I Am a Taxi
The Cocalero Novels
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
I Am a Taxi
Buy for $21.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Raffael Ponce-Valencia
-
By:
-
Deborah Ellis
About this listen
Winner of the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award
For 12-year-old Diego and his family, home is a prison in Cochabamba, Bolivia. His parents farmed coca, a traditional Bolivian medicinal plant, until they got caught in the middle of the government's war on drugs and were mistakenly convicted of drug possession.
Diego's parents are locked up, but he can come and go: to school, to the market to sell his mother's handknitted goods and to work as a "taxi", running errands for other prisoners. But then his little sister temporarily runs off while under his watch, earning his mother a heavy fine. The debt and dawning realization of his hopeless situation make him vulnerable to his friend Mando's plan to make big money, fast.
Soon, Diego is deep in the jungle, working as a virtual slave in an illegal cocaine operation. As his situation becomes more and more dangerous, he knows he must take a terrible risk if he ever wants to see his family again.
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6
Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.6
Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.
©2006 Deborah Ellis (P)2021 Anansi AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Breadwinner
- By: Deborah Ellis
- Narrated by: Rita Wolf
- Length: 3 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 354
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 288
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 286
Eleven-year-old Parvana lives with her family in one room of a bombed-out apartment building in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital city during the Taliban rule. Parvana's father- a history teacher until his school was bombed and his health destroyed- works from a blanket on the ground in the marketplace, reading letters for people who cannot read or write. One day he is arrested for the crime of having a foreign education, and the family is left without someone who can earn money or even shop for food.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Exceptional Listen!
- By Sherry on 09-21-11
By: Deborah Ellis
-
Parable of the Sower
- By: Octavia E. Butler
- Narrated by: Lynne Thigpen
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 11,891
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 10,484
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 10,444
God is change. That is the central truth of the Earthseed movement, whose unlikely prophet is 18-year-old Lauren Olamina. The young woman's diary entries tell the story of her life amid a violent 21st-century hell of walled neighborhoods and drug-crazed pyromaniacs - and reveal her evolving Earthseed philosophy. Against a backdrop of horror emerges a message of hope: if we are willing to embrace divine change, we will survive to fulfill our destiny among the stars.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Dystopia before dystopia was cool...
- By Amber on 05-28-14
-
The Book of Lost Friends
- A Novel
- By: Lisa Wingate
- Narrated by: Sophie Amoss, Sullivan Jones, Robin Miles, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 10,717
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 9,253
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 9,190
From the best-selling author of Before We Were Yours comes a dramatic historical novel of three young women searching for family amid the destruction of the post-Civil War South, and of a modern-day teacher who learns of their story and its vital connection to her students’ lives.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I want more!!!
- By Mrstlg on 04-11-20
By: Lisa Wingate
-
Miss Benson's Beetle
- A Novel
- By: Rachel Joyce
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,087
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,735
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,721
It is 1950. London is still reeling from World War II, and Margery Benson, a schoolteacher and spinster, is trying to get through life, surviving on scraps. One day, she reaches her breaking point, abandoning her job and small existence to set out on an expedition to the other side of the world in search of her childhood obsession: an insect that may or may not exist - the golden beetle of New Caledonia. When she advertises for an assistant to accompany her, the woman she ends up with is the last person she had in mind.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
A well-written panorama of human tragedy
- By Film Fan on 07-03-21
By: Rachel Joyce
-
This Tender Land
- By: William Kent Krueger
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 12,375
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 10,958
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 10,908
1932: Located on the banks of the Gilead River in Minnesota, Lincoln School is home to hundreds of Native American boys and girls who have been separated from their families. The only two white boys in the school are orphan brothers Odie and Albert, who, under the watchful eyes of the cruel superintendent Mrs. Brickman, are often in trouble for misdeeds both real and imagined. The two boys' best friend is Mose, a mute Native American who is also the strongest kid in school. And they find another ally in Cora Frost, a widowed teacher who is raising her little girl, Emmy, by herself.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
"Didn't need the underlying social message"
- By Curtis on 09-23-19
-
Oryx and Crake
- By: Margaret Atwood
- Narrated by: Campbell Scott
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,691
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7,086
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7,108
The narrator of Atwood's riveting novel calls himself Snowman. When the story opens, he is sleeping in a tree, wearing an old bedsheet, mourning the loss of his beloved Oryx and his best friend Crake, and slowly starving to death. He searches for supplies in a wasteland where insects proliferate and pigoons and wolvogs ravage the pleeblands, where ordinary people once lived, and the Compounds that sheltered the extraordinary. As he tries to piece together what has taken place, the narrative shifts to decades earlier. How did everything fall apart so quickly?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant Science Fiction
- By Michael on 05-20-03
By: Margaret Atwood
-
The Breadwinner
- By: Deborah Ellis
- Narrated by: Rita Wolf
- Length: 3 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 354
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 288
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 286
Eleven-year-old Parvana lives with her family in one room of a bombed-out apartment building in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital city during the Taliban rule. Parvana's father- a history teacher until his school was bombed and his health destroyed- works from a blanket on the ground in the marketplace, reading letters for people who cannot read or write. One day he is arrested for the crime of having a foreign education, and the family is left without someone who can earn money or even shop for food.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Exceptional Listen!
- By Sherry on 09-21-11
By: Deborah Ellis
-
Parable of the Sower
- By: Octavia E. Butler
- Narrated by: Lynne Thigpen
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 11,891
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 10,484
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 10,444
God is change. That is the central truth of the Earthseed movement, whose unlikely prophet is 18-year-old Lauren Olamina. The young woman's diary entries tell the story of her life amid a violent 21st-century hell of walled neighborhoods and drug-crazed pyromaniacs - and reveal her evolving Earthseed philosophy. Against a backdrop of horror emerges a message of hope: if we are willing to embrace divine change, we will survive to fulfill our destiny among the stars.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Dystopia before dystopia was cool...
- By Amber on 05-28-14
-
The Book of Lost Friends
- A Novel
- By: Lisa Wingate
- Narrated by: Sophie Amoss, Sullivan Jones, Robin Miles, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 10,717
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 9,253
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 9,190
From the best-selling author of Before We Were Yours comes a dramatic historical novel of three young women searching for family amid the destruction of the post-Civil War South, and of a modern-day teacher who learns of their story and its vital connection to her students’ lives.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I want more!!!
- By Mrstlg on 04-11-20
By: Lisa Wingate
-
Miss Benson's Beetle
- A Novel
- By: Rachel Joyce
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,087
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,735
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,721
It is 1950. London is still reeling from World War II, and Margery Benson, a schoolteacher and spinster, is trying to get through life, surviving on scraps. One day, she reaches her breaking point, abandoning her job and small existence to set out on an expedition to the other side of the world in search of her childhood obsession: an insect that may or may not exist - the golden beetle of New Caledonia. When she advertises for an assistant to accompany her, the woman she ends up with is the last person she had in mind.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
A well-written panorama of human tragedy
- By Film Fan on 07-03-21
By: Rachel Joyce
-
This Tender Land
- By: William Kent Krueger
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 12,375
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 10,958
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 10,908
1932: Located on the banks of the Gilead River in Minnesota, Lincoln School is home to hundreds of Native American boys and girls who have been separated from their families. The only two white boys in the school are orphan brothers Odie and Albert, who, under the watchful eyes of the cruel superintendent Mrs. Brickman, are often in trouble for misdeeds both real and imagined. The two boys' best friend is Mose, a mute Native American who is also the strongest kid in school. And they find another ally in Cora Frost, a widowed teacher who is raising her little girl, Emmy, by herself.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
"Didn't need the underlying social message"
- By Curtis on 09-23-19
-
Oryx and Crake
- By: Margaret Atwood
- Narrated by: Campbell Scott
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,691
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7,086
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7,108
The narrator of Atwood's riveting novel calls himself Snowman. When the story opens, he is sleeping in a tree, wearing an old bedsheet, mourning the loss of his beloved Oryx and his best friend Crake, and slowly starving to death. He searches for supplies in a wasteland where insects proliferate and pigoons and wolvogs ravage the pleeblands, where ordinary people once lived, and the Compounds that sheltered the extraordinary. As he tries to piece together what has taken place, the narrative shifts to decades earlier. How did everything fall apart so quickly?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant Science Fiction
- By Michael on 05-20-03
By: Margaret Atwood
-
The Night Watchman
- By: Louise Erdrich
- Narrated by: Louise Erdrich
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,168
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,601
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,569
Based on the extraordinary life of National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich’s grandfather who worked as a night watchman and carried the fight against Native dispossession from rural North Dakota all the way to Washington, DC, this powerful novel explores themes of love and death with lightness and gravity and unfolds with the elegant prose, sly humor, and depth of feeling of a master craftsman.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beautiful
- By Melanie on 03-09-20
By: Louise Erdrich
-
All the Skills: A Deck-Building LitRPG
- All the Skills, Book 1
- By: Honour Rae
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 2,339
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,885
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,883
Arthur lives with his father, a fallen but proud former noble, in Border Village #49, along with the other good folks condemned to toil in service to the Baron. But Arthur has an edge: a stolen heart card that secretly fell into his possession, thanks to a dragon. It’s a priceless source of power for the Baron and the tyrant will kill to get it back. Invaluable, too, to a young man of spellcasting ambitions.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Has a lot of issues... But also has potential.
- By Heather L. Lynch on 02-06-23
By: Honour Rae
-
American War
- A Novel
- By: Omar El Akkad
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,341
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,127
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 2,121
Sarat Chestnut, born in Louisiana, is only six when the Second American Civil War breaks out in 2074. But even she knows that oil is outlawed, that Louisiana is half underwater, that unmanned drones fill the sky. And when her father is killed and her family is forced into Camp Patience for displaced persons, she quickly begins to be shaped by her particular time and place until, finally, through the influence of a mysterious functionary, she is turned into a deadly instrument of war.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Best listen in years
- By odin on 04-08-17
By: Omar El Akkad
-
The Mountains Sing
- By: Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
- Narrated by: Quyen Ngo
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,076
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,818
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,806
With the epic sweep of Min Jin Lee's Pachinko and Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing and the lyrical beauty of Vaddey Ratner's In the Shadow of the Banyan, The Mountains Sing tells an enveloping, multigenerational tale of the Trần family, set against the backdrop of the Việt Nam War. Trần Diệu Lan, who was born in 1920, was forced to flee her family farm with her six children during the Land Reform as the Communist government rose in the North.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Incredible first English language novel
- By Gregory Barbee on 03-23-20
-
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
- Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope
- By: William Kamkwamba, Bryan Mealer
- Narrated by: Chike Johnson
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 968
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 777
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 779
Here is the remarkable story about human inventiveness and its power to overcome crippling adversity. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind will inspire anyone who doubts the power of one individual's ability to change his community and better the lives of those around him.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Inspirational Story for TED Talk Fans
- By Heather on 08-07-18
By: William Kamkwamba, and others
-
The SHTF Omnibus Series, Books 1-4
- By: L.L. Akers
- Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
- Length: 23 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 464
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 451
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 451
While he sat back and watched the United States rattle swords with Korea, play chicken with Russia, and strong-arm China, he felt sure if the lights went out that he and his family would be ready and safe—whether it was due to a natural disaster or a man-made event. They had everything they needed at their homestead.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Good listen
- By Holly on 08-10-23
By: L.L. Akers
-
Brother's Keeper
- By: Julie Lee
- Narrated by: Cindy Kay
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 25
Twelve-year-old Sora and her family live under an iron set of rules: No travel without a permit. No criticism of the government. No absences from Communist meetings. Wear red. Hang pictures of the Great Leader. Don't trust your neighbors. Don't speak your mind. You are being watched. But war is coming, war between North and South Korea, between the Soviets and the Americans. War causes chaos - so war is the perfect time to escape. The plan is simple: Sora and her family will walk for weeks from their tiny northern village to the South Korean city of Busan.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Captivating Read!
- By Actual Customer on 12-11-20
By: Julie Lee
-
A Place to Belong
- By: Cynthia Kadohata
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ikeda
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 21
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 21
A Japanese American family, reeling from their ill treatment in the Japanese imprisonment camps, gives up their American citizenship to move back to Hiroshima, unaware of the devastation wreaked by the atomic bomb in this piercing and all too relevant look at the aftermath of World War II by Newbery Medalist Cynthia Kadohata.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Decent
- By Anonymous User on 07-31-23
By: Cynthia Kadohata
-
The Only Road
- By: Alexandra Diaz
- Narrated by: Ramon de Ocampo
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 82
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 62
Jaime is sitting on his bed drawing when he hears a scream. Instantly, he knows: Miguel, his cousin and best friend, is dead. Everyone in Jaime's small town in Guatemala knows someone who has been killed by the Alphas, a powerful gang that's known for violence and drug trafficking. Anyone who refuses to work for them is hurt or killed - like Miguel. With Miguel gone, Jaime fears that he is next. There's only one choice: accompanied by his cousin Ángela, Jaime must flee his home to live with his older brother in New Mexico.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
This is actually great
- By Liatris on 12-08-19
By: Alexandra Diaz
-
Trashlands
- By: Alison Stine
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 30
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 27
A few generations from now, the coastlines of the continent have been redrawn by floods and tides. Global powers have agreed to not produce any new plastics, and what is left has become valuable: Garbage is currency. In the region-wide junkyard that Appalachia has become, Coral is a “plucker", pulling plastic from the rivers and woods. She’s stuck in Trashlands, a dump named for the strip club at its edge, where the local women dance for an endless loop of strangers and the club's violent owner rules as unofficial mayor.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Trashlands
- By Richard W. Carlson on 01-10-23
By: Alison Stine
-
Trash
- By: Andy Mulligan
- Narrated by: Ramon De Ocampo, Chris Nunez, Elissa Steele, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 126
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 101
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 103
In an unnamed Third World country, in the not-so-distant future, three “dumpsite boys” make a living picking through the mountains of garbage on the outskirts of a large city. One unlucky-lucky day, Raphael finds something very special and very mysterious. So mysterious that he decides to keep it, even when the city police offer a handsome reward for its return. That decision brings with it terrifying consequences.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Annual favorite
- By RC on 03-08-18
By: Andy Mulligan
-
Remote Control
- By: Nnedi Okorafor
- Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
- Length: 4 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 757
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 673
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 671
The day Fatima forgot her name, Death paid a visit. From hereon in she would be known as Sankofa - a name that meant nothing to anyone but her, the only tie to her family and her past. Her touch is death, and with a glance a town can fall. And she walks - alone, except for her fox companion - searching for the object that came from the sky and gave itself to her when the meteors fell and when she was yet unchanged; searching for answers.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Afrofuturist Sci/Fantasy Fairytale
- By J. Angel on 01-20-21
By: Nnedi Okorafor
Related to this topic
-
Trashlands
- By: Alison Stine
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 30
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 27
A few generations from now, the coastlines of the continent have been redrawn by floods and tides. Global powers have agreed to not produce any new plastics, and what is left has become valuable: Garbage is currency. In the region-wide junkyard that Appalachia has become, Coral is a “plucker", pulling plastic from the rivers and woods. She’s stuck in Trashlands, a dump named for the strip club at its edge, where the local women dance for an endless loop of strangers and the club's violent owner rules as unofficial mayor.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Trashlands
- By Richard W. Carlson on 01-10-23
By: Alison Stine
-
Under the Same Sky
- From Starvation in North Korea to Salvation in America
- By: Joseph Kim, Stephan Talty
- Narrated by: Raymond Lee
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 157
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 142
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 142
A searing story of starvation and survival in North Korea, followed by a dramatic escape, rescue by activists and Christian missionaries, and success in the United States thanks to newfound faith and courage.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Tugs at the heart strings
- By R3v13w3r on 07-15-15
By: Joseph Kim, and others
-
The Only Road
- By: Alexandra Diaz
- Narrated by: Ramon de Ocampo
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 82
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 62
Jaime is sitting on his bed drawing when he hears a scream. Instantly, he knows: Miguel, his cousin and best friend, is dead. Everyone in Jaime's small town in Guatemala knows someone who has been killed by the Alphas, a powerful gang that's known for violence and drug trafficking. Anyone who refuses to work for them is hurt or killed - like Miguel. With Miguel gone, Jaime fears that he is next. There's only one choice: accompanied by his cousin Ángela, Jaime must flee his home to live with his older brother in New Mexico.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
This is actually great
- By Liatris on 12-08-19
By: Alexandra Diaz
-
My Family's Survival
- The True Story of How the Shwartz Family Escaped the Nazis and Survived the Holocaust
- By: Aviva Gat
- Narrated by: Callie Beaulieu, Neil Hellegers
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 93
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 87
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 87
In 1937, the Shwartz family lived a calm life in their small village in Poland. Fifteen-year-old Rachel liked to sing and go out dancing at a local night club, while her older brother David was busy running a farm and raising a family with his wife Hinda. But all that changed when the war reached Butla. First, the Russians came and kicked them out of their house. Then, the Nazis came to cart them off. But the Shwartz family resisted. David decided that no matter what, his family would not be taken captive. Instead, he snuck his family out of their village and into Hungary.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
One of the best!
- By Ian on 08-11-20
By: Aviva Gat
-
A Wish in the Dark
- By: Christina Soontornvat
- Narrated by: Greta Jung
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 164
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 119
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 119
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.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Amazing story brought down by narration
- By Kim on 05-20-21
-
American Rust
- By: Philipp Meyer
- Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 600
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 500
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 495
Set in a beautiful but economically devastated Pennsylvania steel town, American Rust is a novel of the lost American dream and the desperation-as well as the acts of friendship, loyalty, and love-that arise from its loss. From local bars to train yards to prison, it is the story of two young men, bound to the town by family, responsibility, inertia, and the beauty around them, who dream of a future beyond the factories and abandoned homes.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Web of Despair and Desperation
- By Darwin8u on 07-16-12
By: Philipp Meyer
-
Trashlands
- By: Alison Stine
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 30
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 27
A few generations from now, the coastlines of the continent have been redrawn by floods and tides. Global powers have agreed to not produce any new plastics, and what is left has become valuable: Garbage is currency. In the region-wide junkyard that Appalachia has become, Coral is a “plucker", pulling plastic from the rivers and woods. She’s stuck in Trashlands, a dump named for the strip club at its edge, where the local women dance for an endless loop of strangers and the club's violent owner rules as unofficial mayor.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Trashlands
- By Richard W. Carlson on 01-10-23
By: Alison Stine
-
Under the Same Sky
- From Starvation in North Korea to Salvation in America
- By: Joseph Kim, Stephan Talty
- Narrated by: Raymond Lee
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 157
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 142
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 142
A searing story of starvation and survival in North Korea, followed by a dramatic escape, rescue by activists and Christian missionaries, and success in the United States thanks to newfound faith and courage.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Tugs at the heart strings
- By R3v13w3r on 07-15-15
By: Joseph Kim, and others
-
The Only Road
- By: Alexandra Diaz
- Narrated by: Ramon de Ocampo
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 82
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 62
Jaime is sitting on his bed drawing when he hears a scream. Instantly, he knows: Miguel, his cousin and best friend, is dead. Everyone in Jaime's small town in Guatemala knows someone who has been killed by the Alphas, a powerful gang that's known for violence and drug trafficking. Anyone who refuses to work for them is hurt or killed - like Miguel. With Miguel gone, Jaime fears that he is next. There's only one choice: accompanied by his cousin Ángela, Jaime must flee his home to live with his older brother in New Mexico.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
This is actually great
- By Liatris on 12-08-19
By: Alexandra Diaz
-
My Family's Survival
- The True Story of How the Shwartz Family Escaped the Nazis and Survived the Holocaust
- By: Aviva Gat
- Narrated by: Callie Beaulieu, Neil Hellegers
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 93
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 87
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 87
In 1937, the Shwartz family lived a calm life in their small village in Poland. Fifteen-year-old Rachel liked to sing and go out dancing at a local night club, while her older brother David was busy running a farm and raising a family with his wife Hinda. But all that changed when the war reached Butla. First, the Russians came and kicked them out of their house. Then, the Nazis came to cart them off. But the Shwartz family resisted. David decided that no matter what, his family would not be taken captive. Instead, he snuck his family out of their village and into Hungary.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
One of the best!
- By Ian on 08-11-20
By: Aviva Gat
-
A Wish in the Dark
- By: Christina Soontornvat
- Narrated by: Greta Jung
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 164
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 119
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 119
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.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Amazing story brought down by narration
- By Kim on 05-20-21
-
American Rust
- By: Philipp Meyer
- Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 600
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 500
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 495
Set in a beautiful but economically devastated Pennsylvania steel town, American Rust is a novel of the lost American dream and the desperation-as well as the acts of friendship, loyalty, and love-that arise from its loss. From local bars to train yards to prison, it is the story of two young men, bound to the town by family, responsibility, inertia, and the beauty around them, who dream of a future beyond the factories and abandoned homes.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Web of Despair and Desperation
- By Darwin8u on 07-16-12
By: Philipp Meyer
-
Orleans
- By: Sherri L. Smith
- Narrated by: Iesha Nyree, Landon Woodson
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 37
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 30
First came the storms. Then came the Fever. And the Wall. After a string of devastating hurricanes and a severe outbreak of Delta Fever, the Gulf Coast has been quarantined. Years later, residents of the Outer States are under the assumption that life in the Delta is all but extinct...but in reality, a new primitive society has been born. Fen de la Guerre is living with the O-positive blood tribe in the Delta when they are ambushed. Left with her tribe leader's newborn, Fen is determined to get the baby to a better life over the wall before her blood becomes tainted.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I'm left devastated
- By Cy Hy on 01-22-22
By: Sherri L. Smith
-
American War
- A Novel
- By: Omar El Akkad
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,341
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,127
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 2,121
Sarat Chestnut, born in Louisiana, is only six when the Second American Civil War breaks out in 2074. But even she knows that oil is outlawed, that Louisiana is half underwater, that unmanned drones fill the sky. And when her father is killed and her family is forced into Camp Patience for displaced persons, she quickly begins to be shaped by her particular time and place until, finally, through the influence of a mysterious functionary, she is turned into a deadly instrument of war.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Best listen in years
- By odin on 04-08-17
By: Omar El Akkad
-
The Girl with No Name
- By: Marina Chapman
- Narrated by: Pam Ward
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 416
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 371
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 367
In 1954, in a remote South American village, a four-year-old girl was abducted and then abandoned deep in the Colombian rainforest. So begins the incredible true story of Marina Chapman, who went on to spend several years alone in the jungle, her only family a troop of capuchin monkeys. Using instinct to guide her, she copied everything they did and soon learned to fend for herself. At around 10 years old, a completely feral Marina was returned to civilisation by hunters, who sold her as a slave to a brothel. Beaten daily and groomed to be a prostitute, she escaped - to live the perilous existence of a Colombian city street kid.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Second time
- By Debbie on 05-21-15
By: Marina Chapman
-
What Storm, What Thunder
- By: Myriam J.A. Chancy
- Narrated by: Ella Turenne
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 57
The Earth had buckled, and, in that movement, all that was not in its place fell upon the Earth’s children, upon the blameless as well as the guilty, without discrimination. At the end of a long sweltering day, as markets and businesses begin to close for the evening, an earthquake of 7.0 magnitude shakes the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince. Award-winning author Myriam J. A. Chancy masterfully charts the inner lives of the characters affected by the disaster
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake.
- By AuthorAnnaBella on 03-15-22
-
The Teller of Secrets
- A Novel
- By: Bisi Adjapon
- Narrated by: Anniwaa Buachie
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
Young Esi Agyekum is the unofficial "secret keeper" of her family, as tight-lipped about her father's adultery as she is about her half-sisters' sex lives. But after she is humiliated and punished for her own sexual exploration, Esi begins to question why women's secrets and men's secrets bear different consequences. It is the beginning of a journey of discovery that will lead her to unexpected places. Against a fraught political climate, Esi fights to carve out her own identity, and learns to manifest her power in surprising and inspiring ways.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Hmm took a while to grasp
- By LATOYA LEWIS on 06-25-24
By: Bisi Adjapon
-
While I Live
- The Ellie Chronicles
- By: John Marsden
- Narrated by: Suzi Dougherty
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 165
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 107
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 107
The town of Wirrawee is emerging from war, slowly, like a flower after a cold snap. Businesses are starting to reopen, the school has re-commenced classes, and local farmers are gradually repossessing their land. But it's not the same Australia as before the war. A new nation exists just a few miles away, a new border that separates Australia from its invaders. Or does it?
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
What accent is it spoken in?
- By Kim on 03-06-05
By: John Marsden
-
They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky
- The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan
- By: Benson Deng, Alephonsion Deng, Benjamin Ajak, and others
- Narrated by: David Henry, David Zinn, Augustino Mayai, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 216
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 180
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 181
Benjamin, Alepho, and Benson were raised among the Dinka tribe of Sudan. Their world was an insulated, close-knit community of grass-roofed cottages, cattle herders, and tribal councils. The lions and pythons that prowled beyond the village fences were the greatest threat they knew. All that changed the night the government-armed Murahiliin began attacking their villages.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Important History
- By Planetary Defense Commander on 02-16-12
By: Benson Deng, and others
-
White Dog Fell from the Sky
- By: Eleanor Morse
- Narrated by: Carla Mercer-Meyer
- Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 139
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 119
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 118
Botswana, 1976: Isaac Muthethe thinks he is dead. Smuggled across the border from South Africa in a hearse, he awakens covered in dust, staring at blue sky and the face of White Dog. Far from dead, he is, for the first time, in a country without apartheid. A medical student in South Africa, he was forced to flee after witnessing a friend murdered by white members of the South African Defense Force.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Unexpectedly Stunning Work!
- By Kathi on 03-15-13
By: Eleanor Morse
-
To Live
- A Novel
- By: Yu Hua, Michael Berry
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 87
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 70
This searing novel, originally banned in China but later named one of that nation's most influential books, portrays one man's transformation from the spoiled son of a landlord to a kindhearted peasant. After squandering his family's fortune in gambling dens and brothels, the young, deeply penitent Fugui settles down to do the honest work of a farmer. Forced by the Nationalist Army to leave behind his family, he witnesses the horrors and privations of the Civil War, only to return years later to face a string of hardships brought on by the ravages of the Cultural Revolution.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wow!
- By Phillip King on 05-30-18
By: Yu Hua, and others
-
The Lightless Sky
- A Twelve-Year-Old Refugee's Harrowing Escape from Afghanistan and His Extraordinary Journey Across Half the World
- By: Gulwali Passarlay
- Narrated by: Assaf Cohen, Susan Duerden
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 43
In 2006, after his father was killed, Gulwali Passarlay was caught between the Taliban, who wanted to recruit him, and the Americans, who wanted to use him. To protect her son, Gulwali's mother sent him away. The search for safety would lead the 12-year-old across eight countries, from the mountains of Eastern Afghanistan through Iran and Europe to Britain. Over the course of 12 harrowing months, Gulwali endured imprisonment, hunger, cruelty, brutality, loneliness, and terror - and nearly drowned crossing the Mediterranean Sea.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Face for Refugees
- By Daryl on 12-10-16
-
Enrique's Journey
- By: Sonia Nazario
- Narrated by: Catherine Byers
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 723
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 589
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 591
Based on the Los Angeles Times newspaper series that won two Pulitzer Prizes, one for feature writing and another for feature photography, Enrique's Journey is the timeless story of families torn apart, the yearning to be together again, and a boy who will risk his life to find the mother he loves.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Missing Chapter 8 and Epilogue!
- By Bobby Reed on 07-01-14
By: Sonia Nazario
-
The Girl with the Louding Voice
- A Novel
- By: Abi Daré
- Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 5,963
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 5,366
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 5,327
The unforgettable, inspiring story of a teenage girl growing up in a rural Nigerian village who longs to get an education so that she can find her “louding voice” and speak up for herself, The Girl with the Louding Voice is a simultaneously heartbreaking and triumphant tale about the power of fighting for your dreams.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A must HEAR!
- By Michelle on 03-09-20
By: Abi Daré