Listening commitment: 10 minutes

If 8th grade Haz plans to return to the football field, he must go participate in therapy for his overly aggressive behavior. Couple this with his dad's current job deployment in Afghanistan with the U.S. Army, and quickly realize Max is shouldering some heavy events. 

Transcript here 

🌟🌟Celebrating Season 2! Listening commitment: 8 minutes

At 6 feet tall and a recent ADHD diagnosis, sixth grade Max's life is tough enough, but nothing compares to the accident where his best friend, Will, is injured on a fateful night when a group of boys snuck out into a nearby forest. Will is now in a medically induced coma, and nobody knows what occurred during the forest visit to cause Will's head injury. Max and a classmate set out to solve this mystery. Calling: Whodunit enthusiasts and readers who'd like to know more about ADHD. 

Transcript here 

✨✨Celebrating episode 20!

⏰Listening commitment: 9 minutes

Samira and her family are left without a country to call home when her own country of Burma (now Myanmar) ceased to recognize them as one of their 135 ethnicities, so they flee to Bangladesh, where they are also unwelcome. Samira is a strong, curious girl, and Rohingya. Learn about her desire to attend school, learn to surf, and her history. 

This wraps up season one. Please celebrate with me: leave a review or follow me on Instagram at Wonderworldbookcafe. I'll be back in August and can't wait to launch season two. ✨✨

Transcript here 

⏰Listening commitment: 9 minutes 

Meet quirky, word-loving, lexicographer "Worser." He's quick to correct grammatical errors, has one humongous heart, and is learning to live with his new life, one where his mom is recovering from a stroke. Root for and love Worser, and pick up numerous new words to add to your own vocabulary along the way. 

Transcript here 

⏰Listening commitment: 9 minutes

Addie advocates for people wrongly accused of witchcraft in Scotland, centuries ago. Addie is autistic and realizes she too could have been one of those sentenced to death had she lived during this time only because she is "different." This beautiful and much needed story can span age ranges of readers as it works to dispel stereotypes about autism. Come along on Addie's journey in A Kind of Spark. 

Transcript here 

⏰ Listening commitment: 9 minutes

Muki and his family are "moths" in the country of Mariposa. Muki uncovers the president's plan to send moths, people not born here to camps and maybe out to other countries. The president commits to protecting the butterflies, those who "belong in Mariposa" because this is their country where they and their family have lived for many generations. 

Transcript here. 

⏰Listening Committment: 10 minutes 

In Leng'ete's memoir, learn how she escaped the dangerous, potentially deadly, age-old Maasai coming-of-age tradition, female circumcision or FGM (female genital mutilation). Leng'ete is honest about her Maasai traditions as she juxtaposes what she loves, honors, and respects versus what must change. Learn about the all-important work Leng'ete has done and continues to do to educate communities about the positive impact of empowering girls and ending FGM forever. 

Transcript here 

⏰Listening Commitment 10 minutes 

The last slave ship, The Clotilda, illegally brings 110 West Africans to Mobile, Alabama. When freed after The Civil War, they go onto create a town all their own called African Town. Inspired by true events.

Transcript here 

⏰Listening Commitment 9 minutes

Petra and her family are desperately trying to flee the Federales during Mexico's Revolution in 1913. They trudge through the life-threatning desert in an attempt to survive. Inspired by the author's great grandmother's tales, readers will cry with and cheer for Petra Luna. 

Transcript here 

⏰Listening commitment: 8 minutes 

High school students, Moth and Sani, have devastating pasts. In each other, they find what feels like "home." The the adults who are supposed to take care of them fail; this becomes the catalyst for a summer road trip where Moth and Sani seek the ghosts of their Black and Native American ancestors. Amber McBride's debut YA novel written in verse is haunting and hopeful. Readers can't decide if they should read it quickly to know what happens next or to savor the lyricalness of McBride's writing. (Suggestion: read twice!)

Transcript here