Showing results by narrator "Em Grosland" in All Categories

"Your authenticity is your superpower." That's the motto that professional skateboarder Leo Baker lives by and champions. But like any hero's journey, learning about their power didn't come easy. In this installment of the Pocket Change Collective, Baker takes the listener on a complicated, powerful journey through the world of skate and competitive sport as a non-binary athlete.

Seventh-grader Viv never looks forward to picture day. It’s just another day where she wears a boring braid and no one notices her. (Her two best friends, Milo and Al, don’t count, of course.) But enough is enough. This year, she’s taking matters into her own hands. Literally. Viv grabs a pair of scissors, her phone for live-streaming, and, well, bye-bye braid. Suddenly Viv is an over-night influencer at Brinkley Middle School. Everyone wants her help planning their next big moment—from haircuts, to dance proposals, activist rallies and mathlete championships.

Every year, tens of thousands of children write to Highlights magazine, sharing their hopes and dreams, worries and concerns, as if they were writing to a trusted friend. From the beginning, the editors at Highlights have answered every child individually. Longtime editor in chief Christine French Cully has curated a collection of this remarkable correspondence (letters, emails, and poems) in Dear Highlights - revealing an intimate and inspiring 75-year conversation between America’s children and its leading children’s magazine.

Would-be amusement park aficionado Dalia only has two items on her summer bucket list: (1) finally ride a roller coaster and (2) figure out how to make a new best friend. But when her dad suddenly announces that he's engaged, Dalia's schemes come to a screeching halt. With Dalia's future stepsister Alexa heading back to college soon, the grown-ups want the girls to spend the last weeks of summer bonding--meaning Alexa has to cancel the amusement park road trip she's been planning for months.

Jen is just getting used to her life on Peapod Farm with her new stepsisters, Andy and Reese. But when the school year starts, there are even more changes in store for her. Jen has to navigate new friends and new challenges--but at least she'll have Andy with her, right? As she starts the sixth grade, she finds that her stepsister seems way more interested in crushes and boys than hanging out with her, while Jen wants to know when the world decided boys and girls couldn't be "just friends" anymore.

Carla Michaels' life isn't what she thought it was. She met her loving husband in college. She had a career as a teacher. All she ever wanted to complete her life was a baby. After five miscarriages, Carla had almost given up hope of ever becoming a mother. Then a devastating tragedy strikes, and everything she had ever loved is gone - now she's left torn and shattered, wondering if she can go on with life. Unexpectedly, she receives an envelope full of books - journals that were kept hidden from her.

Pregnancy can be a scary yet exciting feeling at the same time. There are many questions and concerns that soon-to-be mothers address on a daily basis, but where do they get their answers from? There is no better way to prepare yourself for what lies ahead than listening. Individuals have been kind enough to share their knowledge and experience with us, so why not take advantage of that?

A novella about a boy named Mick and his struggles with life. His parents' divorce and a friend's suicide make his world unbearable. Each cut has a deeper meaning. A cry for help. I spin my dad's Ruger SP101 revolver on the wood floor of my bedroom. Sometimes, just to see what it feels like, I place the tip of the gun against my temple, but I never once pull the trigger. NO! I'm more into the slice of the blade against my skin and the blood running down my arm. It relieves so much pressure. And I can breathe again....

Cociel couldn't take it anymore. Like all the other mice on the Reservation, he was ruled by the tyrannical cats of the Kingdom, especially their so-called prime minister, the brutal and greedy Whiska. But all the other mice were terrified of taking action, and for good reason: Cociel's own mother had been jailed, as so many other mice had been.

It's exhausting trying to be the perfect daughter. Still, getting good grades without making any waves may be the only way to distract from the fact that Sparrow Malone's mother is on the verge of falling apart. Which means no getting upset. No being weird. No standing out for the wrong reasons.

The stories in this anthology range from quietly strange to ambitiously speculative. Humans transform into cosmic energy or sentient algae. A man wakes up in a new body in a world with continents cut out, months absent from the calendar year, and souls misplaced. Students at a high school regularly vanish without a trace. A woman descends into the depths of the ocean and encounters all-knowing creatures who may have the answers to her deepest questions.

No teacher has ever liked Carter Avery. So he doesn’t expect that Ms. Olivia Krane will be any different. In fact, he heard the rumor that the new teacher—nicknamed Owl-livia, or the Owl, for short—can twist her head all the way round to catch any kid who’s up to no good. And since Carter has a hard time sitting still and not blurting stuff out, he’s sure he’s in for rough times being sent to the principal’s office. Making things worse: annoying know-it-all Missy Gerber is in his class! But the Owl knows just how to handle Carter’s energy, showing his classmates another side of him.

Dani Campbell is the latest darling of the Manhattan art scene. As a self-taught photographer, Dani is loving every minute of her sudden popularity, but has no idea how she got there, or a clue as to how to stay. On a shoot at an antiques barn, she discovers an envelope of old photos and sees in them what her photos are missing. Her search for their source leads Dani to a small Rhode Island town, a dilapidated American Gothic beach house—and Lawrence Sinclair.