Showing results by narrator "Ann Richardson" in Teen & Young Adult

Reeling from her disastrous foray into the Pit, Birdie, the young Songkeeper, retreats into the mountains. But in the war-torn North, kneeling on bloodstained battlefields to sing the souls of the dying to rest, her resolve to accept her calling is strengthened. Such evil cannot go unchallenged. 

Still I Rise takes its title from a work by Maya Angelou, and it resonates with the same spirit of an unconquerable soul, a woman who is captain of her fate. This book embodies the strength of character of the inspiring women profiled within. Each chapter outlines the fall and rise of great women heroes who smashed all obstacles rather than let all obstacles smash them. Still I Rise offers hope to those undergoing their own Sisyphean struggles. Intrepid women heroes are the antithesis of the traditional damsels in distress; rather than waiting for the prince, they took salvation into their own hands.

Freed from the hold of a slave ship, Birdie, the young Songkeeper, and Ky, a streetwise thief, emerge to a world at war. Hordes of dark soldiers march across Leira, shadowed by whispers of plague and massacres, prompting Ky to return to his besieged home city in hopes of leading his fellow runners to safety. Desperate to end the fighting, Birdie embarks on a dangerous mission into the heart of the Takhran's fortress. 

Deep within the world of Leira flows a melody that was sung at the beginning of time by Emhran, the Master Singer. Now it is broken, buried, forgotten. But in each generation, a Songkeeper arises to uphold the memory of the Song against those who want it silenced forever. When Birdie first hears the Song coming from her own mouth, her world shatters. She is no longer simply an orphan but the last of a hunted people.