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CELA's audiobooks and magazines are available in Direct to Player and downloadable formats. We no longer mail out CDs. Please contact us for more information.
CELA's audiobooks and magazines are available in Direct to Player and downloadable formats. We no longer mail out CDs. Please contact us for more information.
Showing 1 - 20 of 24 items
By Wanda John-Kehewin. 2023
Fourteen-year-old Eva’s life is like her shoes: rapidly falling apart. With Nohkum in the hospital, Eva’s mother struggles to keep…
things together and loses custody of Eva and her little brother. As Eva tries to adjust to living in a group home, can she find forgiveness for her mother within the pages of an old diary?By Brittany Luby. 2023
Published to rave reviews, here is a heartwarming look at how the comfort of tradition and story can create a…
true sense of belonging, told through an Indigenous lens. When Ojiig moves to the city with his family, he misses everything they left behind. Most of all, he misses the sparkling night sky. Without the stars watching over him, he feels lost. His parents try to help, but nothing seems to work. Not glow-in-the-dark sticker stars, not a star-shaped nightlight. But then they have a new idea for how to make Ojiig feel better — a special quilt stitched through with family stories that will wrap Ojiig in the warmth of knowing who he is and where he came from. Join this irresistible family as they discover the power of story and tradition to make a new place feel like home.By Ishi Robinson. 2024
A delicious debut novel about a young Jamaican girl who tries to bake her way to a better life in…
France . Pumkin Patterson lives in a tiny two-room house in Kingston, Jamaica, with her grandmother, who wants to improve the family's social standing; her Aunt Sophie, who wants to take Pumkin with her to a new life in Paris; and her mother, Paulette, who wants to keep her at home out of spite. When Aunt Sophie decides to move to France for work, she promises to send for her niece in one year's time. All Pumkin has to do is pass her French entrance exam so she can attend school there. But when Pumkin's grandmother dies—the household's fortunes take a turn for the worse. Somehow, Pumkin must find a way to raise the money to take her French exam. In a moment of ingenuity, she decides to turn her passion for baking into a true business. Selling batches of sweet-potato pudding, coconut drops and chocolate cakes, Pumkin begins raising the money she needs. But when her mother finds out that Pumkin wants to leave, she does all she can to sabotage her daughter's plans. Sweetness in the Skin is a funny and heartbreaking story about a young girl figuring out who she is, what she is capable of—and where she truly belongsBy Matteo L. Cerilli. 2024
Death is neither the beginning nor the end for the children of Bridlington in this debut trans YA horror book…
for fans of Rory Power and Danielle Vega.Chuck Warren died tragically at the old abandoned mill, but Paz Espino knows it was no accident — there's a monster under the town, and she's determined to kill it before anyone else gets hurt. She'll need the help of her crew — inseparable friends, bound by a childhood pact stronger than diamonds, distance or death — to hunt it down. But she's up against a greater force of evil than she ever could have imagined.With shifting timeframes and multiple perspectives, Lockjaw is a small-town ghost story, where monsters living and dead haunt the streets, the homes and the minds of the inhabitants. For readers of Wilder Girls and The Haunted, this trans YA horror book by an incredible debut author will grab you and never let you go.By Sarah Suk. 2023
Perfect for fans of They Both Die at the End and You've Reached Sam, this gripping, atmospheric YA novel follows…
a teen with a mysterious condition that transports her to the past when she smells certain scents linked to specific memories. Seventeen-year-old Aimee Roh has Sensory Time Warp Syndrome, a rare condition that causes her to time travel to a moment in her life when she smells something linked to that memory. Her dad is convinced she'll simply grow out of it if she tries hard enough, but Aimee's fear of vanishing at random has kept her from living a normal life. When Aimee disappears for nine hours into a memory of her estranged mom—a moment Aimee has never remembered before—she becomes distraught. Not only was this her longest disappearance yet, but the memory doesn't match up with the story of how her mom left—at least, not the version she's always heard from her dad. Desperate for answers, Aimee travels to Korea, where she unravels the mystery of her memories, the truth about her mother, and the reason she keeps returning to certain moments in her life. Along the way, she realizes she'll need to reconcile her past in order to save her present. From acclaimed author Sarah Suk comes an aching, powerful exploration of memory, grief, and the painful silences we must overcome to discover our truest selvesBy Sylv Chiang. 2024
A gently affirming story of the connection between siblings.Evelyn is worried about Tessa. Tessa doesn’t want to play the same…
games they used to play together, but Evelyn is determined to find new ways to connect with her older sibling. And she is also learning to see Tessa as non-binary and using new pronouns for them. Evelyn learns quickly that it isn't hard. and helps others see that too. Through the course of this heartfelt story, Evelyn reaffirms her connection to her sibling and shows those around them how to make the effort to support Tessa — with love. Back matter includes information on gender and ways to be a kind and effective ally.By Heather Smith. 2024
A new, heartwarming middle-grade story from the critically acclaimed author Heather Smith featuring Tig, a young girl struggling to find…
peace within herself and in her new family. For fans of Rebecca Stead, Wendy Mass and Lynda Mullaly Hunt.After months of living without electricity or parents, Tig and Peter are forced to move in with their Uncle Scott and his partner, Manny. The transition from down-and-out to picture-perfect isn't easy, especially in pristine Wensleydale with the idyllic couple and their beautiful home.Tig, with Peter's support, decides to make their new life messy, starting with daily arguments and her plans to become a competitive cheese racer. She'll run circles around her new guardians, outrun a wheel of cheese, and leave the past buried in her dust. But things don't always go as planned, and Tig must decide what to truly leave behind in order to move forward.By Christina Kilbourne. 2024
Every small town has a dark past. Kate is learning that this town's dark past involves her family. Fifteen-year-old Kate…
didn't want to be dragged into her mother's past. She had a boyfriend, a life, and a future as an online influencer whose urban exploration videos were growing in popularity. But here she is, in the place she thinks of as "Hicksville," and she's getting to know far more about the town than she ever wanted. After she and her new friend Zach make a ghastly discovery in a local crevasse, she finds herself investigating a decades-old mystery that has haunted the community . . . and her family. People from her mother's past - and her own - resurface as Kate and Zach uncover secrets that could rewrite historyBy Linda Cheng. 2023
"A glittering, gory page-turner, Gorgeous Gruesome Faces is your next obsession." ?Gina Chen, New York Times- bestselling author of Violet…
Made of Thorns Yellowjackets meets She Is a Haunting in this spine-tingling sapphic thriller that follows a disgraced teen idol who comes face to face with the demons of her past in a glittering, cutthroat K-pop competition. "So perfectly titled. Gorgeous Gruesome Faces has found the sweetest spot between horror and romance, hitting the mark in every manner." ?Chloe Gong, #1 New York Times- bestselling author of These Violent Delights You'll love them to death . . . THEN: Sunny Lee is on the top of the world. She's one-third of Sweet Cadence, the hottest up-and-coming teen pop group, alongside her new BFFs, Candie and Mina. The three are inseparable as they ride their way to the top of the charts, even as Candie and Sunny fight to resist the growing spark between them. But when a shocking scandal breaks, the group is suddenly torn apart. Then the unthinkable ́ Mina dies tragically right before Sunny and Candie's eyes. And Sunny suspects the dark and otherworldly secrets she and Candie were keeping may have had something to do with it . . . NOW: For the past two years, Sunny has spent her days longing for her former life and her nights wondering just what happened the night Mina died. So when she discovers that Candie is attending a new K-pop workshop right in her hometown, Sunny has no choice but to follow her there. Candie might be chasing stardom again, but Sunny is only after one thing: answers. At the workshop, the lines between nightmare and reality start to blur as Sunny is haunted by ghostly visions and her competitors' bodies turn up bizarrely maimed and mutilated. To survive the twisted carnage, Sunny will have to expose the ugly truth behind the workshop's spotlights and the sinister forces swirling around Candie. Stitched with cutting commentary on the ugly side of stardom and impossible beauty standards, Linda Cheng's mind-bending thriller will have listeners screaming and swooning for more. A Macmillan Audio production from Roaring Brook PressBy Carrie Mac. 2024
When twins Eira and Soren escape from their survivalist home into a world overcome by zombies, there's only one way…
to stay alive: run! Eira and Soren are queer twins living with their survivalist parents when a plague starts spreading that turns people into zombie-like monsters. They disagree with their parents about a lot, but they can't deny that their way of life keeps them safe while much of the world perishes ́for now. When it becomes clear that their safety won't last, the twins decide to strike out on their own. They don't get far before encountering the one remaining person in the closest town: their friend Racer, a gold medal-winning Special Olympics champion. Racer is appalled at the twins ́ slow speed and tells them that their survivalist skills aren't worth anything if they can't outrun the monsters. He sets them on a training regimen that comes in handy when they embark on the bigger journey ahead of them. On their trek they find friends, enemies, and even love. But with zombies on their heels at every turn, will they ever be able to slow down?By Wali Shah. 2024
Ali is an eighth-grade kid with a lot going on. Between the pressure from his immigrant parents to ace every…
class, his crush on Melissa, who lives in the rich area of town while he and his family live in a shabby apartment complex, and trying his best to fit in with his friends, he feels like he's being pulled in too many different directions. But harder still, Ali is becoming increasingly aware of the racism around him. Comments from his friends about Pakistani food or his skin color are passed off as jokes, but he doesn't find them funny. And when Ramadan starts, Ali doesn't tell anyone he's fasting because it just seems easier. Luckily he finds solace in putting his feelings into words-and poems. But his father is dead set against him using art as a distraction when he's got schoolwork and a future career as a doctor to focus on. Ali's world changes when he, his mom and his little brother are assaulted by some racist teens. Ali must come to terms with his roiling feelings about his place in the world, as a Pakistani immigrant, a Muslim and a teenager with his whole life ahead of him. With help from his grandfather, an inspiring teacher and his friend, Ali leans on his words for strength. And eventually he finds his true voiceBy Brooke Carter. 2023
Ten-year-old Sly is spending the weekend with their fortune-telling grandmother at the mysterious Madsen Mansion. It's Samhain, a time when…
the spirits can cross over into the living world, and the old mansion has secrets whispering in the rafters and unused rooms. When Sly and their grandmother hear a voice calling, Sly unlocks a cabinet that reveals a ghost girl who is trapped in a mirror. Then they accidentally speak the words of the spell that enchanted the girl in the first place, and Sly and their grandmother risk being imprisoned in the mirror as well. With the clock ticking till the end of Samhain, it's up to Sly to solve the ghost's riddles and puzzles and locate a long-lost book of spells in hopes of freeing them allBy Flo Leung. 2024
"A young boy and his family discover a way to merge their Chinese and North American backgrounds by combining traditional…
foods from both cultures. Max loves his family's Cantonese meals, like steamed rice and gai lan greens with oyster sauce, homemade dumplings, and scallion bread. But sometimes he can't help thinking about French fries, tacos, and ice cream with rainbow sprinkles. For his birthday dinner, Max is really hoping for spaghetti and meatballs, but instead he and his family are headed to Maa Maa and Ye Ye's house for a celebration dinner - and Max is pretty sure that spaghetti won't be served in the familiar blue bowls that came all the way from Hong Kong with his grandparents. But Max is delighted to discover that his understanding family has discovered a way to bring two cultures together with delicious dishes that are a combination of all the foods he loves. This story shows the experience of a child living in between two cultures and how confusing that can sometimes be. It's based on Flo's own experiences growing up, longing to belong/be organically part of the North American culture, but also feeling a strong sense of home and family when immersed in her Chinese culture. She feels that the result for many second-generation Chinese Canadians/Americans is the creation of a third culture that intertwines and connects the various influences of both. Flo has chosen the iconic "exquisite blue bowl" (that she says would be familiar to many Chinese-American families) and the food that goes inside that bowl to set the stage for this duality in the story. Max is trying to come to terms with where he fits in these two cultures, and by the end the story, with the help of his family, he discovers that he has the freedom to create his own experiences, and the results are unique, interesting, and evolving - just like Max himself."By Kuljinder Kaur Brar. 2024
"A beautiful picture book exploring how to cope with difficult and complex emotions when we're away from the people we…
love. Spending time with her dad makes Mandeep's days shine. They have cha parties, perform Bhangra shows, and best of all, they write jokes together in her favorite unicorn journal. But when Dad starts a job as a truck driver, he starts being away from home most of the week. Without Dad, storm clouds start taking over Mandeep's sunny days, casting a shadow on all the things she used to love doing. Can anything help Mandeep feel better? The dynamic author-illustrator team behind the National Council Teachers of English Notable Children's Book winner My Name Is Saajin Singh brings a new poignant story about father-daughter relationships, how we cope with being separated from our loved ones, and how to find glimpses of light in our days even when clouds threaten to settle in."By Linda Cheng. 2023
A cutthroat K-pop competition leads to a dark obsession in this twisty horror-romance, perfect for fans of She Is a…
Haunting "A perfect blend of folk horror and dazzling showbiz that will grip you from page one." ―Trang Thanh Tran, New York Times-bestselling author of She is a Haunting"The sweetest spot between horror and romance." ―Chloe Gong, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of These Violent DelightsYou’ll love them to death . . .THEN:Sunny Lee is on the top of the world. She’s one third of Sweet Cadence, the hottest up-and-coming teen pop group, alongside her new BFFs, Candie and Mina. The three are inseparable as they ride their way to the top of the charts, even as Candie and Sunny fight to resist the growing spark between them. But when a shocking scandal breaks, the group is suddenly torn apart. Then the unthinkable – Mina dies tragically right before Sunny and Candie’s eyes. And Sunny suspects the dark and otherworldly secrets she and Candie were keeping may have had something to do with it . . .NOW:For the past two years, Sunny has spent her days longing for her former life and her nights wondering just what caused Mina's death. So when she discovers that Candie is attending a new K-pop workshop right in her hometown, Sunny has no choice but to follow her there. Candie might be chasing stardom again, but Sunny is only after one thing: answers.At the workshop, the lines between nightmare and reality start to blur as Sunny is haunted by ghostly visions and her competitors' bodies turn up bizarrely maimed and mutilated. To survive the twisted carnage, Sunny will have to expose the ugly truth behind the workshop’s spotlights and the sinister forces swirling around Candie. Stitched with cutting commentary on the ugly side of stardom and impossible beauty standards, Linda Cheng’s mind-bending thriller will have readers screaming and swooning for more.By Wanda John-Kehewin. 2023
We live in a hopeless old house on an almost-deserted dead-end street in a middle-of-nowhere town named Hope. This is…
the oldest part of Hope; eventually it will all be torn down and rebuilt into perfect homes for perfect people. Until then, we live here: imperfect people on an imperfect street that everyone forgets about.For Eva Brown, life feels lonely and small. Her mother, Shirley, drinks and yells all the time. She&’s the target of the popular mean girl, and her only friend doesn&’t want to talk to her anymore. All of it would be unbearable if it weren&’t for her cat, Toofie, her beloved nohkum, and her writing, which no one will ever see.When Nohkum is hospitalized, Shirley struggles to keep things together for Eva and her younger brother, Marcus. After Marcus is found wandering the neighbourhood alone, he is sent to live with a foster family, and Eva finds herself in a group home.Furious at her mother, Eva struggles to adjust—and being reunited with her family seems less and less likely. During a visit to the hospital, Nohkum gives Eva Shirley&’s diary. Will the truths it holds help Eva understand her mother?Heartbreaking and humorous, Hopeless in Hope is a compelling story of family and forgiveness.By Ishi Robinson. 2024
A delicious debut novel about a young Jamaican girl who tries to bake her way to a better life in…
France. Pumkin Patterson lives in a tiny two-room house in Kingston, Jamaica, with her grandmother, who wants to improve the family’s social standing; her Aunt Sophie, who wants to take Pumkin with her to a new life in Paris; and her mother, Paulette, who wants to keep her at home out of spite.When Aunt Sophie decides to move to France for work, she promises to send for her niece in one year’s time. All Pumkin has to do is pass her French entrance exam so she can attend school there. But when Pumkin’s grandmother dies—the household’s fortunes take a turn for the worse.Somehow, Pumkin must find a way to raise the money to take her French exam. In a moment of ingenuity, she decides to turn her passion for baking into a true business. Selling batches of sweet-potato pudding, coconut drops and chocolate cakes, Pumkin begins raising the money she needs. But when her mother finds out that Pumkin wants to leave, she does all she can to sabotage her daughter’s plans.Sweetness in the Skin is a funny and heartbreaking story about a young girl figuring out who she is, what she is capable of—and where she truly belongs.By Matteo L. Cerilli. 2024
Death is neither the beginning nor the end for the children of Bridlington in this debut trans YA horror book…
for fans of Rory Power and Danielle Vega.Chuck Warren died tragically at the old abandoned mill, but Paz Espino knows it was no accident — there's a monster under the town, and she's determined to kill it before anyone else gets hurt. She'll need the help of her crew — inseparable friends, bound by a childhood pact stronger than diamonds, distance or death — to hunt it down. But she's up against a greater force of evil than she ever could have imagined.With shifting timeframes and multiple perspectives, Lockjaw is a small-town ghost story, where monsters living and dead haunt the streets, the homes and the minds of the inhabitants. For readers of Wilder Girls and The Haunted, this trans YA horror book by an incredible debut author will grab you and never let you go.By Sarah Suk. 2023
Perfect for fans of They Both Die at the End and You’ve Reached Sam, this gripping, atmospheric YA novel follows…
a teen with a mysterious condition that transports her to the past when she smells certain scents linked to specific memories.Seventeen-year-old Aimee Roh has Sensory Time Warp Syndrome, a rare condition that causes her to time travel to a moment in her life when she smells something linked to that memory. Her dad is convinced she’ll simply grow out of it if she tries hard enough, but Aimee’s fear of vanishing at random has kept her from living a normal life.When Aimee disappears for nine hours into a memory of her estranged mom—a moment Aimee has never remembered before—she becomes distraught. Not only was this her longest disappearance yet, but the memory doesn’t match up with the story of how her mom left—at least, not the version she’s always heard from her dad.Desperate for answers, Aimee travels to Korea, where she unravels the mystery of her memories, the truth about her mother, and the reason she keeps returning to certain moments in her life. Along the way, she realizes she’ll need to reconcile her past in order to save her present.From acclaimed author Sarah Suk comes an aching, powerful exploration of memory, grief, and the painful silences we must overcome to discover our truest selves.By Carrie Mac. 2024
When twins Eira and Soren escape from their survivalist home into a world overcome by zombies, there's only one way…
to stay alive: run!Eira and Soren are queer twins living with their survivalist parents when a plague starts spreading that turns people into zombie-like monsters. They disagree with their parents about a lot, but they can't deny that their way of life keeps them safe while much of the world perishes--for now. When it becomes clear that their safety won't last, the twins decide to strike out on their own.They don't get far before encountering the one remaining person in the closest town: their friend Racer, a gold medal-winning Special Olympics champion. Racer is appalled at the twins&’ slow speed and tells them that their survivalist skills aren't worth anything if they can't outrun the monsters. He sets them on a training regimen that comes in handy when they embark on the bigger journey ahead of them.On their trek they find friends, enemies, and even love. But with zombies on their heels at every turn, will they ever be able to slow down?