Featured Titles, Featured-LL TURNING 15 ON THE ROAD TO FREEDOM Q&A with narrator Damaras Obi and director Ally Sheedy Submitted by Kristen Luby on May 2, 2017

by Emily Parliman, Editor at Listening Library

TURNING 15 ON THE ROAD TO FREEDOM is an award-winning memoir by Lynda Blackmon Lowery who, at age 15, was the youngest person to walk all the way from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, as part of the 1965 Selma Rights Voting March. The book was adapted for stage by director Ally Sheedy (The Breakfast Club, St. Elmo’s Fire) and actress Damaras Obi. Lynda told WMAC Northeast Public Radio: “The first time I saw [Damaras] I was in awe. This girl is awesome.” We were lucky enough to have Damaras narrate the audiobook, with Ally directing. Here they discuss what it was like to adapt the memoir into a play, and then collaborate on the audiobook: Read more

Tagged: Ally Sheedy, Black History Month, Civil Rights, Damaras Obi, Hear Diversity, Lynda Blackmon Lowery, TURNING 15 ON THE ROAD TO FREEDOM

Featured Titles, Featured-LL, Video Hear History IN THE SHADOW OF LIBERTY by Kenneth C. Davis, read by a Full Cast (Audiobook Trailer) Submitted by Jennifer Rubins on September 22, 2016

Did you know that many of America’s Founding Fathers—who fought for liberty and justice for all—were slave owners?

Through the powerful stories of five enslaved people who were “owned” by four of our greatest presidents, this audiobook helps set the record straight about the role slavery played in the founding of America. Read more

Tagged: Adam Lazarre-White, Adenrele Ojo, Black History Month, Civil Rights, Civil War, Dion Graham, Frankie Faison, Full Cast Recording, history, IN THE SHADOW OF LIBERTY, JD Jackson, Keith David, Kenneth C. Davis, Mark Bramhall, presidents, social studies

Collection Development Celebrate Black History Month with Audiobooks Submitted by Kristen Luby on February 20, 2015

Celebrate Black History Month by sharing powerful literature with your patrons or students. We selected three audiobooks that will transport listeners back in time, teaching them important lessons about history along the way. Plus, request a free Civil Rights CD sampler for even more must-listens. Read more

Tagged: Andrea Davis Pinkey, BIRD IN A BOX, Black History Month, Civil Rights, Delia Sherman, Steve Sheinkin, THE FREEDOM MAZE, THE PORT CHICAGO 50

Featured Titles Jacqueline Woodson’s Touching Memoir Submitted by Jodie Cohen on September 4, 2014

Jacqueline Woodson’s latest novel, BROWN GIRL DREAMING, released this week and it has already received 6 starred reviews and lots of high acclaim from reviewers Read more

Tagged: BROWN GIRL DREAMING, Civil Rights, Coming-of-Age, Free Chapter, Jacqueline Woodson, Memoir, Poetry

Collection Development Commemorating the Civil Rights Movement — FREE CD Sampler Submitted by Jennifer Rubins on November 19, 2013

Commemorate history by listening together. Fifty years after the height of the civil rights movement, sharing literature that tackles issues of prejudice allows us to continue the necessary dialogue about the past, and its impact on our society today.

Tagged: CD sampler, Christopher Paul Curtis, Civil Rights, Collection Development, LeVar Burton, THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM--1963