Black Authors

The Other Half of My Heart

By: Sundee T. Frazier

Narrated by: Bahni Turpin

Length: 7 hours 49 minutes

Abridged: No

The story of biracial twin sisters—one black, one white—and the summer that tests their strong bond, from the author of Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award-winner Brendan Buckley’s Universe and Everything in It.
 
When Minerva and Keira King were born, they made headlines: Keira is black like Mama, but Minni is white like... Read more

Of Thee I Sing

By: Barack Obama

Narrated by: Andre Braugher

Length: 16 minutes

Abridged: No

Barack Obama delivers a tender, beautiful letter to his daughters in this powerful picture book illustrated by award-winner Loren Long that's made to be treasured!

In this poignant letter to his daughters, Barack Obama has written a moving tribute to thirteen groundbreaking Americans and the ideals that have shaped our nation. From the... Read more

Miracle's Boys

By: Jacqueline Woodson

Narrated by: Dulé Hill

Length: 2 hours 28 minutes

Abridged: No

Nothing is like it used to be. If it were, Mama would still be alive. Papa wouldn’t have died. And Charlie would still be the same old loving big brother to 13-year-old Lafayette, not a hostile stranger, just back from doing time at a correctional facility. Oldest brother, Ty’ree, would have gone to college, instead of having to work full-time... Read more

Emily's Fortune

By: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Narrated by: Lee Adams

Length: 2 hours 33 minutes

Abridged: No

From Newbery Award winner Phyllis Reynolds Naylor comes a witty tale of the Wild West filled with comical cliffhangers and featuring a cast of plucky orphans and dastardly villains. Emily Wiggins is poor and timid, without a drop of self-confidence. When she is unexpectedly orphaned, she is left all alone except for her turtle, Rufus. What in... Read more

The Concise King - Abridged

By: Clayborne Carson

Narrated by: Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King, Dr....

Length: 2 hours 21 minutes

Abridged: Yes

For the first time, an edition of Martin Luther King's most important speeches and selected sermons are assembled and available on CD as a value-priced edition. Hachette Audio believes that the timeless message of King, in his own words and voice, are essential listening for any American and for any world citizen interested in American history,... Read more

Riot

By: Walter Dean Myers

Narrated by: Various

Length: 2 hours 36 minutes

Abridged: No

During a long, hot July in 1863, the worst race riots the United States has ever seen erupt in New York City. Earlier that year, desperate for more Union soldiers, President Abraham Lincoln instituted a draft–a draft that would allow the wealthy to escape serving in the army by paying a $300 waiver, more than a year’s income for the recent... Read more

Invisible Life

By: E. Lynn Harris

Narrated by: Mirron Willis

Length: 8 hours 6 minutes

Abridged: No

The remarkable first novel by a young, gay, black author who fashioned a deeply moving and compelling coming-of-age story out of the controversial issues of bisexuality and AIDS

Law school, girlfriends, and career choices were all part of Raymond Tyler's life, but there were other, more terrifying issues for him to confront. Being black was tough... Read more

Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales

By: author

Narrated by: Desmond Tutu, Alan Rickman, Whoopi Goldberg, Ma...

Length: 3 hours 42 minutes

Abridged: No

Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales is an extraordinary audiobook featuring Gillian Anderson, Benjamin Bratt, LeVar Burton, Ricardo Chavira, Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, Whoopi Goldberg, Sean Hayes, Hugh Jackman, Samuel L. Jackson, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Debra Messing, Helen Mirren, Parminder Nagra, Sophie Okonedo,... Read more

Faith, Hope, and Ivy June

By: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Narrated by: Karen White

Length: 6 hours 21 minutes

Abridged: No

When push comes to shove, two Kentucky girls find strength in each other.

Ivy June Mosely and Catherine Combs, two girls from different parts of Kentucky, are participating in the first seventh-grade student exchange program between their schools. The girls will stay at each other’s homes, attend school together, and record their experience in... Read more

Drinking Coffee Elsewhere

By: Z. Z. Packer

Narrated by: Shirley Jordan

Length: 6 hours 50 minutes

Abridged: No

Audie® Award Finalist!

A remarkable debut short-story collection by a fresh and captivating new voice in American literature. Read more

Elijah of Buxton

By: Christopher Paul Curtis

Narrated by: Mirron Willis

Length: 8 hours 57 minutes

Abridged: No

Eleven-year-old Elijah is the first child born into freedom in Buxton, Canada, a settlement of runaway slaves just over the border from Detroit. He’s best known in his hometown as the boy who made a memorable impression on Frederick Douglass. But things change when a former slave steals money from Elijah’s friend, who has been saving to buy his... Read more

The Broken Bike Boy and the Queen of 33rd Street

By: Sharon G. Flake

Narrated by: Bahni Turpin

Length: 2 hours 32 minutes

Abridged: No

Queen is a royal pain in the neck. Her Highness treats everyone as though they were her loyal subjects: her classmates, her teacher, even her parents! When a new kid comes to Queen’s school, riding a broken bike and wearing run-over shoes, he immediately becomes the butt of everyone’s jokes. Queen’s parents insist she be nice to Leroy, but Queen... Read more

The Measure of a Man

By: Sidney Poitier

Narrated by: Sidney Poitier

Length: 7 hours 59 minutes

Abridged: No

In this luminous memoir, a true American icon looks back on his celebrated life and career. His body of work is arguably the most morally significant in cinematic history, and the power and influence of that work are indicative of the character of the man behind the many storied roles. Sidney Poitier here explores these elements of character and... Read more

Mr. Chickee's Messy Mission

By: Christopher Paul Curtis

Narrated by: Joe Holt

Length: 5 hours 14 minutes

Abridged: No

Steven and his best friend Russell are back!

When Russell's dog, Rodney Rodent, jumps into a mural to chase a demonic-looking gnome and disappears, the Flint Future Detectives are on the case. With the secret password (Bow-wow-wow yippee yo yippee yay!) Steven, Richelle, and Russell enter the mural too, only to find the mysterious Mr. Chickee on... Read more

Bang!

By: Sharon G. Flake

Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman

Length: 6 hours 5 minutes

Abridged: No

Mann lost his younger brother, Jason, two years ago–an innocent bystander in a shooting on his own porch. These murders are a frequent occurrence in Mann’s neighborhood. They’re so common, in fact, that he and his best friend, Kee-lee, keep a running tally of all the deceased, since no one else seems to be paying attention. Even that is not... Read more

I've Been to the Mountaintop

By: Clayborne Carson & Kris Shepard

Narrated by: Hachette Assorted Authors

Length: 7 hours 37 minutes

Abridged: No

A powerful collection of the most essential speeches from famed social activist and key civil rights figure Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
This companion volume to A Knock At Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. includes the text of his most well-known oration, "I Have a Dream", his acceptance speech for the... Read more

Mr. Chickee's Funny Money

By: Christopher Paul Curtis

Narrated by: Joe Holt

Length: 3 hours 12 minutes

Abridged: No

Mr. Chickee, the genial blind man in the neighborhood, gives 9-year-old Steven a mysterious bill with 15 zeros on it and the image of a familiar but startling face. Could it be a quadrillion dollar bill? Could it be real? Well, Agent Fondoo of the U.S. Treasury Department and his team of Secret Government Agents are determined to get that money... Read more

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

By: Mildred D. Taylor

Narrated by: Lynne Thigpen & Jacqueline Woodson

Length: 7 hours 27 minutes

Abridged: No

Mildred D. Taylor's Newbery Award-winning masterpiece with an introduction written and read by Jacqueline Woodson, just in time for its 40th Anniversary! 

Set in Mississippi at the height of the Depression, this is the story of one family's struggle to maintain their integrity, pride, and independence in the face of racism and social injustice.... Read more

47

By: Walter Mosley

Narrated by: Ossie Davis

Length: 6 hours 17 minutes

Abridged: No

47 is the first young adult novel to be written by bestselling author Walter Mosley. A master storyteller, Mosley deftly mixes speculative and historical fiction in this daring novel. Set in a plantation, 47 (a young slave boy) is growing up under the watchful eye of a brutal slave master. His life seems doomed, until he meets the mysterious... Read more

The Cay

By: Theodore Taylor

Narrated by: Michael Boatman

Length: 2 hours 59 minutes

Abridged: No

For fans of Hatchet and Island of the Blue Dolphins comes Theodore Taylor’s classic bestseller and Lewis Carroll Shelf Award winner, The Cay.
   Phillip is excited when the Germans invade the small island of Curaçao. War has always been a game to him, and he’s eager to glimpse it firsthand–until the freighter he and his mother are traveling to... Read more

Bucking the Sarge

By: Christopher Paul Curtis

Narrated by: Michael Boatman

Length: 6 hours 10 minutes

Abridged: No

Luther T. Farrell has got to get out of Flint, Michigan.

As his best friend Sparky says, “Flint’s nothing but the Titanic.”

And his mother, a.k.a. the Sarge, says, “Take my advice and stay off the sucker path.”

The Sarge milked the system to build an empire of slum housing and group homes. Luther’s just one of the many people trapped in the Sarge’s... Read more

The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963

By: Christopher Paul Curtis

Narrated by: LeVar Burton

Length: 4 hours 54 minutes

Abridged: No

During one of the most important times in the civil rights movement, one unforgettable family goes on a road trip in this Newbery and Coretta Scott King Honoree, from author Christopher Paul Curtis, recipient of the Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.

When the Watson family—ten-year-old Kenny, Momma, Dad, little... Read more

The Land

By: Mildred D. Taylor

Narrated by: Ruben Santiago-Hudson

Length: 10 hours 53 minutes

Abridged: No

This searing and inspiring prequel to ROLL OF THUNDER, HEAR MY CRY is the story of Cassie Logan's grandfather. Paul-Edward is the son of a white father and a half-black, half-Indian mother. His father raises him almost as if he were white, but when it counts, he's treated as a black man with racist spite and hatred. He cannot fit into either the... Read more

Bud, Not Buddy

By: Christopher Paul Curtis

Narrated by: James Avery

Length: 5 hours 15 minutes

Abridged: No

Hit the road with Bud in this Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award-winning classic about a boy on a journey to find his father—from Christopher Paul Curtis, recipient of the Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.
 
It’s 1936, in Flint Michigan. Times may be hard, and ten-year-old Bud may be a... Read more