Audiobooks narrated by Kevin R. Free

Don’t Go: Stories of Segregation and How to Disrupt It

Multiple times a day, in cities across the US and beyond, a simple yet powerful message is repeated by the well-meaning, the ignorant, and the bigoted: “don’t go” – avoid at all costs those Black and Brown disinvested neighborhoods that have become bywords for social disorder and urban decay. This book is a collection of intimate stories and evocative photos that uncover the hidden influence of both subtle and overt “don’t go” messages and the segregation they perpetuate in Chicago. Told by everyday people to Tonika Lewis Johnson and Maria Krysan – a Black artist and a White academic who met through their shared passion for anti-segregation work – the stories paint a rich picture of life in a segregated city. One by one, the storytellers upend pessimism with candid, deeply personal, humorous, and heartbreaking tales, and with novel ideas for simple actions that can serve as antidotes to both racism and “place-ism.” By inviting readers into the lives of regular people who have ignored the warning to stay away from “don’t go” neighborhoods or who live in those very same neighborhoods, the stories in Don’t Go illuminate the devastating consequences of racial segregation and disinvestment as well as the inevitable rewards of coming together.

Maria Krysan, Tonika Lewis Johnson (Author), Cindy Kay, Jasmin Walker, Jonathan Todd Ross, Kevin R. Free, Lynnette R. Freeman, Maria Krysan, Marisol Ramirez, Nan McNamara, Robb Moreira, TBD, Tonika Lewis Johnson (Narrator)

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The Art of Good Deeds

Philanthropy is not just for the wealthy. Anyone, through simple everyday actions, can make a positive difference in the world. In The Art of Good Deeds, leaders in the world of philanthropy share personal stories and real-life experiences of the impact of good deeds--not large donations to charity or grand gestures, but simple and practical acts of kindness. This insightful collection of narratives encourages deeper understanding of both financial and social giving through real-life people making philanthropy and good deeds part of their everyday life. A welcome donor-recognition gift for not-for-profits, crowdfunding campaigns, and others you want to either inspire or thank--or both! Here you will meet models of giving whose actions you or your organization can follow to make a real difference. Philanthropic insiders reveal how small but powerful acts of kindness change the world for the better.

Dwayne Ashley (Author), Kevin R. Free, Tbd (Narrator)

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Ali: A Life: Shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2017

BRITISH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR. SHORTLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR PRIZE 2017. SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES TAIT BLACK BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR. WINNER OF THE PEN/ESPN AWARD FOR LITERARY SPORTS WRITING. THE TIMES SPORTS BOOK AWARDS BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR. The most comprehensive and definitive biography of Muhammad Ali that has ever been published, based on more than 500 interviews with those who knew him best, with many dramatic new discoveries about his life and career. When the frail, trembling figure of Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic flame in Atlanta in 1996, a TV audience of up to 3 billion people was once again gripped by the story of the world's most famous sporting icon. The man who had once been reviled for his refusal to fight for his country and for his fast-talking denunciation of his opponents was now almost universally adored, the true cost of his astonishing boxing career clear to see. In Jonathan Eig's ground-breaking biography, backed up with much detailed new research specially commissioned for this book, we get a stunning portrait of one of the most significant personalities of the second half of the twentieth century. We are not only taken inside the ring for some of the most famous bouts in boxing history, we also learn about his personal life, his finances, his faith and the moments when the first signs of his physical decline began to show. Ali was a symbol of freedom and courage, a hero to many, but this is also a very personal story of a warrior who vanquished every opponent but was finally brought down by his own stubborn refusal to quit. An epic tale of a fighter who became the world's most famous pacifist, Ali: A Life does full justice to an extraordinary man. 'Ali: A Life is the business - 640 pages of patient scholarship and intelligent reassessment written in crackly prose' Giles Smith, The Times '[A] richly researched, sympathetic yet unsparing portrait ... Ali: A Life is an epic of a biography' Joyce Carol Oates, New York Times

Jonathan Eig (Author), Kevin R. Free, Unknown (Narrator)

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JFK Jr.: An Intimate Oral Biography

The first oral biography of John F. Kennedy Jr. is an extraordinarily intimate, comprehensive look at the real man behind the myth. Sharing never-before-told stories and insights, his closest friends, confidantes, lovers, classmates, teachers, and colleagues paint a vivid portrait of one of the most beloved figures of the 20th century, revealing how the boy who saluted became the man America came to know and love who still captures public imagination twenty-five years after his tragic death. Born into the spotlight, John F. Kennedy Jr. lived a short but remarkable life filled with expectation, ambition, family pressures, love, and tragedy. JFK Jr. dives deep into his complicated psyche and explores the what-ifs, illuminating both the cultural and political moment he inhabited and the way this son of a president, so full of promise and possibility, embodied America's most cherished hopes.

Liz Mcneil, Rosemarie Terenzio (Author), Jade Wheeler, Kathe Mazur, Kevin R. Free, Lanna Joffrey, Leon Nixon, Michael David Axtell, Rosemarie Terenzio, TBD (Narrator)

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The Movement: How Women's Liberation Transformed America 1963-1973

A comprehensive and engaging oral history of the decade that defined the feminist movement, including interviews with living icons and unsung heroes—from former Newsweek reporter and author of the "powerful and moving" (New York Times) Witness to the Revolution. For lovers of both Barbie and Gloria Steinem, The Movement is the first oral history of the decade that built the modern feminist movement. Through the captivating individual voices of the people who lived it, The Movement tells the intimate inside story of what it felt like to be at the forefront of the modern feminist crusade, when women rejected thousands of years of custom and demanded the freedom to be who they wanted and needed to be. This engaging history traces women's awakening, organizing, and agitating between the years of 1963 and 1973, when a decentralized collection of people and events coalesced to create a spontaneous combustion. From Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, to the underground abortion network the Janes, to Shirley Chisolm's presidential campaign and Billie Jean King's 1973 battle of the sexes, Bingham artfully weaves together the fragments of that explosion person by person, bringing to life the emotions of this personal, cultural, and political revolution. Artists and politicians, athletes and lawyers, Black and white, The Movement brings readers into the rooms where these women insisted on being treated as first class citizens, and in the process, changed the fabric of American life.

Clara Bingham (Author), Aida Reluzco, Angel Pean, Billie Fulford-Brown, Cassandra Campbell, Clara Bingham, David Sadzin, Eunice Wong, Gibson Frazier, Janina Edwards, Kamali Minter, Kevin R. Free, Keyonni James, Natalie Naudus, Sunny Lu, TBD (Narrator)

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The Real Education of TJ Crowley

It’s 1968, during the heart of the Civil Rights Movement and TJ Crowley, a young white teenager, faces a critical choice when a Black family, the Washingtons, crosses the city’s racial redline and moves next door. As racial tensions surge, TJ questions his prejudices and forms secret friendships with his Black peers and the doctor next door, who becomes his mentor and sports coach. The story unfolds in the wake of the slaying of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., passage of the Fair Housing Act and school integration. Inspired by the author’s own story and historical events, including the characters of Dr. Val Brown, Josephine Brown and Sheila Brown Kinnard. The story plays out against the background of a nation divided over civil rights and the Vietnam War. As an immersive experience, The Real Education of TJ Crowley offers an authentic and relatable exploration of racial awakening and the ongoing fight for justice and equality. In so doing, it challenges us to confront our own biases and consider the choices we make in times of social change.

Grant Overstake, May Wuthrich (Author), A Full Cast, Ari Fliakos, Brittany Pressley, Dani Martineck, Dion Graham, Graham Halstead, John Wright, Johnny Heller, Kevin R. Free, Kirby Heyborne, Michael Crouch, Peter Berkrot, Shayna Small, Sheila Brown Kinnard, Tavia Gilbert, Thérèse Plummer (Narrator)

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Twelfth Knight

From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Atlas Six (under the penname Olivie Blake) comes Twelfth Knight, a grumpy/sunshine YA romantic comedy and coming of age story about taking up space in the world and learning what it means to let others in. Viola Reyes is annoyed. Her painstakingly crafted tabletop game campaign was shot down, her best friend is suggesting she try being more "likable," and school running back Jack Orsino is the most lackadaisical Student Body President she's ever seen, which makes her job as Vice President that much harder. Vi's favorite escape from the world is the role playing game Twelfth Knight, but online spaces aren't exactly kind to girls like her-girls who are extremely competent and have the swagger to prove it. So Vi creates a masculine alter ego, choosing to play as a knight named Cesario to create a safe haven for herself. But when a football injury leads Jack Orsino to the world of Twelfth Knight, Vi is alarmed to discover their online alter egos-Cesario and Duke Orsino-are surprisingly well-matched. As the long nights of game-play turn into discussions about life and love, Vi and Jack soon realise they've become more than just weapon-wielding characters in an online game. But Vi has been concealing her true identity from Jack, and Jack might just be falling for her offline. . .

Alexene Farol Follmuth (Author), Alexandra Palting, Kevin R. Free, TBD (Narrator)

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Rising From the Ashes: Los Angeles, 1992. Edward Jae Song Lee, Latasha Harlins, Rodney King, and a C

Paula Yoo’s latest is a compelling, nuanced account of Los Angeles’s 1992 uprising and its impact on its Korean and Black American communities. On April 29, 1992, following the acquittal of four police officers charged with the beating and arrest of Rodney King and the earlier killing of teenager Latasha Harlins, the city of Los Angeles erupted in violence. Many of these events were centered on the city’s Koreatown, where tensions between the Black and Korean American communities had simmered for years, fueled by economic challenges and redlining and enflamed by sensationalized and racist media. Based on more than 100 personal interviews, Rising from the Ashes follows these events through the eyes and experiences of the families of King, Harlins, shooting victim Edward Jae Song Lee, and dozens of business owners, journalists, police officers, firefighters, activists, and other community members. Deeply researched and compulsively readable, this is a vivid, propulsive, and moving story of a pivotal moment in recent American history that continues to resonate today.

Paula Yoo (Author), Kevin R. Free (Narrator)

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The Color of a Lie

In 1955, a Black family passes for white and moves to a "Whites Only" town in the suburbs. Caught between two worlds, a teen boy puts his family at risk as he uncovers racist secrets about his suburb. A new social justice thriller from the acclaimed author of This Is My America! Calvin knows how to pass for white. He's done it plenty of times before. For his friends in Chicago, when they wanted food but weren't allowed in a restaurant. For work, when he and his dad would travel for the Green Book. This is different. After a tragedy in Chicago forces the family to flee, they resettle in an idyllic all-white suburban town in search of a better life. Calvin's father wants everyone to embrace their new white lifestyles, but it's easier said than done. Hiding your true self is exhausting -- which leads Calvin across town where he can make friends who know all of him...and spend more time with his new crush, Lily. But when Calvin starts unraveling dark secrets about the white town and its inhabitants, passing starts to feel even more suffocating--and dangerous--than he could have imagined. Expertly weaving together real historical events with important reflections on being Black in America, acclaimed author Kim Johnson powerfully connects readers to the experience of being forced to live a life-threatening lie or embrace an equally deadly truth.

Kim Johnson (Author), Kevin R. Free, Kim Johnson, TBD (Narrator)

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Twelfth Knight

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six (under the penname Olivie Blake) comes Twelfth Knight, a YA romantic comedy and coming of age story about taking up space in the world and learning what it means to let others in. Viola Reyes is annoyed. Her painstakingly crafted tabletop game campaign was shot down, her best friend is suggesting she try being more “likable,” and her school's star running back Jack Orsino is the most lackadaisical Student Body President she’s ever seen, which makes her job as VP that much harder. Vi’s favorite escape from the world is the MMORPG Twelfth Knight, but online spaces aren’t exactly kind to girls like her—girls who are extremely competent and have the swagger to prove it. So Vi creates a masculine alter ego, choosing to play as a knight named Cesario to create a safe haven for herself. But when a football injury leads Jack Orsino to the world of Twelfth Knight, Vi is alarmed to discover their online alter egos—Cesario and Duke Orsino—are surprisingly well-matched. As the long nights of game-play turn into discussions about life and love, Vi and Jack soon realise they’ve become more than just weapon-wielding characters in an online game. But Vi has been concealing her true identity from Jack, and Jack might just be falling for her offline…

Alexene Farol Follmuth (Author), Alexandra Palting, Kevin R. Free (Narrator)

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Otherworldly

A sceptic and a supernatural creature get more than they bargain for when they make crossroads deal to save themselves. A perfect LGBT+ romantic fantasy for fans of Rainbow Rowell, Margaret Rogerson and Adam Silvera! Ellery doesn't believe in magic. Sure, they've been stuck in a five-year winter, but there's got to be a scientific explanation for that. They're more concerned with working hard to send money back to the family farm than with whether there's a goddess out there who could put a stop to it. Knox has been trapped in the human realm for years. In service to a powerful witch for a decade, Knox is finally freed when her crossroads deal meets its terms. But Knox isn't sure he wants to return to the Other World, especially since his queen seems to have abandoned him. When a chance encounter finds Ellery coming to Knox's rescue, they're suddenly face to face with a (annoyingly attractive) guy who claims to be a supernatural familiar - something they definitely don't believe. But Ellery needs a way to stop the endless winter and save his family farm, and Knox needs a human who can tether him to their realm. A crossroads deal can't go wrong, can it? Funny, subversive, romantic fantasy from New York Times bestselling author F. T. Lukens. Look out for So This is Ever After, In Deeper Waters and Spell Bound.

F.T. Lukens (Author), Em Grosland, Kevin R. Free, Natalie Naudus (Narrator)

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Life After Power: Seven Presidents and Their Search for Purpose Beyond the White House

New York Times bestselling author of Accidental Presidents explores what happens after the most powerful job in the world: President of the United States. Former presidents have an unusual place in American life. King George III believed that George Washington's departure after two terms made him "the greatest character of the age." But Alexander Hamilton worried former presidents might "[wander] among the people like ghosts." They were both right. Life After Power tells the stories of seven former presidents, from the Founding to today. Each changed history. Each offered lessons about how to decide what to do in the next chapter of life. Thomas Jefferson was the first former president to accomplish great things after the White House, shaping public debates and founding the University of Virginia, an accomplishment he included on his tombstone, unlike his presidency. John Quincy Adams served in Congress and became a leading abolitionist, passing the torch to Abraham Lincoln. Grover Cleveland was the only president in American history to serve a nonconsecutive term. William Howard Taft became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Herbert Hoover shaped the modern conservative movement, led relief efforts after World War II, reorganized the executive branch, and reconciled John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. Jimmy Carter had the longest post-presidency in American history, advancing humanitarian causes, human rights, and peace. George W. Bush made a clean break from politics, bringing back George Washington's precedent, and reminding the public that the institution of the presidency is bigger than any person. Jared Cohen explores the untold stories in the final chapters of these presidents' lives, offering a gripping and illuminating account of how they went from President of the United States one day, to ordinary citizens the next. He tells how they handled very human problems of ego, finances, and questions about their legacy and mortality. He shows how these men made history after they left the White House.

Jared Cohen (Author), Kevin R. Free, TBD (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Kevin R. Free