Maya Angelou introduces herself and explains how she came to be known as Maya. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/05/28/147369802/maya-angelou-poet-activist-and-singular-storyteller-dies-at-86?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=atc&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20140528

Maya Angelou Explains Her Name

Forced to become a child soldier, a sixteen-year-old Somali refugee must confront his painful past in this haunting, thrilling tale of loss and redemption for fans of A Long Way Gone and What is the What When Abdi's family is kidnapped, he's forced to do the unthinkable: become a child soldier with the ruthless jihadi group Al Shabaab. In order to save the lives of those he loves, and earn their freedom, Abdi agrees to be embedded as a spy within the militia's ranks and to send dispatches on their plans to the Americans. The jihadists trust Abdi immediately because his older brother, Dahir, is already one of them, prot&eacute;g&eacute; to General Idris, aka the Butcher. If Abdi's duplicity is discovered, he will be killed. For weeks, Abdi trains with them, witnessing atrocity after atrocity, becoming a monster himself, wondering if he's even pretending anymore. He only escapes after he is forced into a suicide bomber's vest, which still leaves him stumps where two of his fingers used to be and his brother near death. Eventually, he finds himself on the streets of Sangui City, Kenya, stealing what he can find to get by, sleeping nights in empty alleyways, wondering what's become of the family that was stolen from him. But everything changes when Abdi's picked up for a petty theft, which sets into motion a chain reaction that forces him to reckon with a past he's been trying to forget. In this riveting, unflinching tale of sacrifice and hope, critically-acclaimed author Natalie C. Anderson delivers another tour-de-force that will leave readers at the edge of their seats. Available for purchase at: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CKMC38Q?tag=randohouseinc7911-20">Amazon</a><a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-8373827-11819508?sid=PRHD39095A662&url=http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/?ean=9780399547638">Barnes & Noble</a><a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-8373827-10876509?SID=PRHD39095A662--9780399547638&url=http://www.booksamillion.com/p/9780399547638">Books A Million</a><a href="http://www.hudsonbooksellers.com/book/9780399547614?utm_source=prh&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_term=301&utm_content=PRHD39095A662--9780399547614&utm_campaign=9780399547614">Hudson Booksellers</a><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780399547614?aff=PenguinGroupUS">IndieBound</a><a href="http://www.powells.com/book/-9780399547614?utm_source=randomhouse&utm_campaign=randomhouse&utm_content=PRHD39095A662--9780399547614">Powell's</a><a href="http://goto.target.com/c/128773/81938/2092?subId1=PRHD39095A662--9780399547614&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.target.com%2Fs%3FsearchTerm%3D9780399547614">Target</a><a href="http://linksynergy.walmart.com/fs-bin/click?id=VD9*lkiWNd8&subid=0&offerid=183959.1&type=10&tmpid=273&u1=PRHD39095A662--9780399547614&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.walmart.com%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-ng.do%3F&RD_PARM2=search_query%3D9780399547614%2526ic%3D16_0%2526Find%3DFind%2526search_constraint%3D3920">Walmart</a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1375325208?at=11l3IH&ct=PRHD39095A662--9780399547638">Apple Books</a><a href="https://google.prf.hn/click/camref:1011ld4r/pubref:PRHD39095A662--9780525625681/destination:https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9780525625681&c=books">Google Play Store - Audiobook (Downloadable format)</a><a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/link?id=VD9*lkiWNd8&offerid=258185.12829781935712206&type=2&u1=PRHD39095A662--9780525625681}&murl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kobo.com%2Fsearch%3FQuery%3D9780525625681">Kobo - Audiobook (Downloadable format)</a><a href="https://www.qksrv.net/click-8373827-10273919?url=https://www.audible.com/search?advsearchKeywords=Let%27s+Go+Swimming+on+Doomsday+Natalie+C.+Anderson&source_code=COMA0213WS031709&SID=randohouseinc7911-20--9780525625681">Audible - Audiobook (Downloadable format)</a><a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-8373827-11117375?SID=PRHD39095A662--9780525625681&url=http://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/9780525625681">audiobooks.com - Audiobook (Downloadable format)</a>

Let's Go Swimming on Doomsday by Natalie C. Anderson, read by Kevin R. Free, Natalie C. Anderson

A wildly imaginative novel of the reluctant heroine who rescued life on earth. With the coming of the Great Flood--the mother of all disasters--only one family was spared, drifting on an endless sea, waiting for the waters to subside. We know the story of Noah, moved by divine vision to launch their escape. Now, in a work of astounding invention, acclaimed writer Sarah Blake reclaims the story of his wife, Naamah, the matriarch who kept them alive. Here is the woman torn between faith and fury, lending her strength to her sons and their wives, caring for an unruly menagerie of restless creatures, silently mourning the lover she left behind. Here is the woman escaping into the unreceded waters, where a seductive angel tempts her to join a strange and haunted world. Here is the woman tormented by dreams and questions of her own--questions of service and self-determination, of history and memory, of the kindness or cruelty of fate. In fresh and modern language, Blake revisits the story of the Ark that rescued life on earth, and rediscovers the agonizing burdens endured by the woman at the heart of the story. Naamah is a parable for our time: a provocative fable of body, spirit, and resilience. Available for purchase at: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FLXBG21?tag=randohouseinc7911-20">Amazon</a><a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-8373827-11819508?sid=PRHD39095A662&url=http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/?ean=9780525536352">Barnes & Noble</a><a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-8373827-10876509?SID=PRHD39095A662--9780525536352&url=http://www.booksamillion.com/p/9780525536352">Books A Million</a><a href="http://www.hudsonbooksellers.com/book/9780525536338?utm_source=prh&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_term=301&utm_content=PRHD39095A662--9780525536338&utm_campaign=9780525536338">Hudson Booksellers</a><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780525536338?aff=PenguinGroupUS">IndieBound</a><a href="http://www.powells.com/book/-9780525536338?utm_source=randomhouse&utm_campaign=randomhouse&utm_content=PRHD39095A662--9780525536338">Powell's</a><a href="http://goto.target.com/c/128773/81938/2092?subId1=PRHD39095A662--9780525536338&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.target.com%2Fs%3FsearchTerm%3D9780525536338">Target</a><a href="http://linksynergy.walmart.com/fs-bin/click?id=VD9*lkiWNd8&subid=0&offerid=183959.1&type=10&tmpid=273&u1=PRHD39095A662--9780525536338&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.walmart.com%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-ng.do%3F&RD_PARM2=search_query%3D9780525536338%2526ic%3D16_0%2526Find%3DFind%2526search_constraint%3D3920">Walmart</a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1412442952?at=11l3IH&ct=PRHD39095A662--9780525536352">Apple Books</a><a href="https://google.prf.hn/click/camref:1011ld4r/pubref:PRHD39095A662--9780525536352/destination:https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9780525536352&c=books">Google Play Store</a><a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/link?id=VD9*lkiWNd8&offerid=258185.12829781935712206&type=2&u1=PRHD39095A662--9780525536352}&murl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kobo.com%2Fsearch%3FQuery%3D9780525536352">Kobo</a>

Naamah by Sarah Blake, read by Shayna Small

"Sometimes characters come along that demand a new kind of novel. The young women at the center of Ruchika Tomar's A Prayer for Travelers - elusive Penny and wounded Cale - are two spirits hitchhiking through geographies of dislocation and desire. The human collisions in Tomar's novel are emotionally seismic, and they leave us haunted and unsettled." --Adam Johnson, author of The Orphan Master's Son Cale Lambert, a bookish loner of mysterious parentage, lives in a dusty town near the California-Nevada border, a place where coyotes scavenge for backyard dogs and long-haul truckers scavenge for pills and girls. Cale was raised by her grandfather in a loving, if codependent, household, but as soon as she's left high school his health begins an agonizing decline. Set adrift for the first time, Cale starts waitressing at the local diner, where she reconnects with Pen&eacute;lope Reyes, a charismatic former classmate running mysterious side-hustles to fund her dreams. Penny exposes Cale to the reality that exists beyond their small town, and the girls become inseparable----until one terrifying act of violence shatters their world. When Penny vanishes without a trace, Cale must set off on a dangerous quest across the desert to find her friend, and discover herself. An audacious debut, told in deftly interwoven chapters, A Prayer for Travelers explores the complicated legacy of the American West and the trauma of female experience. Available for purchase at: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JYQGTLP?tag=randohouseinc7911-20">Amazon</a><a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-8373827-11819508?sid=PRHD39095A662&url=http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/?ean=9780525537038">Barnes & Noble</a><a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-8373827-10747236?SID=PRHD39095A662--9780525537038&url=http://www.booksamillion.com/p/9780525537038">Books A Million</a><a href="http://www.hudsonbooksellers.com/book/9780525537014?utm_source=prh&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_term=301&utm_content=PRHD39095A662--9780525537014&utm_campaign=9780525537014">Hudson Booksellers</a><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780525537014?aff=PenguinGroupUS">IndieBound</a><a href="http://www.powells.com/book/-9780525537014?utm_source=randomhouse&utm_campaign=randomhouse&utm_content=PRHD39095A662--9780525537014">Powell's</a><a href="http://goto.target.com/c/128773/81938/2092?subId1=PRHD39095A662--9780525537014&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.target.com%2Fs%3FsearchTerm%3D9780525537014">Target</a><a href="http://linksynergy.walmart.com/fs-bin/click?id=VD9*lkiWNd8&subid=0&offerid=183959.1&type=10&tmpid=273&u1=PRHD39095A662--9780525537014&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.walmart.com%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-ng.do%3F&RD_PARM2=search_query%3D9780525537014%2526ic%3D16_0%2526Find%3DFind%2526search_constraint%3D3920">Walmart</a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1440418643?at=11l3IH&ct=PRHD39095A662--9780525537038">Apple Books</a><a href="https://google.prf.hn/click/camref:1011ld4r/pubref:PRHD39095A662--9780525537038/destination:https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9780525537038&c=books">Google Play Store</a><a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/link?id=VD9*lkiWNd8&offerid=258185.12829781935712206&type=2&u1=PRHD39095A662--9780525537038}&murl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kobo.com%2Fsearch%3FQuery%3D9780525537038">Kobo</a>

A Prayer for Travelers by Ruchika Tomar, read by Sophie Amoss

Padma Venkatraman&#8217;s inspiring story of a young girl&#8217;s struggle to regain her passion and find a new peace is told lyrically through verse that captures the beauty and mystery of India and the ancient bharatanatyam dance form. This is a stunning novel about spiritual awakening, the power of art, and above all, the courage and resilience of the human spirit. &#160; Veda, a classical dance prodigy in India, lives and breathes dance&#8212;so when an accident leaves her a below-knee amputee, her dreams are shattered. For a girl who&#8217;s grown used to receiving applause for her dance prowess and flexibility, adjusting to a prosthetic leg is painful and humbling. But Veda refuses to let her disability rob her of her dreams, and she starts all over again, taking beginner classes with the youngest dancers. Then Veda meets Govinda, a young man who approaches dance as a spiritual pursuit. As their relationship deepens, Veda reconnects with the world around her, and begins to discover who she is and what dance truly means to her. Available for purchase at: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FX7LWRK?tag=randohouseinc7911-20">Amazon</a><a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-8373827-11819508?sid=PRHD39095A662&url=http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/?ean=9780698158269">Barnes & Noble</a><a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-8373827-10747236?SID=PRHD39095A662--9780698158269&url=http://www.booksamillion.com/p/9780698158269">Books A Million</a><a href="http://www.hudsonbooksellers.com/book/9780399257100?utm_source=prh&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_term=301&utm_content=PRHD39095A662--9780399257100&utm_campaign=9780399257100">Hudson Booksellers</a><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780399257100?aff=PenguinGroupUS">IndieBound</a><a href="http://www.powells.com/book/-9780399257100?utm_source=randomhouse&utm_campaign=randomhouse&utm_content=PRHD39095A662--9780399257100">Powell's</a><a href="http://goto.target.com/c/128773/81938/2092?subId1=PRHD39095A662--9780399257100&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.target.com%2Fs%3FsearchTerm%3D9780399257100">Target</a><a href="http://linksynergy.walmart.com/fs-bin/click?id=VD9*lkiWNd8&subid=0&offerid=183959.1&type=10&tmpid=273&u1=PRHD39095A662--9780399257100&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.walmart.com%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-ng.do%3F&RD_PARM2=search_query%3D9780399257100%2526ic%3D16_0%2526Find%3DFind%2526search_constraint%3D3920">Walmart</a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id726531983?at=11l3IH&ct=PRHD39095A662--9780698158269">Apple Books</a><a href="https://google.prf.hn/click/camref:1011ld4r/pubref:PRHD39095A662--9780593153482/destination:https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9780593153482&c=books">Google Play Store - Audiobook (Downloadable format)</a><a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/link?id=VD9*lkiWNd8&offerid=258185.12829781935712206&type=2&u1=PRHD39095A662--9780593153482}&murl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kobo.com%2Fsearch%3FQuery%3D9780593153482">Kobo - Audiobook (Downloadable format)</a><a href="https://www.audible.com/search?advsearchKeywords=A+Time+to+Dance+Padma+Venkatraman&source_code=COMA0213WS031709&SID=randohouseinc7911-20--9780593153482">Audible - Audiobook (Downloadable format)</a><a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-8373827-11117375?SID=PRHD39095A662--9780593153482&url=http://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/9780593153482">audiobooks.com - Audiobook (Downloadable format)</a>

A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman, read by Padma Venkatraman

The New York Times bestselling author of Every Day, Someday, and Two Boys Kissing is back with a short story collection about love--perfect for Valentine's Day or year-round reading! A resentful member of a high school Quiz Bowl team with an unrequited crush. A Valentine's Day in the life of Every Day's protagonist "A." A return to the characters of Two Boys Kissing. 19 Love Songs, from New York Times bestselling author David Levithan, delivers all of these stories and more. Born from Levithan's tradition of writing a story for his friends each Valentine's Day, this collection brings all of them to his readers for the first time. With fiction, nonfiction, and a story in verse, there's something for every reader here. Witty, romantic, and honest, teens (and adults) will come to this collection not only on Valentine's Day, but all year round.

19 Love Songs by David Levithan, read by David Levithan, Vikas Adam, Ron Butler, Elle Cohen, Lisa Cordileone, Michael Crouch, Nick  Eliopulos, Michael Goldstrom, Graham Halstead, Daniel Henning, Aaron Landon, Rebecca Lowman, Alex McKenna

From the award-winning author of Monster, this collection of powerful and poignant stories about 145th Street&mdash;an unforgettable block in the heart of Harlem&mdash;celebrates African-American life in all of its glory. "Myers is a master." &mdash;The New York Times Book Review On Harlem's 145th Street, things happen that don't happen anywhere else in the world. Get to know Big Joe, who's throwing his own funeral while he's here to enjoy it, and everyone's invited. Meet Kitty and Mack, teens with a love story more real than anything they've ever known. Follow Monkeyman, the quietest kid on the block and the last person you'd expect the Tigros gang to target. And don't miss the block party of the year--the whole neighborhood will be there.&#160; From danger and despair to hilarity and joy, literary legend Walter Dean Myers captures every mood and every beat of life in this vibrant Harlem.&#160; This twentieth-anniversary edition of Myers's work features brand-new content, including historical information about Harlem's rich past, an immersive map of the neighborhood's iconic landmarks, and touching tributes from authors, artists, and literary legends. Celebrating two decades in print, this edition honors Myers's enormous legacy and brings his work to a new generation of readers. An ALA-YALSA Best Book for Young Adults&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; AWARDS FOR WALTER DEAN MYERS: New York Times Bestselling Author 3-Time National Book Award Finalist Michael L. Printz Award 5 Coretta Scott King Awards 2 Newbery Honors National Ambassador for Young People&rsquo;s Literature (2012-2013) Margaret A. Edwards Award for Lifetime Achievement Children&rsquo;s Literature Legacy Award

145th Street: Short Stories by Walter Dean Myers, read by Brandon Gill, Almarie Guerra, Johnny Heller, Dominic Hoffman, Sullivan Jones, JaQwan J. Kelly, Adenrele Ojo, Paula Parker, Heather Alicia Simms, Bahni Turpin

"Ariel Lawhon delivers in Code Name H&eacute;l&egrave;ne. This fully animated portrait of Nancy Wake... will fascinate readers of World War II history and thrill fans of fierce, brash, independent women, alike. A stark exploration of the remarkable difference one person, willing to rise in the face of fear, can make." -LISA WINGATE, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours BASED ON THE THRILLING REAL-LIFE STORY OF SOCIALITE SPY NANCY WAKE, comes the newest feat of historical fiction from the New York Times bestselling author of I Was Anastasia, featuring the astonishing woman who killed a Nazi with her bare hands and went on to become one of the most decorated women in WWII. Told in interweaving timelines organized around the four code names Nancy used during the war, Code Name H&eacute;l&egrave;ne is a spellbinding and moving story of enduring love, remarkable sacrifice and unfaltering resolve that chronicles the true exploits of a woman who deserves to be a household name. It is 1936 and Nancy Wake is an intrepid Australian expat living in Paris who has bluffed her way into a reporting job for Hearst newspaper when she meets the wealthy French industrialist Henri Fiocca. No sooner does Henri sweep Nancy off her feet and convince her to become Mrs. Fiocca than the Germans invade France and she takes yet another name: a code name. As LUCIENNE CARLIER Nancy smuggles people and documents across the border and earns a new nickname from the Gestapo for her remarkable ability to evade capture: THE WHITE MOUSE. With a five million franc bounty on her head, Nancy is forced to escape France and leave Henri behind. When she enters training with the Special Operations Executives in Britain, she is told to use the name H&Eacute;L&Egrave;NE with her comrades. And finally, with mission in hand, Nancy is airdropped back into France as the deadly MADAM ANDR&Eacute;E, where she claims her place as one of the most powerful leaders in the French Resistance, known for her ferocious wit, her signature red lipstick, and her ability to summon weapons straight from the Allied Forces. But no one can protect Nancy if the enemy finds out these four women are one and the same, and the closer to liberation France gets, the more exposed she--and the people she loves--will become.

Code Name Hélène by Ariel Lawhon, read by Barrie Kreinik, Peter Ganim

A dazzling and darkly comic novel of love, violence, and friendship in the California suburbs Bunny Lampert is the princess of North Shore&#8288;&mdash;beautiful, tall, blond, with a rich real-estate-developer father and a swimming pool in her backyard. Michael&#8288;&#8288;&mdash;with a ponytail down his back and a septum piercing&#8288;&mdash;lives with his aunt in the cramped stucco cottage next door. When Bunny catches Michael smoking in her yard, he discovers that her life is not as perfect as it seems. At six foot three, Bunny towers over their classmates. Even as she dreams of standing out and competing in the Olympics, she is desperate to fit in, to seem normal, and to get a boyfriend, all while hiding her father's escalating alcoholism. Michael has secrets of his own. At home and at school Michael pretends to be straight, but at night he tries to understand himself by meeting men online for anonymous encounters that both thrill and scare him. When Michael falls in love for the first time, a vicious strain of gossip circulates and a terrible, brutal act becomes the defining feature of both his and Bunny's futures&#8288;&#8288;&mdash;and of their friendship. With storytelling as intoxicating as it is intelligent, Rufi Thorpe has created a tragic and unflinching portrait of identity, a fascinating examination of our struggles to exist in our bodies, and an excruciatingly beautiful story of two humans aching for connection.

The Knockout Queen by Rufi Thorpe, read by Michael Crouch

An enthralling soundscape moves from present day ambient sounds of the 184 year old St. John's Episcopal Church in Ohio City to vocal incantations reverberating from its past. Echoing from the hidden crawl spaces in its aging bell tower, coded chants warn of slave catchers. Clandestine departure times and cryptograms form the chorus and percussion in this auditory encounter with of one of the nations few authenticated stops on the Underground Railroad.

A Wind Blows from the South, soundscape

Syrinx was originally created as a multi-channel sound installation based on samples of birdsongs. To create this work, Pamela Z slowed down a birdsong numerous times in Pro Tools until its individual pitches and melodic material were revealed. She then learned to sing the melody and sped her voice up until it was the same length and pitch as the original birdsong. The piece is made from multiple layers of the various permutations of the birdsong and the human interpretation of it. She originally created it in a four channel version for an exhibition called "Sound Migrations" at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles (2004), and later revamped it as an 8 channel (plus sub-woofer channel) work for the "New Sound New York" exhibtion at the Kitchen Gallery in (2004). The piece eventually became a part of a trio of four-channel works called "Timepiece Triptych", which was awarded an Ars Electronica Honorable Mention in 2008.

Syrinx

"Who are you?" said the Caterpillar. This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, "I—I hardly know, sir, just at present—at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then."

"What do you mean by that?" said the Caterpillar sternly. "Explain yourself!"

"I can't explain myself, I'm afraid, sir," said Alice, "because I'm not myself, you see.

A Wind Blows from the South, soundscape

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