Showing results by narrator "Gary Tiedemann" in All Categories

How did Africans become "Blacks" in the Americas? Becoming Free, Becoming Black tells the story of enslaved and free people of color who used the law to claim freedom and citizenship for themselves and their loved ones. Their communities challenged slaveholders' efforts to make Blackness synonymous with slavery. Looking closely at three slave societies - Cuba, Virginia, and Louisiana - Alejandro de la Fuente and Ariela J. Gross demonstrate that the law of freedom - not slavery - established the meaning of Blackness in law.

The morning of August 24, AD 79, seemed like any other in the Roman city of Pompeii. So no one was prepared when the nearby volcano Mount Vesuvius suddenly erupted, spouting ash that buried the city and its inhabitants. The disaster left thousands dead, and Pompeii was no more than a memory for almost 1,700 years. In 1748, explorers rediscovered the port city with intact buildings and beautiful mosaics.

Zach Monaghan just became a target. Under witness protection from his father’s whistle-blowing, his reckless desire to win back a normal life compels him to run away. But escaping his new identity won’t last long if two contract killers catch up to him. Richard “Birdman” Byrd has worked hand-in-hand with his tormentor Gorski for years. Siphoning away money and sending assassins to hunt down the Monaghans could be his only way out of the crooked partnership. But if Birdman doesn’t watch himself, the verbal abuse he’s received for years could turn deadly.

In the US and Canada, spiritualism's primary focus was on communication between the living and the dead. The spiritual tradition traveled around the world, especially in Latin America, where it evolved in different ways. The Puerto Rican influence on modern Western magic is profound but largely unheralded. Beginning in the early 20th century, Puerto Rican immigrants to the US introduced espiritismo to the US spiritual landscape, strongly affecting the way magic was practiced. Hector Salva's book places Puerto Rican espiritismo in this broader perspective.

Solitario Cisneros thought his life was over long ago. He lost his wife, his family, even his country in the late 1870s when the Rio Grande shifted course, stranding the Mexican town of Olvido on the Texas side of the border. He’d made his brooding peace with retiring his gun and badge, hiding out on his ranch, and communing with horses and ghosts.

December 13, 1920. It was a typical Monday morning when three US Navy officials boarded a hot-air balloon for an easy, routine training flight. But as evening came, heavy rain and wind knocked Lieutenants Louis Kloor, Stephen Farrell, and Walter Hinton off course, eventually forcing a crash landing deep within the snowy Canadian wilderness. As the men searched for salvation, they were overcome by freezing temperatures, starvation, and fatigue. To survive this harrowing experience, the brave military officers would have to go up against their greatest enemies yet.

The hit song from Thriller that we know and love takes on a brand-new connotation in this original short story from New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Deaver.

Strap in for an exhilarating ride through the wildest, most peculiar, and unbelievably true corners of pop culture. Your view of the entertainment world will never be the same!

Nate Arturi isn't a knight in shining armor. He sure as hell isn't a king. And the last time someone called him heroic, it was because he fetched his neighbor's corgi off the roof. But when an ancient alien beacon awakens on Earth, sounding the call to enemies near and far, the Merlin is left with little choice. Any Knight in a Doomsday, or so the saying goes.

Lucas Ramsay, a visionary scientist, believed his groundbreaking reactor would unlock the secrets of deep space and propel humanity into a new era of exploration. Little did he know that his anti-gravity device would unleash a cataclysmic wave of destruction, engulfing the planet in chaos and devastation. But the true terror awaits beyond the stars.

Partying with popular classmates they barely know is not what Eva and her BFFs had in mind for their spring break. But things have been off ever since Miles' academic career took a turn for the worse (they don't talk about it), so a trip to a private beach lodge might be exactly what they need. And Eva won’t admit it, but the chance to reconnect with Colton is worth putting up with Piper’s constant livestreams to her thousands of “besties.”

Key West, 1886. The booming cigar industry makes it the most prosperous city in Florida. As a rebel base for the anticolonial insurgency in Cuba, it’s also a tinderbox for six young friends with ambitious dreams. They all brim with secrets.

Told as a conversation between David and his two sons, American Familia is David’s story of growing up in rural poverty in Puerto Rico and urban poverty in the United States, detailing hopeful and transformative life-lessons along the way. This book encourages youth with a vision of hope that they, too, can transcend their environment and situation—and achieve more, be more, and become more. David’s story provides guidance on how to overcome challenges and gives direction on how to develop purpose and embrace opportunities with courage and personal responsibility.

Did you know that some frogs can leap twenty times the length of their own bodies? How about that the largest frog in the world weighs more than a chihuahua? Or that frogs drink through their skin and not through their mouths? Perfect for all animal lovers—and frog fans in particular—this book is filled with all the facts you need to know to become a frog expert! Where are frogs found? What's it like to be a frog? Why are frogs endangered, and who has been working hard to save them? Listen to this book and find out how you can help save the frogs!

Welcome to I Don’t Vant to Suck Your Blood Smoothie Shop, where all products are 100% blood-free! That’s good news for humans, but bad news for a thirsty vampire who just wants a pint of O-positive. With a little help from a friend, he’ll realize that blood isn’t a beverage. Humans need it! Blood delivers oxygen and nutrients, helps fight off infections, and so much more. So press "play" on Blood! Not Just a Vampire Drink, grab a pineapple-spinach smoothie, and find out why blood is such a fabulous fluid.

Children can celebrate their grandma with this collection of short poems that honors the memories and experiences with the woman they know and love. From playing Doctor with Grandma to sitting on her lap to read a favorite story, this delightful audiobook from the best-selling author of the Here I Come! series is perfect for any grandmother.

Isaac and Marco already know sixth grade is going to change their lives. But it won’t change things at home—not without each other’s help. This year, star basketball player Isaac plans on finally keeping up with his schoolwork. Better grades will surely stop Isaac’s parents from arguing all the time. Meanwhile, straight-A Marco vows on finally winning his father’s approval by earning a spot on the school’s basketball team. But will their friendship and support for each other be enough to keep the two boys from falling short?

During the summer of 1984 20-year-old Tommy Hamilton, the product of a deprived childhood in rural Alabama, shoots and kills his boss. Convicted of murder, Tommy is sentenced to death. Before facing the electric chair, one final appeal offers the chance to save Tommy's life, if only his two Chicago-based lawyers and a nun from Alabama can prove he is not legally guilty...even if he is not truly innocent.

Together, a boy and his parents drive to the city of Havana, Cuba, in their old family car. Along the way, they experience the sights and sounds of the streets - neighbors talking, musicians performing, and beautiful, colorful cars putt-putting and bumpety-bumping along. In the end, though, it’s their old car, Cara Cara, that the boy loves best.

For over a decade, human rights journalist Agus Morales has journeyed to the sites of the world's most brutal conflicts and spoken to the victims of violence and displacement. To Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Central African Republic. To Central America, the Congo, and the refugee camps of Jordan. To the Tibetan Parliament in exile in northern India. We are living in a time of massive global change, when negative images of refugees undermine the truth of their humiliation and suffering.