Audiobooks by Matthew Salesses

When We Become Ours: A YA Adoptee Anthology

'An emotion-filled collection.' —Kirkus Reviews Two teens take the stage and find their voice . . . A girl learns about her heritage and begins to find her community . . . A sister is haunted by the ghosts of loved ones lost . . . There is no universal adoption experience, and no two adoptees have the same story. This anthology for teens edited by Shannon Gibney and Nicole Chung contains a wide range of powerful, poignant, and evocative stories in a variety of genres. These tales from fifteen bestselling, acclaimed, and emerging adoptee authors genuinely and authentically reflect the complexity, breadth, and depth of adoptee experiences. This groundbreaking collection centers what it’s like growing up as an adoptee. These are stories by adoptees, for adoptees, reclaiming their own narratives.  With stories by: Kelley Baker Nicole Chung Shannon Gibney Mark Oshiro MeMe Collier Susan Harness       Meredith Ireland Mariama J. Lockington Lisa Nopachai Stefany Valentine Matthew Salesses Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom Eric Smith Jenny Heijun Wills Sun Yung Shin Foreword by Rebecca Carroll Afterword by JaeRan Kim, MSW, PhD Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Eric Smith, Jenny Heijun Wills, Kelley Baker, Lisa Nopachai, Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom, Mariama J. Lockington, Mark Oshiro, Matthew Salesses, Meme Collier, Meredith Ireland, Nicole Chung, Shannon Gibney, Stefany Valentine, Sun Yung Shin, Susan Harness (Author), Angel Pean, David Lee Huynh, Delanna Studi, Elena Rey, Greta Jung, Karla Serrato (Narrator)

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The Sense of Wonder

From the author of Pen/Faulkner finalist Disappear Doppelgänger Disappear and Craft in the Real World comes a searing masterwork on the ways Asian Americans navigate the thorny worlds of sports and entertainment when everything is stacked against them. An Asian American basketball star walks into a gym. No one recognizes him, but everyone stares anyway. It is the start of a joke but what is the punchline? When Won Lee, the first Asian American in the NBA, stuns the world in a seven-game winning streak, the global media audience dubs it "The Wonder"-much to Won's chagrin. Meanwhile, Won struggles to get attention from his coach, his peers, his fans, and most importantly, his hero, Powerball!, who also happens to be Won's teammate and the captain. Covering it all is sportswriter Robert Sung, who writes about Won's stardom while grappling with his own missed hoops opportunities as well as his place as an Asian American in media. And to witness it all is Carrie Kang, a big studio producer, who juggles a newfound relationship with Won while attempting to bring K-drama to an industry not known to embrace anything new or different. The Sense of Wonder follows Won and Carrie as they chronicle the human and professional tensions exacerbated by injustices and fight to be seen and heard on some of the world's largest stages. An incredibly funny and heart-rending dive into race and our "collective imagination that lays bare our limitations before blasting joyfully past them" (Catherine Chung). This is the work of a gifted storyteller at the top of his game.

Matthew Salesses (Author), Jee Young Han, Tommy Kang (Narrator)

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The Hundred-Year Flood

Against the backdrop of a flood that comes only once a century, a young American grapples with starting life over on foreign soil-and the challenges it creates in forging a new identity, maintaining new relationships, and learning what it means to be a permanent stranger in a strange land. A flood that only comes every hundred years. An alluring new city. An illicit love affair. This is the story of Tee, a young man with no connection to his past, who finds himself deeply uncertain about his future as he settles in present-day Prague. He strikes out on his own in search of a new identity: Perhaps he'll work at the Prague Post. Or at an English bookstore. Or maybe he'll teach, or write a novel, or become a connoisseur of tea. Who knows? As the flood slowly makes its way into the old city, Tee contemplates his own place in life as he tries to convince himself that living in a city known for its heroes, myths, and ghosts will mean a chance to shed the parallels between himself and his adopted father. Matthew Salesses's full-length debut showcases his literary talents in this hauntingly beautiful story, weaving together the tangled threads of love and life. Roxane Gay, author of the recent bestsellers Untamed State and Bad Feminist, calls The Hundred-Year Flood "epic and devastating and full of natural majesty." It is, as Tumbledown author Robert Boswell calls it, "the novel to read right this moment."

Matthew Salesses (Author), Mark Schenfisch (Narrator)

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