Showing results by narrator "Nancy Wu" in All Categories

Peasprout Chen dreams of becoming a legend of wu liu, the deadly and beautiful art of martial arts figure skating. As the first students from the rural country of Shin to attend Pearl Famous Academy of Skate and Sword, Peasprout and her little brother Cricket have some pretty big skates to fill. Tensions rise when the dazzling pearl buildings of the Academy are vandalized and outsider Peasprout is blamed for the attacks by her rivals...and even some friends. Now, she must uncover the true vandal to ensure peace between Shin and Pearl - all while becoming a champion.

Wife-wanted ads are always risky business, but Millie Virginia never imagined she'd survive the perilous trip across the Great Plains to find her intended husband in a pine box. Was he killed in an accident? Or murdered for his gold mine? Stuck in the mining town of Idaho Springs, Colorado territory, without friends or means, Millie is beleaguered by undesirable suitors and threatened by an unknown assailant. Her troubles escalate when the brother of her dead fiancé, Dominic Drouillard, unexpectedly turns up.

Kitty Hayward and her mother are ready to experience the spectacles of Coney Island's newest attraction, the Dreamland amusement park. But when Kitty's mother vanishes from their hotel, Kittty finds herself penniless, alone, and far from her native England. The last people she expects to help are the cast of characters at Magruder's Curiosity Cabinet, a museum of oddities. From con men to strongmen, from flea wranglers to lion tamers, Kitty's new friends quickly adopt her and vow to help find the missing Mrs. Hayward.

Based on exhaustive research and set in the Chinese cradle of civilization, the Yellow River basin, Forgotten Tales of China is a sweeping saga of survival, sacrifice, indomitable perseverance, bravery, and betrayal. Starting 40,000 years ago with cave dwellers who communicated almost solely through sign language, this epic novel transports listeners through the millennium, culminating in China's Bronze Age, 1,600 BC, during the reign of a mad degenerate Xia king.

There's more to meditation than just rhythmically chanting "om" in a seated position - inner calm can be achieved through the simplest of actions, such as mindfully drinking a cup of tea. This guide shows you how to harness the power of meditation in your daily life with a variety of meditation techniques that you can learn and carry out in just a few minutes.

Better Than Homemade is food biographer Carolyn Wyman’s freewheeling and entertaining cultural history of the innovative packaged foods that changed the way we eat. It highlights the fascinating stories behind the food inventions; the histories behind the brands and icons that have become synonymous with them; the jingles that have made them such a large part of our popular culture; and the recipes that have tutored generations of homemakers and comfort-food master chefs.

Chicago attorney Izzy McNeil is ready to take a break from private investigation and focus on her career in criminal law. But as a favor, she agrees to work with Madeline Saga, a beautiful art gallery owner who fears that artwork she has sold is fake. Who in Madeline's tight circle of artists and gallery owners is guilty of the forgeries? When Madeline's life is threatened, Izzy is suddenly asking a more troublesome question: Who wants the gallery owner dead? As the case spins out of control, there's only one person who makes Izzy feel safe—Detective Damon Vaughn. But getting close to her former nemesis is full of surprises. Astonishing truths about the glittering Chicago art scene will introduce Izzy to the deadliest art of deception.…

Critically acclaimed author Gish Jen is a National Book Critics Circle Award nominee and the person John Updike proclaimed as the young novelist most likely to become his successor. In The Love Wife, Jen poignantly explores the explosive dynamics of a mixed-race modern family.

During the first hundred years of Chinese immigration - from 1848 to 1943 - San Francisco was home to a shockingly extensive underground slave trade in Asian women, who were exploited as prostitutes and indentured servants. In this gripping, necessary book, best-selling author Julia Flynn Siler shines a light on this little-known chapter in our history - and gives us a vivid portrait of the safe house to which enslaved women escaped.

Dumped by her boyfriend the summer after senior year, teen love and relationship columnist Lu Charles has hit a wall with her writing. The words just won't come to her like they used to and if she doesn't find a topic for her column, she'll lose her gig at hip online magazine Misnomer, and the college scholarship that goes along with it.

Lexi, Callie, and Hanna Breaux grew up in small-town Louisiana and have always struggled to make ends meet. For years, they’ve been playing the lottery, fantasizing about how much better life would be if they had the money. For Lexi, it means the perfect wedding; for Callie, it means having the courage to go after her career dreams; and for Hanna, it means buying a house that isn’t falling apart and sending her bullied son to private school. When the incredible happens and the Breaux sisters hit it big - $204 million big - all their dreams come true. Or so they think.

Iris Wang is having a bit of a rough start to her summer: Her boyfriend cheated on her, she didn’t get into any colleges, and she has no idea who she is or what she wants to do with her life. She’s always felt torn about being Chinese American, feeling neither Chinese nor American enough to claim either identity. In an attempt to snap her out of her funk, Iris' parents send her away to visit family in Beijing. With this trip, Iris gets swept up in the ridiculous, opulent world of Beijing’s wealthy elite.

After the sudden death of her ex-husband, Brian, Lauren helps Brian's much-younger widow, Jessica, arrange the funeral and settle his affairs. Although they were once adversaries in the battle for Brian's heart, Lauren agrees to pitch in for the sake of their troubled 16-year-old daughter, Emily. But Lauren gets much more than she bargained for when information comes to light about Brian's shady business deals with his old college friend Jordan Connors and the crime lord Jorge Arena, jeopardizing Brian's estate and throwing the women into the world of high-stakes illegal gambling.

This groundbreaking anthology presents 40 narratives, both nonfiction and fiction, that together capture the impact and complexity of Alzheimer’s and other dementias on patients, as well as their caregivers and family. Deeply personal, recounting the wrenching course of a disease that kills a loved one twice - first they forget who they are, and then the body succumbs - these stories also show how witnessing the disease and caring for someone with it can be powerfully transformative, calling forth amazing strength and grace.

Ming Da is only nine years old when he becomes the emperor of China. His ministers take advantage of the boy emperor by stealing rice, gold, and precious stones. But Ming Da has a plan. He orders his tailors to make him “magical” new clothes that only honest people can see. Can Ming Da outsmart his ministers and save his country?

It's Callie's seventeenth birthday and, like everyone else, she's eagerly awaiting her vision—a memory sent back in time to sculpt each citizen into the person they're meant to be. A world-class swimmer. A renowned scientist. Or in Callie's case, a criminal. In her vision, she sees herself murdering her gifted younger sister. Before she can process what it means, Callie is arrested and placed in prison. The only person who can help is her childhood crush, Logan, a boy she hasn't spoken to in five years.

Fairy tales have been spun for thousands of years and remain among our most treasured stories. Weaving fresh tales with unexpected reimaginings, At Midnight brings together a diverse group of celebrated YA writers to breathe new life into a storied tradition.

Grant Falloon isn’t just good at track; he’s close to breaking the world record 100-meter time for his age group. So when the mega-rich Babblemoney sneaker company announces an international competition to find the fastest kid in the world, he’s desperate to sign up. But not so fast. Nothing’s ever that easy with the eccentric Falloon family. Turns out, his non-conformist parents never got him a legal birth certificate. He can’t race for the United States, so now if he wants to compete, he may just have to invent his own country.

Too tired to think? No time to read books? Zibby Owens gets it. Award-winning podcaster of Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books and mother of four (ages six to 14) compiled 53 essays by 49 authors to help the rest of us feel understood, inspired, and less alone.

Seventeen year old Olivia Dresden is a precognitive. Since different versions of people's futures flicker before her eyes, she doesn't have to believe in human decency. She can see the way for everyone to be their best self—if only they would make the right decisions. No one is more conflicted than her mother, and Olivia can only watch as Chairwoman Dresden chooses the dark, destructive course every time. Yet Olivia remains fiercely loyal to the woman her mother could be.