The How & the Why
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Narrated by:
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Phoebe Strole
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Erin Spencer
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By:
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Cynthia Hand
About this listen
"Cynthia Hand is the master of pulling at your heartstrings. The How & the Why tells both sides of an adoption story with love, compassion, and care." (Brigid Kemmerer, New York Times best-selling author of Letters to the Lost)
A poignant exploration of family and the ties that bind, from New York Times best-selling author Cynthia Hand.
Cassandra McMurtrey has the best parents a girl could ask for; they’ve given Cass a life she wouldn’t trade for the world. She has everything she needs - but she has questions, too. Like, to know who she is. Where she came from. Questions her adoptive parents can’t answer, no matter how much they love her.
But 18 years ago, someone wrote Cass a series of letters. And they may just hold the answers Cass has been searching for.
Alternating between Cass' search for answers and letters from the pregnant teen who placed her for adoption, this emotionally resonant narrative is the perfect listen for fans of Nina LaCour and Jandy Nelson.
©2019 Cynthia Hand (P)2019 HarperAudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Awesome book!
- By DIANA on 02-19-20
By: Sara Pennypacker
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Remarkables
- By: Margaret Peterson Haddix
- Narrated by: Jorjeana Marie
- Length: 6 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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One minute they’re there: laughing and having fun at the house next door. The next minute, the teens are gone. Like magic. Marin can’t believe her eyes. Who are they? Can anyone else see them? What makes them so happy? Marin is lonely in this new town of hers and eager to figure out more. Then she meets Charley, who reveals that he knows about them, too. He calls them the “Remarkables”. Charley warns her to stay away from the Remarkables - and him.
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Great for a family road trip!
- By J. Tanner on 07-17-20
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Confirmation Bias
- Inside Washington's War Over the Supreme Court, from Scalia's Death to Justice Kavanaugh
- By: Carl Hulse
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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The Chief Washington Correspondent for the New York Times presents a richly detailed, news-breaking, and conversation-changing look at the unprecedented political fight to fill the Supreme Court seat made vacant by Antonin Scalia’s death - using it to explain the paralyzing and all but irreversible dysfunction across all three branches in the nation’s capital.
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Bias is right
- By Shelle Houser on 07-07-19
By: Carl Hulse
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As Needed for Pain
- A Memoir of Addiction
- By: Dan Peres
- Narrated by: Joe Hempel
- Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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In the vein of Mary Karr’s Lit, Augusten Burroughs’ Dry, and Sarah Hepola’s Blackout, As Needed for Pain is a raw and riveting - and often wryly funny - addiction memoir from one of New York media’s most accomplished editors which explores his never-before-told story of opioid addiction and the drastic impact it had on his life and career.
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As Befuddling as His Addiction
- By Constant Reader on 04-13-20
By: Dan Peres
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The Tiger Catcher
- The End of Forever Saga, Book 1
- By: Paullina Simons
- Narrated by: Jeremy Arthur
- Length: 13 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Young and handsome, Julian lives a charmed life in Los Angeles. His world is turned upside down by a love affair with Josephine, a mysterious young woman who takes him by storm. But she is not what she seems, carrying secrets that tear them apart - perhaps forever. So begins Julian and Josephine’s extraordinary adventure of love, loss, and the mystical forces that bind people together across time and space. It is a journey that propels Julian toward either love fulfilled...or oblivion.
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EPIC
- By Ellen on 06-07-19
By: Paullina Simons
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This Will Be Funny Someday
- By: Katie Henry
- Narrated by: Sarah Mollo-Christensen
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Sixteen-year-old Izzy is used to keeping her thoughts to herself - in school, where her boyfriend does the talking for her, and at home, where it’s impossible to compete with her older siblings and high-powered parents. When she mistakenly walks into a stand-up comedy club and performs, the experience is surprisingly cathartic. After the show, she meets Mo, an aspiring comic who’s everything Izzy’s not: bold, confident, comfortable in her skin. Mo invites Izzy to join her group of friends and introduces her to the Chicago open mic scene.
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fantastic!!
- By David Peterson on 09-23-23
By: Katie Henry
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These Rebel Waves
- By: Sara Raasch
- Narrated by: Kate Rudd
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Adeluna is a soldier. Five years ago, she helped the magic-rich island of Grace Loray overthrow its oppressor, Argrid, a country ruled by religion. But adjusting to postwar life has not been easy. When an Argridian delegate vanishes during peace talks with Grace Loray’s new Council, Argrid demands brutal justice - but Lu suspects something dangerous is at work. A pirate agrees to help Lu find the Argridian - but the truth they uncover could be deadlier than any war.
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thoughts on these revel waves
- By Books are love on 09-23-20
By: Sara Raasch
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I Never Called It Rape - Updated Edition
- The Ms. Report on Recognizing, Fighting, and Surviving Date and Acquaintance Rape
- By: Robin Warshaw
- Narrated by: Eileen Stevens, Gloria Steinem, Wheatley Tanner Letters LLC
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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A new edition of the 1988 classic text that exposed the extreme prevalence of rape in America, coining the term "acquaintance rape" and establishing the disturbing statistics on sexual assault that still hold just as true today - now featuring an original preface from Gloria Steinem, a new introduction by Salamishah Tillet, an updated afterword by Mary P. Koss, PhD, as well as an updated resources section.
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Wish I skipped right by this one
- By Windsorsmith9 on 02-04-22
By: Robin Warshaw
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The Coyotes of Carthage
- A Novel
- By: Steven Wright
- Narrated by: Glenn Davis
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Dre Ross has one more shot. Despite being a successful political consultant, his aggressive tactics have put him on thin ice with his boss, Mrs. Fitz, who plucked him from juvenile incarceration and mentored his career. She exiles him to the backwoods of South Carolina with $250,000 of dark money to introduce a ballot initiative on behalf of a mining company. The goal: to manipulate the locals into voting to sell their pristine public land to the highest bidder.
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Pulling back the dark curtain of democracy
- By Brandi on 05-07-20
By: Steven Wright
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Cog
- By: Greg van Eekhout
- Narrated by: James Fouhey
- Length: 4 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Cog looks like a normal 12-year-old boy. But his name is short for “cognitive development”, and he was built to learn. After an accident leaves him damaged, Cog wakes up in an unknown lab - and Gina, the scientist who created and cared for him, is nowhere to be found. Surrounded by scientists who want to study him and remove his brain, Cog recruits four robot accomplices for a mission to find her. Cog, ADA, Proto, Trashbot, and Car’s journey will likely involve much cognitive development in the form of mistakes, but Cog is willing to risk everything to find his way back to Gina.
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I love it!!
- By Tara on 01-03-22
By: Greg van Eekhout
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Just Show Up
- And Other Enduring Values from Baseball's Iron Man
- By: Cal Ripken Jr., James Dale
- Narrated by: Cal Ripken Jr.
- Length: 3 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Iron Man Cal Ripken, Jr., the 19-time All-Star, World-Series-winning legend, American League MVP, and record holder who played 2,632 consecutive games, outlines eight rules for the game of baseball and life, drawing from the lessons he has learned on and off the field.
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Truth and respect
- By Kirk Lancaster on 11-13-24
By: Cal Ripken Jr., and others
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A Constellation of Roses
- By: Miranda Asebedo
- Narrated by: Katherine Littrell
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Ever since her troubled mother abandoned her, Trix McCabe has preferred to stay on the move. But when she lands with her long-lost relatives, she finds out that the McCabe women have talents like her own that defy explanation: pies that cure all ills, palm-reading that never misses the mark, knowledge of secrets that have never been told. Before long, Trix feels like she might finally have found somewhere she belongs. But when her past comes back to haunt her, she’ll have to decide whether to take a chance on this new life...or keep running from the one she’s always known.
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A Constellation of Scars
- By Dana Al-Basha on 04-22-20
By: Miranda Asebedo
What listeners say about The How & the Why
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- EM
- 04-06-21
Awesome for Young and Old
The book has soul; it left me feeling pensive. The two female narrators are Yin and Yang- the syrupy sweet voice of the adopted teen is perfectly balanced with the raspy, cool, and sometimes wistful voice of the mom who gave her up for adoption. The book left me wanting to start writing again, even if it is just for myself. I related to the parents in this novel and it reminded me of the Elizabeth Stone quote, "Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." Parenthood can be a rollercoaster with more lows than highs, more tears than smiles, and it requires enormous sacrifice. There are vastly different ways parents sacrifice for their children, but The How and the Why teaches us the greater the love, the greater the sacrifices you are willing to make. It also highlights how much we are strengthened and often transformed when we are on the receiving end of someone else's love and sacrifice.
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- Mother of 5, M.A.
- 07-30-22
it's ok
it was pretty slow but interesting as it went along, the ending is a cliff hanger though.
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- Daphne Rodriguez
- 11-18-20
meh
it wasn't what I thought. kinda confused me the first couple chapters not gonna lie
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- Pink Amy
- 09-08-24
The two narrators sounded the same
Cassandra’s mom, who needs a new heart, requests that Cass search for her birth mom. Her dad is less enthusiastic. Eighteen years ago S, a pregnant teen writes letters to her baby, X. Chapters alternate between Cass’s POV and S’s letters.
THE HOW & THE WHY is a rollercoaster of emotion that addresses adoption, race, class, family and illness. Cassandra, a high school senior, deals with college applications, costarring in her high school musical, a dying mother and searching for her birth mother with the help of Nyla, her best friend and Bastain, the new kid in school and possible love interest.
I love Cynthia Hand’s writing style and character building. Cass has her share of faults, could be more assertive and on one occasion makes a racist statement to Nyla. She’s also loving, considerate and has a strong moral compass.
THE HOW & THE WHY ended with the type exclamation point I love.
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- Grace McCreary
- 12-13-22
Great story!
I listened to the whole thing and enjoyed it a lot. Parts of it were slightly slow but I’m glad I finished it
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