Black Authors

The Kindred

By: Alechia Dow

Narrated by: Dominique Moore & Amin El Gamal

Length: 11 hours 28 minutes

Abridged: No

“Utterly swoony…an endearing reminder that true love can change the world”
—J. Elle, New York Times bestselling author of Wings of Ebony

To save a galactic kingdom from revolution, Kindred mind-pairings were created to ensure each and every person would be seen and heard, no matter how rich or poor…

Joy Abara knows her place. A commoner from the... Read more

Stuntboy, in the Meantime

By: Jason Reynolds

Narrated by: Guy Lockard, Nile Bullock, Angel Pean, James Fo...

Length: 2 hours 47 minutes

Abridged: No

WINNER OF THE 2023 AUDIE AWARD FOR MIDDLE GRADE!
NAMED A 2023 ALA NOTABLE CHILDREN’S RECORDING!

An Odyssey Children’s Award winner
A Schneider Family Award Honor Book for Middle Grade

From Newbery Medal honoree and #1 New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds comes a hilarious, hopeful, and action-packed middle grade novel about the... Read more

The Perishing

By: Natashia Deón

Narrated by: Kevin R. Free & Lisa Reneé Pitts

Length: 11 hours 21 minutes

Abridged: No

A Black immortal in 1930s Los Angeles seeks to recover the memory of her past in this visionary novel from NAACP Image Award nominee Natashia DeónLou, a young Black woman, wakes up in an alley in 1930s Los Angeles with no memory of how she got there or where she’s from. Taken in by a caring foster family, Lou dedicates herself to her education... Read more

The How

By: Yrsa Daley-Ward

Narrated by: Yrsa Daley-Ward

Length: 2 hours 56 minutes

Abridged: No

From the acclaimed poet behind bone, an exploration of how we can meet our truest selves, the ones we've always been meant to become

Yrsa Daley-Ward's words have resonated with hundreds of thousands of readers--through her books of poetry and memoir, bone and The Terrible; through her writing for Beyoncé on Black Is King; and through her always... Read more

My Monticello

By: Jocelyn Nicole Johnson

Narrated by: Aja Naomi King, January LaVoy, Landon Woodson, ...

Length: 7 hours 35 minutes

Abridged: No

An AudioFile Earphones Award winner

Read by a full cast of narrators, featuring LeVar Burton and Aja Naomi King

“A badass debut by any measure—nimble, knowing, and electrifying.” —Colson Whitehead, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Nickel Boys and Harlem Shuffle

"...'My Monticello' is, quite simply, an extraordinary debut from a gifted writer... Read more

White Smoke

By: Tiffany D. Jackson

Narrated by: Marcella Cox

Length: 8 hours 56 minutes

Abridged: No

The Haunting of Hill House meets Get Out in this chilling YA psychological thriller and modern take on the classic haunted house story from New York Times bestselling author Tiffany D. Jackson!Marigold is running from ghosts. The phantoms of her old life keep haunting her, but a move with her newly blended family from their small California... Read more

The Last Nomad

By: Shugri Said Salh

Narrated by: Waceke Wambaa

Length: 9 hours 39 minutes

Abridged: No

A remarkable and inspiring true story that "stuns with raw beauty" about one woman's resilience, her courageous journey to America, and her family's lost way of life.

Winner of the 2022 Gold Nautilus Award, Multicultural & Indigenous Category

Born in Somalia, a spare daughter in a large family, Shugri Said Salh was sent at age six to live... Read more

All the Water I've Seen Is Running

By: Elias Rodriques

Narrated by: Landon Woodson

Length: 7 hours 49 minutes

Abridged: No

Former high school classmates reckon with the death of a friend in this stunning debut novel.Along the Intracoastal waterways of North Florida, Daniel and Aubrey navigated adolescence with the electric intensity that radiates from young people defined by otherness: Aubrey, a self-identified "Southern cracker" and Daniel, the mixed-race son of... Read more

Skye Falling

By: Mia McKenzie

Narrated by: Bahni Turpin

Length: 11 hours 38 minutes

Abridged: No

GOOD MORNING AMERICA BUZZ PICK • A woman who’s used to going solo discovers that there’s one relationship she can’t run away from in this “hilarious, electric” (The New York Times) novel, a probing examination of the complexities of family, queerness, race, and community

LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD WINNER• ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Boston... Read more

All That She Carried

By: Tiya Miles

Narrated by: Janina Edwards

Length: 9 hours 29 minutes

Abridged: No

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A renowned historian traces the life of a single object handed down through three generations of Black women to craft a “deeply layered and insightful” (The Washington Post) testament to people who are left out of the archives.
 
WINNER: Frederick Douglass Book Prize, Harriet Tubman Prize,... Read more

Marcus Makes a Movie

By: Kevin Hart

Narrated by: Kevin Hart

Length: 3 hours 8 minutes

Abridged: No

Stand-up comedian and Hollywood box-office hit Kevin Hart keeps the laughs coming in a middle-grade novel about a boy who has big dreams of making a blockbuster superhero film. Perfect for readers of James Patterson's Middle School series and Lincoln Peirce's Big Nate series.
 
Marcus is NOT happy to be stuck in after-school film class . . .... Read more

Revival Season

By: Monica West

Narrated by: Joniece Abbott-Pratt

Length: 8 hours 24 minutes

Abridged: No

The daughter of one of the South’s most famous Baptist preachers discovers a shocking secret about her father that puts her at odds with both her faith and her family in this debut novel.

“Spellbinding…Revival Season should be read alongside Alice Walker’s The Color Purple and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus.” —The Washington Post
A... Read more

On Juneteenth

By: Annette Gordon-Reed

Narrated by: Karen Chilton

Length: 3 hours 44 minutes

Abridged: No

Weaving together American history, dramatic family chronicle, and searing episodes of memoir, Annette Gordon-Reed’s On Juneteenth provides a historian’s view of the nation’s long road to Juneteenth, recounting both its origins in Texas and the enormous hardships that African-Americans have endured in the century since, from Reconstruction... Read more

Above the Rim

By: Jen Bryant

Narrated by: Cary Hite

Length: 25 minutes

Abridged: No

Hall-of-famer Elgin Baylor was one of basketball’s all-time-greatest players—an innovative athlete, team player, and quiet force for change. One of the first professional African-American players, he inspired others on and off the court. But when traveling for away games, many hotels and restaurants turned Elgin away because he was black. One... Read more

I Am a Girl from Africa

By: Elizabeth Nyamayaro

Narrated by: Elizabeth Nyamayaro

Length: 9 hours 50 minutes

Abridged: No

A “profound and soul-nourishing memoir” (Oprah Daily) from an African girl whose near-death experience sparked a lifelong dedication to humanitarian work that helps bring change across the world.

When severe drought hit her village in Zimbabwe, Elizabeth Nyamayaro, then only eight, had no idea that this moment of utter devastation would come to... Read more

The Hill We Climb

By: Amanda Gorman

Narrated by: Amanda Gorman & Oprah Winfrey

Length: 9 minutes

Abridged: No

Amanda Gorman’s powerful and historic poem “The Hill We Climb,” read at President Joe Biden’s inauguration

“Stunning.” —CNN 
“Dynamic.” —NPR
“Deeply rousing and uplifting.” —Vogue


On January 20, 2021, Amanda Gorman became the sixth and youngest poet to deliver a poetry reading at a presidential inauguration. Taking the stage after the 46th... Read more

How Beautiful We Were

By: Imbolo Mbue

Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi, Janina Edwards, Dion Graham, ...

Length: 14 hours 7 minutes

Abridged: No

A fearless young woman from a small African village starts a revolution against an American oil company in this sweeping, inspiring novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Behold the Dreamers.

ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, People • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, The... Read more

The Gilded Ones

By: Namina Forna

Narrated by: Shayna Small

Length: 12 hours 46 minutes

Abridged: No

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY TEEN VOGUE
 
"A dark feminist tale spun with blood and gold. Must read!" –Dhonielle Clayton, New York Times bestselling author of The Belles
 
Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in fear and anticipation of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she will become a member... Read more

Bevelations

By: Bevy Smith

Narrated by: Bevy Smith

Length: 8 hours 24 minutes

Abridged: No

This program is read by the author.

From the host of the fabulous and popular show Bevelations on SiriusXM’s Radio Andy channel, Bevy Smith’s irreverent and inspiring memoir about learning to live a big, authentic, and unapologetic life—and how you can, too.

Bevy Smith was living what seemed like a glamorous dream as a fashion advertising... Read more

Aftershocks

By: Nadia Owusu

Narrated by: Nadia Owusu

Length: 8 hours 32 minutes

Abridged: No

In the tradition of The Glass Castle, this “gorgeous” (The New York Times, Editors’ Choice) and deeply felt memoir from Whiting Award winner Nadia Owusu tells the “incredible story” (Malala Yousafzai) about the push and pull of belonging, the seismic emotional toll of family secrets, and the heart it takes to pull through.

“In Aftershocks, Nadia... Read more

Chlorine Sky

By: Mahogany L. Browne

Narrated by: Mahogany L. Browne

Length: 2 hours 4 minutes

Abridged: No

A novel-in-verse about a young girl coming-of-age and stepping out of the shadow of her former best friend. Perfect for readers of Elizabeth Acevedo and Nikki Grimes.

"Mahogany L. Browne's debut YA ia an absolute masterpiece. It will leave you breathless." -Elizabeth Acevedo, New York Times bestselling author of The Poet X 

She looks me hard in my... Read more

The Awakening of Malcolm X

By: Ilyasah Shabazz & Tiffany D. Jackson

Narrated by: Landon Woodson

Length: 7 hours 54 minutes

Abridged: No

This program includes a bonus interview with the author.

The Awakening of Malcolm X is a powerful narrative account of the activist's adolescent years in jail, written by his daughter Ilyasah Shabazz along with 2019 Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe award-winning author, Tiffany D. Jackson.

No one can be at peace until he has his freedom.

In... Read more

How to Fail at Flirting

By: Denise Williams

Narrated by: January LaVoy

Length: 9 hours 5 minutes

Abridged: No

"A warm romance that bursts with realism and celebrates the symbiotic power of love and healing.”―Entertainment Weekly

#1 LibraryReads Pick
Indie Next Pick

One daring to-do list and a crash course in flirtation turn a Type A overachiever’s world upside down.

When her flailing department lands on the university's chopping block, Professor Naya... Read more

This Is Your Time

By: Ruby Bridges

Narrated by: Ruby Bridges

Length: 13 minutes

Abridged: No

Inspired by the recent wave of activism led by young people fighting for racial justice, civil rights icon Ruby Bridges--who, at the age of six, was the first black child to integrate an all-white elementary school in New Orleans--shares her story and offers a powerful call to action with this elegant gift book.

Written as a letter from civil... Read more