Much like spring’s beautiful flora, debut authors-on-audio are popping up everywhere! From heartwarming YA all the way to twisty psychological thrillers, this season’s picks are nothing to sneeze at.
As sweet as a macaron from Laduree, with writing and narration as crisp as a freshly baked baguette, Kisses and Croissants—set in Paris about an American ballerina and a charming French boy—is parfait for fans of American Royals and Netflix’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.
A magical realist coming-of-age story, Gold Diggers skewers the model minority myth to tell a hilarious and moving story about immigrant identity, community, and the underside of ambition.
“Narrator Rama Vallury captures the sauciness at the center of this novel”–AudioFile
A princess isn’t supposed to fall for an evil sorceress. But in this Sleeping Beauty retelling true love is more than a simple fairy tale.
“. . . Fairy tale lovers of all ages will be thrilled.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
After the death of two teenage boys tears apart a community in the Pacific Northwest, a mysterious pregnant girl emerges out of the woods and into the lives of those same boys’ families—a moving and hopeful audiobook about forgiveness and human connection.
Provocative, funny, disarmingly original stories that upend traditional notions of identity and family, and peer into the vulnerable workings of the human heart.
“With #OwnVoices nuance and precision, Sethi both exposes and enthralls.”—Booklist (starred)
Three strangers in a rural Oregon town, each working through grief and life’s curveballs, are brought together by happenstance on a local honeybee farm where they find surprising friendship and healing just when they least expect it.
The harrowing true survival story of an early polar expedition that went terribly awry—with the ship frozen in ice and the crew trapped inside for the entire sunless, Antarctic winter.
“This detail-rich account is a sober and humane chronicle of relationships among the explorers and their struggle for survival in the long polar night. Armchair travelers will enjoy.”—Library Journal
A stunning debut about an immigrant Vietnamese family who settles in New Orleans and struggles to remain connected to one another as their lives are inextricably reshaped.
“…Nguyen’s gentle precision nevertheless produces an extraordinary debut with undeniable resonance.”— Booklist (starred)
One night a gun goes off in a violent accident and a young couple are forced to hit the open road together in escape. Highway Blue is a hypnotic debut of broken love on the run.
“This story is gripping from start to finish, ripe with an ever-present sense of mystery and dripping with the boldness of youth.”—Booklist
Beach Read meets Sweetbitter in The Summer Job, a laugh-out-loud and ultimately heartwarming debut of a good friend’s very bad decision and the summer job that stands to ruin or make her life.
Jules and Michelle have been best friends since third grade. Now in their midtwenties, the childhood friends live worlds apart. When Jules agrees to be the maid of honor in Michelle’s wedding, she quickly realizes just how different the two have become. Is shared history enough to carry their friendship through a lifetime?