Michael

How Come They Always had the Battles in the National Parks?

• UNABRIDGED (6 hrs and 34 mins)
• By Peter Bales
• Narrated By Peter Bales

This is not your father's history book! Spanning prehistoric times all the way through the Civil War, How Come They Always had the Battles in the National Parks? presents a humorous look at our country's past, a historically accurate, concise, and easy to follow account of the main events in America's saga up through the Civil War, definitely enough to get you by in case you find yourself surrounded by annoying smart people at a party.

Extra Credit

• UNABRIDGED (3 hrs and 18 mins)
• By Andrew Clements
• Narrated By Gabra Zackman
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

It isn't that Abby Carson can't do her schoolwork, it's just that she doesn't like doing it. And that means she's pretty much failing sixth grade. When a warning letter is sent home, Abby realizes that all her slacking off could cause her to be held back -- for real! Unless she wants to repeat the sixth grade, she'll have to meet some specific conditions, including taking on an extra-credit project: find a pen pal in a foreign country. Simple enough (even for a girl who hates homework).

Time Bandit: Two Brothers, the Bering Sea, and One of the World's Deadliest Jobs

• UNABRIDGED (7 hrs and 19 mins)
• By Andy Hillstrand, Johnathan Hillstrand, Malcolm MacPherson
• Narrated By William Dufris
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

The Time Bandit is the fishing vessel that Andy and Johnathan Hillstrand use to hook the "deadliest catch", Alaskan king crabs and opilio crabs, in the Bering Sea, a dangerous body of water that can steal years from a fisherman's life. In pursuit of their daily catch, the brothers brave ice floes and heaving 60-foot waves, gusting winds of 80 miles per hour, unwieldy and unpredictable half-ton steel crab traps, and an injury rate of almost 100-percent.

There are fewer than 400 fishermen of this kind in the U.S., and early death is a common fate. But the Hillstrand brothers are drawn to the drama and adventure of life on the high seas - this is their world.

Dog Man: An Uncommon Life on a Faraway Mountain

• UNABRIDGED (6 hrs and 22 mins)
• By Martha Sherrill
• Narrated By Laural Merlington
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

In the snow country of Japan during World War II, we meet Morie Sawataishi, a fierce individualist who has chosen to break the law by keeping an Akita dog hidden in a shed on his property. By the time of the Japanese surrender in 1945, there are only sixteen Akitas left in the country. The survival of the breed becomes Morie's passion and life. Devoted to the dogs, Morie is forever changed.

In beautiful prose that is a joy to read, Sherrill opens up the world of the Dog Man and his wife, providing a profound look at what it is to be an individualist in a culture that reveres conformity, and what it means to live.

Shopgirl

• UNABRIDGED (3 hrs and 37 mins)
• By Steve Martin
• Narrated By Steve Martin
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

Grammy Nominee for Best Spoken Word Album
Mirabelle, the "shopgirl" behind the glove counter at Neiman Marcus, is slightly lost, off-kilter, and shy. But there's something about Mirabelle. Steve Martin reads this charming novella. Hear an interview with the author and browse more Martin.