Black Authors

Just Like Me

By: Vanessa Brantley-Newton

Narrated by: Vanessa Brantley-Newton

Length: 16 minutes

Abridged: No

An ode to the girl with scrapes on her knees and flowers in her hair, and every girl in between, this exquisite treasury will appeal to readers of Dear Girl and I Am Enough and have kids poring over it to find a poem that's just for them.

I am a canvas
Being painted on
By the words of my family
Friends
And community

From Vanessa Brantley-Newton, the... Read more

Grandma's Purse and Two Other Picture Books

By: Vanessa Brantley-Newton

Narrated by: Vanessa Brantley-Newton

Length: 27 minutes

Abridged: No

Three empowering picture books on audio, narrated by author/illustrator Vanessa Brantley-Newton

Grandma's Purse: When Grandma Mimi comes to visit, she always brings warm hugs, sweet treats...and her purse. You never know what she'll have in there--fancy jewelry, tokens from around the world, or something special just for her granddaughter. It... Read more

Miseducated

By: Brandon P. Fleming

Narrated by: Brandon P. Fleming & Landon Woodson

Length: 10 hours 45 minutes

Abridged: No

An inspiring memoir of one man’s transformation from a delinquent, drug-dealing dropout to an award-winning Harvard educator through literature and debate—all by the age of twenty-seven.

Brandon P. Fleming grew up in an abusive home and was shuffled through school, his passing grades a nod to his skill on the basketball court, not his presence in... Read more

The Fugitivities

By: Jesse McCarthy

Narrated by: Corey Allen

Length: 10 hours 40 minutes

Abridged: No

A singular and powerful debut novel about a young black American learning the difficulties of forming your own identity when society has already assigned you one.Like most recent college graduates, Jonah Winters is unsure of what’s next. A young black American raised in France and living in New York City, he tries on a couple of careers only to... Read more

The Bench

By: Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex

Narrated by: Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex

Length: 3 minutes

Abridged: No

Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex’s first children’s book, The Bench, beautifully captures the special relationship between father and son, as seen through a mother’s eyes. The audiobook, read by the author, gives us snapshots of shared moments that evoke a deep sense of warmth, connection, and compassion.
 
This is your bench
Where you’ll witness... Read more

The Ugly Cry

By: Danielle Henderson

Narrated by: Danielle Henderson

Length: 7 hours 33 minutes

Abridged: No

“They say comedy equals tragedy plus time: This very funny account of an often miserable childhood is proof.” --People

“What a strong, funny, heartbreaking memoir, with a voice that is completely its own (written by a woman who very much seems to be completely her own, as well.) I loved it.”--Elizabeth Gilbert, New York Times bestselling author of... Read more

Changes

By: Sheldon Pearce

Narrated by: Ashton Grooms, Aden Hakimi, Cary Hite, JD Jacks...

Length: 7 hours 36 minutes

Abridged: No

A New Yorker writer’s intimate, revealing account of Tupac Shakur’s life and legacy, timed to the fiftieth anniversary of his birth and twenty-fifth anniversary of his death.

In the summer of 2020, Tupac Shakur’s single “Changes” became an anthem for the worldwide protests against the murder of George Floyd. The song became so popular, in fact,... Read more

Rainbow Milk

By: Paul Mendez

Narrated by: Paul Mendez

Length: 11 hours 43 minutes

Abridged: No

Nominated for a 34th annual Lambda Literary Award • An essential and revelatory coming-of-age narrative from a thrilling new voice, Rainbow Milk follows nineteen-year-old Jesse McCarthy as he grapples with his racial and sexual identities against the backdrop of his Jehovah's Witness upbringing.
 
"The kind of novel you never knew you were waiting... Read more

William Still and His Freedom Stories

By: Don Tate

Narrated by: Adam Lazarre-White

Length: 32 minutes

Abridged: No

William Still’s parents escaped slavery but had to leave two of their children behind, a tragedy that haunted the family. As a young man, William went to work for the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, where he raised money, planned rescues, and helped freedom seekers who had traveled north. And then one day, a strangely familiar man came into... Read more

Death in a Promised Land

By: Scott Ellsworth

Narrated by: Pat Grimes

Length: 3 hours 20 minutes

Abridged: No

Widely believed to be the most extreme incidence of white racial violence against African Americans in modern United States history, the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre resulted in the destruction of over one thousand black-owned businesses and homes as well as the murder of between fifty and three hundred black residents. Exhaustively researched and... Read more

The Second

By: Carol Anderson

Narrated by: Karen Chilton

Length: 6 hours 30 minutes

Abridged: No

Bloomsbury presents The Second by Carol Anderson, Ph.D., read by Karen Chilton.

From the New York Times bestselling author of White Rage, an unflinching, critical new look at the Second Amendment and how it has been engineered to deny the rights of African Americans since its inception.

In The Second, historian and award-winning, bestselling... Read more

A Chorus Rises

By: Bethany C. Morrow

Narrated by: Cherise Boothe & Eboni Flowers

Length: 10 hours 1 minute

Abridged: No

"Narrator Eboni Flowers creates the perfect voice for the charismatic Naema in this thoughtful story meshing magic and media." -- AudioFile Magazine

THE LATEST NOVEL FROM YA SENSATION BETHANY C. MORROW

Meet Naema Bradshaw: a beautiful Eloko, once Portland-famous, now infamous, as she navigates a personal and public reckoning where confronting the... Read more

The Passing Playbook

By: Isaac Fitzsimons

Narrated by: Jamie K. Brown

Length: 7 hours

Abridged: No

Love, Simon meets Bend It Like Beckham in this feel-good contemporary romance about a trans athlete who must decide between fighting for his right to play and staying stealth.

“A sharply observant and vividly drawn debut. I loved every minute I spent in this story, and I’ve never rooted harder for a jock in my life.” – New York Times bestselling... Read more

Shirley Chisholm Dared

By: Alicia D. Williams

Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo

Length: 15 minutes

Abridged: No

Discover the inspiring story of the first black woman elected to Congress and to run for president in this picture book biography from a Newbery Honor-winning author and a Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe New Talent Award-winning illustrator.

Meet Shirley, a little girl who asks way too many questions! After spending her early years on her... Read more

Instructions for Dancing

By: Nicola Yoon

Narrated by: Bahni Turpin

Length: 7 hours 48 minutes

Abridged: No

AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

"A charming, wholehearted love story that's sure to make readers swoon."—Entertainment Weekly

"Nicola Yoon writes from the heart in this beautiful love story."—Good Morning America

“It’s like an emotional gut punch—so beautiful and also heart-wrenching."—US Weekly

In this romantic page-turner from the... Read more

Sweethand

By: N. G. Peltier

Narrated by: Chrystal Bethell

Length: 10 hours 35 minutes

Abridged: No

After a public meltdown over her breakup from her cheating musician boyfriend, Cherisse swore off guys in the music industry and dating in general for a while, preferring to focus on growing her pastry-chef business. When her younger sister reveals she’s getting married in a few months, Cherisse hopes that will distract her mother enough to quit... Read more

And the Stars Were Burning Brightly

By: Danielle Jawando

Narrated by: Kenton Thomas & Melissa Vaughan

Length: 9 hours 39 minutes

Abridged: No

An extraordinary novel about loss, understanding and the importance of speaking up when all you want to do is shut down. From a multi-award-winning author, perfect for fans of Angie Thomas, Gayle Foreman, Jennifer Niven and Nikesh Shukla.

Shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize
Shortlisted for the YA Book Prize
Shortlisted for the... Read more

Maverick

By: Jason L Riley

Narrated by: Brad Sanders

Length: 7 hours 32 minutes

Abridged: No

A biography of Thomas Sowell, one of America's most influential conservative thinkers. Thomas Sowell is one of the great social theorists of our age. In a career spanning more than a half century, he has written over thirty books, covering topics from economic history and social inequality to political theory, race, and culture. His bold and... Read more

The Beach House

By: Rochelle Alers

Narrated by: Shari Peele

Length: 8 hours 58 minutes

Abridged: No

In Rochelle Alers’ thoughtful, heartwarming series set on a picturesque North Carolina island, one woman’s seemingly perfect life unravels—and a new chapter begins …It’s been almost a year since Leah Berkley Kent left her lavish Richmond home to spend two months on Coates Island, North Carolina. There she found friendship with two extraordinary... Read more

Unspeakable

By: Carole Boston Weatherford

Narrated by: January LaVoy & Carole Boston Weatherford

Length: 19 minutes

Abridged: No

Tracing the history of African Americans in Tulsa's Greenwood district, this book chronicles the devastation that occurred in 1921 when a white mob attacked the Black community. News of what happened was largely suppressed, and no official investigation into the Tulsa Race Massacre occurred for seventy-five years. Sensitively introducing young... Read more

Off the Record

By: Camryn Garrett

Narrated by: Joniece Abbott-Pratt

Length: 9 hours 3 minutes

Abridged: No

The behind-the-scenes access of Almost Famous meets the searing revelations of metoo in this story of a teen journalist who uncovers the scandal of the decade.

Ever since seventeen-year-old Josie Wright can remember, writing has been her identity, the thing that grounds her when everything else is a garbage fire. So when she wins a contest to... Read more

Better, Not Bitter

By: Yusef Salaam

Narrated by: Yusef Salaam

Length: 7 hours 25 minutes

Abridged: No

Named a Best Book of 2021 by NPR

This inspirational memoir serves as a call to action from prison reform activist Yusef Salaam, of the Exonerated Five, that will inspire us all to turn our stories into tools for change in the pursuit of racial justice.

They didn't know who they had.

So begins Yusef Salaam telling his story. No one's life is the... Read more

America on Fire

By: Elizabeth Hinton

Narrated by: Shayna Small

Length: 10 hours 54 minutes

Abridged: No

What began in spring 2020 as local protests in response to the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police quickly exploded into a massive nationwide movement. Millions of mostly young people defiantly flooded into the nation’s streets, demanding an end to police brutality and to the broader, systemic repression of Black people and other... Read more

Black Panther

By: Jesse J. Holland & Marvel

Narrated by: J. D. Jackson & Joy Sunday

Length: 17 hours 24 minutes

Abridged: No

T'Challa faces the gods of his parents. Vampires stalk Shuri and a Dora Milaje in voodoo-laced New Orleans. Erik Killmonger grapples with racism, Russian spies, and his own origins. Here are eighteen brand-new tales of Wakanda, its people, and its legacy. The first mainstream superhero of African descent, the Black Panther has attracted fans of... Read more