
Free Radicals
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $22.50
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Gilli Messer
-
By:
-
Lila Riesen
About this listen
Afghan-American Mafi’s sophomore year gets a whole lot more complicated when she accidentally exposes family secrets, putting her family back in Afghanistan in danger in this smartly written YA debut.
Sixteen-year-old Mafi Shahin is well-aware that life is not always fair. If it was fair, her parents might allow her to hang out with a member of the male species, other than her cat Mr. Meowgi. If it was fair, her crush and basketball hottie Jalen Thomas might see her as more than just her brother's kid sister. And if it was fair, her baba’s brother and wife would be able to leave Afghanistan and come to America.
Life might not be fair—but she can make it a bit more even. Working as the Ghost of Santa Margarita High, Mafi serves dollops of justice on her classmates’ behalf as the school’s secret avenger. They leave a note declaring the crime and Mafi ensures the offender receives an anonymous karmic-sized dose of payback. Keeping her identity as the Ghost a secret sometimes means Mafi has to lie. But as those lies begin to snowball both at school and at home, even compromising their family’s secret past and putting their relatives back in Afghanistan at risk, Mafi is forced to decide how she wants to live her life—trying to make the world more fair from the shadows or loudly and publicly standing up for what’s right.
©2023 Lila Riesen (P)2023 Listening LibraryListeners also enjoyed...
-
Firekeeper's Daughter
- By: Angeline Boulley
- Narrated by: Isabella Star LaBlanc
- Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. She dreams of a fresh start at college, but when family tragedy strikes, Daunis puts her future on hold to look after her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi’s hockey team. Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, she senses the dashing hockey star is hiding something. Everything comes to light when Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, thrusting her into an FBI investigation of a lethal new drug.
-
-
Che Meegwetch
- By Nix on 03-18-21
By: Angeline Boulley
-
What They Always Tell Us
- By: Martin Wilson
- Narrated by: Jesse Einstein
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
James and Alex have barely anything in common anymore - least of all their experiences in high school, where James is a popular senior and Alex is suddenly an outcast. But at home, there is Henry, the precocious 10-year-old across the street, who eagerly befriends them both. And when Alex takes up running, there is James’s friend Nathen, who unites the brothers in moving and unexpected ways.
By: Martin Wilson
-
Pretty Little Liars #1
- By: Sara Shepard
- Narrated by: Cassandra Morris
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spencer covets her sister's boyfriend. Aria's fantasizing about her English teacher. Emily's crushing on the new girl at school. And Hanna uses some ugly tricks to stay beautiful. But they've all kept an even bigger secret since their friend Alison vanished.
-
-
If you love the Show, You will Love the Book
- By Ashley on 12-29-10
By: Sara Shepard
-
The Cheerleaders
- By: Kara Thomas
- Narrated by: Phoebe Strole
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There are no more cheerleaders in the town of Sunnybrook. First there was the car accident - two girls dead after hitting a tree on a rainy night. Not long after, the murders happened. Those two girls were killed by the man next door. The police shot him, so no one will ever know his reasons. Monica's sister was the last cheerleader to die. After her suicide, Sunnybrook High disbanded the cheer squad. No one wanted to be reminded of the girls they'd lost.
-
-
Not a thriller or horror, just a mystery
- By Lillian on 09-26-18
By: Kara Thomas
-
Dumplin'
- By: Julie Murphy
- Narrated by: Eileen Stevens
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dubbed "Dumplin'" by her former beauty queen mom, Willowdean has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American-beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked...until Will takes a job at Harpy's, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn't surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.
-
-
Enjoyable heartwarming story
- By Jenjer on 08-26-16
By: Julie Murphy
-
We Now Return to Regular Life
- By: Martin Wilson
- Narrated by: Will Ropp, Whitney Dykhouse
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sam Walsh had been missing for three years. His older sister, Beth, thought he was dead. His childhood friend Josh thought it was all his fault. They were the last two people to see him alive. Until now. Because Sam has been found, and he's coming home. Beth desperately wants to understand what happened to her brother, but her family refuses to talk about it - even though Sam is clearly still affected by the abuse he faced at the hands of his captor.
-
-
Mundane and predictable.
- By Mark on 10-27-17
By: Martin Wilson
-
Firekeeper's Daughter
- By: Angeline Boulley
- Narrated by: Isabella Star LaBlanc
- Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. She dreams of a fresh start at college, but when family tragedy strikes, Daunis puts her future on hold to look after her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi’s hockey team. Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, she senses the dashing hockey star is hiding something. Everything comes to light when Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, thrusting her into an FBI investigation of a lethal new drug.
-
-
Che Meegwetch
- By Nix on 03-18-21
By: Angeline Boulley
-
What They Always Tell Us
- By: Martin Wilson
- Narrated by: Jesse Einstein
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
James and Alex have barely anything in common anymore - least of all their experiences in high school, where James is a popular senior and Alex is suddenly an outcast. But at home, there is Henry, the precocious 10-year-old across the street, who eagerly befriends them both. And when Alex takes up running, there is James’s friend Nathen, who unites the brothers in moving and unexpected ways.
By: Martin Wilson
-
Pretty Little Liars #1
- By: Sara Shepard
- Narrated by: Cassandra Morris
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spencer covets her sister's boyfriend. Aria's fantasizing about her English teacher. Emily's crushing on the new girl at school. And Hanna uses some ugly tricks to stay beautiful. But they've all kept an even bigger secret since their friend Alison vanished.
-
-
If you love the Show, You will Love the Book
- By Ashley on 12-29-10
By: Sara Shepard
-
The Cheerleaders
- By: Kara Thomas
- Narrated by: Phoebe Strole
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There are no more cheerleaders in the town of Sunnybrook. First there was the car accident - two girls dead after hitting a tree on a rainy night. Not long after, the murders happened. Those two girls were killed by the man next door. The police shot him, so no one will ever know his reasons. Monica's sister was the last cheerleader to die. After her suicide, Sunnybrook High disbanded the cheer squad. No one wanted to be reminded of the girls they'd lost.
-
-
Not a thriller or horror, just a mystery
- By Lillian on 09-26-18
By: Kara Thomas
-
Dumplin'
- By: Julie Murphy
- Narrated by: Eileen Stevens
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dubbed "Dumplin'" by her former beauty queen mom, Willowdean has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American-beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked...until Will takes a job at Harpy's, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn't surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.
-
-
Enjoyable heartwarming story
- By Jenjer on 08-26-16
By: Julie Murphy
-
We Now Return to Regular Life
- By: Martin Wilson
- Narrated by: Will Ropp, Whitney Dykhouse
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sam Walsh had been missing for three years. His older sister, Beth, thought he was dead. His childhood friend Josh thought it was all his fault. They were the last two people to see him alive. Until now. Because Sam has been found, and he's coming home. Beth desperately wants to understand what happened to her brother, but her family refuses to talk about it - even though Sam is clearly still affected by the abuse he faced at the hands of his captor.
-
-
Mundane and predictable.
- By Mark on 10-27-17
By: Martin Wilson
-
Becoming a Queen
- By: Dan Clay
- Narrated by: Dan Clay
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If only Mark Davis hadn’t put on a dress for the talent show. It was a joke—other guys did it too—but when his boyfriend saw Mark in that dress, everything changed. And now, fresh on the heels of high school heartbreak, Mark has given up on love. Maybe some people are just too much for this world—too weird, too wild, too feminine, too everything. Thankfully, his older brother Eric always knows what to say to keep Mark from spinning into self-loathing. "Be yourself! Your full sequin-y self.”
-
-
Absolutely beautiful
- By Kimberly Yeaw on 02-24-25
By: Dan Clay
-
They Wish They Were Us
- By: Jessica Goodman
- Narrated by: Kristen Sieh
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Gold Coast, Long Island, everything from the expensive downtown shops to the manicured beaches, to the pressed uniforms of Jill Newman and her friends, looks perfect. But as Jill found out three years ago, nothing is as it seems. Freshman year Jill's best friend, the brilliant, dazzling Shaila Arnold, was killed by her boyfriend. After that dark night on the beach, Graham confessed, the case was closed, and Jill tried to move on.
-
-
I really liked it! 🙂
- By Lisa on 09-03-20
By: Jessica Goodman
-
Little Monsters
- By: Kara Thomas
- Narrated by: Phoebe Strole, Brittany Pressley
- Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kacey is the new girl in Broken Falls. When she moved in with her father, she stepped into a brand-new life. A life with a stepbrother, a stepmother, and, strangest of all, an adoring younger half sister. Kacey's new life is eerily charming compared with the wild highs and lows of the old one she lived with her volatile mother. And everyone is so nice in Broken Falls - she's even been welcomed into a tight new circle of friends. Bailey and Jade invite her to do everything with them.
-
-
Superb!
- By LoCFo22 on 08-03-17
By: Kara Thomas
-
Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee
- By: Jeff Zentner
- Narrated by: Sophie Amoss, Phoebe Strole
- Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every Friday night, best friends Delia and Josie become Rayne Ravenscroft and Delilah Darkwood, hosts of the campy creature-feature show Midnite Matinee on the local cable station TV Six. But with the end of senior year quickly approaching, the girls face tough decisions about their futures. Josie has been dreading graduation, as she tries to decide whether to leave for a big university and chase her dream career in mainstream TV. And Lawson, one of the show's guest performers, is making her tough decision even harder.
-
-
Loved it! Great narration too
- By Vern on 03-01-19
By: Jeff Zentner
-
There Goes Sunday School
- By: Alexander C. Eberhart
- Narrated by: Joel Leslie
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 16-year-old Mike Hernandez's life, only one thing is clear: Gay is not okay. His family's life revolves around the church, a church run by the vocally intolerant Pastor Myers, so Mike has resolved to spend his life in the closet. His only escape - besides the occasional, anonymous gay make-out session - is his art. He pours his complicated emotions into risque drawings he keeps in a secret sketchbook. A sketchbook he carries everywhere. When his sketchbook goes missing in the middle of Sunday school, Mike is sure his life is over.
-
-
beautiful book!
- By Judith L. Butler on 09-16-20
-
Tiffany Sly Lives Here Now
- By: Dana L. Davis
- Narrated by: Dana L. Davis
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For 16-year-old Tiffany Sly, life hasn’t been safe or normal for a while. Losing her mom to cancer has her a little bit traumatized and now she has to leave her hometown of Chicago to live with the biological dad she’s never known. Anthony Stone is a rich man with four other daughters - and rules for every second of the day. Tiffany tries to make the best of things, but she doesn’t fit into her new luxurious, but super-strict, home - or get along with her standoffish sister London. The only thing that makes her new life even remotely bearable is the strange boy across the street.
-
-
Wonderful Book and New Author
- By erroll on 06-21-18
By: Dana L. Davis
-
If These Wings Could Fly
- By: Kyrie McCauley
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tens of thousands of crows invading Auburn, Pennsylvania, is a problem for everyone in town except 17-year-old Leighton Barnes. For Leighton, it’s no stranger than her house, which inexplicably repairs itself every time her father loses his temper and breaks things. Leighton doesn’t have time for the crows - it’s her senior year, and acceptance to her dream college is finally within reach. But grabbing that lifeline means abandoning her sisters, a choice she’s not ready to face.
-
-
Incredible
- By Sarah Westbrook on 03-09-23
By: Kyrie McCauley
-
Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry
- By: Joya Goffney
- Narrated by: Jordan Cobb
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Quinn keeps lists of everything - from the days she’s ugly cried, to “Things That I Would Never Admit Out Loud” and all the boys she’d like to kiss. Her lists keep her sane. By writing her fears on paper, she never has to face them in real life. That is, until her journal goes missing....
-
-
Finally felt seen in a Novel
- By Twyla Arbuckle on 07-08-21
By: Joya Goffney
-
The Impossible Knife of Memory
- By: Laurie Halse Anderson
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan, Luke Daniels
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Despite my best intentions, I was beginning to understand how my dad saw the world. The shadows haunting every living thing. The secrets inside the lies wrapped in bullshit. Even Gracie’s box of pills was beginning to make sense. For the past five years, Hayley Kincain and her father, Andy, have been on the road, trying to outrun the memories that haunt them both. They moved back to Andy’s hometown to try a “normal” life, but the horrors he saw in the war threaten to destroy their lives.
-
-
Powerful and Riveting
- By The Reading Date on 02-25-14
-
White Smoke
- By: Tiffany D. Jackson
- Narrated by: Marcella Cox
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marigold is running from ghosts. The phantoms of her old life keep haunting her, but a move with her newly blended family from their small California beach town to the embattled Midwestern city of Cedarville might be the fresh start she needs. Her mom has accepted a new job with the Sterling Foundation that comes with a free house, one that Mari now has to share with her bratty 10-year-old stepsister, Piper.
-
-
So Much Potential
- By J. on 10-26-21
-
I'll Be Yours
- By: Jenny B. Jones
- Narrated by: Laura Darrell
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The day Andrew Levin arrives at Washington High, Harper O'Malley knows he'll make the perfect starter boyfriend. The school's newest band geek is totally in Harper's league, yet completely out of this late-bloomer's reach. Between fitting in with a new family, scoring the first chair in band, and rescuing dogs for the local animal shelter, Harper's never had the opportunity to hone her dating skills. But even though Harper's love life is far from perfect, she's got the perfect plan.
-
-
Unquestionably 5 Stars!!!
- By Patiotoole on 03-10-17
By: Jenny B. Jones
-
The Babysitters Coven
- By: Kate M. Williams
- Narrated by: Phoebe Strole
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seventeen-year-old Esme Pearl has a babysitters club. She knows it's kinda lame, but what else is she supposed to do? Get a job? Gross. Besides, Esme likes babysitting, and she's good at it. And lately Esme needs all the cash she can get, because it seems like destruction follows her wherever she goes. Let's just say she owes some people a new tree. Enter Cassandra Heaven. She's Instagram-model hot, dresses like she found her clothes in a dumpster, and has a rebellious streak as gnarly as the cafeteria cooking.
-
-
Lighthearted and fun for adults too! *Spoiler Free*
- By Kaeli on 11-03-19
By: Kate M. Williams
Critic reviews
★ “Riesen’s debut is a rich, multifaceted story that . . . interweaves racism and discrimination, immigration and injustice, sexism and double standards, family expectations and intergenerational trauma, and more, all written to great effect and with a broadly diverse supporting cast. A smart, powerful, poignant tale of identity, freedom, and family.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
★ ““By deploying a healthy dose of sharp humor across a pacey plot that’s populated by an intersectionally diverse cast, Riesen crafts an emphatic and empathetic debut that doesn’t shy away from exploring grave themes such as imperialism, intergenerational trauma, war, and xenophobia.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Free Radicals is a deeply moving and keenly drawn story of courage, resilience and familial love, filled with tenderness, heart, romance, and hilarity. Lila Riesen is a talent to watch.”—Jeff Zentner, award-winning author of The Serpent King