Do you like FREE AUDIO BOOKS? This annual programme is not to be missed. They feature fantastic audio books and they’re free for a week to download! Watch this space
Do you like mysterious adventures and strange worlds? Then the FINAL WEEK of SYNC 2018, will be the best one yet.
Monstrous Beauty
Written by Elizabeth Fama and narrated by Katherine Kellgren. There is nothing like a great Mermaid story and this one is a beauty… Fierce, seductive mermaid Syrenka falls in love with Ezra, a young naturalist. When she abandons her life underwater for a chance at happiness on land, she is unaware that this decision comes with horrific and deadly consequences. Almost one hundred and forty years later, seventeen-year-old Hester meets a mysterious stranger named Ezra and feels overwhelmingly, inexplicably drawn to him. For generations, love has resulted in death for the women in her family. Is it an undiagnosed genetic defect… or a curse? With Ezra’s help, Hester investigates her family’s strange, sad history. The answers she seeks are waiting in the graveyard, the crypt, and at the bottom of the ocean – but powerful forces will do anything to keep her from uncovering her connection to Syrenka and to the tragedy of so long ago.
The Lost World – a Classic
This is the predecessor of Jurassic Park… the original! Somewhere in South America, there is a plateau. And roaming in its forests are dinosaurs… Only one man has ever been there and his reports are so astonishing that no-one is prepared to believe him; except the extraordinary, Professor Challenger. He decides to take a trip to prove beyond doubt that this lost world really does exist. With the daredevil journalist Edward Malone, meticulous and skeptical, Professor Summerlee and the professional adventurer, Lord John Roxton, Challenger sets out on a mission as dangerous as it is thrilling. Inspiring endless imitations, The Lost World is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic adventure of discovery.
Get these great adventures, while they’re still free here!
This is a frightful week of curses, witch hunts and survival in a world of lies.
How to Hang a Witch
Read by the author. Get you free copy from SYNC, this week.
Salem, Massachusetts, is the site of the infamous witch trials and the new home of Samantha Mather. Recently transplanted from New York City, Sam and her stepmother are not exactly welcomed with open arms. Sam is the descendant of Cotton Mather, one of the men responsible for those ancient trials, and almost immediately she becomes the enemy of a group of girls that call themselves the Descendants.
If dealing with that wasn’t enough, Sam also comes face to face with a real live (well, technically dead) ghost. A handsome, angry ghost who wants Sam to stop touching his stuff. But soon Sam discovers she is at the center of a centuries-old curse affecting anyone with ties to the trials. Sam must come to terms with the ghost and find a way to work with the Descendants to stop a deadly cycle that has been going on since the first accused witch was hung. If any town should have learned its lesson, it’s Salem, but as Sam and her enemies soon find, history may be about to repeat itself.
A Classic… The scarlet letter
By Nathaniel Hawthorne. A stark and allegorical tale of adultery, guilt, and social repression in Puritan New England, The Scarlet Letter is a foundational work of American literature. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s exploration of the dichotomy between the public and private self, internal passion and external convention, gives us the unforgettable Hester Prynne, who discovers strength in the face of ostracism and emerges as a heroine ahead of her time. As Kathryn Harrison points out in her Introduction, Hester is “the herald of the modern American heroine, a mother of such strength and stature that she towers over her progeny much as she does the citizens of Salem.” Don’t miss out on your Free copy here!
Week 11 of the SYNC for Audiobook listeners is upon us. Follow these girls lives and how we need to be looking beyond assumptions and preconceived ideas, to find the truth.
Girls Like Us
Written by Gail Gilies and narrated by two voice talents, Lauren Ezzo and Brittany Pressley.
A 2015 Schneider Family Book Award Winner.
With gentle humor and unflinching realism, Gail Giles tells the gritty, ultimately hopeful story of two special ed teenagers entering the adult world. “We understand stuff. We just learn it slow. And most of what we understand is that people what ain’t Speddies think we too stupid to get out our own way. And that makes me mad.”
Quincy and Biddy are both graduates of their high school’s special ed program, but they couldn’t be more different: suspicious Quincy faces the world with her fists up, while gentle Biddy is frightened to step outside her front door. When they’re thrown together as roommates in their first real world apartment, it initially seems to be an uneasy fit. But as Biddy’s past resurfaces and Quincy faces a harrowing experience that no one should have to go through alone, the two of them realise,they might have more in common than they thought; and more important, that they might be able to help each other move forward.
Hard-hitting and compassionate, Girls Like Us is a story about growing up in a world that can be cruel, and finding the strength, and the support to carry on.
The Invisible Girls’. A memoir
Narrated by Kirsten Potter.
A girl scarred by her past. A refugee mother uncertain of her future. Five little girls who brought them together.
After nearly dying of breast cancer in her twenties, Sarah Thebarge fled her successful career, her Ivy League education and a failed relationship on the East Coast, then starting over in Portland, Oregon. She was hoping to quietly pick up the pieces of her broken life, but instead she met Hadhi and her daughters, which sets her out on an adventure she’d never anticipated.
Hadhi was fighting battles of her own. A Somali refugee abandoned by her husband, she was struggling to raise five young daughters in a culture she didn’t understand. When their worlds collided, Hadhi and the girls were on the brink of starvation in their own home, “invisible” in a neighborhood of strangers. As Sarah helped Hadhi and the girls navigate American life, her outreach to the family became a source of courage and a lifeline for herself.
Poignant, and at times shattering, Sarah Thebarge’s riveting memoir invites listeners into her story, finding connection, love, and redemption in the most unexpected places.
These stories will have you laughing and crying. A Must Get while you can on SYNC!
Yet another week of SYNC FREE AUDIOBOOKS… This time, if murder, curses, witches and false promises are up you alley then it’s all here.
Starting with Shakespeare and…
Macbeth
Infamously known as the cursed Scottish play, Macbeth is perhaps Shakespeare’s darkest tragedy. When General Macbeth is foretold by three witches that he will one day be King of Scotland, Lady Macbeth convinces him to get rid of anyone who could stand in his way – including committing regicide. As Macbeth ascends to the throne through bloody murder, he becomes a tyrant consumed by fear and paranoia.
An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring: James Marsters as Macbeth; Joanne Whalley as Lady Macbeth; Josh Cooke as Banquo and others; J.D. Cullum as Macduff and Second Murderer; Dan Donohue as Ross; Jeannie Elias as Second Witch and others; Chuma Gault as Lennox and Servant; Jon Matthews as Malcolm; Alan Shearman as Angus and others; André Sogliuzzo as Donalbain, Third Witch and others; Kate Steele as Lady Macduff, First Witch and Apparition; Kris Tabori as Duncan and others.
The Curse of Crow Hollow
Written by Billy Coffey and beautifully narrated by Gabe Wicks.
With the “profound sense of Southern spirituality” he is known for (Publishers Weekly), Billy Coffey draws us into a town where good and evil—and myth and reality—intertwine in unexpected ways.
Everyone in Crow Hollow knows of Alvaretta Graves, the old widow who lives in the mountain. Many call her a witch; others whisper she’s insane. Everyone agrees the vengeance Alvaretta swore at her husband’s death hovers over them all. That vengeance awakens when teenagers stumble upon Alvaretta’s cabin, incurring her curse. Now a sickness moves through the Hollow. Rumors swirl that Stu Graves has risen for revenge. And the people of Crow Hollow are left to confront not only the darkness that lives on the mountain, but the darkness that lives within themselves. “Coffey spins a wicked tale . . . [The Curse of Crow Hollow] blends folklore, superstition, and subconscious dread in the vein of Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Lottery.’”
—Kirkus Reviews I can just hear those finger nails scrawling over a blackboard right now!! Don’t miss these FREE AUDIOBOOKS this week. Get them from AUDIOSYNC Now
Another week of free audiobooks is up! This week will be about Pride and the Labels we’re given
Doctor Cerberus
Written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and performed by various talents in the L.A Theatre Works
This is a coming-of-age, coming-out cocktail with a twist of terror. Thirteen-year-old Franklin Robertson is trying to survive adolescence. His parents don’t understand him, his brother torments him, he has no friends and he’s more interested in the high school quarterback than any girl. The one bright spot in his life is the glow of the black-and-white TV in his parents’ basement. Here, he worships at the altar of the Saturday Night Horror Movie, hosted by the eerie Dr. Cerberus. Before long, Franklin is convinced that only by going on the show will his life be redeemed – by Dr. Cerberus himself!
Openly Straight
Written by Bill Konigsberg and narrated by various characters.
Rafe is a normal teenager from Colorado. He’s been out since 8th grade, accepted by his peers & championed by his progressive parents. And while that’s important, all Rafe really wants is to be a regular guy. To have his sexuality be a part of who he is, but not the headline, every single time. So when Rafe transfers to an all-boys’ boarding school in New England, he decides to keep his sexuality a secret — not so much going back in the closet as starting over with a clean slate. But then he sees a classmate breaking down and realizes his own labels aren’t well-concealed. And most of all, he falls in love with Ben…who doesn’t even know that love is possible.
Week 8 of SYNC is upon us with these two (one of them true) stories, about our history and of slavery!
My Name is not Friday.
Written by Jon Walter and Narrated by Dion Graham
A gorgeously written account of a freeborn black boy sold into slavery during the Civil War; think 12 Years a Slave for young adults. Well-mannered Samuel and his mischievous younger brother Joshua are free black boys living in an orphanage during the end of the Civil War. Samuel takes the blame for Joshua’s latest prank, and the consequence is worse than he could ever imagine. He’s taken from the orphanage to the South, given a new name–Friday–and sold into slavery. What follows is a heartbreaking but hopeful account of Samuel’s journey from freedom to captivity, and back again…
Come August, Come Freedom
Written by Gigi Amateau and Narrated by J.D. Jackson.
Born a slave in 1776, Gabriel grows up capable and literate only to be taken from his mother and sent to the capital city as a blacksmith’s apprentice. There in the forge, a meeting point for many travelers and news bearers, his work awakens him to the sparks of resistance that are igniting into rebellion around the globe.
When he is unable to both defend the love of his life and earn the money to buy her freedom, and with the news of Toussaint’s successful rebellion against Haiti’s slave masters ringing in his ears, Gabriel makes a decision: freedom for just his own family would not be enough. Using the forge to turn pitchforks into swords and his eloquence to turn dreams into rallying cries, Gabriel plots a rebellion involving thousands of slaves, free blacks, poor whites, and Native Americans. To those excluded from the promise of the Revolution, Gabriel intends to bring liberty.
Interwoven with authentic original documents, this poignant, illuminating novel about a major figure in African-American history gives a personal face to a remarkable moment in our past that is little known but should be long remembered.
Things are not safe in London, England… where all the adults have been destroyed by a blitz of bombs and disease. The only ones who have survived are the children. Among them are Gwen Darling and her siblings, Joanna and Mikey. They spend their nights scavenging and their days avoiding ruthless Marauders—the German Army, led by Captain Hanz Otto Oswald Kretschmer.
Unsure if the virus has spread past England’s borders but desperate to leave, Captain Hook hunts for a cure, which he thinks can be found in one of the survivors. He and his Marauders stalk the streets snatching children for experimentation. None ever return. Or do they? Here, we must forget the story of Peter Pan that you think you already know. Because in Everland, the only way to grow up… is to survive.
Next up is ‘The Just Men of Cordova’.
There are crimes for which no punishment is adequate and offences that the written law cannot redress. This is a classic story about three friends Pioccart, Manfred and Gonsalez. They may be enjoying the exotic, Spanish city of Cordova with its heat and Moorish influences, but they are still committed to employing their intellect and cunning to dispense justice. They use their own methods and carry out their own verdicts. They are ruthless and constantly deal in death. These Just Men, have dedicated themselves to ridding the world of unpunished criminals and profiteers, and take their campaign into the treacherous, aristocratic world of gambling, horse-racing and high finance… where blackmail, poison and murder are commonplace. Working outside the law, they take it upon themselves to clean things up. A daring read, narrated with the deep and resonating voice of Bill Homewood.
This week is a week of illness, blindness and yet, love… Get them from SYNC today, they’re free!!
Love and First Sight
On his first day at a new school, blind sixteen-year-old Will Porter accidentally groped a girl on the stairs, sat on another student in the cafeteria and somehow drove a classmate to tears. High school can only go up from here, right?
As Will starts to find his footing, he develops a crush on a charming, quiet girl named Cecily. Then an unprecedented opportunity arises: an experimental surgery that could give Will eyesight for the first time in his life. But learning to see is more difficult than Will ever imagined, and he soon discovers that the sighted world has been keeping secrets. It turns out Cecily doesn’t meet traditional definitions of beauty–in fact, everything he’d heard about her appearance was a lie engineered by their so-called friends to get the two of them together. Does it matter what Cecily looks like? No, not really. But then why does Will feel so betrayed?
John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars meets Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor & Park in this darkly funny novel from the critically acclaimed author of The Beginning of Everything.Up until his diagnosis, Lane lived a fairly predictable life. But when he finds himself at a tuberculosis sanatorium called Latham House, he discovers an insular world with paradoxical rules, med sensors, and an eccentric yet utterly compelling confidante named Sadie—and life as Lane knows it will never be the same.Robyn Schneider’s Extraordinary Means is a heart-wrenching yet ultimately hopeful story about the miracles of first love and second chances.
This week we have two more heroines facing the world today…
When Dimple met Rishi
Now that Dimple Shah has graduated, she’s ready for a break from her family – especially from Mamma’s inexplicable obsession with her finding the Ideal Indian Husband. Ugh. But Dimple knows that her mother must respect that she isn’t interested in doing that right now – otherwise she wouldn’t have paid for her to attend a summer program for aspiring web developers, right? You’ll have to get this one to find out what happens!
Baker’s Magic
By Diana Zahler (middle school story-teller). She tells us a delightful tale about, Bee, a young orphan, who finds herself terribly hungry and so steals a bun from the local bakery. This desperate act sets off a series of events that takes the twelve-year-old on an incredible adventure that begins with her being hired by the baker and discovering that whatever she bakes reflects her current mood. Bees unusual talent comes in handy as she helps her new friend Princess Anika escape the evil mage, meets up with pirates and finds a family. A magical, meaningful story and a most magnificent heroine will delight readers of all tastes!
Don’t delay, get your audio books today! And be taken on a delightful journey.
They expire soon so go to Audio Sync for Teens reading offers. You won’t be disappointed!
This week brings controversy as these books divulge into the world of homophobia.
Being Jazz
Introduces controversial teen Jazz Jennings who is one of the youngest and most prominent voices in the national discussion about gender identity. At the age of five, Jazz transitioned to life as a girl, with the support of her parents. A year later, her parents allowed her to share her incredible journey in her first Barbara Walters interview, aired at a time when the public was much less knowledgeable or accepting of the transgender community. This groundbreaking interview was followed over the years by other high-profile interviews, a documentary, the launch of her YouTube channel, a picture book, and her own reality TV series—I Am Jazz—making her one of the most recognizable activists for transgender teens, children, and adults.
Saving Montgomery Sole
Narrated by, Rebecca Lowman who brings to light a Thoughtful, funny, and painfully honest, girl… A square peg in a small town. Montgomery Sole is forced to go to a school full of jocks and girls who don’t even know what irony is. It would all be impossible if it weren’t for her best friends, Thomas and Naoki. The three are also the only members of Jefferson High’s Mystery Club, dedicated to exploring the weird and unexplained, from ESP and astrology to super powers and mysterious objects. She is someone you’ll want to laugh and cry with over a big cup of frozen yogurt with extra toppings.
Get them HERE for FREE, before they expire.