fun. - On the Road Live Performance Tonight

My son introduced me to fun. a few years ago.  If you haven't listened to them, you really should.  They're great!  Actually, you've probably heard them, even if you didn't realize it.  Their music has been turning up on several commercials lately.

 Anyway, they're performing in San Francisco tonight.  Not in San Francisco?  That's OK - you can watch the concert online!  Yahoo on the Road will be streaming fun. performing live in San Fransisco tonight at 9pm Pacific.

I know what I'm doing tonight.

SYNC returns May 30th!

Two FREE audiobook downloads each week.

Teens and other readers of Young Adult Literature will again have the opportunity to listen to bestselling titles and required reading classics this summer. Each week from May 30 - August 15, 2013, SYNC will offer two free audiobook downloads. The audiobook pairings will include a popular young adult (YA) title and a classic that connects with the YA title's theme and is likely to show up on a student's summer reading list.

For example, Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven Boys (Scholastic Audiobooks), the first book in a bestselling series about a group of teenagers searching for the supernatural ley lines, will be paired with the Latino classic of magical realism, Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima (Recorded Books).

I love this!  We were just talking about how many of the 'classics' are either hard to read or not interesting to high school students.   Or, they're just plain not cool.  For the kids who already love to read, it's not such a big deal, but for those who don't think they like reading - this kind of required reading does not inspire in them a love of reading.  If anything, it reinforces the idea that reading is boring and no fun.  Audiobooks are a good way to get non-readers 'reading' by introducing them to the treasures to be found within books.  This pairing of a current popular book with a classic is brilliant.  Listen to the current book, and then 'if you like this, then you'll like that' - it opens them up to trying the classic with an open mind.

At least I think that's how it's supposed to work.  And did I mention the audiobooks are free?

SYNC Titles Summer 2013 

• May 30 - June 5, 2013
  Of Poseidon by Anna Banks, read by Rebecca Gibel (AudioGO)
  The Tempest by William Shakespeare, read by a Full Cast (AudioGO) 
• June 6 - June 12, 2013
  The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book 1: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood, read by Katherine Kellgren (HarperAudio)
  Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, read by Wanda McCaddon (Tantor Audio) 
• June 13 - June 19, 2013
  The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, read by Will Patton (Scholastic Audiobooks)
  Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, read by Robert Ramirez (Recorded Books) 
• June 20 - June 26, 2013
  Once by Morris Gleitzman, read by Morris Gleitzman (Bolinda Audio)
  Letter From Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr., read by Dion Graham (christianaudio)
• June 27 - July 3, 2013
  Rotters by Daniel Kraus, read by Kirby Heyborne (Listening Library)
  Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, read by Jim Weiss (Listening Library) 
• July 4 - July 10, 2013
  Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford, read by Nick Podehl (Brilliance Audio)
  She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith, read by a Full Cast (L.A. Theatre Works) 
•  July 11 - July 17, 2013
  The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann, read by Peter Altschuler (HarperAudio)
  Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, read by Simon Vance (Tantor Audio) 
• July 18 - July 24, 2013
  Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers, read by Erin Moon (Recorded Books)
  Hamlet by William Shakespeare, read by a Full Cast (L.A. Theatre Works) 
• July 25 - July 31, 2013
  The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen, read by Charlie McWade (Scholastic Audiobooks)
  The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain, read by Steve West (Blackstone Audio) 
• Aug 1 - Aug 7, 2013
  Death Cloud by Andrew Lane, read by Dan Weyman (Macmillan Audio)
  The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, read by Ralph Cosham (Blackstone Audio) 
• Aug 8 - Aug 14, 2013
  Enchanted by Alethea Kontis, read by Katherine Kellgren (Brilliance Audio)
  Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll, read by Miriam Margolyes (Bolinda Audio) 
• Aug 15 - Aug 21, 2013
  Sold by Patricia McCormick, read by Justine Eyre (Tantor Audio)
  Let Me Stand Alone by Rachel Corrie, read by Tavia Gilbert (Blackstone Audio) 

TEXT syncya to 25827 for alerts on the SYNC title releases or visit Sync to sign up for email alerts so you won't miss any of these great books.

Related articles

• Free Audiobooks! SYNC 2013 Titles Revealed
• SYNC Schedule for Summer 2013