CASSETTE BOOKS 1994 National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped Washington, D.C. 1994 Young Adults Contents Nonfiction Fiction Nonfiction Beating the Odds: Stories of Unexpected Achievers RC 37239 by Janet Bode read by Kerry Cundiff 1 cassette The author presents the stories of eleven teenagers who are trying to succeed despite tremendous problems in their lives. Interspersed among these first-person accounts from teens who are homeless, pregnant, abused, addicted, or imprisoned are comments from adults who work with young people and who offer advice on success. For junior and senior high readers. 1991. Growing Up Black in Rural Mississippi RC 37273 by Chalmers Archer, Jr. read by Bob Moore 2 cassettes Archer writes a personal and family history of his life in rural Mississippi during the 1930s and 1940s. He portrays the two worlds in which Southern blacks lived--a nurturing world of family, church, and community that enveloped him with love and equipped him with the resources to survive; and the world that fostered "white supremacy" and black subjugation. For senior high and older readers. 1992. Learning to Bow: An American Teacher in a Japanese School RC 37137 by Bruce S. Feiler read by Peter Johnson 2 cassettes Feiler provides an informative inside look at the Japanese educational system. Invited by the Japanese Ministry of Education to teach English in a junior high school in rural Sano, Feiler is the first foreigner seen by many of the city's inhabitants. He describes his experiences, emphasizing group loyalty and student responsibility. For high school and older readers. 1991. Malcolm X: As They Knew Him RC 36593 by David Gallen read by Robert Sams 2 cassettes A three-part sourcebook on the controversial leader of the Black Muslims and foremost advocate of black nationalism in the 1960s. The first part consists of oral remembrances by a variety of people who knew Malcolm X personally and professionally, the second is formed of interviews with Malcolm, and the third contains essays on Malcolm's role in African American history. For high school and older readers. 1992. New Kids on the Block: Oral Histories of Immigrant Teens RC 36208 by Janet Bode read by Marcia Churchill 1 cassette In the 1990s 95 percent of U.S. immigrants come from Asia, the Caribbean, and Central America. Eleven teenage immigrants--some from war-torn countries, some who are illegal--share their experiences of being uprooted and of adjusting to life in the United States. For junior and senior high readers. 1989. The Pigman and Me RC 36599 by Paul Zindel read by David Palmer 1 cassette Paul Zindel, author of _The Pigman (RC 23431)_ and _Pigman's Legacy (RC 23260)_, writes of the angst, humor, and mishaps that fill the year he spends with his mother and sister on Staten Island. Lacking funds but able to talk a mile a minute, his mother arranges to buy a house with Connie, a single mother with money and a set of zesty twins. Connie's father becomes Zindel's own pigman. For junior and senior high readers. 1991. Second Ascent: The Story of Hugh Herr RC 35984 by Alison Osius read by Arnie Warren 2 cassettes By seventeen, Hugh Herr's main focus in life was mountain climbing, a sport in which he was already breaking records. Then tragedy struck: while climbing, Hugh and a friend became disoriented and were lost in the snow for days. Hugh's frostbitten lower legs were amputated, and he battled depression by training himself to climb again and by designing artificial limb parts. For high school and older readers. 1991. Showa: The Age of Hirohito RC 37416 by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler read by Ed Blake 1 cassette When Hirohito became emperor of Japan in 1926, he was hailed as a god-king. When he died some seventy years later, he had become a constitutional monarch--a symbol of state as well as a symbol of the profound changes that had taken place during his reign. In this period Japan experienced tremendous industrial-military expansion, World War II, and unparalleled post-war growth. For junior and senior high readers. 1990. Stephen Hawking: Quest for a Theory of the Universe RC 36499 by Kitty Ferguson read by Butch Hoover 1 cassette Diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease while in his early twenties, Hawking not only defied predictions of an early death, but married, had children, and became a scientific superstar. Hawking's wit, genius, and determination to succeed despite his disabilities shine through in this biography. The author also explains many of Hawking's concepts, including black holes and space-time. For high school and older readers. 1991. This Little Light of Mine: The Life of Fannie Lou Hamer RC 36316 by Kay Mills read by Catherine Byers 3 cassettes Born the twentieth child of poor southern sharecroppers, Fannie Lou Hamer entered a world of poverty, hard labor, repression, beatings, and racism. Her courageous work with the Mississippi voter registration campaign, which began in 1962, made her an enduring symbol of the civil rights movement. And for the next fifteen years her fiery songs and stories inspired audiences to action. For senior high and older readers. 1993. Fiction The Baby-sitter RC 36923 by R.L. Stine read by Virginia Kearns 1 cassette Jenny had been apprehensive from the start about accepting the Hagens' baby-sitting job. She had met their young son, Donny, quite by accident at the shopping mall. Donny had become instantly attached to her, and his parents had offered her the job on Thursday and Saturday nights. Now she sat in their dark, eerie house--alive with creaks and groans--as a stranger prowled in the yard. Some violence. For junior and senior high readers. 1989. The Baby-sitter II RC 36925 by R.L. Stine read by Virginia Kearns 1 cassette There have been a series of attacks on baby-sitters. Still, Jenny accepts a baby-sitting job for cute little Donny Hagen. Donny's father seems very tense and a bit strange, as does his neighbor. And Donny loves to frighten his sitter. When Jenny receives disturbing calls while babysitting for Donny, she wonders if she is being stalked by the attacker. Sequel to _The Baby-sitter (RC 36923)_. Some violence. For junior and senior high readers. 1991. Becca's Story RC 36847 by James D. Forman read by Mary Woods 1 cassette The onset of the Civil War is almost a relief for Becca Case, a fifteen-year-old girl living in Jonesville, Michigan. Her two beaus are going off to fight for the Union, and at least she will not have to decide between them until they return. Her head tells her to choose steady, dependable Alex, but her heart belongs to capricious, irrepressible Charlie. For junior and senior high readers. 1992. The Brave RC 37362 by Robert Lipsyte read by Richard Davidson 1 cassette Sonny Bear--part Native American, part white--is rejected by both worlds. Tired of being a "nobody," Sonny leaves the Moscondaga reservation to find his artist mother in New York City. There he is picked up by two hustlers who steal his wallet, and he foils a drug bust for narcotics sergeant Alfred Brooks, a former boxer who sees Sonny's talent. Sequel to _The Contender (RC 26357)_. For junior and senior high readers. 1991. Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys RC 37032 by Francesca Lia Block read by Jennifer Mendenhall 1 cassette While the adults in their lives are away filming a movie, teenagers Cherokee Bat, Witch Baby, Raphael, and Angel Juan are left under the guidance of a wise but distant friend named Coyote. The four friends form a band that becomes a hit through Coyote's mystical powers; and they become heavily involved in sex, drugs, and alcohol. Some strong language and descriptions of sex. Sequel to _Witch Baby (RC 37031)._ For high school and older readers. 1992. Durango Street RC 37122 by Frank Bonham read by Christopher Hurt 1 cassette (Reissue) Rufus Henry, on probation after leaving the Pine Valley Honor Camp, finds himself with the difficult choice of being stalked and attacked by a gang or joining a gang and staying alive. Rufus joins the Moors and becomes a leader within days. When youth worker Alex Robbins becomes involved with the Moors, an unlikely change gradually takes place. For junior and senior high readers. 1965. Fell Back RC 37425 by M.E. Kerr read by Christopher Hurt 1 cassette John Fell, the son of a detective, returns after a holiday to the prep school where he has been sent by a rich benefactor and discovers that a fellow Sevens club member, Lasher, has fallen to his death from the tower on campus. Fell is determined to find out if the death is an accident, a suicide, or a murder, and he soon is involved in a mystery that includes another death. Sequel to _Fell (RC 29340)._ For junior and senior high readers. 1989. The Harmony Arms RC 37270 by Ron Koertge read by Robert Sams 1 cassette When his mother decides to go away with her boyfriend, Gabriel, fourteen, and his father fly to Los Angeles from their home in Indiana for a month-long visit. Gabriel's father, a teacher- writer, parlayed a book about Timmy the Otter, a hand puppet, into a movie contract. Timmy is a source of unending embarrassment for Gabriel. At Harmony Arms, the condo in which they stay, they meet a cast of unusual characters. For junior and senior high readers. 1992. Hear O Israel: A Story of the Warsaw Ghetto RC 35248 by Terry Walton Treseder read by Ray Hagen 1 cassette Isaac, a twelve-year-old boy in the Warsaw ghetto, tells this gripping, troubling story. It begins at his brother Simon's bar mitzvah soon after the Nazis invade Poland. Isaac describes his father's unwavering faith in God; Simon's disaffection from his faith; the deaths of most of the family from starvation; and the final moments before Isaac's death at Treblinka. Violence. For junior and senior high and older readers. 1990. A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich RC 37215 by Alice Childress read by Barry Bernson 1 cassette (Reissue) The story of Benjie Johnson, a thirteen-year-old heroin addict in Harlem, is told from various viewpoints, including his own. Benjie tells of his introduction to drugs and his feelings about school, his mother, his grandmother, his stepfather, his best friend Jimmy-Lee Powell, and himself. We also hear the voices of these individuals as they reveal Benjie's story and their own ideas about life. Strong language. For junior and senior high readers. 1973. I Heard the Owl Call My Name RC 37368 by Margaret Craven read by Ed Blake 1 cassette With only two years to live, a young minister is sent by his bishop into the wilds of British Columbia to a parish called Kingcome. There, among struggling Indians, Mark Brian learns enough of the meaning of life to not fear death. For junior and senior high and older readers. 1973. In Lane Three, Alex Archer RC 34992 by Tessa Duder read by June Carter 2 cassettes Swimmer Alex Archer wants to represent New Zealand in the 1960 Olympic games in Rome. She also wants to play hockey, take ballet, study music, and perform in plays. This lack of total devotion to swimming is noticed by her boyfriend, Andy, her parents, her coach, and by Alex herself. But she remains devoted to her varied interests, until Andy is killed in an accident. For junior and senior high readers. New Zealand Children's Book of the Year. 1987. The Mark of the Cat RC 36422 by Andre Norton read by Gary Tipton 2 cassettes The "outer region" consists of five queendoms--each ruled by a queen--with an emperor as supreme. Here the kotti, or cat, is considered sacred. When Hynkkel's kotti is killed, his father decides it is time for Hynkkel's coming-of-age "solo," for which he will be abandoned far from home and must find his way back. Hynkkel, considered weak by his father, will have a cat pendant to protect him. For junior and senior high and older readers. 1992. My Name Is Sus5an Smith. The Five Is Silent RC 36524 by Louise Plummer read by Kerry Cundiff 2 cassettes Sus5an Smith, seventeen, is bored with life in Utah and feels alienated from her family, who do not understand her or her art. When the opportunity arises to live with her unconventional Aunt Libby, Sus5an jumps at the chance to leave home, to pursue her art career in Boston, and most of all to look for her Uncle Willy, about whom she has romanticized since she was young. For junior and senior high readers. 1991. Pocket Change RC 34955 by Kathryn Jensen read by Virginia Kearns 2 cassettes A haunting portrait of a father, tormented by flashbacks of the Vietnam war, and his family, frightened and uncertain about how to cope. Busy with school, work, and a boyfriend, sixteen-year-old Josie suddenly realizes that her father has become a stranger. The family suffers as Monroe slips from reality into combat paranoia. A near tragedy and Josie's persuasion convince him to seek treatment. For junior and senior high readers. 1989. The Rain Catchers RC 37060 by Jean Thesman read by Celeste Lawson 1 cassette Fourteen-year-old Grayling lives in Seattle with her grandmother and a small circle of women relatives and friends. The defining center of their day is teatime. Grandmother wheels a cart into the dining room, and the older women discuss the crucial events of the day and of their lives while Grayling and her friend Colleen listen from the porch. Grayling begins a search to understand her own life story. For junior and senior high and older readers. 1991. Somewhere in the Darkness RC 36958 by Walter Dean Myers read by June Carter 1 cassette "I'm your father," the man tells Jimmy Little in the dimly lit hall of his New York City tenement. They don't know each other. Crab, the father, has been in jail for nine years. Seriously ill, he has escaped from prison in an attempt to clear his name and win his son's respect. As they drive to Chicago, then to Crab's hometown in Arkansas, the police close in, and Jimmy sees the failure of his father's dreams. For junior and senior high and older readers. 1992. Summer of My German Soldier RC 36625 by Bette Greene read by Carole Jordan Stewart 1 cassette (Reissue) Patty Bergen, a twelve-year-old Jewish girl living in Arkansas, is fascinated when a truckload of German POWs arrives to be imprisoned in her small Arkansas town. At her father's store, Patty strikes up an acquaintance with one of the prisoners, Anton. But she is not prepared for the repercussions when Anton escapes and she hides him. For junior and senior high and older readers. 1973. Taste of Salt: A Story of Modern Haiti RC 37094 by Frances Temple read by Gordon Gould 1 cassette Djo, a seventeen-year-old bodyguard of Haitian leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide, tells his story from his hospital bed where he is recuperating from a beating from the "Tonton Macoutes"--thugs of deposed dictator Duvalier. Djo tells Jeremie, a young woman, of rescue from the streets by Father Aristide, enslavement in the Dominican Republic, escape, and reunion with Aristide. For junior and senior high readers. 1992. +The Thief of Always: A Fable RC 35887 by Clive Barker read by Erik Sandvold 1 cassette Harvey Swick, ten, is bored with the dreary month of February and needs a diversion. Then a stranger, Rictus, magically enters Harvey's room and invites him to Holiday House. There is plenty to do at Holiday House as each day brings all four seasons to pass with their special holidays. But Harvey soon realizes that an evil force lurks in the house. For junior and senior high and older readers. Bestseller 1992. Watership Down RC 35730 by Richard George Adams read by John Horton 3 cassettes (Reissue) A fable about a band of rabbits who set out bravely for a new home in the English countryside. They encounter many dangers and adventures along the way, and finally make it to safety after rescuing some does who become their mates. For junior and senior high and older readers. 1972. We All Fall Down RC 37011 by Robert Cormier read by Don Emmick 2 cassettes Jane Jerome and her family come home to find that vandals have destroyed their possessions, urinated on their walls, and left fourteen-year-old Karen in a coma at the bottom of the stairs. A deranged neighbor, who styles himself The Avenger, has witnessed the trashing and secretly vows to track down the four teens. Jane meets and falls in love with Buddy Walker, one of the vandals. Violence. For junior and senior high and older readers. 1991. Weetzie Bat RC 37026 by Francesca Lia Block read by Jennifer Mendenhall 1 cassette When Weetzie discovers that her best friend Dirk is gay, she declares that now they "can Duck hunt together"--search for true love. Soon Dirk has his Duck and Weetzie has My Secret Agent Lover Man, and they all live together in Hollywood, making underground movies, frequenting sushi joints, and taking care of their two little girls--Cherokee and the adopted Witch Baby. Some strong language and some descriptions of sex. For high school and older readers. 1989. Witch Baby RC 37031 by Francesca Lia Block read by Jennifer Mendenhall 1 cassette In this sequel to _Weetzie Bat (RC 37026),_ Witch Baby--child of My Secret Agent Lover Man and Vixanne Wigg, a Jayne Mansfield "wannabe"--is at odds with her complicated family that includes her adopted mom Weetzie Bat and gay lovers Dirk and Duck. Witch Baby is jealous of Weetzie's daughter Cherokee, beloved of Raphael, and she's anxious to find her "real" parents and her own identity. Some strong language. For senior high and older readers. 1991. ***2/8/95 (gft)***