Have you Heard? New Nonfiction

Catch up on recent audio nonfiction from the Plano Public Library.

Read more: Have you Heard? New Nonfiction

Below you’ll find audiobook recommendations from the Plano Public Library. This is just a sample of the audiobooks in our collection, and you can visit a library location for assistance in finding personalized recommendations.

Adult:

Spellbound: Modern Science, Ancient Magic, and the Hidden Potential of the Unconscious Mind by Daniel Z. Lieberman, Md, narrated by Tom Parks. Psychiatrist Daniel Z. Lieberman, MD, reveals how to join forces with your unconscious to make better decisions, find more meaning in everyday life, and develop a richer, more balanced way of living. Print / Playaway.

Daughters of the Flower Fragrant Garden: Two Sisters Separated by China’s Civil War by Zhuqing Li, narrated by Nancy Wu. Sisters separated by war forge new identities as they are forced to choose between family, nation, and their own independence. Print / Playaway.

Aquanaut: a Life Beneath the Surface: the Inside Story of the Thai Cave Rescue by Rick Stanton, narrated by Don Gilet. In July 2018, twelve boys and their soccer coach disappeared into the Tham Luang Cave in Thailand. Any hope of survival rested on Rick Stanton, leader of the daring underwater rescue mission. While the world held its breath, Rick faced near-impossible odds. Print / Playaway.

American Demon: Eliot Ness and the Hunt for America’s Jack the Ripper by Daniel Stashower, narrated by Will Damron. A historical true crime starring legendary lawman Eliot Ness. Boston had its Strangler. California had the Zodiac Killer. And in the depths of the Great Depression, Cleveland had the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run. Print / Playaway / eBook.

All the Living and the Dead: from Embalmers to Executions, an Exploration of the People who have made Death Their Life’s Work written and narrated by Hayley Campbell. A deeply compelling exploration of the death industry and the people-morticians, detectives, crime scene cleaners, embalmers, executioners-who work in it and what led them there. Print / Playaway / eBook.

Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization written and narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson. In a time when our political and cultural perspectives feel more polarized than ever, Neil deGrasse Tyson provides an antidote to so much of what divides us: a cosmic perspective and the rationality of science. Print / Playaway / eAudiobook / Large print.

Freezing Order: a True Story of Money Laundering, Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin’s Wrath by Bill Browder, narrated by Adam Grupper. When Bill Browder’s young Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, was beaten to death in a Moscow jail in 2009, Browder cast aside his business career and made it his life’s mission to pursue justice for Sergei. As Freezing Order reveals, Browder’s campaign was a main impetus for Putin’s intervention in the 2016 US presidential election. Print / Playaway / eAudiobook / Large print.

Unmasked: my Life Solving America’s Cold Cases written and narrated by Paul Holes. From the detective who found The Golden State Killer, a memoir of investigating America’s toughest cold cases and the rewards–and toll–of a life solving crime. Print / Playaway / eBook.

American Cartel: Inside the Battle to Bring Down the Opioid Industry by Scott Higham, narrated by Kiff VandenHeuvel. An unflinching and deeply documented dive into the culpability of the drug companies behind the staggering death toll of the opioid epidemic. Print / Playaway.

Finding Me written and narrated by Viola Davis. This is Viola Davis’ story, in her own words, and spans her incredible, inspiring life, from her coming-of-age in Rhode Island to her present day. Hers is a story of overcoming, a true hero’s journey. Print / Playaway / eAudiobook / eBook / Large print.

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Teen:

Days of Infamy: How a Century of Bigotry led to Japanese Internment by Lawrence Goldstone, narrated by Elaina Erika Davis. In another unrelenting look at the iniquities of the American justice system, Lawrence Goldstone examines the history of racism against Japanese Americans, exploring the territory of citizenship and touching on fears of non-white immigration to the US — with hauntingly contemporary echoes. Print / Playaway / eBook.

The Race of the Century: the Battle to Break the Four-Minute Mile by Neal Bascomb, narrated by Patrick Lawlor. There was a time when running the mile in four minutes was believed to be beyond the limits of human foot speed. In 1952, after suffering defeat at the Helsinki Olympics, three world-class runners each set out to break this barrier. Print / Playaway.

Ready for Launch: an Astronaut’s Lessons for Success on Earth written and narrated by Scott Kelly. Using ten life-changing moments from his path to space, Astronaut Scott Kelly shares his advice for mastering fear and failure and turning our daily struggles into rocket fuel for success. Print / eAudiobook.

Murder Among Friends: How Leopold and Loeb Tried to Commit the Perfect Crime by Candace Fleming, narrated by Angela Dawe. How did two teenagers brutally murder an innocent child … and why? And how did their brilliant lawyer save them from the death penalty in 1920s Chicago? Written by a prolific master of narrative nonfiction, this is a compulsively readable true-crime story based on an event dubbed the “crime of the century.” Print / eAudiobook.

Freedom! The Story of the Black Panther Party by Joshua Bloom, Waldo E. Martin, Jr. and Jetta Grace Martin, narrated by Dion Graham. The saying is: Knowledge is power. The secret is: Knowledge, applied at the right time and place, is more than power. It’s magic. This is a comprehensive overview and analysis of the history and politics of the Black Panther Party, told for younger readers. Print / eAudiobook / eBook.

Punching Bag by Rex Ogle, narrated by Ramon De Ocampo. The companion to Rex Ogle’s award-winning Free Lunch is a searing account of adolescence in a household torn by domestic violence. Print / eAudiobook.

The Story of More: How we got to Climate Change and Where to go from Here (Adapted for young adults) written and narrated by Hope Jahren. Hope Jahren is an award-winning geobiologist, a brilliant writer, and one of the seven billion people with whom we share this earth. The Story of More is her impassioned open letter to humanity as we stand at the crossroads of survival and extinction. Print / eAudiobook / Adult Nonfiction / Adult eBook.

The Woman all Spies Fear: Code Breaker Elizabeth Smith Friedman and Her Hidden Life by Amy Butler Greenfield, narrated by Samantha Desz. Biography of Elizebeth Smith Friedman, an American woman who pioneered codebreaking in WWI and WWII but was only recently recognized for her extraordinary contributions to the field. Print / eAudiobook / eBook.

Paul Robeson: No one can Silence Me (Adapted for young adults) by Martin Duberman, narrated by Cary Hite. The inspiring life and legacy of vocal artist and civil rights icon Paul Robeson—one of the most important public figures in the twentieth century—adapted for young adults by the acclaimed Robeson biographer. Print / eAudiobook.

Taking on the Plastics Crisis written and narrated by Hannah Testa. In this personal, moving essay, youth activist Hannah Testa shares with readers how she led a grassroots political campaign to successfully pass state legislation limiting single-use plastics and influenced global businesses to adopt more sustainable practices. Print / eAudiobook / eBook.

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Children’s:

Hurricane: my Story of Resilience by Salvador Gómez-Colón, narrated by Ramón De Ocampo. Launching a propulsive middle grade nonfiction series, a young man shares how he combated Puerto Rico’s public health emergency after Hurricane Maria. Print / eAudiobook.

Alias Anna: a True Story of Outwitting the Nazis by Susan Hood, narrated by Aimée B. Dawson. An inspirational nonfiction novel-in-verse about Zhanna Arshanskaya, a young Jewish girl using the alias Anna, whose phenomenal piano-playing skills saved her life and the life of her sister, Frina, during the Holocaust.  Print / Playaway.

Rumble and Roar: Sound Around the World by Sue Fliess, narrated by Kae Denino. The thump of a heartbeat, the chirp of insects, the roar of a waterfall-sound is all around! Rhyming text and atmospheric illustrations present four children encountering all sorts of sounds. Print / Wonderbook.

We are Still Here: Native American Truths Everyone Should Know by Traci Sorell, narrated by a full cast. A group of Native American kids from different tribes presents twelve historical and contemporary time periods, struggles, and victories to their classmates, each ending with a powerful refrain: we are still here. Print / Wonderbook / eAudiobook / eBook.

History Smashers series by Kate Messner. Myths! Lies! Secrets! Smash the stories behind famous moments in history and expose the hidden truth. Perfect for fans of I Survived and Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales. Includes The American Revolution, Plagues and Pandemics, Women’s Right to Vote, and more. Print / eAudiobooks / eBooks.

Girls Solve Everything: Stories of Women Entrepreneurs Building a Better World by Catherine Thimmesh, narrated by Courtney Patterson. Women all over the globe are asking questions that affect lives and creating businesses that answer them. Print / eAudiobook.

Because Claudette by Tracey Baptiste, narrated by Joniece Abbott-Pratt. A picture book biography about Claudette Colvin, the teen whose activism launched the Montgomery bus boycott, and a celebration of collective action. Print / eAudiobook / eBook.

Fossil Hunter: How Mary Anning Changed the Science of Prehistoric Life by Cheryl Blackford, narrated by Moira Quirk. A fascinating, highly visual biography of Mary Anning, the Victorian fossil hunter who changed scientific thinking about prehistoric life and would become one of the most celebrated paleontologists of all time. Print / eAudiobook / eBook.

Star Child: a Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler written and narrated by Ibi Zoboi. Acclaimed novelist Ibi Zoboi illuminates the young life of the visionary storyteller Octavia E. Butler in poems and prose. Born into the Space Race, the Red Scare, and the dawning Civil Rights Movement, Butler expereinced an American childhood that shaped her into the groundbreaking science-fiction storyteller whose novels continue to challenge and delight readers fifteen years after her death. Print / eAudiobook / eBook.

We’re Better than This: Young Readers’ Edition by Elijah Cummings with Hilary Beard, narrated by Adam Lazarre-White and Maya Rockeymoore Cummings. Growing up as the child of former sharecroppers in a segregated Baltimore, Elijah Cummings saw firsthand how injustice could run rampant, even in a democracy that promises fairness and equality. In We’re Better Than This, young readers will learn not only that we must be and do better than our oppressors but that it is our shared responsibility as a nation to keep our democracy intact because it is the only way to pursue freedom, justice, and equality for all. Print / Adult Nonfiction / eAudiobook.