Afro-Latino, Afro-Hispanic

Post-traumatic

By: Chantal V. Johnson
Narrated by: Tiffany Smith
Length: 8 hours 18 minutes

In this “deeply original” (Elif Batuman) and “violently funny” (Myriam Gurba) story, a young lawyer finally confronts her dark past so she can live in a more peaceful future. To the outside observer, Vivian is a success story—a dedicated lawyer who advocates for mentally ill patients at a New York City psychiatric hospital. Privately, Vivian... Read more

The Worst Best Man

A Novel

By: Mia Sosa
Narrated by: Rebecca Mozo & Wayne Mitchell
Length: 10 hours

“Wedding planner Lina is a master at planning everything, except the moment when she’s left at the altar by her fiance. Fast forward to an important job interview when she’s forced to work with Max, her ex-fiance’s brother who may have broken them up. An ultimate enemies-to-lovers journey, this was an overall delightful read. The characters were... Read more

Dear Haiti, Love Alaine

By: Maika Moulite & Maritza Moulite
Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
Length: 10 hours 38 minutes

“I couldn’t put Dear Haiti, Love Alaine down!” —New York Times bestselling author Jasmine Guillory

Co-written by sisters Maika and Maritza Moulite, this exceptional debut novel captures a sparkling new voice and irrepressible heroine in a story sure to thrill fans of Nicola Yoon and Ibi Zoboi!

Alaine Beauparlant has heard about Haiti all her... Read more

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

By: Junot Díaz
Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
Length: 15 hours 58 minutes

“This is one of my all-time favorite novels; I even wrote a chapter of my dissertation on it! Read more

Never Look Back

By: Lilliam Rivera
Narrated by: Samuel Maria Gomez & Almarie Guerra
Length: 7 hours 40 minutes

“Eury’s life was uprooted after Hurricane Maria destroyed her home in Puerto Rico. Spending a summer in the Bronx was supposed to help her recover, but Eury is haunted by more than just a devastating storm and an absent father. And he’s followed her to New York. Pheus, who has lived his whole life in New York, could charm honey from a hive... Read more

Brother, Sister, Mother, Explorer

By: Jamie Figueroa
Narrated by: Joana Garcia
Length: 6 hours 7 minutes

“One of a number of excellent debut novels already out in the still-new year, this is a singular work. Taking on the coming-of-age from young adulthood into something deeper and more mature, the story follows a sister and brother as they reckon with their mother’s passing and begin to understand what life should and should not be as it gets... Read more

Halsey Street

By: Naima Coster
Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
Length: 12 hours 5 minutes

Finalist for the Kirkus Prize for Fiction.A modern-day story of family, loss, and renewal, Halsey Street captures the deeply human need to belong—not only to a place but to one another.Penelope Grand has scrapped her failed career as an artist in Pittsburgh and moved back to Brooklyn to keep an eye on her ailing father. She’s accepted that her... Read more

The Making of Yolanda la Bruja

By: Lorraine Avila
Narrated by: Lorraine Avila
Length: 10 hours 37 minutes

Elizabeth Acevedo has said that reading Lorraine Avila feels like an “UPPERCUT to the senses.” We couldn’t agree more. We have never encountered an author with prose of this sensitivity and fire.

Yolanda Alvarez is having a good year. She’s starting to feel at home at Julia De Burgos High, her school in the Bronx. She has her best friend Victory,... Read more

Family Lore

A Novel

By: Elizabeth Acevedo
Narrated by: Elizabeth Acevedo, Sixta Morel & Danyeli Rodriguez del Orbe
Length: 9 hours 49 minutes

“Excellent family epic. The sisters and their daughters are a joy to spend time with. Read more

When Trying to Return Home

Stories

By: Jennifer Maritza McCauley
Narrated by: Psalm Morant & Andréa Agosto
Length: 5 hours 52 minutes

Profoundly moving and powerful, the stories in this collection dig deeply into the question of belonging. A young woman is torn between overwhelming love for her mother and the need to break free from her damaging influence during a desperate and disastrous attempt to rescue her brother from foster care. A man, his wife, and his mistress each... Read more

Sincerely Sicily

By: Tamika Burgess
Narrated by: Jade Wheeler
Length: 7 hours 9 minutes

From debut author Tamika Burgess comes the captivating and empowering story of Sicily Jordan—a Black Panamanian fashionista who rocks her braids with pride—who learns to use her voice and take pride in who she is while confronting prejudice in the most unexpected of places.Sicily Jordan’s worst nightmare has come true! She’s been enrolled in a... Read more

Wild Tongues Can't Be Tamed

15 Voices from the Latinx Diaspora

By: Saraciea J. Fennell
Narrated by: Avi Roque, Elizabeth Acevedo, Frankie Corzo, Ibi Zoboi, Janel Martinez, Jasminne Mendez, Julian Randall, Khalil Haywood, Lilliam Rivera, Natasha Diaz, Saraciea J. Fennell & Zakiya N. Jamal
Length: 7 hours 19 minutes

This program is read by a full cast.

Edited by The Bronx Is Reading founder Saraciea J. Fennell and featuring an all-star cast of Latinx contributors, Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed is a ground-breaking anthology that will spark dialogue and inspire hope

In Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed, bestselling and award-winning authors as well as up-and-coming... Read more

A Woman of Endurance

A Novel

By: Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa
Narrated by: Tracey Leigh
Length: 12 hours 39 minutes

Combining the haunting power of Toni Morrison’s Beloved with the evocative atmosphere of Phillippa Gregory’s A Respectable Trade, Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa’s groundbreaking novel illuminates a little discussed aspect of history—the Puerto Rican Atlantic Slave Trade—witnessed through the experiences of Pola, an African captive used as a breeder to... Read more

The Poet X

By: Elizabeth Acevedo
Narrated by: Elizabeth Acevedo
Length: 3 hours 30 minutes

“The Poet X is written and narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo. It is a novel made up of poems by a teenager, Xiomara Batista, growing up in Harlem. Acevedo's narration is wonderful and brings the story to life. Xiomara's dad is MIA even though he lives at home; her mother is extremely religious and pushes her faith onto her daughter; her twin brother... Read more

Islandborn

By: Junot Díaz
Narrated by: Junot Díaz
Length: 19 minutes

From New York Times bestseller and Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Díaz comes a debut picture book about the magic of memory and the infinite power of the imagination.

A 2019 Pura Belpré Honor Book for Illustration
 
Every kid in Lola's school was from somewhere else.
Hers was a school of faraway places.
 
So when Lola's teacher asks the students to... Read more

The Poet Slave of Cuba

By: Margarita Engle
Narrated by: Yesenia Cabrero, Chris Nunez, Ozzie Rodriguez & Roberto Santana
Length: 2 hours 3 minutes

Together we belonged
along with countless others
human beasts of burden
to the proud Marquesa . . .

Juan Francisco Manzano has never known any other life. Born into the household of a wealthy slaveowner in Cuba in 1797, he spent his early years by the side of a woman who made him call her Mamá, even though he had a mama of his own. Denied an... Read more

With the Fire on High

By: Elizabeth Acevedo
Narrated by: Elizabeth Acevedo
Length: 7 hours 26 minutes

“Another fantastic piece of literature by the remarkable Elizabeth Acevedo. "With the Fire on High" weaves together a beautiful story told from the perspective of high school senior and culinary prodigy Emoni Santiago. While tackling the challenges of school, young love, and raising her two-year-old daughter, Emoni must find the strength to fight... Read more