Showing results by narrator "Kevin R. Free" in All Categories

Miles has been waiting forever to be part of a city-wide science competition. Now his dream is finally coming true, and he's even part of an all-star team that includes his good friend, Jada. He should be in his element, so he can't seem to figure out why he feels like the weak link instead. While everyone else is rocking the project, Miles keeps messing up, and the team bickers and loses momentum. Miles is filled with self-doubt, and he has to wonder: Is he really a whiz at science, or is he actually a flop?

Rufus may have successfully sent the feylings home to the Green World, but he still has one pesky feyling under his wing: Nettle, his sometimes enemy, now mentor. Nettle is in charge of helping Rufus and his cousin Abigail protect Feylawn, their grandfather’s magical and mysterious homestead. But this difficult task becomes even more dangerous when a leopard appears in the woods without warning; strange, waterlogged women arrive to warn of impending doom; and a goblin begins digging his way back to Earth, hungry for revenge.

As far as this ice-cream-loving kid is concerned, every meal should include ice cream. In any form, in every flavor, he loves it all. But what he doesn't love is seeing other people with ice cream...while he's still waiting in line for his. That's when he can get his mad, "no-ice-cream-yet, waiting-in-a-long-line face"—until he finally gets his cone, and his mad face melts into something sweet. Heidi Woodward Sheffield gently explores a range of emotions as they relate to this delicious everyday experience.

When night falls upon Ditchfield Juvenile Detention Facility in the Maryland foothills, whatever the watch tower lights don’t touch is taken by the shadows. Inside are young men the state calls lost causes and future convicts. The violent. The mentally ill. The forgotten. Gordon Pope hates Ditchfield. Rumors have swirled about the place for years. Whispers of beatings. Mental abuse. Even experiments. Every patient he’s had that ended up there took a chunk of his heart with them.

Melvin Robinson wants a strong, smooth He-Man voice that lets him say what he wants, when he wants - especially to his crush Millie Takazawa, and Gary Ratliff, who constantly puts him down. But the thought of starting high school is only making his stutter worse. And Melvin's growing awareness that racism is everywhere - not just in the South where a boy his age has been brutally killed by two White men, but also in his own hometown of Spokane - is making him realize that he can't mutely stand by.

In 1911, famed cartoonist Winsor McCay debuted one of the first animated cartoons, based on his sophisticated newspaper strip Little Nemo in Slumberland, itself inspired by Freud’s recent research on dreams. McCay is largely forgotten today, but he unleashed an art form and the creative energy of artists from Otto Messmer and Max Fleischer to Walt Disney and Warner Bros.’ Chuck Jones. Wild Minds is an ode to our colorful past and to the creative energy that later inspired The Simpsons, South Park, and BoJack Horseman.

A thoughtful little Rabbit sets out to find the perfect gift for his nana. He knows she will love anything he brings her, but Rabbit wants this gift to be extra special. As he travels on his quest, Rabbit encounters an assortment of creatures - a crow, a smiling full moon, a stickler (whatever that is), a big fish, and a volcano. Each is certain they offer the best advice, but nothing they suggest seems right for his nana. It's not until Rabbit reaches the highest peak that he finds exactly what he's been searching for.

A lovable dog helps his human girl solve a mystery. Kayla lost a tooth, but now it's missing! What does Kayla know? Her tooth is not inside the tooth fairy pillow. It's not inside her backpack. It's not inside the car. What does King know? Mason's hand smells like the tooth fairy pillow. How will they solve the mystery?

Jonathan Lewis-Adey was nine when his mother, Sid, vanished entirely from his life. It’s not until he’s a grown man that Jonathan finally reconnects with his beloved lost parent, only to find, to his shock and dismay, that the woman he knew as 'Sid' in Toronto has become an elegant man named Sydney living in his native Trinidad. For nine years, Jonathan has paid regular visits to Sydney, trying with quiet desperation to rediscover the parent he adored inside this familiar stranger.

Jonathan Lewis-Adey was nine when his parents separated, and his mother, Sid, vanished entirely from his life. It is not until he is a grown man that Jonathan finally reconnects with his beloved lost parent, only to find, to his shock and dismay, that the woman he knew as "Sid" in Toronto has become an elegant man named Sydney living in his native Trinidad.

Can you keep a beat and bust a rhyme? Did you know that learning can help you earn a hard dime? With rhythm and flow, the voices of U.S. history hip-hop to life.

Wherever your home is, it’s probably not as tough as Gary, Indiana. Gary has been called a lot of things. The Armpit of Chicago. The Land of Robbing Hoods. Hell. For the children of Gary, living often boils down to surviving. Maybe these kids get caught up in games of gin rummy. Maybe they spin tops as a way to scratch something fun out of their desperation. Maybe they stand by helplessly as their tenement buildings go up in flames. Or maybe they get held up at gunpoint by somebody who wants more money than he could steal from his church collection box.

Winner of the Sonja H. Stone Prize in Literature, Preston L. Allen’s Jesus Boy was listed by O, the Oprah Magazine as one of “Ten More Titles to Read Now.” Sixteen-year-old Elwyn Parker is dedicated to God. But when the one he loves marries another man, Elwin gets involved with a much older woman. Soon, his lust will test his devotion - and may alienate him from his congregation.

This Old West adventure from genre stalwart Mike Kearby comes heartily recommended by Historical Novels Review. Free Anderson's days as a soldier may be over, but his war is just beginning. An enemy stalks him, waiting to exact vengeance. Now framed and set to hang in Texas, Free is aided by a friend from his army days. Together again on the trail of Free's accuser, the two men encounter such towering figures as Wild Bill Hickok and General Custer.

Rufus and his snooty cousin Abigail soon become entangled in the tantalizing world of the feylings, mischievous fairy-like creatures desperate to find their way home. In helping the feylings, Rufus tumbles down a dark path rich with age-old secrets and difficult truths. Any move he makes might be his final fatal error - or perhaps, his most spectacular beginning. Award-winning author Dashka Slater spins a tale of friendship, magic, and eternal life in this evocative and witty middle-grade fantasy.

A girl walks home from school. She's tall for her age. She's wearing her winter coat. Her headphones are in. She's hurrying. She never makes it home. In the aftermath, while law enforcement tries to justify the response, one fact remains: A police officer has shot and killed an unarmed 13-year-old girl. The community is thrown into upheaval, leading to unrest, a growing movement to protest the senseless taking of black lives, and the arrival of white supremacist counter-demonstrators.

One of Silicon Valley's top leadership trainers distills his proven framework that has empowered teams at the world's most innovative companies - from Google and Facebook to Cisco Systems and biotech giant Genentech/Roche - to do the best work of their lives. Richard Lee has worked with thousands of ambitious leaders and their teams, and has found that they all share the same frustration. Whether it's because of communication breakdowns or systemic complexity, people at every level of an organization feel like their results fall short of their expectations.

Multiple times a day, in cities across the US and beyond, a simple yet powerful message is repeated by the well-meaning, the ignorant, and the bigoted: “don’t go”—avoid at all costs those Black and Brown disinvested neighborhoods that have become bywords for social disorder and urban decay. This book is a collection of intimate stories that uncover the hidden influence of both subtle and overt “don’t go” messages and the segregation they perpetuate in Chicago.

When Peter Smith’s classmate snaps a picture of him during a late night run at the track, Peter thinks he might be in trouble. When she posts that photo - along with the caption “See the Pretty Boy Run” - Peter knows he’s in trouble. But when hostiles drop through the ceiling of his sixth-period chem class, Peter’s pretty sure his trouble just became a national emergency. Because he’s not really Peter Smith. He’s Jake Morrow, former foster kid turned CIA operative.

In The Art of Good Deeds, leaders in the world of philanthropy share personal stories and real-life experiences of the impact of good deeds—not large donations to charity or grand gestures, but simple and practical acts of kindness. This insightful collection of narratives encourages deeper understanding of both financial and social giving through real-life people making philanthropy and good deeds part of their everyday life. A welcome donor-recognition gift for not-for-profits, crowdfunding campaigns, and others you want to either inspire or thank—or both!