My Life as a Potato
By: Arianne Costner
Narrated by: Robbie Daymond
Categories: Children's Audiobooks, Literature & Fiction
Otherwood
By: Pete Hautman
Narrated by: Michael Crouch
"Hatred combined with lies and secrets can break the world." Grandpa Zach used to say that before he died, but Stuey never really knew what he meant. It was kind of like how he used to talk about quantum physics or how he used to say ghosts haunted their overgrown golf course. But then one day, after Stuey and his best friend, Elly Rose, spend countless afternoons in the deadfall in the middle of the woods, something totally unbelievable happens.
What Lane?
By: Torrey Maldonado
Narrated by: Torrey Maldonado
Anything his friends can do, Stephen should be able to do too, right? So when they dare each other to sneak into an abandoned building, he doesn't think it's his lane, but he goes. Here's the thing, though: Can he do everything his friends can? Lately, he's not so sure. As a mixed kid, he feels like he's living in two worlds with different rules - and he's been noticing that strangers treat him differently than his white friends.... So what'll he do? Hold on tight as Stephen swerves in and out of lanes to find out which are his - and who should be with him.
A Wish in the Dark
By: Christina Soontornvat
Narrated by: Greta Jung
All light in Chattana is created by one man - the Governor, who appeared after the Great Fire to bring peace and order to the city. For Pong, who was born in Namwon Prison, the magical lights represent freedom, and he dreams of the day he will be able to walk among them. But when Pong escapes from prison, he realizes that the world outside is no fairer than the one behind bars. The wealthy dine and dance under bright orb light, while the poor toil away in darkness. Worst of all, Pong's prison tattoo marks him as a fugitive who can never be truly free.
Great story, Reading drove me crazy
By Emily Regan on 22-04-2020
By: Rob Harrell
Narrated by: Michael Crouch, Marc Thompson
Ross Maloy just wants to fit in. But after he is diagnosed with a rare eye cancer in Year Seven, he suddenly becomes the "cancer kid" of his school. Now he has to deal with weird hats, a squinty eye and - hardest of all - disappearing friends, social media bullies, and the threat of losing his eyesight...or worse. Based on Rob Harrell's real-life experiences, this is a heartbreaking and hilarious story of survival, and of finding the music, magic, and laughter in all of life's weirdness.
Mary Underwater
By: Shannon Doleski
Narrated by: Emily Lawrence
Mary Murphy feels like she's drowning. Her violent father is home from prison, and the social worker is suspicious of her new bruises. An aunt she's never met keeps calling. And if she can't get a good grade on her science project, she'll fail her favorite class. But Mary doesn't want to be a victim anymore. She has a plan: build a real submarine, like the model she's been making with Kip Dwyer, the secretly sweet class clown. Gaining courage from her heroine, Joan of Arc, Mary vows to pilot a sub across the Chesapeake Bay, risking her life in a modern crusade to save herself.
The Lonely Heart of Maybelle Lane
By: Kate O'Shaughnessy
Narrated by: Catherine Taber
Eleven-year-old Maybelle Lane collects sounds. She records the Louisiana crickets chirping, Momma strumming her guitar, their broken trailer door squeaking. But the crown jewel of her collection is a sound she didn't collect herself: an old recording of her daddy's warm-sunshine laugh, saved on an old phone's voicemail. It's the only thing she has of his, and the only thing she knows about him. Until the day she hears that laugh - his laugh - pouring out of the car radio. Going against Momma's wishes, Maybelle starts listening to her radio DJ daddy's new show....
By: Kate Messner
Narrated by: Merissa Czyz
When Mia moves to Vermont the summer after seventh grade, she's recovering from the broken arm she got falling off a balance beam. And packed away in the moving boxes under her clothes and gymnastics trophies is a secret she'd rather forget. Mia's change in scenery brings day camp, new friends, and time with her beloved grandmother. But Gram is convinced someone is trying to destroy her cricket farm. Is it sabotage or is Gram's thinking impaired from the stroke she suffered months ago?
American as Paneer Pie
By: Supriya Kelkar
Narrated by: Priya Ayyar
As the only Indian American kid in her small town, Lekha Divekar feels like she has two versions of herself: Home Lekha, who loves watching Bollywood movies and eating Indian food, and School Lekha, who pins her hair over her bindi birthmark and avoids confrontation at all costs, especially when someone teases her for being Indian. When a girl Lekha's age moves in across the street, Lekha is excited to hear that her name is Avantika and she's Desi, too! Finally, there will be someone else around who gets it.
Prairie Lotus
By: Linda Sue Park
Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
Acclaimed, award-winning author Linda Sue Park has placed a young half-Asian girl, Hanna, in a small town in America's heartland, in 1880. Hanna's adjustment to her new surroundings, which primarily means negotiating the townspeople's almost unanimous prejudice against Asians, is at the heart of the story. Told from the viewpoint of Hanna, the novel has poignant moments yet sparkles with humor, introducing a captivating heroine whose wry, observant voice will resonate with listeners.
Things Seen from Above
By: Shelley Pearsall
Narrated by: Eevin Hartsough, Christopher Gebauer
April is looking for an escape from the sixth-grade lunch hour, which has become a social-scene nightmare, so she signs up to be a "buddy bench monitor" for the fourth graders' recess. Joey Byrd is a boy on the fringes, who wanders the playground alone, dragging his foot through the dirt. But over time, April realizes that Joey isn't just making random circles. When you look at his designs from above, a story emerges....
By: Jamie Sumner
Narrated by: Candace Thaxton
Ellie's a girl who tells it like it is. That surprises some people, who see a kid in a wheelchair and think she's going to be all sunshine and cuddles. The thing is, Ellie has big dreams: She might be eating Stouffer's for dinner, but one day she's going to be a professional baker. If she's not writing fan letters to her favorite celebrity chefs, she's practicing recipes on her well-meaning, if overworked, mother.
Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen!
By: Sarah Kapit
Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, JD Jackson
Vivy Cohen is determined. She's had enough of playing catch in the park. She's ready to pitch for a real baseball team. But Vivy's mom is worried about Vivy being the only girl on the team, and the only autistic kid. She wants Vivy to forget about pitching, but Vivy won't give up. When her social skills teacher makes her write a letter to someone, Vivy knows exactly who to choose: her hero, Major League pitcher VJ Capello.
By: J. L. Esplin
The Lockwood brothers are supposed to be able to survive anything. Their dad, a hardcore believer in self-reliance, has stockpiled enough food and water at their isolated Nevada home to last for months. But when they are robbed of all their supplies during a massive blackout while their dad is out of town, John and Stew must walk 96 miles in the stark desert sun to get help. Along the way, they're forced to question their dad's insistence on self-reliance and ask just what it is that we owe to our neighbors, our kin, and to ourselves.
By: Lucy Knisley
Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang, Sarah Mollo-Christensen, Patricia Santomasso, and others
Jen did not want to leave the city. She did not want to move to a farm with her mom and her mom's new boyfriend, Walter. She did not want to leave her friends and her dad. Most of all, Jen did not want to get new "sisters", Andy and Reese. As if learning new chores on Peapod Farm wasn't hard enough, having to deal with perfect-at-everything Andy might be the last straw for Jen. Besides cleaning the chicken coop, trying to keep up with the customers at the local farmers' market, and missing her old life, Jen has to deal with her own insecurities about this new family.
By: Karah Sutton
Narrated by: Beata Pozniak
Since she was a pup, Zima has been taught to fear humans - especially witches - but when her family is threatened, she has no choice but to seek help from the witch Baba Yaga. Baba Yaga never does magic for free, but it just so happens that she needs a wolf's keen nose for a secret plan she's brewing... Before Zima knows what's happening, the witch has cast a switching spell and run off into the woods, while Zima is left behind in Baba Yaga's hut - and Baba Yaga's body!
Memories of World War II
By: Lois Lowry
Narrated by: Lois Lowry
From two-time Newbery Medalist and living legend Lois Lowry comes a moving account of the lives lost in two of WWII's most infamous events: Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima.
We Dream of Space
By: Erin Entrada Kelly
Narrated by: Ramon de Ocampo
Cash, who loves basketball but has a newly broken wrist, is in danger of failing seventh grade for the second time. Fitch spends every afternoon playing Major Havoc at the arcade on Main and wrestles with an explosive temper that he doesn't understand. And Bird, his 12-year-old twin, dreams of being NASA's first female shuttle commander, but feels like she's disappearing.
Here in the Real World
By: Sara Pennypacker
Narrated by: Noah Galvin
Ware can't wait to spend summer 'off in his own world' and generally being left alone. But then his parents sign him up for dreaded Rec camp, where he must endure Meaningful Social Interaction and whatever activities so-called 'normal' kids do. On his first day Ware meets Jolene, a tough, secretive girl planting a garden in the rubble of an abandoned church next to the camp. Soon Ware starts skipping Rec, creating a castle-like space of his own in the church lot.
For anyone who has ever felt like a potato in middle school, this hilarious story about a boy forced to become the dorkiest school mascot ever will have listeners cheering!
"A grade A, spudtastic (not to mention FUNNY) debut. Arianne Costner sure knows middle school and middle schoolers!" (Chris Grabenstein, number one New York Times best-selling author of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library)
Ben Hardy believes he's cursed by potatoes. And now he's moved to Idaho, where the school's mascot is Steve the Spud! Yeah, this cannot be good.
After accidentally causing the mascot to sprain an ankle, Ben is sentenced to Spud duty for the final basketball games of the year. But if the other kids know he's the Spud, his plans for popularity are likely to be a big dud! Ben doesn't want to let the team down, so he lies to his friends to keep it a secret. No one will know it's him under the potato suit...right?
Life as a potato is all about not getting mashed!
"A hilarious, relatable story for any kid who has ever felt out of place." (Stacy McAnulty, author of The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl)
©2020 Arianne Costner (P)2020 Listening Library
"A grade A, spudtastic (not to mention FUNNY) debut. Arianne Costner sure knows middle school and middle schoolers!" (Chris Grabenstein, number one New York Times best-selling author)
Confessions of a Class Clown
The Tyrant's Tomb
The Hidden Oracle
What listeners say about My Life as a Potato
One Potato, Two Potato...Five Potatoes!
I overheard my middle-grade-bound son LOLing so much over this that I had to check it out for myself. Faster than you can peel a potato, I was LOLing right along with him! Right off the bat, Ben Hardy establishes himself as a witty kid, but he quickly grows into something more: a very believable, three-dimensional middleschooler. Same goes for his friends and frenemies, and even his teachers. It felt refreshing to read a comedic book where the coach isn't a buffoon, but rather the kind of sensitive and decent mentor who cares just as much about the non-athletes as he does about his team. Make no mistake though—even without the usual stereotype, the coach is still one of the funniest characters. The narration is great too. We'd just listened to Robbie Daymond reading one of the Rick Riordan APOLLO books. But thanks to Daymond's talents, our transition from Greek gods to middle-grade mascots went down as smooth as a plate of mashed potatoes. In print or on audio, this is one potato that will leave you satisfied.
ana gutierrez
Super fun book
I'm a nurse in middle of COVID health crisis, so it was really relaxing to read this light book whose drama is about middle age insecurities and living for the moment.
Brilliant story ❤️
This story was amazing and funny and I liked how he lived In a potato city. But there is one thing that was not good and that is that it makes high school feel that if you do something bad you don't really get a good punishment. On the good side the person reading this made it deked like they were reading it right in front of you.