Audiobooks by Nikki Grimes

The Talk: Conversations about Race, Love & Truth

This powerful collection of short stories, essays, and poems is a call-to-action that invites all families to be anti-racist and advocates for change. Thirty diverse, award-winning authors and illustrators--including Renee Watson (Piecing Me Together), Grace Lin (Where the Mountain Meets the Moon), Meg Medina (Merci Suarez Changes Gears), and Adam Gidwitz (The Inquisitor's Tale)--engage young people in frank discussions about racism, identity and self-esteem. Featuring stories filled with love, acceptance, truth, peace, and an assurance that there can be hope for a better tomorrow, The Talk is an inspiring anthology and must-have resource published in partnership with Just Us Books, a black-owned children's publishing company that's been in operation for over 30 years. Just Us Books continues its mission grounded in the same belief that helped launch the company: Good books make a difference. So, let's talk. Featured contributors: Selina Alko, Tracey Baptiste, Derrick Barnes, Natacha Bustos, Cozbi A. Cabrera, Raúl Colón, Adam Gidwitz, Nikki Grimes, Rudy Gutierrez, April Harrison, Wade Hudson, Gordon C. James, Minh Lê, E. B. Lewis, Grace Lin, Torrey Maldonado, Meg Medina, Christopher Myers, Daniel Nayeri, Zeke Peña, Peter H. Reynolds, Erin K. Robinson, Traci Sorell, Shadra Strickland, Don Tate, MaryBeth Timothy, Duncan Tonatiuh, Renée Watson, Valerie Wilson Wesley, Sharon Dennis Wyeth This audiobook includes a downloadable PDF of sources and notes from the authors. 'The go-to book for talking to kids about race and privilege. Thoughtful. Thought-provoking. A must-read for every family.' -Ellen Oh, editor of Flying Lessons & Other Stories and cofounder of We Need Diverse Books 'The ingredients are all here. May this magnificent collection inspire us to move from dialogue to deep action.' -Kirkus, Starred Review

Adam Gidwitz, April Harrison, Christopher Myers, Cozbi A. Cabrera, Daniel Nayeri, Derrick Barnes, Don Tate, Duncan Tonatiuh, E. B. Lewis, Erin K. Robinson, Gordon C. James, Grace Lin, Marybeth Timothy, Meg Medina, Minh Lê, Natacha Bustos, Nikki Grimes, Peter H. Reynolds, Raúl Colón, Renée Watson, Rudy Gutierrez, Selina Alko, Shadra Strickland, Sharon Dennis Wyeth, Torrey Maldonado, Tracey Baptiste, Traci Sorell, Valerie Wilson Wesley, Wade Hudson, Zeke Peña (Author), Catherine Ho, Fajer Al-Kaisi, Feodor Chin, Gisela Chípe, Guy Lockard, James Fouhey, Janina Edwards, Jesus E. Martinez, Lisa Renee Pitts, Michael Crouch, Nicole Lewis, Omar Leyva, Renata Friedman (Narrator)

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Bedtime for Sweet Creatures

A sweet bedtime story from the award-winning author Nikki Grimes about a mother, her little boy, and their imagination-fueled and animal filled journey to get to sleep. It's bedtime. But Mommy's little one is not sleepy. He growls like a bear, he questions like an owl, he tosses his mane like a lion. He hunts for water like a sly wolf, and hides like a snake. Mommy needs to wrangle her sweet creature for sleep in this endearing and imagination-fueled journey to bedtime, from Children's Literature Legacy Awardwinning author Nikki Grimes and acclaimed illustrator Elizabeth Zunon.

Nikki Grimes (Author), Carra Patterson (Narrator)

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Jazmin's Notebook

Jazmin Shelby was "born with clenched fists"-which is okay, since she's got a lot of fighting ahead of her. Her dad died a couple of years back, and now that her mom's in the hospital, it's just her and her big sister, CeCe. But that's fine by Jazmin. She's got her friends, her school, lots of big plans for the future-and a zest for life and laughter that's impossible to resist. A Coretta Scott King Honor Book A Booklist Editors' Choice Book A Child Study Children's Book Committee Children's Book of the Year

Nikki Grimes (Author), Allyson Johnson (Narrator)

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Voices of Christmas

Step into the shoes of Mary, Joseph, the Innkeeper, Elizabeth, the Shepherds, and more as we poetically recount the wonder of the birth of Jesus through the eyes of those who were witness Gabriel "paced the halls of heaven" as he memorized God's message to Mary. He wondered what she would say. The Christmas story unfolds, as never before, through the voices of those who witnessed the Messiah's birth. Listen to Joseph's struggle. Rejoice with Elizabeth and Zachariah. Worship with the magi. Hear the fear in Herod's voice. Receive the blessing of Simeon and Anna. And, like the shepherds, shout for joy!

Nikki Grimes (Author), Full Cast (Narrator)

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Garvey's Choice

Garvey's father has always wanted Garvey to be athletic, but Garvey is interested in astronomy, science fiction, reading-anything but sports. Feeling like a failure, he comforts himself with food. Garvey is kind, funny, smart, a loyal friend, and he is also overweight, teased by bullies, and lonely. When his only friend encourages him to join the school chorus, Garvey's life changes. The chorus finds a new soloist in Garvey, and through chorus, Garvey finds a way to accept himself, and a way to finally reach his distant father-by speaking the language of music instead of the language of sports. This emotionally resonant novel in verse by award-winning author Nikki Grimes celebrates choosing to be true to yourself.

Nikki Grimes (Author), James Shippy (Narrator)

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Poems in the Attic

During a visit to her grandma's house, a young girl discovers a box of poems in the attic, poems written by her mother when she was growing up. Her mother's family often moved around the United States and the world because her father was in the Air Force. Over the years, her mother used poetry to record her experiences in the many places the family lived. Reading the poems and sharing those experiences through her mother's eyes, the young girl feels closer to her mother than ever before. To let her mother know this, she creates a gift: a book with her own poems and copies of her mother's. And when she returns her mother's poems to the box in the attic, she leaves her own poems too, for someone else to find, someday. Using free verse for the young girl's poems and tanka for her mother's, master poet Nikki Grimes creates a tender intergenerational story that speaks to every child's need to hold onto special memories of home, no matter where that place might be.

Nikki Grimes (Author), Sisi Aisha Johnson (Narrator)

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Chasing Freedom: The Life Journeys of Harriet Tubman and Susan B. Anthony, Inspired by Historical Fa

Nikki Grimes offers a glimpse into the inspiring lives of Susan B. Anthony and Harriet Tubman, with breathtaking illustrations by Michele Wood! What if Harriet Tubman and Susan B. Anthony sat down over tea to reminisce about their extraordinary lives? What would they recall of their triumphs and struggles as they fought to achieve civil rights for African Americans and equal rights for women? And what other historical figures played parts in their stories? These questions led Coretta Scott King Award winner Nikki Grimes to create CHASING FREEDOM, an engaging work of historical fiction about two of the nineteenth century's most powerful, and inspiring, American women. With breathtaking illustrations by Coretta Scott King Award winner Michele Wood, CHASING FREEDOM richly imagines the experiences of Tubman and Anthony, set against the backdrop of the Underground Railroad, the Civil War, and the Women's Suffrage Movement. Additional back matter invites curious young readers to further explore this period in history--and the larger-than-life figures who lived it.

Nikki Grimes (Author), Lizan Mitchell (Narrator)

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Words with Wings

Gabby's world is filled with daydreams. Now, what began as an escape from her parents' arguments has taken over her life. But with the help of a new teacher, Gabby the dreamer might just become Gabby the writer. Written in vivid accessible poems, this verse novel is a celebration of one girl's indomitable spirit and of a teacher's ability to reach out and change a life. * ." . . Grimes has written a novel in verse that is an enthusiastic celebration of the power of words and imagination. . . Always accessible, Grimes' language is vivid, rhythmic, and figurative. . . Grimes' words speak to the daydreamer in every reader." - "Booklist", starred review. " . . . Grimes packs substantial emotional heft into her poems, especially the way that Gabby's parents' separation weighs on her. . . her poems lovingly convey the rich inner life (and turmoil) of a girl in the process of finding her voice." - "Publishers Weekly"

Nikki Grimes (Author), Mutiyat Ade-Salu (Narrator)

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Dark Sons

'Both lyrical and powerful, Grimes' unusual novel is mediation on faith and father-son relationships ... Grimes' commanding metaphors, authoritative style and complex characterizations are uniquely compelling.'---Publisher's Weekly, starred review 'The elemental connections and the hope ('You made it / in the end / and so will I') will speak to a wide audience.'---Booklist, starred review A guy whose father ripped his heart out too. Me and you, Ishmael, we're brothers, two dark sons. Betrayed, lost, and isolated, the perspectives of two teenage boys---modern-day Sam and biblical Ishmael---unite over millennia to illustrate the power of forgiveness.

Dion Graham, Nikki Grimes (Author), Dion Graham, Zondervan Publishing (Narrator)

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A Girl Named Mister

Nikki Grimes, a bestselling author known for titles such as Dark Sons, Barak Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope, and Voices of Christmas has written a gripping book from the perspective of a girl named Mister (Mary Rudine) who finds herself momentarily distracted from her faith commitment to purity by a handsome boy named Trey. After one night of weakness, Mister finds her entire life has changed, even if she can't yet accept all the changes occurring within her are real. When the emotional scars of losing her innocence are more lasting than she imagined, Mister turns to a book of her mother's, which contains poems from Mary's perspective. As both Mister and Mary's voices play out in the story, a full and meaningful portrait of Christian faith, trust, and forgiveness emerges, along with the truth that God can use even the most unplanned events in our lives for his greater glory.

Nikki Grimes (Author), Nikki Grimes (Narrator)

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Barack Obama

Ever since Barack Obama was young, Hope has lived inside him. From the beaches of Hawaii to the streets of Chicago, from the jungles of Indonesia to the plains of Kenya, he has held on to Hope. Even as a boy, Barack knew he wasn't quite like anybody else, but through his journeys he found the ability to listen to Hope and become what he was meant to be: a bridge to bring people together. This is the moving story of an exceptional man, as told by Nikki Grimes and illustrated by Bryan Collier, both winners of the Coretta Scott King Award. Barack Obama has motivated Americans to believe with him, to believe that every one of us has the power to change ourselves and change our world.

Nikki Grimes (Author), Nikki Grimes (Narrator)

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The Road to Paris

Popular author Nikki Grimes won the Coretta Scott King Award for Bronx Masquerade. When Paris' mother snaps again, beloved brother Malcolm is carted off to a boys' home and Paris is sent to another foster home. There, biracial Paris finally finds someone else to trust. But when her mother comes back into her life, she must decide where home really is. "... well crafted and simply but elegantly told."-School Library Journal

Nikki Grimes (Author), Myra Lucretia Taylor (Narrator)

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