Black History Books for Young People

Some Other Now

By: Sarah Everett
Narrated by: Jeanette Illidge
Length: 11 hours 8 minutes

This Is Us for teens, this luminous and heartbreaking contemporary novel follows a girl caught between two brothers as the three of them navigate family, loss, and love over the course of two summers. For fans of Far From the Tree, Emergency Contact, and Nina LaCour.

Before she kissed one of the Cohen boys, seventeen-year-old Jessi Rumfield knew... Read more

How to Live without You

By: Sarah Everett
Narrated by: Tamika Katon-Donegal
Length: 12 hours 22 minutes

In this heart-wrenching coming-of-age story about family, grief, and second chances, seventeen-year-old Emmy returns home for the summer to uncover the truth behind her sister Rose’s disappearance—only to learn that Rose had many secrets, ones that have Emmy questioning herself and the sister Emmy thought she knew.When her sister Rose... Read more

Opposite of Always

By: Justin A. Reynolds
Narrated by: Nile Bullock
Length: 10 hours

“One of the best love stories I’ve ever read.” —Angie Thomas, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Hate U Give“Read this one, reread it, and then hug it to your chest.”  —Becky Albertalli, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda Debut author Justin A. Reynolds delivers a hilarious and heartfelt novel... Read more

Love Radio

By: Ebony LaDelle
Narrated by: Joniece Abbott-Pratt & JaQwan J. Kelly
Length: 8 hours 49 minutes

“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

Jackpot

By: Nic Stone
Narrated by: Nic Stone
Length: 7 hours 20 minutes

From the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Dear Martin--which Angie Thomas, the bestselling author of The Hate U Give, called "a must read"--comes a pitch-perfect romance that examines class, privilege, and how a stroke of good luck can change an entire life.

Meet Rico: high school senior and afternoon-shift cashier at the Gas 'n' Go,... Read more

American Street

By: Ibi Zoboi
Narrated by: Robin Miles
Length: 8 hours 34 minutes

A National Book Award Finalist with five starred reviews and multiple awards!A New York Times Notable Book * A Time Magazine Best YA Book Of All Time* Publishers Weekly Flying Start * Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year * ALA Booklist Editors' Choice of 2017 (Top of the List winner) * School Library Journal Best Book of the... Read more

We Set the Dark on Fire

By: Tehlor Kay Mejia
Narrated by: Kyla Garcia
Length: 9 hours 53 minutes

“Pacing and timing set this alternate-world story apart: tension rises as political factions conflict and family trust dissolves, empowerment is hard to find and much, much harder to navigate, religion unwillingly provides narratives used to excuse economic injustice, a border wall looms higher in imagination (and fear) than in reality, and in... Read more

Piecing Me Together

By: Renee Watson
Narrated by: Renee Watson
Length: 5 hours 37 minutes

A timely and powerful story about a teen girl from a poor neighborhood striving for success, from acclaimed author Renee Watson. Jade believes she must get out of her neighborhood if she's ever going to succeed. Her mother says she has to take every opportunity. She has. She accepted a scholarship to a mostly-white private school and even... Read more

The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963

By: Christopher Paul Curtis
Narrated by: LeVar Burton
Length: 4 hours 54 minutes

Celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Newbery and Coretta Scott King Honoree about an unforgettable family on a road-trip during one of the most important times in the civil rights movement.

When the Watson family—ten-year-old Kenny, Momma, Dad, little sister Joetta, and brother Byron—sets out on a trip south to visit Grandma in Birmingham,... Read more

On the Come Up

By: Angie Thomas
Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
Length: 11 hours 42 minutes

Don't miss this audiobook, Audible's Young Adult Audiobook of the Year and an Audie Award finalist!The YA love letter to hip-hop—streaming on Paramount+ September 23, 2022! Starring Sanaa Lathan (in her directorial debut), Jamila C. Gray, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Lil Yachty, Method Man, Mike Epps, GaTa (Davionte Ganter), Miles... Read more

The Hate U Give

By: Angie Thomas
Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
Length: 11 hours 50 minutes

“This bestselling, powerful young adult novel about social justice and one teen girl's effort to fight for what is right, will leave you breathless. The narration by Bahni Turpin is hands down the best I've ever heard. This is such an important book it should be required reading for life in general. Or listening. Definitely listening. Read more

Felix Ever After

By: Kacen Callender
Narrated by: Logan Rozos
Length: 8 hours 23 minutes

A Stonewall Honor Book * A Time Magazine Best YA Book of All TimeFrom Stonewall and Lambda Award–winning author Kacen Callender comes a revelatory YA novel about a transgender teen grappling with identity and self-discovery while falling in love for the first time.Felix Love has never been in love—and, yes, he’s painfully aware of the irony. He... Read more

Legendborn

The Legendborn Cycle

By: Tracy Deonn
Narrated by: Joniece Abbott-Pratt
Length: 18 hours 54 minutes

“If you’ve been thinking about trying audiobooks, I recommend LEGENDBORN by Tracy Deonn as a great starting point! The reader, Joniece Abbott-Pratt, completely transported me to the Southern Gothic world of a secret society on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill (down to the hot sauce on hash browns). With a complex magic system intricately tied to... Read more

Dreamland Burning

By: Jennifer Latham
Narrated by: Pyeng Threadgill & Luke Slattery
Length: 8 hours 17 minutes

A compelling dual-narrated tale from Jennifer Latham that questions how far we've come with race relations.

Some bodies won't stay buried.

Some stories need to be told.

When seventeen-year-old Rowan Chase finds a skeleton on her family's property, she has no idea that investigating the brutal century-old murder will lead to a summer of... Read more

Hidden Figures Young Readers' Edition

By: Margot Lee Shetterly
Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
Length: 4 hours 10 minutes

The uplifting, amazing true story—a New York Times bestseller!This edition of Margot Lee Shetterly’s acclaimed book is perfect for young readers. It's the powerful story of four African-American female mathematicians at NASA who helped achieve some of the greatest moments in our space program. Before John Glenn orbited the earth, or Neil... Read more

Notes from a Young Black Chef (Adapted for Young Adults)

By: Kwame Onwuachi & Joshua David Stein
Narrated by: Malik Rashad
Length: 6 hours 28 minutes

This inspiring memoir, now adapted for young adults, chronicles Top Chef star and Forbes and Zagat 30 Under 30 phenom Kwame Onwuachi's incredible and odds-defying fame in the food world after a tough childhood in the Bronx and Nigeria.

Food was Kwame Onwuachi's first great love. He connected to cooking via his mother, in the family's modest Bronx... Read more