Showing results by narrator "Katharine Chin" in All Categories

A boy who hates bugs starts to see them everywhere. A basketball player’s skin starts to almost drip off his hands—but no one else can see it. Three friends find a hole in the ground that just gets bigger, and bigger, and bigger... And each story is introduced by Stine himself, providing a personal touch sure to delight fans. Laced with Stine’s signature humor and a hefty dose of nightmarish fun, Stinetinglers is perfect for fans of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and Stine’s own Goosebumps books.

Seventeen years after rebels stormed the streets, factions divide Kisia. Only the firm hand of the god-emperor holds the empire together. But when an unexpected betrayal destroys a tense alliance with neighboring Chiltae, all that has been won comes crashing down. In Kisia, Princess Miko Ts'ai is a prisoner in her own castle. She dreams of claiming her empire. In Chiltae, assassin Cassandra Marius is plagued by the voices of the dead. Desperate, she accepts a contract that promises to reward her with a cure if she helps an empire fall.

“Short stories have to accomplish a nearly impossible magic trick: to introduce a world often much stranger than our own and make you care about it in a matter of pages,” writes R. F. Kuang in her introduction. “The most important part of this magic trick is just a willingness to get weird.” The stories in The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2023 are brimming with bizarre and otherworldly premises.

Ruby Chen has always played the part of the dutiful eldest daughter: excelling in school; excelling in piano lessons; excelling at keeping her younger sister, Tina, focused on extracurriculars meant to impress college admissions officers. But when a ghost from the spirit world attacks Ruby in the middle of Vancouver’s Chinatown neighborhood, her life is plunged into a darkness that no amount of duty can free her from. Overnight, Ruby’s sister seems to change.

When Nozomi Nagai pictured the ideal summer romance, a fake one wasn't what she had in mind. That was before she met the perfect girl. Willow is gorgeous, glamorous, and…heartbroken? And when she enlists Nozomi to pose as her new girlfriend to make her ex jealous, Nozomi is a willing volunteer. Because Nozomi has a master plan of her own: one to show Willow she's better than a stand-in, and turn their fauxmance into something real. But as the lies pile up, it's not long before Nozomi's schemes take a turn toward disaster…and maybe a chance at love she didn't plan for.

In her introduction to this year’s The Best American Essays, guest editor Vivian Gornick states that her selections “contribute materially to the long and honorable history of the personal essay by way of the value they place on lived experience.” Provocative, daring, and honest at a time when many writers are deliberately silencing themselves in the face of authoritarian and populist censorship movements, the twenty-one essays collected here reflect their authors’ unapologetic observations of the world around them.

“What's most compelling about a scientific story is the way it challenges us to think about the concepts we take for granted,” writes guest editor Carl Zimmer in his introduction. The essays in this year’s Best American Science and Nature Writing probe at the ordinary and urge us to think more deeply about our place in the world around us.

“Without stories, we cannot live well,” shares guest editor Min Jin Lee, describing how storytelling affects and nurtures readers. The Best American Short Stories 2023 features twenty pieces of short fiction that reflect a world full of fractured relationships, but also wondrous hope. A lifelong friendship may become a casualty of the Russia-Ukraine war. Rejected by his lover, a man seeks to reconcile with his family. Twitter users miraculously muster enough empathy to help a lost cat find a forever home.

Annalie and Margaret are sisters who agree on only one thing: that they have nothing in common. Annalie is 17: sweet, content and looking forward to a summer of flirting with the most popular boy in school. Margaret is 19: ambitious, a warrior for social justice and desperate to forget her ex-boyfriend in New York City. When their family is the victim of a racial attack, Annalie tries to pretend it never happened—but Margaret wants to fight back. Suddenly their relationship—and all the ones around them—are hanging by a thread.

In The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories, you can dine at a restaurant at the end of the universe, cultivate to immortality in the high mountains, watch roses perform Shakespeare, or arrive at the island of the gods on the backs of giant fish to ensure that the world can bloom. Written, edited, and translated by a female and nonbinary team, these stories have never before been published in English and represent both the richly complicated past and the vivid future of Chinese science fiction and fantasy.

Lily Xiao can’t wait to go to Camp Rock Out this summer, where she’ll finally be able to shed her “class robot” good girl reputation and start her journey to becoming the next Eddie Vedder! And she can’t wait to do it with her best friend and cousin, Vivian, who’s just moved from Taiwan to Lily’s California hometown. But as the two cousins work their way through seventh grade, Vivian struggles more and more with her schoolwork, which is all taught in English. If Vivian can’t get her grades up, her parents won’t let her go to rock camp.

Following a disastrous relationship, successful divorce attorney Wynne Olsen is ready to put her past firmly behind her and start fresh in sunny California. But first she'll need to help plan her sister's wedding and quit her new position as Angel Point's city attorney. A local hero's Nordic good looks are a distraction she doesn't need at any time, much less when she's tying up loose ends on her way to a better future.

Deputy Mayor Gwen Olsen has big plans to put her own stamp on the revitalization of Angel Point. She grew up in the charming coastal town, loves its quaint downtown, and she's confident she'll be voted mayor if her ideas bring in more prosperity. But this Valentine's Day, the only thing rolling into town is Carson Loman, her childhood BFF who made a pact with her, sealed it with a kiss, then moved to Chicago and ghosted her.

Baker Grant Reed loves discovering new Christmas recipes, making people smile, and Angel Point—not necessarily in that order. But when his editor turns down his proposal for a Christmas cookbook, he must show her how serious he is about becoming the premier pastry chef in the country. He turns to his best friend, Faith—if anyone can give him a complete makeover that will turn heads, she can.

It’s Kiki’s first day of school, and she’s ready to go! Her backpack is full, and she’s picked the perfect bow to wear. Even better? Her brothers, Nicky and Ricky, are going to be with her all day! But wait a minute—why are Nicky and Ricky going to another classroom? Kiki’s excitement rapidly turns to nerves, but as her different classmates begin to share their favorite things, Kiki learns that as long as she’s herself, she can always make new friends.

In this heartfelt audiobook, a child imagines ways to connect with a grandmother who lives far way. Whether by rocket ship or jet pack, train or in a plane, any journey is worth it to see someone you love. With inviting, accessible writing by Pat Zietlow Miller, this audiobook See You Someday Soon reminds us that, no matter the physical distance between us, the people we care about are never far from our hearts.

Given the simple prompt "hello winter", nine writers were given the task to create a new short story to be put into this collection. This unique group of stories were all crafted in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic and brings writers from two continents and five states together when we all must stay safely apart. Short stories included in this collection: "The Essential Guide to Happiness" by Mindi Dickstein, "Teddy" by Ronald Keaton, "The Snow Queen" by Theresa Heskins, " Le Cygne" by James DeVita, "In the House She Was Given" by Mallory Jane Weiss, and more.

Todd Mayer is dead. Now he's some sort of ghost, hovering over his body, which has just been found in the town park, naked and frozen in the snow. As detectives investigate Todd's homicide, talking to the very people who are responsible for how he died, Todd replays the events that lead him to his end in the park.

Lindsey Cormack's book, How to Raise a Citizen (And Why It's Up to You to Do It), speaks directly to an America in which civic knowledge is alarmingly sparse and many people dread politics. It's a tool for parents, educators, and anyone eager to fill this gap. In the book, Cormack offers an engaging and practical approach to discussing political issues and the inner workings of the US government with children.

Sixteen-year-old Lynda Fan has the skills and the drive to get into the Rhode Island School of Design—but not the money. Her parents are too busy paying for her stepsister’s violin lessons to help Lynda get into art school. So when her rich and arrogant classmate, Angela Wu, offers to hire Lynda as a character designer for an otome game—a love story-based video game—she jumps at the opportunity. Lynda isn’t exactly a romantic, but in pursuit of her dreams, she discovers things she never knew about herself while also finding love with every heart she draws.