Mackenzie, Jassy Jade de Jong. #bk. 4

Read by Justine Eyre

In Mesopotamia, AD 260, Ballista faces yet another enemy, the man the Syrians call the Lion of the Sun. Betrayed by his most trusted advisor, Roman Emperor Valerian has been captured by the Sassanid barbarians. The shame of the vanquished beats down mercilessly like the desert sun as the frail old emperor prostrates himself before Shapur, king of kings. Ballista looks on helplessly but vows under his breath to avenge those who have brought the empire to the brink of destruction with their treachery. But first he must decide what price he will pay for his own freedom. Only the fearless and only those whom the gods will spare from hell can now save the empire from a catastrophic ending. Ballista, the warrior of Rome, faces his greatest challenge yet. Six-year old Susan helps her grandmother in the kitchen and begins to learn the role of women in the household. It is 1825. Women are not allowed to vote and by law must obey their husbands. Seeing how hard the women of her family work, she is struck by the unfairness of such a law. Susan's lifelong dedication culminates in the 1920 election wherein women first gain the right to vote. This story gives children a historical sense of how one woman helped to bring about the civil rights that are enjoyed today. By focusing on the childhood of famous Americans, this special series of audiobooks allows the subjects to come alive for children. The everyday details of family life, the time period in which they lived, what they wore and the challenges they faced in school create a window through which children can access history. The early evidence of character, responsibility, ability and courage are showcased in common situations to which every child can relate. Geared for children ages eight and up, the Childhood of Young Americans series is lively and inspirational. It's an ideal way to sweep today's young reader right into the past. When an American cargo ship off the coast of Indonesia is seized by terrorists and its crew slaughtered, the sitting Congress demands revenge. The president's refusal to react aggressively leads to mounting resentment. Then an ambitious young congressional assistant, Jim Dillon, discovers a long-forgotten clause in America's Constitution that could be used to wrest power from the chief executive-inciting a devastating constitutional crisis and plunging the country into chaos. Now, a battle group steams toward a fateful confrontation in the Java Sea, commissioned by Congress and opposed by the president. Dillon finds himself in the center of a firestorm that rages from the highest court in the land to the killing fields half a world away, as the great nation prepares for war-with itself. Hong Kong is the world's most exciting city, at once fascinating and exasperating, a tangle of contradictions. It is a dazzling amalgam of conspicuous consumption and primitive poverty, the most architecturally incongruous yet undeniably beautiful urban panorama of all. Through firsthand reportage, world-renowned travel writer Jan Morris takes us through the crowded streets of this enigmatic city, offering the most insightful and comprehensive study of Hong Kong thus far. She reviews Hong Kong's early days as a British opium port controlled by pirates, cutthroats, and scoundrel tycoons, and looks ahead to the city's future as part of the People's Republic of China. Fanny Price, a poor relation of the rich Bertrams, is reluctantly adopted into the family to be brought up at Mansfield Park, where she is treated condescendingly. Only her cousin Edmund, a young clergyman, appreciates her fine qualities. Fanny soon falls in love with him, but Edmund is, unfortunately, drawn to the shallow and worldly Mary Crawford. Fanny's quiet humility, steadfast loyalty, and natural goodness are matched against the wit and brilliance of her lovely rival. The tension is heightened when Henry Crawford, Mary's equally sophisticated and flirtatious brother, takes an inter

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