Black Authors

Medical Apartheid

By: Harriet A. Washington

Narrated by: Ron Butler

Length: 19 hours 1 minute

Abridged: No

Medical Apartheid is the first and only comprehensive history of medical experimentation on African Americans. Starting with the earliest encounters between black Americans and Western medical researchers and the racist pseudoscience that resulted, it details the ways both slaves and freedmen were used in hospitals for experiments conducted... Read more

Tight

By: Torrey Maldonado

Narrated by: Torrey Maldonado

Length: 4 hours 8 minutes

Abridged: No

Tight: Lately, Bryan's been feeling it in all kinds of ways . . .

Bryan knows what's tight for him--reading comics, drawing superheroes, and hanging out with no drama. But drama is every day where he's from, and that gets him tight, wound up.

And now Bryan's friend Mike pressures him with ideas of fun that are crazy risky. At first, it's a rush... Read more

All the Dreams We’ve Dreamed

By: Rus Bradburd

Narrated by: Donald Corren

Length: 8 hours 38 minutes

Abridged: No

Shawn Harrington returned to Marshall High School as an assistant coach years after appearing as a player in the iconic basketball documentary film Hoop Dreams. In January of 2014, Marshall’s struggling team was about to improve after the addition of a charismatic but troubled player. Everything changed, however, when two young men opened fired... Read more

The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah

By: Benjamin Zephaniah

Narrated by: Benjamin Zephaniah

Length: 10 hours 45 minutes

Abridged: No

*A BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week*

Benjamin Zephaniah, who travelled the world for his art and his humanitarianism, tells the one story that encompasses it all: the story of his life.

In the early 1980s when punks and Rastas were on the streets protesting about unemployment, homelessness and the National Front, Benjamin’s poetry could be heard at... Read more

The Bone and Sinew of the Land

By: Anna-Lisa Cox

Narrated by: Elizabeth Wiley

Length: 8 hours 12 minutes

Abridged: No

The long-hidden truth about America’s black pioneers, the frontier they settled, and their fight for a better nationThe American frontier is one of our most cherished and enduring national images. We think of the early pioneers who settled the wilderness as courageous, independent—and white.This version of history is simply wrong. Starting in... Read more

An American Quilt

By: Rachel May

Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie

Length: 12 hours 39 minutes

Abridged: No

When we think of slavery, most of us think of the American South. We think of back-breaking fieldwork on plantations. We don’t think of slavery in the North, nor do we think of the grueling labor of urban and domestic slaves. Rachel May’s rich new book explores the far reach of slavery, from New England to the Caribbean, the role it played in... Read more

Well-Read Black Girl

By: Glory Edim

Narrated by: Glory Edim

Length: 5 hours 6 minutes

Abridged: No

An inspiring collection of essays by black women writers, curated by the founder of the popular book club Well-Read Black Girl, on the importance of recognizing ourselves in literature.

Remember that moment when you first encountered a character who seemed to be written just for you? That feeling of belonging remains with readers the rest of... Read more

The Darkest Child

By: Delores Phillips

Narrated by: Bahni Turpin

Length: 15 hours 22 minutes

Abridged: No

A new edition of this award-winning modern classic, with a new introduction In 1958 Georgia, the shade of a 13-year-old black girl's skin can make the difference in her fate. Tangy Mae is the smartest of her mother's ten children, but she is also the darkest-complected. The Quinns-all different skin shades, all with unknown fathers-live with... Read more

Dragons in a Bag

By: Zetta Elliott

Narrated by: Ron Butler & Zetta Elliott

Length: 3 hours 25 minutes

Abridged: No

The dragon's out of the bag in this diverse, young urban fantasy from an award-winning author!

When Jaxon is sent to spend the day with a mean old lady his mother calls Ma, he finds out she's not his grandmother--but she is a witch! She needs his help delivering baby dragons to a magical world where they'll be safe. There are two rules when it... Read more

The Season of Styx Malone

By: Kekla Magoon

Narrated by: Sullivan Jones

Length: 5 hours 40 minutes

Abridged: No

A CORETTA SCOTT KING HONOR BOOK AND THE WINNER OF THE BOSTON GLOBE HORN BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION!

"Extraordinary friendships . . . extraordinary storytelling." --Rita Williams-Garcia, Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Award-Winning author of One Crazy Summer

Meet Caleb and Bobby Gene, two brothers embarking on a madcap, heartwarming,... Read more

We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices

By: Wade Hudson & Cheryl Willis Hudson

Narrated by: Bahni Turpin, Guy Lockard, January LaVoy, Domin...

Length: 1 hour 41 minutes

Abridged: No

The foremost diverse children's authors--including Jason Reynolds, Jacqueline Woodson, and Kwame Alexander--share answers to the question, "In this divisive world, what shall we tell our children?" in this powerful collection, published in partnership with Just Us Books.

Featuring poems, letters, personal essays, songs, and other works from such... Read more

Heads of the Colored People

By: Nafissa Thompson-Spires

Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo

Length: 6 hours 13 minutes

Abridged: No

A stunning new talent in literary fiction, Nafissa Thompson-Spires grapples with black identity and the contemporary middle class in these compelling, boundary-pushing vignettes.



Each captivating story plunges headfirst into the lives of new, utterly original characters. Some are darkly humorous—from two mothers exchanging snide remarks through... Read more

One House Over

By: Mary Monroe

Narrated by: Kentra Lynn & James Shippy

Length: 9 hours 2 minutes

Abridged: No

New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe returns to the 1930s era of her acclaimed novel The Upper Room with a dazzling portrait of two very different couples whose fast friendship is no match for shattering betrayal …

A solid marriage, a thriving business, and the esteem of their close-knit Alabama community—Joyce and Odell Watson have... Read more

The House on Harbor Hill

By: Shelly Stratton

Narrated by: Susan Spain

Length: 11 hours 23 minutes

Abridged: No

She's generous, kind, and compassionate-yet Delilah Grey will forever be an outcast in the small seaside town of Camden Beach, Maryland. She takes in women shattered by abuse, poverty, illness, or events beyond their control. But no matter how far she's come or how many she's helped find their way back, there is no safe place for Delilah.... Read more

Odd One Out

By: Nic Stone

Narrated by: Dion Graham, Kim Mai Guest & Nic Stone

Length: 7 hours 57 minutes

Abridged: No

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin comes an honest and touching depiction of friendship, first love, and everything in between. Perfect for fans of Love, Simon and What If It's Us.

Courtney Cooper and Jupiter Sanchez (Coop & Jupe!) have been next-door neighbors and best friends since they were seven-years-old. She's... Read more

The Day You Begin

By: Jacqueline Woodson

Narrated by: Jacqueline Woodson

Length: 5 minutes

Abridged: No

Jacqueline Woodson is the 2018-2019 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature

A #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson has created a poignant, yet heartening audiobook about finding courage to connect, even when you feel scared and alone.

There will be times when you walk into a room
and no one there is... Read more

Black Is the Body

By: Emily Bernard

Narrated by: Emily Bernard

Length: 5 hours 55 minutes

Abridged: No

“Blackness is an art, not a science. It is a paradox: intangible and visceral; a situation and a story. It is the thread that connects these essays, but its significance as an experience emerges randomly, unpredictably. . . . Race is the story of my life, and therefore black is the body of this book.” 

In these twelve deeply personal, connected... Read more

Trailblazer

By: Dorothy Butler Gilliam

Narrated by: January LaVoy

Length: 8 hours 58 minutes

Abridged: No

Dorothy Butler Gilliam, whose 50-year-career as a journalist put her in the forefront of the fight for social justice, offers a comprehensive view of racial relations and the media in the U.S.

Most civil rights victories are achieved behind the scenes, and this riveting, beautifully written memoir by a "black first" looks back with searing... Read more

The Broken Kingdoms

By: N. K. Jemisin

Narrated by: Casaundra Freeman

Length: 11 hours 25 minutes

Abridged: No

A man with no memory of his past and a struggling, blind street artist will face off against the will of the gods as the secrets of this stranger's past are revealed in the sequel to The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, the debut novel of NYT bestselling author N. K. Jemisin.

In the city of Shadow, beneath the World Tree, alleyways shimmer with magic... Read more

I'm Telling the Truth, but I'm Lying

By: Bassey Ikpi

Narrated by: Bassey Ikpi

Length: 7 hours 11 minutes

Abridged: No

2020 Audie Finalist – Short Stories/CollectionsIn I’m Telling the Truth, but I’m Lying Bassey Ikpi explores her life—as a Nigerian-American immigrant, a black woman, a slam poet, a mother, a daughter, an artist—through the lens of her mental health and diagnosis of bipolar II and anxiety. Her remarkable memoir in essays implodes our... Read more

To Shape a New World

By: Tommie Shelby & Brandon M. Terry

Narrated by: Kevin Kenerly, Priya Ayyar, Cary Hite, Robin Mi...

Length: 16 hours 24 minutes

Abridged: No

Martin Luther King Jr. may be America’s most revered political figure, commemorated in statues, celebrations, and street names around the world. On the fiftieth anniversary of King’s assassination, the man and his activism are as close to public consciousness as ever. But despite his stature, the significance of King’s writings and political... Read more

The Minority Experience

By: Adrian Pei

Narrated by: Kaipo Schwab

Length: 4 hours 40 minutes

Abridged: No

It's hard to be in the minority. If you're the only person from your ethnic or cultural background in your organization or team, you probably know the challenges of being misunderstood or marginalized. You might find yourself inadvertently overlooked or actively silenced. Even when a work environment is not blatantly racist or hostile, people of... Read more

Do You Dream of Terra-Two?

By: Temi Oh

Narrated by: Nneka Okoye

Length: 14 hours 19 minutes

Abridged: No

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet meets The 100 in this unforgettable debut by a brilliant new voice.

A century ago, scientists theorised that a habitable planet existed in a nearby solar system. Today, ten astronauts will leave a dying Earth to find it. Four are decorated veterans of the 20th century’s space-race. And six are teenagers,... Read more

My Name Is Sally Little Song

By: Brenda Woods

Narrated by: Asmeret Ghebremichael

Length: 3 hours

Abridged: No

Sally Harrison and her family are slaves on a plantation in Georgia. But when Master decides to sell Sally and her brother, the family escapes to seek shelter with a tribe of Seminoles who are rumored to adopt runaway slaves. After a perilous journey, Sally’s family finds and joins the tribe. But while her father and brother easily adjust to... Read more