Biography * Memoir: Women & Persons of Color

Body Leaping Backward

by Maureen Stanton; read by Coleen Marlo

Body Leaping Backward is the haunting and beautifully drawn story of a self-destructive girlhood, of a town and a nation overwhelmed in a time of change, and of how life-altering a glimpse of a world bigger than the one we come from can be. Learn More

Blacksound

by Matthew D. Morrison; read by Matthew D. Morrison

NEW! Now Available

Blacksound explores the sonic history of blackface minstrelsy and the racial foundations of American musical culture from the early 1800s through the turn of the twentieth century. With this namesake book, Matthew D. Morrison develops the concept of "Blacksound" to uncover how the popular music industry and popular entertainment in general in the United States arose out of slavery and blackface. Learn More

Black Sheep

by Ray Studevent; read by Sean Crisden

A captivating memoir of a biracial boy growing up in Washington, DC, abandoned by his birth parents, and lovingly raised by a woman with deep emotional scars from her upbringing in the segregated South. Learn More

Black Samson

by Nyasha Junior & Jeremy Schipper; read by David Sadzin

Before Harriet Tubman or Martin Luther King was identified with Moses, African Americans identified those who challenged racial oppression in America with Samson. In Black Samson: The Untold Story of an American Icon, Nyasha Junior and Jeremy Schipper tell the story of how this biblical character became an icon of African American literature. Learn More

Black Ice

by Lorene Cary; read by Lorene Cary

A black teenager from Philadelphia describes her experiences in an exclusive New England prep school, first as a student coming to terms with a new and different way of life, and then as a teacher at her alma mater. Learn More

Black and Female

by Tsitsi Dangarembga; read by Chipo Chung

In Black and Female, Tsitsi Dangarembga examines the legacy of imperialism on her own life and on every aspect of black embodied African life. This paradigm-shifting essay collection weaves the personal and political in an illuminating exploration of race and gender. Learn More

The Bishop's Daughter

by Honor Moore; read by Honor Moore

Coming soon . . . Learn More

The Birds of Pandemonium

Michele Raffin; read by Tamara Marston

Aviculturist Raffin introduced us to Sweetie, a special breed of quail with an outsized personality; Oscar the inspiring disabled Lady Gouldian finch; Victoria, Wing, and Coffee, sibling crowned pigeons ecstatic in reunion; and other rescued feathered friends that have been her life's work. Along the way she teaches us how conservationism is as much about saving ourselves as these rare birds. Learn More

Bird Brother

by Rodney Stotts with Kate Pipkin; read by James Fouhey

To escape the tough streets of Southeast Washington DC in the late 1980s, young Rodney Stotts would ride the metro to the Smithsonian National Zoo. There, the bald eagles and other birds of prey captured his imagination for the first time. In Bird Brother, Rodney shares his unlikely journey to becoming a conservationist and one of America's few Black master falconers. Learn More

The Big Smoke

by Adrian Matejka; read by Adrian Matejka

Winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Award and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and the National Book Award in Poetry—a collection that examines the myth and history of the prizefighter Jack Johnson. Learn More

Beyond the Bamboo Curtain

by Dr. Michael Soon Lee; read by Dr. Michael Soon Lee

NEW! Now Available

Shedding light on the diverse Asian American experience mostly absent from history books and the media . . . or distorted by stereotypes such as the myth of the "model minority," this book illuminates the many facets of Asian Americans lives and strives to educate to help reduce violence and anti-Asian sentiment. Learn More

Better Days Will Come Again

by Travis Atria; read by David Sadzin

Better Days Will Come Again, based on groundbreaking research and including unprecedented access to Arthur Briggs's oral memoir, is a crucial document of jazz history, a fast-paced epic, and an entirely original tale of survival. Learn More

The Best of Us

by Joyce Maynard; read by Joyce Maynard

From New York Times bestselling author Joyce Maynard, The Best of Us is a memoir about discovering strength in the midst of great loss. Learn More

Being Black in America's Schools

by Brian Rashad Fuller; read by Brian Rashad Fuller

NEW! Now Available

For readers of The Knowledge Gap, Race to the Bottom, and The Inequality Machine, education and equity strategist Brian Rashad Fuller sheds a stark light on America's public schools, the miseducation of students of color, and the action required to make tangible changes and reforms to a failing and racialized educational system. Learn More