Showing results by narrator "Aisha" in All Categories

Ryan Hart and her family are back in another instalment of stories about a Black girl finding her way and her voice as she grows through change and challenges. In this book, Ryan finds herself waiting on lots of things - like for her new sister to be born healthy, for her new recipes to turn out right, for that summer camp trip to go better than she fears! And of course Ryan is facing these new challenges and new experiences in her classic style - with a bright outlook and plenty of spirit!

Eleven-year-old Delphine and her younger sisters Vonetta and Fern travel to Oakland to meet their mother, Cecil, who abandoned their family years earlier. But even when Cecil gets them to her house, she shows no interest and seems to view them as nothing but a nuisance.

The night that changes everything in Andy's life begins as a great time. His basketball team wins a big game, and he and his best friend have some cold brews stashed in the car, just waiting for the rolling party to begin. Nothing anyone can say or do afterwards will convince Andy that what happens next isn't his fault.

A thousand years in the future, a Black elite class reigns. The lower classes toil in the fields or scrape by in blighted cities, serving their rulers in a cruel, divided world. Among the Elites is eighteen-year-old Avi Jore, born to a powerful father and destined to rule. But as she comes of age, Avi cannot help but notice the injustices in her world - the treatment of enslaved workers, the oppression of the lower classes. Her disillusionment grows when she meets Saige Wilde, a mixed-race enslaved girl whose only goal is escaping beyond the borders of their brutal nation.

Jack Lee is a white lawyer from Freeman County, Virginia, who has never done anything to push back against racism, until he decides to represent Jerome Washington, a Black man charged with killing an elderly and wealthy white couple. Doubting his decision, Lee fears that his legal skills may not be enough to prevail in a case where the odds are already stacked against both him and his client. And he quickly finds himself out of his depth when he realizes that what is at stake is far greater than the outcome of a murder trial.

Ryan Hart is caught in the middle. She has an older brother and a new baby sister, and she’s in a friendship tug-of-war with two friends who both want to be her best best friend. How can Ryan think about being kind to a classmate who is relentless with his teasing? Or be her signature sunny self when her brother, Ray, pulls the ultimate prank? But even when it seems like nothing is going her way, Ryan still looks for a way to see the bright side of things, refusing to let anything steal her joy, and finding ways to share it with everyone she meets.

When 12-year-old Della Kelly finds her mother furiously digging black seeds from a watermelon in the middle of the night and talking to people who aren't there, Della worries it’s happening again - that the sickness that put her mama in the hospital four years ago is back. That her mama is going to be hospitalized for months like she was last time. With her daddy struggling to save the farm and her mama in denial about what’s happening, it’s up to Della to heal her mama for good.

After losing her best friend to cancer, Corinne’s life is in flux. She has moved back to Chicago, is considering her next career move (or temp job), and has absolutely no time to look for love - until a mysterious dating app called Met suddenly appears on her phone, and with it, an invitation for Corinne to reconnect with four missed connections from her past. One of them, Met says, is her soul mate...

Acclaimed novelist Jewell Parker Rhodes is an American Book Award winner. Rhodes’ Ninth Ward is a stunning tale set against the horrors of Hurricane Katrina. Orphaned 12-year-old Lanesha lives with Mama Ya-Ya, the midwife who birthed her, in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward. Although Lanesha is different—able to see ghosts like that of her dead mother—she never feels unloved, an empowerment that helps her survive the devastating storm.

Silke has always been good at spinning the truth and storytelling. So good that, just years after arriving in the kingdom as a penniless orphan, she has found her way to working for the most splendid chocolate makers in the city as a master promoter. Although Silke loves her work at the Chocolate Heart, she's certain it's not going to last, and what Silke wants more than anything is somewhere to call home - somewhere safe. But when your best friend is a dragon-turned-hot-tempered-girl, trouble is always right around the corner.

When Beatrice Fletcher joins her father on a work trip to the University of New Mexico, she knows she's sacrificing time with her friends back in Cabot Cove trying to solve the last clue of an enigmatic game they've been playing. Yet it's worth it if it means she can interview celebrated film studies professor William Vance, whose newest documentary touches on a murderous cult, a misdirected bombing, and a tragedy from Bea's mother's childhood.

Aria Blue seems like an ordinary 12-year-old. She loves music, and colorful shoelaces, and taste-testing various types of cookies. But there is much more to Aria than meets the eye. She can use her shadow like a door to travel from place to place. She can dream things into existence. And she can see when certain people need help. Because Aria is a guardian angel. Her mission? To find and guide three different girls - Gabby, Caroline, and Mikayla - through their different problems. If she succeeds, Aria will earn her wings.

Bea Fletcher never met a cold case she didn't want to solve. So when she finds herself staying with family near Lake Paloma, she's torn. Sure, she's not thrilled to be bunking with her moody, taciturn uncle and his wife while her father's out of town. Being away from Cabot Cove means less time for Bea to work on her true crime blog, visit her great-aunt Jessica, and spend time with new friends Leisl, Leif, and Carlos and the mysterious underground treasure hunting game they've been playing.

Nothing beats Halloween. It's Drew Brockman's favorite holiday. And this year will be awesome. Much better than last year. Or the year Lee and Tabby played that joke. A nasty practical joke on Drew and her best friend, Walker. Yes, this year Drew and Walker have a plan. A plan for revenge. It involves two scary pumpkin heads. But something's gone wrong. Way wrong. Because the pumpkin heads are a little too scary. A little too real. With strange hissing voices. And flames shooting out of their faces.

What would have happened if the Animorphs had never existed? If Jake and the others had taken the long way home from the mall that night, instead of cutting through the abandoned construction site? If they'd never met Elfangor. Never rescued Ax. Never heard of the Yeerks.... Jake's finally weakened. After one particularly grisly battle, the Drode hits him when he's down and offers the Animorphs' leader an escape from the terrifying pressure. He'll take Jake back to the mall and reverse the decision that started the Animorphs. It's an offer Jake's too tired to refuse.

We found out who Visser Four is. And he has found the Time Matrix, the machine Elfangor had hidden in the abandoned construction site. The same place we met him on a night none of us will ever forget. Especially me. Now Visser Four has the Matrix, and he plans to use it to become Visser One. But Jake, Rachel, Cassie, Marco, Ax and I can't let that happen. We can't let him alter time so that the Yeerks will win the invasion. So we're prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice. Eventually, one of us will lose this fight.

Cassie's had it. After the last mission, she realizes she's getting tired of missions. Tired of battles. Tired of being an Animorph. She decides that she just can't do it anymore. So she quits. But the war for her planet isn't so easy to quit. It seems a human-Controller named Karen followed Cassie after the last run-in with the Yeerks, and she knows Cassie has the ability to morph. If she exposes Cassie, it's all over. No more Cassie. No more Animorphs. No more planet Earth.

We never should have done it. But we needed a break. Some time off from the superhero stuff. A chance to act like normal kids. Well - as normal as four kids who can morph into animals, a boy trapped in a hawk's body, and a bright blue alien can be. Everything should have been cool. Now Rachel is missing. And there's this... this thing that's after us.

Middle school is just around the corner for Ryan Hart, which means it's time to start thinking about the future--and not just how to prank her brother, Ray! During Black History Month, Ryan learns more about her ancestors and local Black pioneers, and their hopes for the future, for her generation. She wonders who she wants to be and what kind of person her family hopes she becomes. Drawing on the ambitions of those who came before her and her own goals, Ryan is determined to turn her dreams into reality.

Cassie is on her own. There's no Jake to lead the mission. No Marco to tell stupid jokes. And no Rachel to say "Let's do it!" It's just Cassie. Alone. In Australia. It all began when the latest Animorphs' mission took a bad turn–and Cassie hid in the cargo hold of a jumbo jet. Unfortunately for her, that jet took off, bound for Australia. And what Cassie didn't realize was that the Yeerks were still on her trail–a lone "Andalite bandit" is a pretty hot target.