The annual SYNC Summer of Listening program encouraging literacy among teens by giving away a themed weekly pair of audiobooks—usually 1 modern or non-fiction, 1 classic or drama—returns for another year, courtesy of sponsor AudioFile Magazine and participating publishers.
This 10th week’s theme is “Inventive People”, featuring technically-minded discoverers and tinkerers, available from Thursday June 29th through Wednesday July 5th:
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The Woman Who Split the Atom: The Life of Lise Meitner by award winning children’s book author and illustrator Marissa Moss, read by Sandy Rustin from Recorded Books. This is a YA level scientist biography of pioneering mid-20th century Austrian Jewish physicist Lise Meitner, who fled the Nazi regime and contributed significantly to the key discovery of nuclear fission, which would later lead to the development of the atomic bomb and nuclear reactors, and has the chemical element Meitnerium named after her. The audiobook reading of this was a recipient of AudioFile Magazine’s own Earphones Award.
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Bump by playwright Chiara Atik, a recipient of the Steinberg/ATCA Award, performed by a full cast from L. A. Theatre Works. This is a comedic social drama play focused on the experience of pregnancy and childbirth in three intertwining timelines: one with hilarious posts on a social media message board for moms, one an historical strand featuring interactions between a midwife and a first time mother in the late 18th century, and the core story of a young woman planning a home birth as her inventor father experiments with building a birthing gadget to help make the experience easier. This audiobook includes an interview with the playwright and a gynecologist.
The freebies are available via Overdrive’s Sora service (listenable via browser on their website, or via their mobile app for iOS & Android devices). To claim them, you’ll need to register on the SYNC website with a valid email address to use in a Sora account, using the setup code and directions in the instructions in SYNC’s FAQ (no need to re-register if you’ve participated in previous years’ giveaways), clicking “Borrow” to add them to your Sora library as a permanent loan. NB: if you need to free up space on your device later, follow the instructions in the FAQ to only “delete files” and DO NOT “Return” the title, which would remove your future access.
Offered worldwide through Wednesday July 5th until just before midnight Eastern Time, available via the Sora website and app. You can also browse AudioFile Magazine’s planned season list to see what will be offered in the weeks ahead and if there’s anything you’d especially like to get.
With Blackjack and Hookers 