Showing results by narrator "Leon Nixon" in All Categories

In the middle of a raging storm in Alaska, Bess stops to tie her shoes. And just like that, the boy is lost, gone in a flash, swallowed up by the snow. Bess is a California girl, while Benedict, with whom she and the boy live, is the last in his family’s long line of rugged Alaskans. Benedict knows better than to venture out in such weather. But he has no choice. He must find Bess and the boy before it’s too late.

Following the path of Sebastien, Sean, and Benji Bennett isn't an easy feat. Too bad life has a way of dismantling your world, leaving you to figure things out on your own. Tavious is the youngest member of the Bennett family, making his way through a maze full of roadblocks. Is he ready to step into the footsteps of those who paved the way before him? He's a recent college graduate ready to take his profession by storm, but will he take this walk alone or have a willing companion by his side?

Ebony Callaway wasn't looking for love. After a messy divorce, all she wanted was peace, her art, and to figure out how to keep up with Basquiat, the too-big, too-stubborn puppy who turned her quiet life upside down. Enter Dr. Tyler Hill. The handsome, steady veterinarian who shows up to help...

Ali Everett is on a mission to uphold his family's legacy while creating his own lane within the family business. When presented with an opportunity to prove himself, he accepts the challenge prepared for whatever obstacles came along the way. When things seem that can't get any better, he meets...

Celebrating a decade of Columbia Global Reports, the Forerunners series revives groundbreaking works of investigative journalism and incisive analysis published a century before CGR’s founding. These texts, once forgotten or underexplored, reflect CGR’s core mission: fearless reporting...

Bentley didn't come to Hardwood High to fall in love. She came to prove something—to herself, to the people who doubted her, and maybe even to the chickens named after Destiny's Child living in her backyard. Her plan was simple: survive her first year teaching English, build a community in her...

These are stories about the choices we face in love and in relationships; and braving the consequences that may follow. Which path will you choose when your heart comes to a crossroads? Five Houston couples are forced to make choices about their relationships that will either keep them on the same path or completely change the trajectory of their lives.

Journalist Josiah Bates pulls back the curtain on a crisis that continues to plague the United States in this gripping narrative. Fueled by the convergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest, gun violence has surged to unprecedented levels, devastating marginalized communities and urban areas across the nation. Bates embarks on a heart-wrenching journey, crisscrossing the country to meet victims, perpetrators, community activists, and renowned scholars. Through their powerful stories, he unearths the hidden causes behind the escalating gun violence epidemic.

Lessons in Gratitude tells the story of Aaron Dworkin, a MacArthur Fellow, social entrepreneur, and spoken word artist who has dedicated his life’s work to changing the face of classical arts in the world. The themes of persistence, passion, and loyalty shine through stories of an unhappy childhood, a lifelong search for identity, and the obstacles of race, culture, and class. Listeners will learn how the author greets these challenges and how they drove him to make a difference for people who are shut out of opportunity.

A Plausible Man unfolds as a historical detective story, as Susanna Ashton combs obscure records for evidence of Jackson's remarkable flight from slavery to freedom, his quest to liberate his enslaved family, and his emergence as an international advocate for abolition. This fresh and original work takes us through the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the restoration of white supremacy-where we last glimpse Jackson losing his freedom again on a Southern chain gang.

Jakari Bolton: protector and provider… He takes on those roles when his father gets incarcerated for hideous crimes that are still bothering him ten years later. Jakari is so busy taking care of those he loves he forgot that he needed care too. Anger, guilt, and hurt have guided his life’s trajectory, and he doesn’t know any other way to be. So when he has to pick up his cousins from school and runs into librarian, Yendi Odom, he doesn’t know how to handle her.

Bigger Thomas, the central figure in Richard Wright’s novel Native Son (1940), eludes easy categorization. A violent and troubled character who rejects the rules of society, Bigger is both victim and perpetrator, damaged by racism and segregation on the South Side of Chicago, seemingly raping and killing without regrets. His story has electrified readers for more than eight decades, and it continues to galvanize debates around representation, respectability, social justice, and racism in American life.

When Audie wakes up after a devastating accident, her mind is a blank slate. The people around her—her devoted partner, her closest friends, even her own family—all claim to know who she is. But every version of her past is different. Contradictory. Suspicious. As Audie struggles to piece together the fragments of her life, a chilling realization sets in: the memory she lost may not be the worst part of her past. The real danger lies in what she is about to uncover.

A dynamic kaleidoscope of story that honors the work of women. Long-listed for the prestigious Carol Shields Prize for Fiction! Kin is a story and a celebration of Black womanhood, of resistance, and of perseverance—while simultaneously an indictment of American history. Kin is a tree—alive in places, broken in others—that offers shelter for women seeking respite in the midst of family-making.

A lie can follow you to death. The first time my mother told me that, it didn't resonate. I'd made it a point to always tell the story that suited me in the moment. Truth or fiction. Except . . . I didn't count on the lies I told myself. Or the woman who held up the mirror so I could see them.

Testifying that the foundation of modern Western thought, theory, and practice can be traced back to ancient African thought, theory, and practice, this book exposes the African influence on Greek and Roman thought and its influence on the development of modern Western society. It then...

After Life is a collective history of how Americans experienced, navigated, commemorated, and ignored mass death and loss during the global COVID-19 pandemic, mass uprisings for racial justice, and the near presidential coup in 2021 following the 2020 election.

Janae Three years ago, I had one unforgettable weekend with a man who made me forget every rule I'd ever followed. Then he ghosted me like it never happened. Fast forward to now—he's standing in front of the faculty at Hardwood High, all smug and suited up, introducing himself as our new...

The Davinchi Cartel is a notorious, all-female drug empire known for its ruthlessness ways. The cartel is led by three powerful sisters: Willow is the calculating and fearless leader. Kehlani is the seductive yet deadly one, and Izzy is known as the brains, the tech-savvy genius behind their operations. Their father Ezekiel, the breeder of all girls, had no regrets about handing the reign of his empire over to his daughters, as they had been trained for this since birth.

One thing about me? I don't play games. Another thing about me? I don't waste time. In my role as Mr. Black Detroit, my focus is supporting my community and planning the city's annual Juneteenth celebration. Again, my time is valuable. I should've ignored the text. But . . . there's something about Daphne that makes me want to engage. Maybe it's the way she commands a room and isn't afraid to get her hands dirty. Or maybe it's the glimpse of vulnerability in her eyes. It's probably just her. Whatever it is in the beginning quickly morphs into something else entirely, though.