9 Audiobooks by Debut Authors

During the California Gold Rush, two Asian American orphans carry the body of their deceased father in search of an appropriate resting place for him. Through the course of the story, we jump back and forth in time, learning more about the two children’s parents and their family history.

Over the course of three generations of Taiwanese women, Bestiary tells a fabulous story filled with mysterious happenings and female resilience. In gorgeous prose, Chang uses a combination of folklore and brilliant storytelling to write this stellar debut novel.

Justine, a biracial Cherokee woman, finds herself on her own, trying to raise her daughter as a single mom. As she navigates single motherhood, Justine and her daughter move to Texas, and she feels unmoored, separated from her family and friends. Throughout the novel, Justine is forced to come into her own and come to terms with her own identity.

This novel features a queer Palestinian American woman who has just moved in with her first girlfriend. She soon begins a spiral of destructive behaviors, and finds herself in a treatment center diagnosed with “love addiction.”

A fabulist story about two queer boys in the deep South, Boys of Alabama is the high school story that is missing from your life. Max meets Pan, and the two immediately click, becoming consumed with each other, for better or for worse.

Set in the town of Peaches, California, teenage protagonist Lacey May finds herself abandoned in a dilapidated commune. After her mother leaves her, she moves in with her grandma and becomes increasingly disillusioned by the male leaders of her community.

Wallace is enrolled in a PhD program at a Midwestern university where he tries to make a life for himself as a queer Black man. Taking place over just a few days, this novel tells the story of a key point in Wallace’s life that presents him with some facts he can’t shy away from, and he’s forced to make a decision that may change his entire future.

In a vast Indian city, a group of kids decide to search for their missing friend. As they begin searching for clues, more and more kids begin to disappear. What begins as a quest to find one friend turns into something much bigger than they ever imagined.

Part horror, part thriller, and part entirely unique, Lakewood features Lena Johnson, a Black woman who starts a new job in a remote town. As the disturbing details of her job are revealed, Lena tries to shove her suspicions under the rug for the sake of earning good money for her family. Hold on for a suspenseful story that will have you on the edge of your seat.