Showing results by narrator "Debra Michaels" in All Categories

It’s 1954, and in Barbados, Ruby Haynes spots an advertisement for young women to train as nurses for the new National Health Service in Great Britain. Her sister, Connie, takes some persuading, but soon the sisters are on their way to a new country and a whole new world in terms of experiences. As they start their training in Hertfordshire, they discover England isn’t quite the promised land—for every door that’s opened to them, the sisters find many slammed in their faces.

A leading new exploration of the Windrush generation featuring David Lammy, Lenny Henry, Corinne Bailey Rae, Sharmaine Lovegrove, Hannah Lowe, Jamz Supernova, Natasha Gordon and Rikki Beadle-Blair. For the pioneers of the Windrush generation, Britain was 'the Mother Country'. They made the long journey across the sea, expecting to find a place where they would be be welcomed with open arms; a land in which you were free to build a new life, eight thousand miles away from home.

Others Like Me is the story of fourteen women around the world, from different walks of life, who don't have children. It's also the story of why Nicole Louie had to find them and what they taught her. Part memoir, part exploration of childlessness through candid conversations, this book showcases the many ways in which people find fulfilment outside of parenthood.

In 1952, Beryl Gilroy moved from British Guiana to London. Her new life wasn't what she had expected - but her belief in the power of education resulted in a revolutionary career. Inspiring and unflinching, Gilroy's memoir Black Teacher is a rediscovered classic: not only a rare firsthand insight into the Windrush generation but a testament to how one extraordinary woman's dignity, ambition and spirit transcended her era.

It used to be the most WONDERFUL time of the year, but for years Christmas has been taken over by Winterzone. All the things that made Christmas special are gone. Instead, Christmas is run by robots, while 3D holograms of Santa Claus called Santavatars check if you’ve been naughty or nice—and on Christmas Eve, all of the presents are delivered by ZoneDrones instead of Santa’s reindeer! But when they stumble on a curious clue, eleven-year-old Etta and her friend Monty find themselves thrown into a fight to bring back Christmas.

In 1948 the former troop ship Windrush made the 30-day journey across the Atlantic from Jamaica. The arrival of its 500 passengers, the first generation of Caribbean migrants in the UK, was the initial step in the formation of a new identity: the black Briton. Fifty years later, Mike and Trevor Phillips spoke to those on the Windrush itself, as well as those who followed, to tell the story of Britain in the second half of the twentieth century through the eyes of the outsiders who became insiders.

Have you ever spent all day looking after your baby or young child—and ended up feeling that you have 'done nothing all day'? Do you sometimes find it hard to feel pleased with what you are doing, and tell yourself you should achieve more with your time? Maybe it's because you can't see how much you are doing already. In this unique and perceptive look at mothering, Naomi Stadlen draws on many years' work with hundreds of other mothers of a wide variety of ages and backgrounds.

Homecoming draws on over a hundred firsthand interviews, archival recordings and memoirs by the women and men who came to Britain from the West Indies between the late 1940s and the early 1960s. In their own words, we witness the transition from the optimism of the first postwar arrivals to the race riots of the late 1950s. We hear from nurses in Manchester; bus drivers in Bristol; seamstresses in Birmingham; teachers in Croydon; dockers in Cardiff; inter-racial lovers in High Wycombe, and Carnival Queens in Leeds. 

An all-too-plausible terrorist plot to destroy the Houses of Parliament brings into focus much greater problems than the differences between two cultures in this gripping thriller from a former commissioned officer in the Parachute Regiment.

When Jada Jinks finds a box of magic tricks in her granny’s flat, she uncovers her granny’s secret dream of becoming a magician. Jada soon decides that she’s going to help Granny Jinks fulfil her dreams, but one thing stands in her way - her dad, Jonny Jinks, who hates magic! Will Jada be able to help Granny Jinks pass the auditions for Dalton Green Magic Society, and will she learn some tricks of her own along the way?

Sunny grew in the mother and baby home on Grove Lane, London. The daughter of a wartime nurse and a Polish pilot, she was abandoned by her mother shortly after her birth and taken in by Nan, the warm and gentle proprietor of the home. Never having known her parents, Sunny has always felt like she doesn't quite fit in, but now, at 16 years old, she is ready to find her place in the world. Heading out to start her first job, she finally feels she has some idea of who she wants to be. As 1950s post-war London is changing at a rapid pace, so is Sunny.

Elemental spirits – the fiery Dragons, the airy Fumis, the watery Chads and the earthbound Magogs – have existed peacefully alongside humans for hundreds of years. Until today. A sleeping sickness hangs heavy in the air and monsters stir in dark corners...but who is to blame? Marisee and Robert are the Elemental Detectives chasing clues to avoid catastrophe, facing a riddling dragon, a tentacled plague monster from the deep and the ghosts of Hyde Park in their race-against-time mission to solve the mystery of the millennium.

Granny Jinks and Jada have officially joined the Dalton Green Magic Society, but the fun has only just started! For their next trick, Granny Jinks and Jada will have to perform magic with the cheekiest assistant of them all—an animal! Will naughty Luna the cat learn her magic trick in time and will Jada’s best friend, Matilda, ever find the perfect pet for hers? Inspired by the true story of Jenny Mayers—the first Black woman to be accepted into the Magic Circle.

On a misty Monday - 21st June 1948 - the MV Empire Windrush sailed up the Thames and anchored at Tilbury Dock, London. There were a total of 1,027 passengers on board with 802 passengers from British Colonies in the West Indies. The infamous images of the passengers walking down the gangplank the next morning would be the moment the Windrush Generation was born. A Circle of Five reflects on the stories of the 300,000 or so making the same journey between 1948 and 1971 by showcasing the voices of five Jamaican women, Evelyn, Emma, Irene, Ivy and Melissa.

Enjoy this collection of stories for children about seaside stories. In "A Day at Liberty Bay", you will experience the wonder of Liberty Bay and learn about its aquatic life with Ben and his new friend, Samantha. Also included are five other stories about kids exploring animals by the water: "Ghost Crabs", "Turtle Rescue", "Counting Horseshoe Crabs", "Sally's Rescue", and "Swan Lake."

Enjoy this collection of stories for children about life on the farm. In "Hector Helps Out", Calliope the hen enlists the help of Hector the rooster in an effort to retain her egg. They work to pull a fast one on Farmer Bean. Also included are nine other stories about animals and living on the farm: "Hatch!", "Fresh from the Farm", "Grandpa Drives a Milk Truck", "Mem and Grandpa at the Farm Stand", "Diggory Dog", "Fleece Fiber, Yarn Sweater", "Harvest Time with Papa", "Herbert, Hurry Up", and "A Rootin' Tootin' Cowboy".

Bringing Up Race is an important audiobook, for all families whatever their race or ethnicity. Racism cuts across all sectors of society - even the queen will have to grapple with these issues, as great grandmother to a child of mixed ethnicity. It's for everyone who wants to instil a sense of open-minded inclusivity in their kids and those who want to discuss difference instead of shying away from tough questions. 

An orchestra explodes in Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens and suddenly the music of London disappears...and a terrifying monster stirs off the Greenwich peninsular, threatening to trample London underfoot. The detectives must track down the thief behind the music's disappearance – via the Whispering Gallery of St Paul's Cathedral, a Windmill-with-teeth on the Isle of Dogs and the dark streets of Soho...where a shadowy villain and his mechanical animal spies live.

A laugh-out-loud, feelgood read for fans of Gill Sims, Sophie Ranald and Tracy Bloom by the author of The Pissed-off Parents Club and Just Another Manic Mum Day. It’s Annie Beaton’s 50th birthday! But instead of getting roses and perfume, she gets sacked; her son, Ben, tells her that she’s growing a beard and her husband Joe tells her he wants a divorce. Moving to the countryside to stay in her eccentric aunt’s house, Annie must find her mojo again - and fast.

That only happens to other people's kids, right? Wrong. In this compelling book, written by one of Britain's top experts in youth justice, Aika Stephenson reveals the extraordinary cases she deals with daily. From the obviously vulnerable to the A-grade student from a stable upbringing, Just for Kids Law, the campaigning charity co-founded by Stephenson in 2007, has helped thousands of children and young people overcome the