My watchwords this summer are: Be brave, be kind, be you. Sometimes, I’ll admit, it’s a struggle to be courageous, compassionate, and true all in the same week. I need inspiration and some laughter to nudge me in the right direction. That’s where audiobooks come in.
My summer soundtrack begins with HARRIET TUBMAN LIVE IN CONCERT, written and performed by Bob the Drag Queen, alter ego of nonbinary comic and actor Caldwell Tidicue. The plot—heroes from the past have begun to return, including Harriet Tubman, who’s shown up in New York with several of her formerly enslaved compatriots. Harriet is here to shake us awake by telling her story in a hip-hop album and live show. And she wants Darnell, whose career imploded when he was outed on a talk show, to produce it. Darnell is unsure, but Harriet doesn’t let people turn back. Bob, who has a warm, listenable voice along with fine acting and writing skills, has created an everyman to care about and a no-nonsense heroine for the ages. The result is a heartfelt, funny, and profound exploration of so much—religion, history, homophobia, the Black experience, freedom, love, and more. Make sure you listen through the credits to hear Darnell and Harriet’s songs (performed by Bob the Drag Queen).
A kingdom in the Carolina hills where Black people lived and ruled in freedom. That is the proverbial Eden in Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s HAPPY LAND, which is beautifully narrated by Ashley J. Hobbs and AudioFile Golden Voice Bahni Turpin. Based on an actual 19th-century community of freedpeople who owned land in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and who named a queen and king to guide them, this captivating novel centers around Nikki, the great-great-great-granddaughter of Queen Luella. Turpin and Hobbs bring warmth, precision, and passion to their narration, and individual voices to the characters, as they alternate between two parallel stories—the establishment of Happy Valley and Nikki’s return decades later to fight her grandmother’s threatened eviction. The story is full of joy, determination, rage, and hope. In an era when Black history is being removed from U.S. government websites, it’s an essential story to tell.
Golden Voice narrator Marin Ireland’s nuanced reading and illuminating characterizations earned an Earphones Award for Fredrik Backman’s excellent new novel, MY FRIENDS, lifting it into must-listen territory. The tale centers on Louisa, a snarky teen (genius interpretation by Ireland) who releases herself from foster care to see a 25-year-old painting showing teenagers on a dock. Soon Louisa is heading across country with Ted, one of those teenagers who’s now a melancholy adult, to visit the quartet’s hometown. Alternating between Louisa and Ted’s trip and the story of the four kids that long-ago summer when the painting was created, the audiobook brims with humor, angst, resolve, and, most of all, with the knowledge that art and friendship can save your life.
Having begun with music, let me finish with music.
SOUNDTRACK
by MacArthur Fellow and author Jason Reynolds, is an audiobook original about New York City teens in the 2000s whose passion for music transforms their lives. The vibrant performance by Nile Bullock, Mekhi Hewling, Jade Williams, Brandon Miles, Ryan Vincent Anderson, Amir Royale, and a full supporting cast earned the audiobook an Earphones Award. And indeed, the six-and-a-half-hour production is a tonic for adults as well as for its intended young adult audience. When a new boyfriend moves into his mom’s apartment, Stuy moves out. An enthusiastic drummer, he lucks into meeting three talented musicians with whom he starts a band. Their jam sessions in the subway produce a following, and soon we and the commuters are jiving to Justin Ellington's very cool musical score. The teens are such great company—brave, mostly kind, and totally themselves. Enjoy.
