The Collectors: Stories
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $24.75
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
About this listen
From Michael L. Printz Award winner A.S. King and an all-star team of contributors including Anna-Marie McLemore and Jason Reynolds, an anthology of stories about remarkable people and their strange and surprising collections.
From David Levithan’s story about a non-binary kid collecting pieces of other people’s collections to Jenny Torres Sanchez's tale of a girl gathering types of fire while trying not to get burned to G. Neri's piece about 1970's skaters seeking opportunities to go vertical—anything can be collected and in the hands of these award-winning and bestselling authors, any collection can tell a story. Nine of the best YA novelists working today have written fiction based on a prompt from Printz-winner A.S. King (who also contributes a story) and the result is itself an extraordinary collection.
* This program includes a downloadable pdf which contains the fully illustrated story, "Museum of Misery" by Cory McCarthy from the book.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2023 A.S. King (P)2023 Listening LibraryListeners also enjoyed...
-
Chain Gang All Stars
- A Novel
- By: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
- Narrated by: Shayna Small, Aaron Goodson, Michael Crouch, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Loretta Thurwar and Hamara “Hurricane Staxxx” Stacker are the stars of Chain-Gang All-Stars, the cornerstone of CAPE, or Criminal Action Penal Entertainment, a highly-popular, highly-controversial, profit-raising program in America’s increasingly dominant private prison industry. It’s the return of the gladiators and prisoners are competing for the ultimate prize: their freedom.
-
-
Can’t wait for more from this author!
- By Brian Sheldon on 06-04-23
-
Those Pink Mountain Nights
- By: Jen Ferguson
- Narrated by: Julie Lumsden, Aaliya Warbus, Kimberly Woods, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Overachievement isn’t a bad word—for Berlin, it’s the goal. She’s securing excellent grades, planning her future, and working a part-time job at Pink Mountain Pizza, a legendary local business. Who says she needs a best friend by her side? Dropping out of high school wasn’t smart—but it was necessary for Cameron. Since his cousin Kiki’s disappearance, it’s hard enough to find the funny side of life, especially when the whole town has forgotten Kiki. To them, she’s just another missing Native girl.
By: Jen Ferguson
-
Let Us Descend
- A Novel
- By: Jesmyn Ward
- Narrated by: Jesmyn Ward
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Let Us Descend describes a journey from the rice fields of the Carolinas to the slave markets of New Orleans and into the fearsome heart of a Louisiana sugar plantation. A journey that is as beautifully rendered as it is heart wrenching, the novel is “[t]he literary equivalent of an open wound from which poetry pours” (NPR). Annis, sold south by the white enslaver who fathered her, is the listener’s guide. As she struggles through the miles-long march, Annis turns inward, seeking comfort from memories of her mother and stories of her African warrior grandmother.
-
-
Usually I enjoy an author reading…
- By Patio on 11-04-23
By: Jesmyn Ward
-
Landscape with Invisible Hand
- By: M. T. Anderson
- Narrated by: M. T. Anderson
- Length: 3 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
National Book Award winner M. T. Anderson returns to future Earth in a sharply wrought satire of art and truth in the midst of colonization.
-
-
Interesting Story, but…
- By Daniel Cascaddan on 09-13-23
By: M. T. Anderson
-
Cool. Awkward. Black.
- By: Karen Strong - editor, Tashi Thomas, Langston Darby, and others
- Narrated by: Tashi Thomas, Langston Darby, Karen Strong
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A girl who believes in UFOs; a boy who might have finally found his Prince Charming; a hopeful performer who dreams of being cast in her school’s production of The Sound of Music; a misunderstood magician of sorts with a power she doesn’t quite understand. These plotlines and many more compose the eclectic stories found within the pages of this dynamic, exciting, and expansive collection featuring exclusively Black characters.
By: Karen Strong - editor, and others
-
Accountable
- The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed
- By: Dashka Slater
- Narrated by: Ariel Blake
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a high school student started a private Instagram account that used racist and sexist memes to make his friends laugh, he thought of it as “edgy” humor. Over time, the edge got sharper. Then a few other kids found out about the account. Pretty soon, everyone knew. Ultimately no one in the small town of Albany, California, was safe from the repercussions of the account’s discovery. Not the girls targeted by the posts. Not the boy who created the account. Not the group of kids who followed it. Not the adults—educators and parents—whose attempts to fix things too often made them worse.
-
-
Important story for young readers
- By Christopher Gutierrez on 11-15-24
By: Dashka Slater
-
Chain Gang All Stars
- A Novel
- By: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
- Narrated by: Shayna Small, Aaron Goodson, Michael Crouch, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Loretta Thurwar and Hamara “Hurricane Staxxx” Stacker are the stars of Chain-Gang All-Stars, the cornerstone of CAPE, or Criminal Action Penal Entertainment, a highly-popular, highly-controversial, profit-raising program in America’s increasingly dominant private prison industry. It’s the return of the gladiators and prisoners are competing for the ultimate prize: their freedom.
-
-
Can’t wait for more from this author!
- By Brian Sheldon on 06-04-23
-
Those Pink Mountain Nights
- By: Jen Ferguson
- Narrated by: Julie Lumsden, Aaliya Warbus, Kimberly Woods, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Overachievement isn’t a bad word—for Berlin, it’s the goal. She’s securing excellent grades, planning her future, and working a part-time job at Pink Mountain Pizza, a legendary local business. Who says she needs a best friend by her side? Dropping out of high school wasn’t smart—but it was necessary for Cameron. Since his cousin Kiki’s disappearance, it’s hard enough to find the funny side of life, especially when the whole town has forgotten Kiki. To them, she’s just another missing Native girl.
By: Jen Ferguson
-
Let Us Descend
- A Novel
- By: Jesmyn Ward
- Narrated by: Jesmyn Ward
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Let Us Descend describes a journey from the rice fields of the Carolinas to the slave markets of New Orleans and into the fearsome heart of a Louisiana sugar plantation. A journey that is as beautifully rendered as it is heart wrenching, the novel is “[t]he literary equivalent of an open wound from which poetry pours” (NPR). Annis, sold south by the white enslaver who fathered her, is the listener’s guide. As she struggles through the miles-long march, Annis turns inward, seeking comfort from memories of her mother and stories of her African warrior grandmother.
-
-
Usually I enjoy an author reading…
- By Patio on 11-04-23
By: Jesmyn Ward
-
Landscape with Invisible Hand
- By: M. T. Anderson
- Narrated by: M. T. Anderson
- Length: 3 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
National Book Award winner M. T. Anderson returns to future Earth in a sharply wrought satire of art and truth in the midst of colonization.
-
-
Interesting Story, but…
- By Daniel Cascaddan on 09-13-23
By: M. T. Anderson
-
Cool. Awkward. Black.
- By: Karen Strong - editor, Tashi Thomas, Langston Darby, and others
- Narrated by: Tashi Thomas, Langston Darby, Karen Strong
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A girl who believes in UFOs; a boy who might have finally found his Prince Charming; a hopeful performer who dreams of being cast in her school’s production of The Sound of Music; a misunderstood magician of sorts with a power she doesn’t quite understand. These plotlines and many more compose the eclectic stories found within the pages of this dynamic, exciting, and expansive collection featuring exclusively Black characters.
By: Karen Strong - editor, and others
-
Accountable
- The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed
- By: Dashka Slater
- Narrated by: Ariel Blake
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a high school student started a private Instagram account that used racist and sexist memes to make his friends laugh, he thought of it as “edgy” humor. Over time, the edge got sharper. Then a few other kids found out about the account. Pretty soon, everyone knew. Ultimately no one in the small town of Albany, California, was safe from the repercussions of the account’s discovery. Not the girls targeted by the posts. Not the boy who created the account. Not the group of kids who followed it. Not the adults—educators and parents—whose attempts to fix things too often made them worse.
-
-
Important story for young readers
- By Christopher Gutierrez on 11-15-24
By: Dashka Slater
-
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
- By: Benjamin Alire Saenz
- Narrated by: Lin-Manuel Miranda
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has a unique perspective on life. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they develop a special friendship – the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about the universe, themselves and the kind of people they want to be.
-
-
fave book!
- By Anonymous User on 09-16-23
-
You: The Story
- A Writer's Guide to Craft Through Memory
- By: Ruta Sepetys
- Narrated by: Ruta Sepetys
- Length: 4 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
#1 New York Times bestselling author Ruta Sepetys is known for creating vivid characters and harrowing plots. After five award-winning works of historical fiction and countless hours of meticulous research, she can affirm that the secret to strong writing is embedded within your life experience. You: The Story is a powerful how-to book for aspiring writers that encourages you to look inward and excavate your own memories in order to discover the authentic voices and compelling details that are waiting to be put on the page.
-
-
The magical manner in which Ruta shared her life experiences was a joy. It warmed and melted my heart. Thank you.
- By Anonymous User on 11-09-24
By: Ruta Sepetys
-
Plan A
- By: Deb Caletti
- Narrated by: Jorjeana Marie
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A sixteen-year-old girl’s road trip across the country to get an abortion becomes a transformative journey of vulnerability, strength, and above all, choice. From the acclaimed author of A Heart in a Body in the World, this is both an achingly tender love story and a bold, badly needed battle cry about bodily autonomy and the experiences that connect us.
-
-
Required reading
- By Kindle Customer on 10-07-23
By: Deb Caletti
-
The Inheritance Games
- The Inheritance Games, Book 1
- By: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
- Narrated by: Christie Moreau
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Avery has a plan: keep her head down, work hard for a better future. Then an eccentric billionaire dies, leaving her almost his entire fortune. And no one, least of all Avery, knows why. Now she must move into the mansion she's inherited. It's filled with secrets and codes and the old man's surviving relatives - a family hell-bent on discovering why Avery got 'their' money. Soon she is caught in a deadly game that everyone in this strange family is playing. But just how far will they go to keep their fortune?
-
-
The twists!!
- By Aaron on 02-22-24
-
The Epic Story of Every Living Thing
- By: Deb Caletti
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harper Proulx has lived her whole life with unanswered questions about her anonymous sperm donor father. She's convinced that without knowing him, she can't know herself. When a chance Instagram post connects Harper to a half sibling, that connection yields many more and ultimately leads Harper to uncover her father's identity.
By: Deb Caletti
-
The Year We Fell from Space
- By: Amy Sarig King
- Narrated by: Stephanie Willing
- Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Liberty Johansen is going to change the way we look at the night sky. Most people see the old constellations, the things they've been told to see. But Liberty sees new patterns, pictures, and possibilities. She's an exception. Some other exceptions: Her dad, who gave her the stars. Who moved out months ago and hasn't talked to her since. Her mom, who's happier since he left, even though everyone thinks she should be sad and lonely. And her sister, who won't go outside their house.
-
-
Strong theme, but bogged down by politics.
- By Draconis March on 05-29-20
By: Amy Sarig King
-
The Civil War of Amos Abernathy
- By: Michael Leali
- Narrated by: Mark Sanderlin
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amos Abernathy lives for history. Literally. He’s been a historical reenactor nearly all his life. But when a cute new volunteer arrives at his Living History Park, Amos finds himself wondering if there’s something missing from history: someone like the two of them. Amos is sure there must have been LGBTQ people in nineteenth-century Illinois. His search turns up Albert D. J. Cashier, a Civil War soldier who might have identified as a trans man if he’d lived today.
-
-
A Must Read!
- By Robin on 07-06-22
By: Michael Leali
-
The Quarry Girls
- A Thriller
- By: Jess Lourey
- Narrated by: Jess Nahikian
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Minnesota, 1977. For the teens of one close-knit community, summer means late-night swimming parties at the quarry, the county fair, and venturing into the tunnels beneath the city. But for two best friends, it’s not all fun and games. Heather and Brenda have a secret. Something they saw in the dark. Something they can’t forget. They’ve decided to never tell a soul. But their vow is tested when their friend disappears—the second girl to vanish in a week. And yet the authorities are reluctant to investigate.
-
-
I can't
- By Brent Casey on 11-17-22
By: Jess Lourey
-
Jack: Secret Histories
- Young Repairman Jack Series 1
- By: F. Paul Wilson
- Narrated by: Alexander Cendese
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ever come across a situation that simply wasn't right - where someone was getting the dirty end of the stick and you wished you could make things right but didn't know how? Fourteen-year-old Jack knows how. Or rather he's learning how. He's discovering that he has a knack for fixing things. Not bikes or toys or appliances - situations...It all starts when Jack and his best friends, Weezy and Eddie, discover a rotting corpse - the victim of ritual murder - in the fabled New Jersey Pine Barrens. Beside the body is an ancient artifact carved with strange designs.
By: F. Paul Wilson
-
The Ugly Cry
- A Memoir
- By: Danielle Henderson
- Narrated by: Danielle Henderson
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Abandoned at 10 years old by a mother who chose her drug-addicted, abusive boyfriend, Danielle was raised by grandparents who thought their child-rearing days had ended in the 1960s. She grew up Black, weird, and overwhelmingly uncool in a mostly white neighborhood in upstate New York, which created its own identity crises.
-
-
Both Funny & Heart Wrenching in the Perfect Ratio.
- By Lauren Fisher on 06-30-21
-
When Things Get Dark
- Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson
- By: Ellen Datlow - editor
- Narrated by: Nicol Zanzarella, Cassandra Campbell, Erin Moon, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A chilling anthology in tribute to the genius of Shirley Jackson. Shirley Jackson is a seminal writer of horror and mystery fiction, whose legacy resonates globally today. Chilling, human, poignant, and strange, her stories have inspired a generation of writers and listeners. This anthology, edited by legendary horror editor Ellen Datlow, brings together today’s leading horror writers to offer their own personal tribute to the work of Shirley Jackson.
-
-
Come for the Oates, stay for the rest!
- By Rebecca Rowland, author on 12-23-21
-
Ordinary Hazards
- A Memoir
- By: Nikki Grimes
- Narrated by: Nikki Grimes
- Length: 4 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Growing up with a mother suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and a mostly absent father, Nikki Grimes found herself terrorized by babysitters, shunted from foster family to foster family, and preyed upon by those she trusted. At the age of six, she poured her pain onto a piece of paper late one night - and discovered the magic and impact of writing. For many years, Nikki's notebooks were her most enduing companions. In this accessible and inspiring memoir, Nikki shows how the power of those words helped her conquer the hazards - ordinary and extraordinary - of her life.
By: Nikki Grimes
Critic reviews
Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award
★ "An eclectic, poignant, and introspective treasure trove."—Kirkus, starred review
★ "Masterfully collected and worth slowing down to absorb."—SLJ, starred review
★ "[H]ere is a collection notable for the uniform excellence of 10 of its stories, which come from such distinguished creators as M. T. Anderson, David Levithan, Anna-Marie McLemore, Jason Reynolds, and its inimitable editor, King herself…[Readers] will revel in this wonderfully genre-defying, offbeat book that is one of the most original of the year.”—Booklist, starred review