with the death of Vic’s father. It ends with the murder of Mad’s uncle. The...

Two fuzzy creatures can't agree on who is small and who is big, until a couple of surprise guests show up, settling it once and for all! An original and very funny story about size - it all depends on who's standing next to you.

An ancient religion grotesquely modernized, The Purpose, deifies children for their deformities - a beautiful girl with three arms, a brave boy with one eye...the exceptional list goes on. Painted and costumed, they are worshiped on stage. Shy and exposed, they are ridiculed in the streets, often by the same faces. Glorious or repulsive? Gods or freaks? How deep will the identity divide be dredged, and to which side will the truth finally tip?

A wild and whimsical adventure story, perfect for fans of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Brian can think of a few places he'd rather spend his summer than with his aunt and uncle in Boring, Illinois. Jail, for example. Or an earplug factory. Anything would be better than doing summer...

On Whidbey Island, the Gray quintuplets are the stuff of legend. Pixie and her brothers have always been bigger and blonder than their neighbors, as if they were birthed from the island itself. Together they serve as an unofficial search-and-rescue team for the island, saving tourists and locals alike from the forces of wind and sea. But when a young boy goes missing, the mysteries start to pile up. While searching for him, they find his mother's dead body instead - and realize that something sinister is in their midst.

The Grand Prize winner of HarperCollins's audio drama contest. "By turns amusing and angst-filled, this well-paced production is a good choice for fans of full-cast audios" (AudioFile). All Alex Dassan needs to do is win second place in the debate team finals. The second place prize is a trip to...

The stunning sequel to Maria Dahvana Headley’s bestselling, critically acclaimed Magonia tells the story of one girl who must make an impossible choice between two families, two homes—and two versions of herself. Aza Ray is back on earth. Her boyfriend, Jason, is overjoyed. Her family is...

Pete Milano has always been the class clown and proud of it. What's the point of having friends if you can't make them laugh, right? Even if doing so has the unfortunate side effect of constantly getting him into trouble. But, for once, Pete's tricks have led him to just the right place at just the right time. Now he's about to become famous, because he's been asked to audition for the hottest new movie with the hottest girl costar. But balancing real life with movie life is way harder than it sounds.

Jeannie is 19 when the world changes, Kip only 14. The sudden accident that robs them of their mother leaves them adrift, with only their father to guide them. Jeannie seeks escape in work and later marriage to a man whose social connections propel her into an unfamiliar world of wealth and politics. Ill equipped and unprepared, Jeannie finds comfort where she can. Meanwhile Kip's descent into a life of petty crime is halted only when he volunteers for the marines.

In this spine-tingling story from Newbery Medal winner Avi, a boy must solve the mystery of the ghost haunting him. For most of Tony Gilbert’s life, he has thought of his uncle as “Weird Uncle Charlie.” That is, until Uncle Charlie moves in with Tony and his family. Uncle Charlie is still...

*"Both hopeful and devastatingly real." --Kirkus, starred review *"A poignant look at the messiness of love, faith, and humanity." --School Library Journal, starred review *"Gilbert respectfully and sensitively handles themes of faith,religion, and family [a] moving debut." --Booklist, starred...

What would you do if every spark of electricity suddenly vanished, as if somebody had flipped a switch on the entire planet? Cars won't start, the heat shuts off, there's no water in your faucet, and your radio, TV, and flashlight go dark. Everyone in Charlie's small town is baffled. But as time passes, lawlessness erupts and takes an ugly turn. When the market and pharmacy are torched by an anti-Semitic arsonist, Charlie realizes his mother will die without her medicine.

The Acrasian army has swept through Eledore, nearly massacring the entire race in fear and hatred of the magic they possess. This same magic is all that was keeping the demon incursion at bay, but now the great evil that was banished is seeping into the world. Watchers are formed to warn of any sightings of the demons, but little can be done if one encounters them in shadow or at night.   

When the world first formed, the night was black and filled with dark creatures. The Elders knew their people couldn't survive under such a threat. So they gave their hearts to the sky in the form of stars to keep evil away. Now, 11-year-old Kyro is a Star Shepherd like his father. He's spent his life tucked away in the small town of Drenn. There, the family watches the night sky for falling stars - and rushes to rescue them when they do. 

Seventeen-year-old Edgar Poe counts down the days until he can escape his foster family - the wealthy Allans of Richmond, Virginia. He hungers for his upcoming life as a student at the prestigious new university, almost as much as he longs to marry his beloved Elmira Royster. However, on the brink of his departure, all his plans go awry when a macabre Muse named Lenore appears to him. Muses are frightful creatures that lead Artists down a path of ruin and disgrace, and no respectable person could possibly understand or accept them.

Published in time for the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall uprising on June 28, 1969, Indecent Advances investigates how queer men navigated a society that criminalized them and displayed little compassion for the violence they endured. Polchin shows, with masterful insight, how this discrimination was ultimately transformed by activists to help shape the burgeoning gay rights movement in the years leading up to Stonewall.

“Hatred combined with lies and secrets can break the world.” Grandpa Zach used to say that before he died, but Stuey never really knew what he meant. It was kind of like how he used to talk about quantum physics or how he used to say ghosts haunted their overgrown golf course. But then one day, after Stuey and his best friend, Elly Rose, spend countless afternoons in the deadfall in the middle of the woods, something totally unbelievable happens.

Rumor Mora fears two things: hellhounds too strong for him to kill and failure. Jude Welton has two dreams: for humans to stop killing monsters and for his strange abilities to vanish. But in no reality should a boy raised to love monsters fall for a boy raised to kill them. Nyx Llorca keeps two secrets: the moon speaks to her, and she's in love with her best friend. Braeden Tennant wants two things: to get out from his mother's shadow and to unlearn his colony's darkest secret. To save everyone they love, they'll both have to commit treason.

Malcolm Dowd is almost positive he recognizes the freshman who shows up for a session at his office in Baxter College’s Center for Behavioral Health - he just can’t place her. When suddenly she stands, takes off her wig, and reveals herself as Noah, the young man Malcolm had been treating months earlier, it marks the start of a relationship that will change them both. After losing his wife at a young age, Malcolm dedicated himself to giving his two daughters the stable, predictable childhood he never had. But now, nothing is predictable.

After the events of Dark Halloween, the town of Timbers is in a full-blown monster panic, making life for the Torchbearers - Opal, Nico, Tyler, Emma and Logan - extremely difficult. Nico is investigating the Rift and the strange natural phenomena that continue to occur, all while worrying about his dad's potential work transfer. Opal has her hands full researching the founding Torchbearer, Yvette Dumont, and deciphering clues from another realm sent by the mysterious Thing in a Jar.