Showing results by narrator "Victoria Villarreal" in All Categories

When she was younger, “thirties” had felt so settled. She would be a high-powered interior designer with a handsome husband who was kind and a wonderful father to their son. No, daughter. No, she had wanted twins! Right? She couldn’t remember. That was so long ago, when he had been so lively and full of passion. Before she’d been betrayed.

Adulting should be illegal. I’m a woman who adores childish things. I prefer being called Maddie over Madison. I like frilly dresses, tickle fights, hot chocolate, coloring, and swing sets. I avoid adulting like I do broccoli, and my therapist says that’s okay. We all have our hobbies. I think my therapist is full of it, but he hasn’t steered me wrong, yet. At least, I don’t think he has. So, what am I supposed to do when tragedy hits my family once again, and I’m left with twins? Well, I adapt.

A weight loss method which will not only help you get leaner in 12 weeks but also ensures that you don’t even have to sacrifice your favorite meals in the process. You see, losing weight, increasing athletic performance, and maintaining overall health is possible without going through all the strain and stress of a typical diet doesn't have to be hard. By following a revolutionary strategy developed by top athletes and bodybuilders, you can now burn fat and build muscles with the same success as them.

Mystery shopping is a unique industry that allows management to get an inside look at various aspects of their businesses. Mystery shops can evaluate customer service, store appearance, availability and placement of promotional signage, and so much more! Traditional mystery shops are covert and in-person, but non-traditional shops, such as revealed and remote shops, are becoming more popular.

Coronary Artery Disease is the number one health threat among both American men and women. However, today’s research focuses almost entirely on men. When it comes to women, heart disease is under-researched, under-treated, and under-diagnosed. Dr. Nitza Alvarez, an accomplished cardiologist who has a particular passion for her female patients, has written this comprehensive guide, specifically for women, to help them in understanding and living with their “#1 threat,” heart disease.

Jasbir, aka Jazz, has always been a stellar student and an obedient, albeit wise-cracking, daughter. Everything has gone along just fine - she has good friends in the "genius" program she's been in since kindergarten, her teachers and principal adore her, and her parents dote on her. But now, in her junior year of high school, her mother hears that Jazz was seen hugging a boy on the street and goes ballistic.

Summer ends, the season changes, and Coro, an artist frightened off by what her own paintings may represent, gets in her car and drives for hours in the middle of the night until she chances upon Betania, an isolated house existing in a world of its own. It's an unfamiliar place inhabited exclusively by women who, strangely, all seem to know her. Like adherents of an ancient cult, the women of Betania all dress the same, carry out strange rites and celebrations, and live alongside goats and innumerable dogs against a landscape dominated by a mountain that seems to block out the sunlight.

The week before Luna’s twin sister Solina was supposed to head back for her final semester at Kingswood Academy, an elite boarding school in the Washington mountains, she told Luna she was dropping out. When Luna refused to let her throw away her future, Solina disappeared. Twelve hours later, she was dead.

For twelve-year-old Evan, summertime has always meant carefree days with her family and unlimited time with her best friend, Billie. This year, with her parents on the brink of divorce, she’s staying at Billie’s summer cabin. But Billie only seems to care about crushes these days, and to make matters worse, Evan’s mom’s health obsession has climbed to new heights. The more Evan tries to appease her mom and control her hunger, the sharper it seems to get, until it threatens to drag her under.

Twelve-year-old Maia's parents say she's lucky to have smelled the smoke, lucky to have pulled her sister, Amelia, out of their burning house. But is it really "lucky" when Amelia's in the hospital? And is it “lucky" when Maia knows it was her candle that started the fire? When she's sent to spend the summer with her grandparents in Minnesota while her sister heals, Maia discovers that her demons are intent on following her.

Rosa Capistrano has been attending posh North Phoenix High School to boost her chances of a college education and a career in journalism, thanks to the groundbreaking Brown v. Board of Education verdict for desegregation. But though she’s legally allowed to be there, it’s still unsafe for Mexican Americans. That’s why she’s secretly passing as Rosie, a white girl. All she has to do to secure her future is make sure her Mexican home life and her white school experience never intersect.

On the evening of September 24, 2004, sixteen-year-old Alicia María Betancourt was killed in a car accident. Popular, happy, fun-loving Alicia daughter, sister, and friend to so many gone in an instant. How would those left behind cope with such a sudden, devastating loss? Wrestling with grief, anger, mortality, and spirituality, Alicia's loved ones struggle to create a lasting place in their hearts for someone who is no longer a physical presence.

Luz Veliz is a soccer star—or rather, she was a soccer star. With her serious knee injury, it's unlikely she'll be back on the field anytime soon. But without soccer, who is she? Even her dad treats her differently now—like he doesn't know her or, worse, like he doesn't even like her. When Luz discovers she has a knack for coding, it feels like a lifeline to a better self. If she can just ace the May Showcase, she'll not only skip a level in her coding courses and impress Ms. Freeman and intriguing, brilliant Trevor—she'll have her parents cheering her on from the sidelines.

Some days, ten-year-old Margarita Sandoval feels as if the wind might blow her away. The country has been gripped by the Great Depression, so times are hard everywhere. Then she has to leave her familia in New Mexico—especially her beloved Abuelita—to move to Fort Steele, Wyoming, where her father has taken a job on the railroad. When Margarita meets Caroline, she's excited to have a friend her own age in Wyoming. But it often seems like Caroline, like many other people in town, doesn't understand or appreciate the Sandovals' Hispanic heritage.

Until now, you've only heard one side of the story, about migrants crossing borders, drawn to the promise of a better life. In reality, Mexicans were on this land long before any borders existed. Here's the true story of America, from the Mexican American perspective.

Lucía loves to watch the monarchs' migration from her home in Mexico with Papá. But this year, the monarchs' journey north holds extra weight; Papá is heading north, too, to look for work. He promises her that when "the weather turns cold and the monarcas return, our winged ancestors will guide me home." So while he spends the summer months harvesting produce on faraway farms, Lucía watches the skies for signs of the monarchs'—and her papá's—return.

A heartwarming tale of a girl waiting for her beloved Papá to return when the monarchs fly south to their home in Mexico. Lucía loves to watch the monarchs' migration from her home in Mexico with Papá. But this year, the monarchs' journey north holds extra weight; Papá is heading north, too, to look for work. He promises her that when "the weather turns cold and the monarcas return, our winged ancestors will guide me home." So while he spends the summer months harvesting produce on faraway farms, Lucía watches the skies for signs of the monarchs'—and her papá's—return.

Ever since Precious Perez was a child, she has loved music. Her family always praised her singing, saying she could even attend Berklee College of Music one day—planting a seed that would become her dream. Precious was born two and a half months prematurely and weighed just one pound. Her eyes did not fully develop, and she is blind. With an engaging, accessible voice, Precious delivers an empowering first-person account of her determination to achieve her dreams, even with the world stacking the odds against her.

Last year, Maggie and Nora didn’t exactly get the summer of their dreams. Instead, they had to survive a camp run by a covert clan of vampires. But this year, Camp Sylvania is back and under new management—gentle, hippie-dippie Luna Lupowski. So the girls are convinced to give camp another try.

Sixteen-year-old Rumi Sabzwari has spent his entire life behind the armored walls of St. Iago, which protect citizens of the Union of Upper Cities from the outside world’s environmental devastation. But when rebels infect his father with a fatal virus, Rumi escapes St. Iago, desperate to find a cure.