
Opinions and Opossums
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 $13.50
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Cassandra Morris
-
By:
-
Ann Braden
About this listen
A School Library Journal Best Book
Agnes has been raised to keep her opinions to herself, but how do you keep silent when you’re full of burning questions?
Agnes has been encouraged not to question authority by her mom—but that’s especially hard in religion class, where it bugs her that so much gets blamed on Eve and that God’s always pictured one way. Fortunately, Agnes’ anthropologist neighbor, Gracy, gets Agnes thinking after they rescue an opossum together. Playing dead didn’t serve the opossum well, so maybe it’s time for Agnes to start thinking for herself. And when Agnes learns that some cultures picture God as a female, she feels freed to think—and write—about things from new perspectives. As she and her best friend, Mo, encourage each other to get out of their comfort zone at school as the quiet kids, they quickly find it’s sorta cool seeing people react when they learn you are very much full of thought-provoking opinions. Ann Braden has written a fast-paced, funny novel that will resonate with anyone who’s ever been afraid to say what they think or question the status quo.
©2023 Ann Braden (P)2023 Listening LibraryListeners also enjoyed...
-
Look Both Ways
- By: Jason Reynolds
- Narrated by: Heather Alicia Simms, Chris Chalk, Bahni Turpin, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From National Book Award finalist and New York Times best-selling author Jason Reynolds comes a genre-defying new novel that serves as an homage to sharing the stories we all hold within ourselves.
-
-
We all have a point of view.
- By Schuhmacher22 on 02-12-20
By: Jason Reynolds
-
Flight of the Puffin
- By: Ann Braden
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch, Maxwell Glick, Dani Martineck, and others
- Length: 4 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Libby comes from a long line of bullies. She wants to be different, but sometimes that doesn’t work out. To bolster herself, she makes a card with the message You are amazing. That card sets off a chain reaction that ends up making a difference in the lives of some kids who could also use a boost - be it from dealing with bullies, unaccepting families, or the hole that grief leaves.
-
-
inspiring and a little disappointing
- By Melissa Mastrangelo on 07-25-22
By: Ann Braden
-
The Benefits of Being an Octopus
- By: Ann Braden
- Narrated by: Amy Melissa Bentley
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seventh-grader Zoey has her hands full as she takes care of her much younger siblings after school every day while her mom works her shift at the pizza parlor. Not that her mom seems to appreciate it. At least there's Lenny, her mom's boyfriend - they all get to live in his nice, clean trailer. At school, Zoey tries to stay under the radar. Her only friend, Fuchsia, has her own issues, and since they're in an entirely different world than the rich kids, it's best if no one notices them. Zoey thinks how much easier everything would be if she were an octopus.
-
-
An Amazing Book
- By Prime user on 08-03-20
By: Ann Braden
-
The Probability of Everything
- By: Sarah Everett
- Narrated by: Jordan Cobb
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eleven-year-old Kemi Carter loves scientific facts, specifically probability. It's how she understands the world and her place in it. Kemi knows her odds of being born were 1 in 5.5 trillion, and that the odds of her having the best family ever were even lower. Yet somehow, Kemi lucked out. But everything Kemi thought she knew changes when she sees an asteroid hover in the sky, casting a purple haze over her world. Amplus-68 has an 84.7% chance of colliding with earth in four days, and with that collision, Kemi’s life as she knows it will end.
-
-
Best to read without any info
- By Chance on 07-08-23
By: Sarah Everett
-
The Firefly Summer
- By: Morgan Matson
- Narrated by: Mia Jenness
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For as long as Ryanna Stuart can remember, her summers have been spent with her father and his new wife. Just the three of them, structured, planned, and quiet. But this summer is different. This summer, she’s received a letter from her grandparents—grandparents neither she nor her dad have spoken to since her mom’s death—inviting her to stay with them at an old summer camp in the Poconos.
-
-
Great Characters
- By Nicole Gilliam Lesher on 04-18-25
By: Morgan Matson
-
The Lightning Thief
- Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1
- By: Rick Riordan
- Narrated by: Jesse Bernstein
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school...again. No matter how hard he tries, he can't seem to stay out of trouble. But can he really be expected to stand by and watch while a bully picks on his scrawny best friend? Or not defend himself against his pre-algebra teacher when she turns into a monster and tries to kill him? Of course, no one believes Percy about the monster incident; he's not even sure he believes himself.
-
-
Loved the story - but.....
- By Julia on 02-28-10
By: Rick Riordan
-
Look Both Ways
- By: Jason Reynolds
- Narrated by: Heather Alicia Simms, Chris Chalk, Bahni Turpin, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From National Book Award finalist and New York Times best-selling author Jason Reynolds comes a genre-defying new novel that serves as an homage to sharing the stories we all hold within ourselves.
-
-
We all have a point of view.
- By Schuhmacher22 on 02-12-20
By: Jason Reynolds
-
Flight of the Puffin
- By: Ann Braden
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch, Maxwell Glick, Dani Martineck, and others
- Length: 4 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Libby comes from a long line of bullies. She wants to be different, but sometimes that doesn’t work out. To bolster herself, she makes a card with the message You are amazing. That card sets off a chain reaction that ends up making a difference in the lives of some kids who could also use a boost - be it from dealing with bullies, unaccepting families, or the hole that grief leaves.
-
-
inspiring and a little disappointing
- By Melissa Mastrangelo on 07-25-22
By: Ann Braden
-
The Benefits of Being an Octopus
- By: Ann Braden
- Narrated by: Amy Melissa Bentley
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seventh-grader Zoey has her hands full as she takes care of her much younger siblings after school every day while her mom works her shift at the pizza parlor. Not that her mom seems to appreciate it. At least there's Lenny, her mom's boyfriend - they all get to live in his nice, clean trailer. At school, Zoey tries to stay under the radar. Her only friend, Fuchsia, has her own issues, and since they're in an entirely different world than the rich kids, it's best if no one notices them. Zoey thinks how much easier everything would be if she were an octopus.
-
-
An Amazing Book
- By Prime user on 08-03-20
By: Ann Braden
-
The Probability of Everything
- By: Sarah Everett
- Narrated by: Jordan Cobb
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eleven-year-old Kemi Carter loves scientific facts, specifically probability. It's how she understands the world and her place in it. Kemi knows her odds of being born were 1 in 5.5 trillion, and that the odds of her having the best family ever were even lower. Yet somehow, Kemi lucked out. But everything Kemi thought she knew changes when she sees an asteroid hover in the sky, casting a purple haze over her world. Amplus-68 has an 84.7% chance of colliding with earth in four days, and with that collision, Kemi’s life as she knows it will end.
-
-
Best to read without any info
- By Chance on 07-08-23
By: Sarah Everett
-
The Firefly Summer
- By: Morgan Matson
- Narrated by: Mia Jenness
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For as long as Ryanna Stuart can remember, her summers have been spent with her father and his new wife. Just the three of them, structured, planned, and quiet. But this summer is different. This summer, she’s received a letter from her grandparents—grandparents neither she nor her dad have spoken to since her mom’s death—inviting her to stay with them at an old summer camp in the Poconos.
-
-
Great Characters
- By Nicole Gilliam Lesher on 04-18-25
By: Morgan Matson
-
The Lightning Thief
- Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1
- By: Rick Riordan
- Narrated by: Jesse Bernstein
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school...again. No matter how hard he tries, he can't seem to stay out of trouble. But can he really be expected to stand by and watch while a bully picks on his scrawny best friend? Or not defend himself against his pre-algebra teacher when she turns into a monster and tries to kill him? Of course, no one believes Percy about the monster incident; he's not even sure he believes himself.
-
-
Loved the story - but.....
- By Julia on 02-28-10
By: Rick Riordan
-
The Next Great Paulie Fink
- By: Ali Benjamin
- Narrated by: Cassandra Morris, Zach Villa, Cameron Bowen, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Caitlyn Breen enters the tiny Mitchell School in rural Mitchell, Vermont, she is a complete outsider: the seventh grade has just 10 other kids, and they've known each other since kindergarten. Her classmates are in for a shock of their own: Paulie Fink - the class clown, oddball, troublemaker, and evil genius - is gone this year.
-
-
great story, entertaining performance
- By Jodi Easton on 10-09-19
By: Ali Benjamin
-
Starfish
- By: Lisa Fipps
- Narrated by: Jenna Lamia
- Length: 3 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ever since Ellie wore a whale swimsuit and made a big splash at her fifth-birthday party, she's been bullied about her weight. To cope, she tries to live by the Fat Girl Rules - like "no making waves", "avoid eating in public", and "don't move so fast that your body jiggles". And she's found her safe space - her swimming pool - where she feels weightless in a fat-obsessed world. In the water, she can stretch herself out like a starfish and take up all the room she wants. It's also where she can get away from her mom, who thinks criticizing Ellie's weight will motivate her to diet.
-
-
Perfection!
- By JENNE ESTES on 07-02-21
By: Lisa Fipps
-
Maizy Chen's Last Chance
- By: Lisa Yee
- Narrated by: Yu-Li Alice Shen
- Length: 4 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Maizy has never been to Last Chance, Minnesota . . . until now. Her mom’s plan is just to stay for a couple weeks, until her grandfather gets better. But plans change, and as Maizy spends more time in Last Chance and at the Golden Palace—the restaurant that’s been in her family for generations—she makes some discoveries. But the more Maizy discovers, the more questions she has.
-
-
So Good!
- By Kristen K. on 07-18-23
By: Lisa Yee
-
The Last Mapmaker
- By: Christina Soontornvat
- Narrated by: Sura Siu
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As assistant to Mangkon’s most celebrated mapmaker, twelve-year-old Sai plays the part of a well-bred young lady with a glittering future. In reality, her father is a conman—and in a kingdom where the status of one’s ancestors dictates their social position, the truth could ruin her. Sai seizes the chance to join an expedition to chart the southern seas, but she isn’t the only one aboard with secrets. When Sai learns that the ship might be heading for the fabled Sunderlands—a land of dragons, dangers, and riches beyond imagining—she must weigh the cost of her dreams.
-
-
Marvelously well-written, beautifully narrated
- By Holly on 08-27-22
-
Freewater
- By: Amina Luqman-Dawson
- Narrated by: Cary Hite, Sisi Aisha Johnson
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Under the cover of night, 12-year-old Homer flees Southerland Plantation with his little sister Ada, unwillingly leaving their beloved mother behind. Much as he adores her and fears for her life, Homer knows there’s no turning back, not with the overseer on their trail. Through tangled vines, secret doorways, and over a sky bridge, the two find a secret community called Freewater, deep in the swamp.
-
-
Powerful, Enlightening, and Empowering!
- By sabreen jai on 03-05-22
-
Odder
- By: Katherine Applegate
- Narrated by: Alison Fraser, Yuuki Luna, Angel Pean, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Odder spends her days off the coast of central California, practicing her underwater acrobatics and spinning the quirky stories for which she’s known. She’s a fearless daredevil, curious to a fault. But when Odder comes face-to-face with a hungry great white shark, her life takes a dramatic turn, one that will challenge everything she believes about herself—and about the humans who hope to save her.
-
-
Great story
- By LJRiggs on 01-13-23
-
Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel
- By: Val Emmich, Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek, and others
- Narrated by: Ben Levi Ross, Mike Faist, Mallory Bechtel
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a letter that was never meant to be seen by anyone draws high school senior Evan Hansen into a family's grief over the loss of their son, he is given the chance of a lifetime: to belong. He just has to stick to a lie he never meant to tell: that the notoriously troubled Connor Murphy was his secret best friend. Suddenly, Evan isn't invisible anymore - even to the girl of his dreams. And Connor Murphy's parents, with their beautiful home on the other side of town, have taken him in like he was their own, desperate to know more about their enigmatic son from his closest friend.
-
-
One of the most emotional books I have ever read.
- By Darec Goheen on 10-26-18
By: Val Emmich, and others
-
The Kindness Club
- Chloe on the Bright Side
- By: Courtney Sheinmel
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Evans
- Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chloe Silver has always been good at looking on the bright side. Even though her parents got divorced and she's moved to a new town, she knows that she will make great friends at her new school. So when she is assigned a science project with offbeat Lucy Tanaka and nerdy Theo Barnes, they have fun creating an experiment that tests out the laws of science through different acts of kindness... officially forming The Kindness Club.
-
-
Awesome
- By Victor Barclay on 04-09-18
-
Courage for Beginners
- By: Karen Harrington
- Narrated by: Casey Holloway
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twelve-year-old Mysti Murphy wishes she were a character in a book. If her life were fictional, she'd magically know how to deal with the fact that her best friend, Anibal Gomez, has abandoned her in favor of being a "hipster". She'd be able to take care of everyone when her dad has to spend time in the hospital. And she'd certainly be able to change her family's secret. Seventh grade is not turning out the way Mysti had planned. With the help of a hot-air balloon, her new friend Rama Khan, and a bright orange coat, can she find the courage to change?
-
-
Struggles are real.
- By Heather on 01-15-21
By: Karen Harrington
-
Pride High, Book 1
- Red
- By: Jay Bell
- Narrated by: Talia Carver
- Length: 14 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Perfect for mature teens and nostalgic adults, this LGBTQ+ series celebrates authentic intimacy, realistic relationships, and the beautiful chaos of growing up queer. Rewind to the nineties and join a group of teenagers as they try to figure out who they are, and who they want to love. Meet your new friends:
-
-
He did it again!
- By Stanley Craver on 11-28-22
By: Jay Bell
-
11 Paper Hearts
- By: Kelsey Hartwell
- Narrated by: Rebecca Soler
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ella’s life was picture perfect. She had a circle of close friends, a jam-packed social life, and an amazing boyfriend. But then something completely unexpected happened: a car accident after a Valentine’s Day dance. When Ella woke up in the hospital, she couldn’t remember the accident...or anything about the weeks before it, including the reason she broke up with her boyfriend.
-
-
Perfect Love Stories
- By Nina T. on 02-22-25
By: Kelsey Hartwell
-
Date Me, Bryson Keller
- By: Kevin van Whye
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Everyone knows about the dare: Each week, Bryson Keller must date someone new - the first person to ask him out on Monday morning. Few think Bryson can do it. He may be the king of Fairvale Academy, but he's never really dated before. Until a boy asks him out, and everything changes. Kai Sheridan didn't expect Bryson to say yes. So when Bryson agrees to secretly go out with him, Kai is thrown for a loop. But as the days go by, he discovers there's more to Bryson beneath the surface, and dating him begins to feel less like an act and more like the real thing.
-
-
dear potential reader
- By Amazon Customer on 05-29-20
By: Kevin van Whye
Critic reviews
“Braden's book is perfect for middle-graders of any faith, especially those learning to make their faith their own. The relatable core plot, which folds in themes of income inequality, sexism, and asserting one's rights, moves quickly, and . . . the strong women in Agnes' life steal the show. Agnes’ growth throughout the novel and the familiar middle-grade plot points reimagined through Agnes’ unique situation in her community will resonate with fans of Barbara Dee and Paul Acampora.” —Booklist
“A 12-year-old girl learns that questioning faith can make it stronger. . . . Through eye-opening talks with her anthropologist neighbor, creative writing exercises from the perspective of an opossum, and the powerful poetry of Maya Angelou, Agnes finds a version of God that makes sense to her and realizes she has the power to challenge authority. Braden crafts a nuanced story supported by clear metaphors and honest, deep emotions. Readers faced with similar situations will find support here even if it’s only the confirmation to keep questioning. As Agnes learns and grows, she comes to realize that there are many conceptions of religion and God. . . . Mind-expanding.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Braden has woven the story of an overlooked and misinterpreted animal with thought-provoking realistic fiction. Braden shares a multigenerational story of how poetry and speaking your truth can be refreshing and connecting. This novel could be useful in social emotional learning lessons about being patient when change happens slowly or allowing oneself permission to feel anger. Readers might relate this quirky tale to Naked Mole-Rat Letters by Mary Amato about strange misunderstood animals and unexpected relationship dynamics. The world needs tweens to reflect on who is telling every story, whether fiction or nonfiction, and the motivations for those perspectives. A healthy reminder that the status quo continually needs to be challenged by thoughtful youths. There are a multitude of metaphors found in the natural world that can provide lessons if we are open to receiving them. A good choice for tween shelves.” —School Library Journal