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Get free audiobook downloads this summer, available in MP3 format, through SYNC (audiobooksync.com), hosted by Audiobook Community (audiobookcom munity.com), a Ning network created by AudioFile “as an open, uncensored, unbranded forum for all audiobook listeners to discover audiobooks and connect with other fans as well as publishers, authors, and narrators.” Each week this summer, through September 1, you can download two top-notch audiobooks—one a teen favorite and one a classic—from the top audio publishers through SYNC absolutely free. All downloads are handled through Overdrive. Here’s what is being offered free: July 29-Aug. 4: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and The Lottery by Shirley Jackson; Aug. 5-11: Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith; Aug. 12-18: Beastly by Alex Flinn and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson; Aug. 19-25: Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston and A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare; Aug. 26-Sept. 1: A Handbook for Boys by Walter Dean Myers and Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. To learn more, visit audiobooksync.com. “Lend Your Voice,” a collaboration between Random House Audio and OverDrive, was a huge success at this year’s American Library Association Annual Conference in Washington, DC, in June. To encourage awareness of digital audiobook and ebook downloads, the two companies created a recording studio inside OverDrive’s Digital Bookmobile. Conference attendees and authors were invited to read from L. Frank Baum’s classic, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. By the end of the weekend, 301 people stopped by the Bookmobile to read a passage. The youngest narrator was just 6 years old! In addition, about two dozen authors participated, including Jon Scieszka, Cory Doctorow, Grace Lin, Libba Bray, Christopher Paul Curtis, and others. Random House will be releasing the recording as a digital exclusive that can be downloaded and shared. Any proceeds from the download will be given to First Book, “an organization that promotes child literacy by distributing millions of books to children in need each year.” For more information, visit randomhouseaudio.com. National Geographic Maps has launched the Education Series of maps for K-12 students. The Beginner Series (K-3) includes maps of the world and the United States that are easy for children to read. The Political Series (grades 4-12) are world and U.S. maps with increased levels of details. The Physical Series (grades 6-12) features diverse landforms, terrain, and oceans. According to the publisher, these maps, which utilize the Winkel-Triple projection, offer “the most accurate visual representation of the Earth’s surface.” For more information, visit natgeomaps.com.
