Showing results by narrator "Allyson Johnson" in All Categories

Eleven-year-old Jane Grandison, tormented by her stutter, sits in the back seat of a car, letter in hand inviting her to live and study at the Sybil Joines Vocational School for Ghost Speakers & Hearing-Mouth Children. Founded in 1890 by Headmistress Sybil Joines, the school - at first glance - is a sanctuary for children seeking to cure their speech impediments. Inspired by her haunted and tragic childhood, the Headmistress has other ideas.

In Red Right Hand, Charlie Tristan Moore was thrust into a nightmarish world of lurking Lovecraftian horrors when The Man In Black, a diabolical Elder God, chose her as his unwilling Acolyte. Discovering her own power, Charlie ultimately defied The Man In Black, but at a cost. Now armed with a magic coat made from the skin of a flayed angel, Charlie is out to destroy The Man In Black and save her boyfriend Daniel - and she doesn't care how many bloodthirsty gods and monsters get in her way....

Too tired to think? No time to read books? Zibby Owens gets it. Award-winning podcaster of Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books and mother of four (ages six to 14) compiled 53 essays by 49 authors to help the rest of us feel understood, inspired, and less alone.

This is a story about a family coming of age at the same time as smartphones and social media; a multiracial family coming into its own as windows into social injustice opened up before our very screens; and a multi-parent multi-professional family with children living differently depending on which house and which combination of family members happen to be home. While it is a story about a family, it is really the story of technological and global changes unfolding on our doorsteps.

Lorna Forrester was to wed the half-witted heir to the Beau Repose estate. But the day before her wedding, she met Ramon Cazenove, a daring blockade runner, thus beginning an incredible adventure into danger and love--from the Civil War-torn South to the windswept Caribbean.

Nelson Mandela is well known throughout the world as a heroic leader who symbolizes freedom and moral authority. He is fixed in the public mind as the world’s elder statesman - the gray-haired man with a kindly smile who spent 27 years in prison before becoming the first Black president of South Africa. But Nelson Mandela was not always elderly or benign....

Nicole M. Joseph investigates factors that contribute to the glaring underrepresentation of Black female students in mathematics. Joseph's account calls attention to educational structures and practices that contribute to race- and gender-based stratification in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. In her assessment of the intersectional difficulties facing this marginalized group, Joseph offers a critical view of the existing mathematics education research, practice, and policies that have neglected Black girls and women; and then provides suggestions for reform.

The all-time classic, best-selling ode to the love shared between parent and child. Perfect for new parents, baby showers, christenings, and sharing at bedtime. A day in the life of parent and child - full of smiles and giggles, messes and meals, boundless energy and well-earned rest. Not to mention lots of love. Here, in simple rhyming verse, is one such day. Share it with others and treasure the memories.

Libby and her friends are put in charge of the science booth at their school fair. There’s only one problem: no one is visiting their booth! Does everyone think science is boring? Libby and her friends use teamwork, creativity, and just a bit of chemistry to turn things around and prove that science is for everyone.

Mari N. Crabtree traces the long afterlife of lynching in the South through the traumatic memories it left in its wake. African American victims and survivors had to find a way to live through and beyond the horrors of lynching. Crabtree offers a theory of African American collective trauma and memory rooted in a strategy for “working through” trauma that has long existed within the African American cultural tradition: the ironic spirit of the blues sensibility—a spirit of misdirection and cunning that blends joy and pain.

These 75 flash nonfiction pieces, written by internationally celebrated women authors and dazzlingly hilarious newcomers, are no flashes in the pan: They provide a feast of insights, generously garnished with wit, spice, and an exhilarating attention to craft. In Fast Funny Women, you'll find everything you want from thoughtful essays in a short, delicious form. Perfect for students of writing, writers of humor, and all fans who welcome laughter, insight, and perspective into their lives.

Have you heard of the Star Maiden, Old Sally Cato, or Sweet Betsey from Pike? Everyone knows about Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed, and Davy Crockett, But have you heard of these larger-than-life women? From Bess Call, who wrestles any and all challengers, to Molly Cottontail, who can outwit any critter in the woods, to Hekeke, who slays a giant singlehandedly, here are 15 funny, stormy, and always entertaining tall tales of legendary American women. They're as difference as can be, but still cut from the same cloth.

Lilly Etta didn't know the men, but she knew those yellow chairs. They were Tanya's, and they were being taken out of her building. Tanya was being put out - Tanya, her mother, her six brothers and sisters. Their things would be piled on the sidewalk and left there to be had for the taking. It didn't matter if nobody else in the city cared; Lilly Etta did. She knew what friendship was, and she wasn't going to let her friend be thrown out without a fight.

After she survives the bachelor auction, Sabine vows she is never doing another favor for a friend. This is especially true for favors that involve spending large sums of money and buying men whose last names she doesn't even know. In 20 bachelors, Sabine maybe expected to find several Davids, Mikes, or Johns. But what were the odds of two Todds? And now what is she going to do on a date with the wrong one?

Who would fall for an assassin...except another assassin? After a security breach is written in the sky - literally - the Bod Squad jumps back into action. An important member of the team has been assassinated by the mob, and the squad's public enemy number one, Baba Samka, is getting too close. Could his deadly work be an inside job? Only trained assassins Tyka and Mahmoud have the very particular set of skills the Bod Squad needs to solve this case.

Twelve science fiction stories about the oncoming future, each of them representing a possible glimpse of what could be just around the corner... or much further down the corridor. These stories previously appeared in places like Clarkesworld Magazine, The Year's Best SF, Subterranean Magazine, and in various anthologies. They deal with the future of war, our climate, and technology's effect on our lives.

Dr. Alice Cameron is a famous scientist - an archeoastronomer - devoted to studying ancient Mayan culture. The era driving her career has always been the end of the Mayan baktun, so she's on the Yucatan Peninsula in December 2012 with her daughter Nixie...and so are fellow serious scholars, plenty of end-of-the-world crazies, and - at an international summit - the President of the United States and other heads of state.

Getting attached to someone nearly sidelined agent Annie Perez's career. So she's not about to make the same mistake twice. This latest undercover assignment in Louisiana - acting as nanny for a famous couple under threat - suits her perfectly. She can investigate quietly and under the radar. That is, provided she can stay clear of way-too-suspicious detective Nate Dufrene. Easier said than done when Nate seems to be around every corner. And with each encounter, Annie is tempted a little more by this son of Bayou Bridge.

Ania Looren would have chosen death over becoming a demon host, if she'd had a choice. But her mate Liam is master of the Demon of Synar, and made that decision for her in order to save her life. Her spirit now grieves for what she has become Ania fears the great harm she can cause using the demon's power. Unfortunately, Liam's reluctant embrace of being the demon's master, along with his refusal to discuss Malachi with her, leaves Ania facing her destiny alone.

Eliza Jacobson has always been the black sheep of her mega-successful family. She loves volunteering to work with the dogs at Pretty Paws, especially Athena, a Great Dane whose high-anxiety habits make her nearly unadoptable. She thinks she may have finally found her Prince Charming and the fairytale life she’s always dreamed of. But when he adopts Athena to use as a mascot, Eliza finds herself shielding the dog from Tony’s temper, and the Great Dane’s anxious behavior mirrors Eliza’s own growing unease. Will Athena’s friendship give Eliza the courage to stand up to Tony?