Showing results by narrator "Ramón de Ocampo" in All Categories

Scaredy Smurf is afraid of heights, the water, the dark … and just about everything! So when he sees a big spider, naturally he’s terrified. Until he realizes the spider is just as frightened of him as he is of it! Soon Scaredy Smurf and the spider are best friends, and they surprise everyone! This gently spooky story is perfect for Halloween or anytime for Smurfs fans.

Suffering heavy damage in the wake of Hurricane Maria in 2017, Puerto Rican communities lacked access to clean water and electricity. Salvador Gómez-Colón couldn’t ignore the basic needs of his homeland and knew that nongovernmental organizations and larger foreign philanthropies could only do so much. With unstoppable energy and a deep knowledge of local culture, he founded Light and Hope for Puerto Rico and raised more than $100,000 to purchase and distribute solar-powered lamps and hand-powered washing machines to households in need.

Eli Frieden lives in the most perfect town in the world: Serenity, New Mexico. In this idyllic place, every lawn is perfectly manicured, and everyone has a pool and a treehouse. Honesty and integrity are valued above all else in Serenity. The 30 kids who live there never lie - they know it's a short leap from lying to the awful problems of other less fortunate places.

There's nothing Jake likes more than some good trash-picking, so when his elderly neighbors move out and leave an especially promising-looking pile of household refuse on the curb, he goes right for it. He only has the chance to grab one box before his mom catches him and orders him in for dinner, though. When mysterious goings-on begin to occur in the neighborhood, the trio investigates the hidden box from Jack's garage. In it, they find the Secret Parent's Handbook.

It’s Friday morning, and seventeen-year-old Antonio Sullivan is on the verge of earning his early release from Zephyr Woods Youth Detention Center. Having been incarcerated for the last year and a half for a crime he didn’t directly commit, he’s now dedicating himself to his education and his sobriety program. What’s more, Antonio is driven by a deep need to make amends to the two people he hurt the most: his mom and his lifelong best friend, Maya.

Unlike her friends Emrys and Serena, Hazel is struggling to adjust to magic and to their new roles as the secret protectors of New Rotterdam. She’s already worried about her mom, who works endless shifts at the hospital to make ends meet, and now she also has to defend their entire town from supernatural forces. If only Hazel could figure out how to use her relic, the Magnus Crown, which has the power to transform matter, including turning lead into gold … gold that would certainly help ease her family’s financial issues.

In the year 2164, the World Government has extended communication to Planet Scepter but has yet to enforce any rules which makes it the perfect spot for Cromwell. Instead of Sierra's father, he now holds her mother. In order to save her, Sierra will need to make new friends in this place of glowing leaves and a floating capital.

Annabella Donatello likes to do everything. She likes to draw, fly kites, play soccer, cook, and eat what she cooks. She even likes to do math! But there are two things she loves most of all: softball and performing. So she's thrilled when she gets cast in the school play, on top of being the star pitcher of her softball team. Unfortunately, her softball coach is less thrilled about Annabella's busy schedule. And with the championships coming up, the pressure is on to make softball her number one priority, even when an important practice conflicts with opening night of the show.

Javier Peña and Steve Murphy risked their lives hunting large and small drug traffickers in the decades they spent working for the US Drug Enforcement Administration. But their biggest challenge was the hunt for Pablo Escobar in Colombia. The partners, who began their careers as small-town cops, have been immortalized in Netflix’s Narcos, a fictionalized account of their hunt for Escobar. Now, for the first time, they tell the real story of how they brought down the world’s first narco-terrorist and ended the reign of terror of the world’s most wanted criminal.

The Middle School Rules of Charles Tillman will feature the defining childhood stories of a young, well-traveled boy nicknamed “Peanut,” who had to deal with racism, adapt to constant relocation, and endure the divorce of his parents. Inspired by faith and family, Tillman persevered and carved out an indelible mark both on and off the field.

A literary jigsaw puzzle of a debut novel set in Colombia during the peak of its decades-long conflict, and in New York City. While her parents are away, a teenager finds herself home alone, with the household staff mysteriously gone, no phone connection, and news of an insurgency on the radio - and then she hears a knock at the door.

Tony Baloney is a rambunctious macaroni penguin with a tremendous imagination. The middle child in his family, Tony always has to take orders from his big sister and watch out for his younger siblings. But with his trusty stuffed friend Dandelion around, Tony is sure that he won’t get ignored in his family - even if it means getting into a little bit of trouble first.

Ride through Rubberwick in your Rolly Royce with Freddie and Peccary! From solving problems like the mysterious knock-knocking door, to saving the day with a fresh batch of waffle batter, Freddie Parrott knows that he can always count on his loyal butler and best friend, Peccary.

Benny's friend Ray come up with his craziest invention idea yet: a machine that grants wishes. But when Benny realizes he has some wishes that need granting, he starts to wonder if it might just work. A short story from Guys Read: Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka.

Set at the height of the Roman Empire, in the last half of the first century AD - about the time of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, when Christianity was still an unimportant Jewish sect - these stories chronicle the cases of one of the few actual crimesolvers that we know of in ancient Rome. The stories are fictional, but the character of Quintilian is based on a real Roman barrister whose writings on rhetoric and on the education of the young are still read today.

An infamously proficient player-killer—thanks to his unique class and unparalleled bladework—he's hunted by mages, militia, and a max-level prick. Barely hindered by insomnia and self-doubt, he's a hero (plausibly). With the fate of the city resting on his shoulders, he'll need every shred of skill, cunning, and courage he can convince himself to muster. It's that or be crushed under the weight of all his lies.

An unfortunate intellectual resigned to a grisly, blue-collar life. Disenchanted with his life and distanced from his family, how much blood will it take to put his existence into perspective?

A zany musical comedy, touching love story, and fast-paced adventure thriller combined with “Elvis Presley meets Star Wars” plot twists. Cosmic Cowboy the Musical stars the love-struck alien Prince Remo, from faraway Planet Vegas (complete with glowing blue-grey skin and personal flying saucer), and the object of his adoration, aspiring Nashville country singer Jenna Lee Jenkins.

Oregon teenager and tennis champ Jeff McKenzie can’t wait for summer vacation. But when he decides to take his Bronco for a joyride on the Hamptons’ farm land, he gets into real hot water. As punishment Jeff is ordered to work on the farm for the first few weeks of summer. Getting up early and working with Mexican immigrants just doesn’t appeal to him. The only thing he looks forward to is seeing the Hamptons’ eldest daughter Alexa, who he is quickly falling for. Gradually he comes to appreciate the hardworking people....

The ad promised you'd be able to see into the spirit world. But they couldn't work for real... could they? A short story from Guys Read: Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka.