Black Authors

The Black Girl Survives in This One

By: Desiree S. Evans & Saraciea J. Fennell

Narrated by: Shayna Small & Tananarive Due

Length: 10 hours 43 minutes

Abridged: No

This program includes a foreword by author, educator, and Jordan Peele collaborator, Tananarive Due.

A YA anthology of horror stories centering Black girls who battle monsters, both human and supernatural, and who survive to the end

Be warned, dear reader: The Black girls survive in this one.

Celebrating a new generation of bestselling and... Read more

Ander & Santi Were Here

By: Jonny Garza Villa

Narrated by: Avi Roque

Length: 12 hours 28 minutes

Abridged: No

"[Avi] Roque's warm and musical narration is utter perfection. They capture Ander and Santi's fear with vivid immediacy and also infuse their voices with bubbly happiness. In moments of tenderness, their breath catches. They switch easily between Spanish and English and use a half-dozen unique accents for different characters. This audiobook is... Read more

Sankofa

By: Chibundu Onuzo

Narrated by: Sara Powell

Length: 9 hours 2 minutes

Abridged: No

The exhilarating story of a mixed-race woman who goes in search of the African father she never knew.

After years of being a daughter, a wife, and a mother, Anna finally has the time to wonder who she really is. But the only person who can tell her—her mother, the only parent who raised her—is dead.

Searching through her mother's belongings... Read more

Before the Ever After

By: Jacqueline Woodson

Narrated by: Guy Lockard

Length: 2 hours 14 minutes

Abridged: No

WINNER OF THE NAACP IMAGE AWARD

WINNER OF THE CORETTA SCOTT KING AUTHOR AWARD

National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson's stirring novel-in-verse explores how a family moves forward when their glory days have passed and the cost of professional sports on Black bodies.

For as long as ZJ can remember, his dad has been everyone's hero. As a... Read more

This Is My America

By: Kim Johnson

Narrated by: Bahni Turpin

Length: 9 hours 34 minutes

Abridged: No

"Incredible and searing." --Nic Stone, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin

The Hate U Give meets Just Mercy in this unflinching yet uplifting first novel that explores the racist injustices in the American justice system.

Every week, seventeen-year-old Tracy Beaumont writes letters to Innocence X, asking the organization to help... Read more

When I Think of You

By: Myah Ariel

Narrated by: DeWanda Wise

Length: 10 hours 47 minutes

Abridged: No

In this sweeping second chance romance from debut author Myah Ariel, the unexpected spark of two former flames may force them to choose between their dreams and each other.

Kaliya Wilson has paid her dues. But all the years behind the reception desk at a flashy film studio have only pushed her movie-making dreams further out of reach. That is,... Read more

Love Radio

By: Ebony LaDelle

Narrated by: Joniece Abbott-Pratt & JaQwan J. Kelly

Length: 8 hours 49 minutes

Abridged: No

“Readers won’t be able to get enough of these dope-ass characters.” —Elizabeth Acevedo, author of Clap When You Land

Hitch meets The Sun Is Also a Star in this “mega swoon-worthy, effortlessly cool” (Casey McQuiston, New York Times bestselling author) novel about a self-professed teen love doctor with a popular radio segment who believes he can... Read more

Within These Wicked Walls

By: Lauren Blackwood

Narrated by: Nneka Okoye

Length: 8 hours 53 minutes

Abridged: No

REESE'S BOOK CLUB FALL 2021 YA PICK

"Lauren Blackwood’s can’t-miss debut is a magical, Ethiopian-inspired remix of Jane Eyre." - Harper's Bazaar

What the heart desires, the house destroys...

Andromeda is a debtera—an exorcist hired to cleanse households of the Evil Eye. She would be hired, that is, if her mentor hadn’t thrown her out before she... Read more

Clean Getaway

By: Nic Stone

Narrated by: Dion Graham

Length: 3 hours 56 minutes

Abridged: No

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Nic Stone comes a timely middle-grade road-trip story through landmarks of the Civil Rights movement and the map they lay for contemporary race relations.

How to Go on an Unplanned Road Trip with Your Grandma:
Grab a Suitcase: Prepacked from the big spring break trip that got CANCELLED.
Fasten Your... Read more

Friday Black

By: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Narrated by: Corey Allen & Carra Patterson

Length: 7 hours 8 minutes

Abridged: No

PEN/Jean Stein AwardCarnegie MedalA NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERThe acclaimed debut collection from the author of Chain Gang All Stars; a piercingly raw and, at times, heartbreakingly satirical look at what it’s like to be young and Black in America.From the start of this extraordinary debut, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s writing will grab you, haunt... Read more

We're Alone

By: Edwidge Danticat

Narrated by: Edwidge Danticat

Length: 4 hours 35 minutes

Abridged: No

Tracing a loose arc from Edwidge Danticat’s childhood to the COVID-19 pandemic and recent events in Haiti, the essays gathered in We’re Alone include personal narrative, reportage, and tributes to mentors and heroes such as Toni Morrison, Paule Marshall, Gabriel García Márquez, and James Baldwin that explore several abiding themes: environmental... Read more

Masquerade

By: O.O. Sangoyomi

Narrated by: Ariel Blake

Length: 13 hours 39 minutes

Abridged: No

Set in a wonderfully reimagined 15th century West Africa, Masquerade is a dazzling, lyrical tale exploring the true cost of one woman’s fight for freedom and self-discovery, and the lengths she’ll go to secure her future.

“[Ariel] Blake is adept at describing romantic moments, sumptuous palace finery, and bloody battles. Her characters have depth... Read more

Four Eids and a Funeral

By: Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé & Adiba Jaigirdar

Narrated by: Farah Kidwai, Sandra Okuboyejo & Shahjehan Khan

Length: 8 hours 23 minutes

Abridged: No

Ex-best friends, Tiwa and Said, must work together to save their Islamic Center from demolition, in this romantic story of rekindling and rebuilding by award-winning authors Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé & Adiba Jaigirdar!

The town of New Crosshaven has it all—even its own infamous love story.

These days, Said Hossain spends most of his time away... Read more

Thirsty: A Novel

By: Jas Hammonds

Narrated by: Alaska Jackson

Length: 8 hours 9 minutes

Abridged: No

From Jas Hammonds, award-winning author of We Deserve Monuments, comes a gripping read about a girl willing to risk it all for the chance to join an underground sorority with her wealthy best friends—perfect for fans of Euphoria and Girl in Pieces.

It’s the summer before college and eighteen-year-old Blake Brenner and her girlfriend, Ella, have... Read more

skin & bones

By: Renée Watson

Narrated by: Zenzi Williams

Length: 9 hours 7 minutes

Abridged: No

From the acclaimed #1 New York Times bestselling author comes a soulful and lyrical novel exploring sisterhood, motherhood, faith, love, and ultimately what gets passed down from one generation to the next
 
At 40, Lena Baker is at a steady and stable moment in life—between wine nights with her two best friends and her wedding just weeks away,... Read more

Blood Debts

By: Terry J. Benton-Walker

Narrated by: Bahni Turpin, Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Torian Brac...

Length: 14 hours 30 minutes

Abridged: No

This program features multicast narration.

GODS MEDDLE AND MAGIC WILL BETRAY YOU, BUT THIS TIME JUSTICE WILL REIGN.

Terry J. Benton-Walker's contemporary fantasy debut, Blood Debts, is "an extravaganza from start to finish" (Chloe Gong) with powerful magical families, intergenerational curses, and deadly drama in New Orleans.

Most Anticipated from... Read more

Chaos Theory

By: Nic Stone

Narrated by: Nic Stone & Dion Graham

Length: 5 hours 41 minutes

Abridged: No

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin delivers a gripping romance about two teens: a certified genius living with a diagnosed mental disorder and a politician's son who is running from his own addiction and grief. Don't miss this gut punch of a novel about mental health, loss, and discovering you are worthy of love.

Scars exist... Read more

The Black Queen

By: Jumata Emill

Narrated by: Angel Pean & Erin Spencer

Length: 10 hours 53 minutes

Abridged: No

Nova Albright was going to be the first Black homecoming queen at Lovett High—but now she's dead. Murdered on coronation night. Fans of One of Us Is Lying and The Other Black Girl will love this unputdownable thriller.

Nova Albright, the first Black homecoming queen at Lovett High, is dead. Murdered the night of her coronation, her body found the... Read more

Stories from The Tenants Downstairs

By: Sidik Fofana

Narrated by: Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Nile Bullock, Sidik Fofan...

Length: 6 hours 4 minutes

Abridged: No

SELECTED FOR THE RUSA 2023 LISTEN LIST FOR OUTSTANDING AUDIOBOOK NARRATION!

WINNER of the Gotham Book Prize * Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award, and the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence * Longlisted for the Story Prize

Named a BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR by NPR, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal, Chicago Review of... Read more

Dinner for One

By: Sutanya Dacres

Narrated by: Imani Jade Powers

Length: 8 hours 32 minutes

Abridged: No

From podcast host Sutanya Dacres comes Dinner for One, an unforgettable memoir of how she rebuilt her life after her American-in-Paris fairy tale shattered, starting with cooking dinner for herself in her Montmartre kitchen

When Sutanya Dacres married her French boyfriend and moved to Paris at twenty-seven, she felt like she was living out her... Read more

What the Fireflies Knew

By: Kai Harris

Narrated by: Zenzi Williams

Length: 8 hours 35 minutes

Abridged: No

An NAACP Image Award Nominee
Longlisted for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize
A Marie Claire Book Club pick

Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2022 by *Marie Claire* *Teen Vogue* *Buzzfeed* *Essence* *Ms. Magazine* *NBCNews.com* *Bookriot* *Bookbub* and more! 

“Harris rewrites the coming-of-age story with Black girlhood at the center.”
—New... Read more

Don't Cry for Me

By: Daniel Black

Narrated by: Daniel Black

Length: 7 hours 27 minutes

Abridged: No

Don't miss Daniel Black's next novel Isaac's Song coming January 2025

NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK IN ESSENCE MAGAZINE, THE MILLIONS AND BOOKISH


"Don't Cry for Me is a perfect song."—Jesmyn Ward

A Black father makes amends with his gay son through letters written on his deathbed in this wise and penetrating novel of empathy and forgiveness, for... Read more

Vinyl Moon

By: Mahogany L. Browne

Narrated by: Bahni Turpin

Length: 4 hours 57 minutes

Abridged: No

A teen girl hiding the scars of a past relationship finds home and healing in the words of strong Black writers. A beautiful sophomore novel from a critically acclaimed author and poet that explores how words have the power to shape and uplift our world even in the midst of pain.

"A true embodiment of the term Black Girl Magic.” –Booklist
 
When... Read more

Dear Miss Metropolitan

By: Carolyn Ferrell

Narrated by: Bahni Turpin

Length: 11 hours 12 minutes

Abridged: No

A finalist for the 2022 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
A finalist for the 2022 PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel

Introducing an extraordinary and original writer whose first novel explores the intersections of grief and rage, personal strength and healing—and what we owe one another.

Fern seeks refuge from her mother’s pill-popping and boyfriends... Read more