Biographies to listen to as a family

Ages 4–6

Me...Jane

A quiet, dreamy listen about young Jane and her toy chimp Jubilee, ideal at bedtime for the youngest. Read by Elizabeth Jasicki, 15 min.

Ages 4–8

Radiant Child

Art doesn't have to be neat to be beautiful: a great one before drawing together. Read by Ron Butler, 19 min.

Ages 4–8

Shark Lady

A girl obsessed with sharks becomes the scientist who changed how people see them. Read by Jordan Killam, 23 min. Heads-up: Discrimination: she faced prejudice as a woman in science; Kirkus audio review notes no concerns

Ages 4–8

Trombone Shorty

A New Orleans kid with a battered trombone; the recording has real music in it. Read by Dion Graham and Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews.

Ages 5–9

I am Albert Einstein

Einstein tells his own story as a curious kid, with several voices, in about a quarter of an hour. Read by Marc Thompson and Various, 14 min.

Ages 5–9

I am Amelia Earhart

Short and upbeat; a girl who wanted to fly and did. Read by Jennifer Lim and Various, 10 min.

Ages 5–9

I am Billie Jean King

A tennis champion who stood up for girls getting equal treatment. Read by Robin Miles and Various, 25 min.

Ages 5–9

I am Jackie Robinson

Baseball plus courage: an easy way to talk about fairness after listening. Read by Donte Bonner and Various, 18 min. Heads-up: Racial exclusion: kept off the best teams because of the colour of his skin; unfair rules for African Americans

Ages 5–9

I am Jane Goodall

A stuffed toy chimp turns into a life with real chimpanzees; animal-loving kids will be hooked. Read by Lauren Baldwin and Various, 20 min.

Ages 5–9

I am Jim Henson

The man behind the Muppets; parents and kids both know his characters. Read by Marc Thompson and Various, 19 min.

Ages 5–9

I am Leonardo da Vinci

Painter, inventor, notebook-keeper: good for kids who ask 'how does it work?'. Read by Edoardo Ballerini, Danny Campbell, Bailey Carr, Johnny Heller, Oliver Wyman, 18 min.

Ages 5–9

I am Neil Armstrong

From model planes to the Moon: a natural pick for space-mad kids. Read by Marc Thompson and Various, 23 min.

Ages 6–10

Martin's Big Words

King's own words, read in a deep, warm voice with music; short enough for any evening. Read by Michael Clarke Duncan.

Ages 8–12

Code Girls (Young Readers Edition)

The hidden women who broke enemy codes in WWII; a group biography with puzzles at its heart. Read by Christine Lakin, 6 h 23 min.

Ages 8 and up

Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini

A witty, fuller Houdini biography by a Newbery-winning author who was himself a magician. Read by Taylor Mali and Sid Fleischman, 3 h 29 min. Heads-up: CSM: some peril from death-defying escapes; Houdini dies of a burst appendix, possibly after a punch; tobacco and alcohol mentioned; one…

Ages 8–12

Hidden Figures Young Readers' Edition

Black women mathematicians whose numbers put Americans into space. Read by Bahni Turpin, 4 h 11 min. Heads-up: Racial segregation and Jim Crow laws: the women are barred from 'white' bathrooms and made to sit in segregated lunchrooms. No violence or…

Ages 8–12

Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World

The great Antarctic survival story in under four hours; the whole crew lives. Read by Taylor Mali, 3 h 46 min.

Ages 8–12

Ugly (Robert Hoge)

Funny, frank memoir read by the author about growing up with a facial difference; a natural companion to Wonder. Read by Robert Hoge, 3 h 48 min. Heads-up: Bullying (staring, name-calling, cruel adults); many surgeries, including a nose built from his toe; told with plenty of humour.

Ages 8–12

Ultimate Football Heroes: Ronaldo

From a poor childhood in Madeira to Manchester United, Real Madrid and Portugal; an easy hit for football-loving kids in Portugal. Read by Joe Jameson, 2 h 55 min. Heads-up: Publisher: he 'overcame poverty and childhood illness' in Madeira; otherwise a light football story.

Ages 8–12

Who Is Cristiano Ronaldo?

From Madeira to five Ballon d'Or seasons; a must for football fans living in Portugal. Read by Daniel Galo, 38 min.

Ages 8–12

Who Was Albert Einstein?

A step up from the picture book; includes fun surprises like his trouble at school. Read by Kevin Pariseau, 1 h 2 min.

Ages 8–12

Who Was Anne Frank?

A gentle first introduction to Anne and her diary for the older end of this group. Read by Kevin Pariseau, 44 min. Heads-up: Holocaust: Hitler ended her childhood and the family was forced into hiding; description does not mention her death, but the subject does.…

Ages 8–12

Who Was Ferdinand Magellan?

The Portuguese sailor whose expedition first went all the way round the world. Read by Kevin Pariseau, 1 h 4 min. Heads-up: Death: the three-year voyage cost Magellan his life

Ages 8–12

Who Was Harry Houdini?

Escapes, locks and magic tricks make a car-ride listen that kids ask to replay. Read by Kevin Pariseau, 1 h 18 min.

Ages 9–12

Barracoon

Told in his own words to Zora Neale Hurston: one of the last survivors of the transatlantic slave trade. Short. Read by Robin Miles, 2 h 12 min. Heads-up: Some violence: beatings, murders and cruelty to people and animals; the Middle Passage (hunger, confinement, illness) and families…

Ages 9 and up

First Names: Ferdinand Magellan

Written by a Filipino-born author, so it gives the view from the shore as well as from the ship. Read by Qarie Marshall, 2 h 39 min. Heads-up: Magellan dies in the Philippines before the voyage ends; looks frankly at colonialism and at the people who already lived in the lands he…

Ages 10 and up

Becoming Kareem

A basketball legend's coming-of-age during the civil rights era, read by Kareem himself. Read by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 5 h 48 min. Heads-up: Frequent racial slurs, including the N-word, as he faces racism. Mentions the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. and…

Ages 10 and up

Born to Fly

A nail-biting race story about the women who flew the 1929 Air Derby, with early aviation science woven in. Read by Kim Mai Guest, 6 h 25 min.

Ages 10 and up

Brown Girl Dreaming

The author reads her own Newbery-calibre verse memoir; short, warm and perfect for listening together. Read by Jacqueline Woodson, 3 h 55 min. Heads-up: Growing up Black in the Jim Crow South and 1960s New York; mentions violent reactions to civil rights marchers; deaths of relatives,…

Ages 10 and up

Grace, Gold & Glory

The 2012 Olympic all-around champion on hardship and perseverance. Not an adaptation: written for teens from the start. Libro.fm lists this recording as AI-narrated. Read by Haleakala Wilson, 4 h 16 min. Heads-up: Poverty and homelessness, an often-absent father, bullying at the gym, a coach who told her she needed a nose job. Gym injuries. Christian…

Ages 10 and up

Hana's Suitcase

A short detective-style true story that links a Japanese museum to a Czech Jewish girl; works well for 11 and 13 together. Read by Stephanie Wolfe, 1 h 48 min. Heads-up: Kirkus: deals with 'the horrific effects of the Holocaust on ordinary children'. Hana does not survive; her death is central to the story.

Ages 10 and up

I Am Malala (Young Readers Edition)

A girl their age who stood up to the Taliban for school; a short, gripping listen. Read by Neela Vaswani (Audible also credits Malala Yousafzai), 4 h 53 min. Heads-up: Some violence: Malala is shot by the Taliban, with little gory detail because she remembers nothing of it. The constant threat of…

Ages 10–15

Isaac the Alchemist

Newton as a secretive young alchemist: a short, surprising science story. Read by Steven Crossley, 2 h 36 min. Heads-up: Kirkus flags nothing; Newton's lonely childhood and secret alchemy experiments.

Ages 10 and up

Killers of the Flower Moon (Adapted for Young Readers)

True-crime history: oil-rich Osage families murdered and the early FBI. Group history rather than one life. Read by Kyla Garcia, Jon Lindstrom, Joe Ochman, 7 h 4 min. Heads-up: More than two dozen killings (shootings, poisonings, bombings), told without the goriest details. Domestic abuse: a man hits his wife.…

Ages 10 and up

Lovely One

The first Black woman on the US Supreme Court, read partly by her; long (13h), best for the 13-year-old. Read by Ketanji Brown Jackson and Tyla Collier, 12 h 58 min. Heads-up: A little violence: Jim Crow-era history and murder cases used to explain legal principles. The word 'Negro' in historical context. A…

Ages 10–13

Notorious RBG Young Readers' Edition

A Jewish Brooklyn girl who became a Supreme Court justice and fought sex discrimination; short and lively. Read by Andi Arndt, 2 h 59 min. Heads-up: CSM flags no violence, sex, language or drugs. Includes a plain-English glossary of legal terms.

Ages 10 and up

Surviving Hitler

A short, award-winning camp-survival story centred on a teenager, close to the 13-year-old's age. Read by Aaron Lockman, 2 h 25 min. Heads-up: Publisher blurb: a 15-year-old Polish Jewish boy is taken from his family and sent to the concentration camps, and resolves not to hate…

Ages 10 and up

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (Young Readers Edition)

A teenager builds a windmill from scrap to bring power to his village; engineering made thrilling. Read by Korey Jackson, 6 h 39 min. Heads-up: Famine in Malawi: the family goes hungry and William has to leave school because they cannot pay. No violence, sex, language or drugs.

Ages 10 and up

The Boys in the Boat (Young Readers Adaptation)

Working-class rowers from the Depression take on Hitler's Olympics; a team story the whole family can follow. Read by Mark Bramhall, 5 h 36 min.

Ages 10 and up

The Notorious Benedict Arnold

Reads like an adventure novel about a hero who becomes America's most famous traitor. Read by Mark Bramhall, 6 h 45 min. Heads-up: Revolutionary War battles and covert missions; no specific content warnings on the page read.

Ages 10 and up

Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom

A one-hour first-person account from the youngest Selma marcher, jailed nine times before 15. Read by Damaras Obi, 1 h 1 min. Heads-up: Beatings of children and adults (blood, stitches), people shot and killed, Bloody Sunday photos, police tear gas; racial slurs referred to…

Ages 10 and up

Undefeated (Steve Sheinkin)

A sports underdog story with real stakes: a Native American team beating the elite colleges, told at thriller pace. Read by Mark Bramhall, 6 h 31 min. Heads-up: Some violence (brutal early football, player deaths, fistfights); coach is a heavy smoker, players smoke cigars and sometimes get drunk;…

Ages 11 and up

A Long Walk to Water

Short and powerful: a Lost Boy of Sudan who later brings wells to villages. Partly fictionalised (a second strand is invented), so it is a novel built on his true story. Read by David Baker and Cynthia Bishop, 2 h 41 min. Heads-up: A lot of violence from Sudan's civil war: bombings, burnings, guns and machetes. A child is eaten by a lion, a boy is killed by a…

Ages 11–14

Free Lunch (Rex Ogle)

A sixth-grader's own account of hunger and a violent home; powerful for empathy, but preview it first. Read by Ramón de Ocampo, 5 h 52 min. Heads-up: Poverty and free-lunch stigma; verbal and physical abuse by his mother and stepfather; neglect (he and a toddler left alone for days).…

Ages 11 and up

The Boy on the Wooden Box

The youngest survivor on Schindler's list tells his own story, written for young readers; hopeful as well as hard. Read by Danny Burstein, 4 h 14 min. Heads-up: Holocaust: Jews shot by German soldiers, severe beatings, near-starvation, constant fear of death; his brother forced to exhume mass…

Ages 11 and up

The Diary of a Young Girl

In her own words, a 13-year-old Jewish girl hiding from the Nazis; the original, not an adaptation. Read by Selma Blair (Definitive Edition), 9 h 55 min. Heads-up: Constant fear of discovery, air raids, shooting and break-ins. Anne writes about her growing sexual feelings and about first kisses with…

Ages 11 and up

The Port Chicago 50

Under four hours and a great family discussion starter on courage, fairness and standing together. Read by Dominic Hoffman, 3 h 50 min. Heads-up: Deadly 1944 explosion at a Navy base, not graphic; segregation and racism central; mild-moderate language (hell, damn, one crude phrase,…

Ages 12 and up

Bomb (Steve Sheinkin)

Science, spies and moral weight in one story; the most decorated book on this list. Read by Roy Samuelson, 7 h 11 min. Heads-up: A group history more than a single biography. A lot of violence: graphic descriptions of the dead and wounded after Hiroshima, Pearl…

Ages 12 and up

Charles and Emma

Evolution through a marriage between a scientist and a believer; best for the 13-year-old. Read by Rosalyn Landor, 7 h 38 min. Heads-up: Three of the Darwins' ten children die of illness; Charles's chronic sickness; one 'old ass'. CSM calls it a dry read for many kids.

Ages 12 and up

Into Thin Air

A journalist on the mountain tells how a summit day turned deadly; gripping from the first minute, and full of questions about ambition and judgment. Read by Philip Franklin, 9 h 8 min.

Ages 12 and up

Most Dangerous

Whistleblowing, conscience and a free press: a Pentagon Papers thriller for the 13-year-old end of the band. Read by Ray Porter, 7 h 52 min. Heads-up: A lot of war violence (killing of civilians, torture of POWs) handled with restraint; some salty language (damn, hell, bastard, ass,…

Ages 12 and up

Survivors Club

Written for young readers: the boy carried out of Auschwitz at age 4, and the mother and grandmother who kept him alive. Read by Fred Berman (Michael Bornstein reads the preface and afterword), about 7.5 h. Heads-up: A lot of violence: families made to dig their own graves before being shot, children beaten and executed, an attempted molestation of…

Ages 12 and up

The Boys Who Challenged Hitler

Danish schoolboys who resisted the Nazi occupation; kids the listeners' own age doing something brave. Read by Phillip Hoose and Michael Braun, 4 h 45 min. Heads-up: Teen sabotage of property and weapon theft; talk of killing soldiers, never acted on; a young resistance fighter's suicide (not detailed);…

Ages 12 and up

The Family Romanov

Royal family drama plus the Russian Revolution, with diary voices performed by a full cast. Read by Kimberly Farr, Eugene Alper, Mark Deakins and others, 9 h 23 min. Heads-up: Massacres, executions and pogroms described in detail without gore; three gruesome photos of bodies; heavy smoking and some drunkenness;…

Ages 12 and up

The Hungry Ocean

One of the few women captains in the Atlantic swordfish fleet reads her own account of a month at sea; short, salty and full of weather. Read by Linda Greenlaw, 6 h 3 min.

Ages 12 and up

The Impossible First

Read by the man who dragged a sled alone across Antarctica after burning his legs as a young man; a comeback story told in his own voice. Read by Colin O'Brady, 8 h 38 min.

Ages 12 and up

The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh

A hero who turned out to be a Nazi sympathiser; strong on why heroes need a second look. Best for the 13-year-old. Read by Kirsten Potter, 9 h 38 min. Heads-up: Lindbergh's racism, antisemitism and admiration for Hitler are central; kidnapped child found dead; a sawmill accident severs an arm;…

Ages 12 and up

Unbroken (The Young Adult Adaptation)

Olympic runner, 47 days adrift on a raft, then a POW camp; an epic of endurance best suited to the 13-year-old. Read by Edward Herrmann, 8 h 7 min. Heads-up: A lot of wartime violence: crashes, starvation, executions, the Rape of Nanking, and prisoners beaten, humiliated and tortured. Smoking…

Ages 12 and up

Vincent and Theo

A moving brothers' story about art and loyalty; heavier themes, so better for 13+. Read by Phil Fox, 9 h 29 min. Heads-up: Mental illness; a woman's suicide and Vincent's self-harm (ear, poisoning attempt, shooting), not detailed; brothel visits mentioned; Theo…

Ages 13 and up

Claudette Colvin

The 15-year-old who refused to give up her bus seat before Rosa Parks; a teenager kids that age can relate to. Read by Channie Waites, 3 h 40 min. Heads-up: A teen dragged off a bus by police; mentions of rape, beatings, lynchings, bombings and a teen wrongly sentenced to death; a teen becomes…

Ages 13 and up

Courage to Soar

From foster care to Olympic gold, in an upbeat teen voice; for the 13-year-old. Libro.fm lists this recording as AI-narrated. Read by Imani Parks, 6 h 21 min. Heads-up: A mother with a drug problem who loses custody; foster care and adoption; a student who tries to stab another; self-harm described; a…

Ages 13 and up

Night (Elie Wiesel)

The essential Auschwitz memoir; for the 13-year-old, and only with a parent listening too. Adult original. Read by George Guidall, 4 h 17 min. Heads-up: A lot of terrifying, random, sadistic violence: children thrown into fire, a boy hanged, prisoners shot and beaten, a son killing his…

Ages 14 and up

Black Boy

A boy who reads his way out of hunger and fear; a hard, honest listen for older teens about how hope survives racism. Read by Peter Francis James, 15 h 28 min. Heads-up: Frequent violence: people beaten, shot and killed, children and teens assault each other, racial violence is central. Frequent profanity…

Ages 14 and up

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Angelou reads her own classic memoir in her unmistakable voice; one to listen to with the 14+ teen and talk about afterwards. Read by Maya Angelou, 10 h 11 min. Heads-up: Very upsetting incidents: the rape and molestation of a child (the narrator), threats of racial violence and Klan fear, a dead body in a…

Ages 15 and up

Into the Wild

A young man walks into the Alaskan wilderness and never comes out; it starts a real family argument about freedom, risk and parents. Read by Philip Franklin, 7 h 5 min. Heads-up: Discussion of starvation, hypothermia and poisoning; animals hunted and shot. Some strong language (f--k, s--t, goddamn). The author…

Ages 16 and up

Educated (Tara Westover)

A girl who never went to school teaches herself and ends up at Cambridge; for older teens, a powerful story about choosing your own path. Read by Julia Whelan, 12 h 10 min. Heads-up: A significant storyline of physical abuse by her older brother, described in detail: dragging her by the hair, shoving her head in a…

Adults

Becoming (Michelle Obama)

A Grammy-winning reading by the author, from a small Chicago apartment to the White House; long, but easy to take a chapter at a time. Read by Michelle Obama, 19 h 3 min.

Adults

Born a Crime

Noah does every voice, including his fierce, funny mother; the audio is famous for good reason. Parents can preview before playing it with teens. Read by Trevor Noah, 8 h 44 min.

Adults

Endurance (Alfred Lansing)

The classic telling of 28 men stranded on Antarctic ice for nearly two years with no one lost; the next step after Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World. Read by Simon Prebble, 10 h 21 min.

Adults

Golda Meir: Israel's Matriarch

A short modern adult biography of Israel's only woman prime minister. For the parents or a keen 13-year-old; no kids' audio biography of Golda could be verified. Read by Dina Pearlman, 8 h 54 min.

Adults

Over the Edge of the World

The classic adult account of the voyage, for the parents. Read by Tim Jerome, 15 h 8 min. Heads-up: Mutinies, deaths and political betrayals throughout. The young readers' edition (Roaring Brook 2017) is flagged by Junior Library Guild…

Adults

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!

A Nobel physicist's stories of safecracking, drumming and fixing radios as a boy; a picture of curiosity as a way of life. Parents may want to preview first. Read by Raymond Todd, 11 h 31 min.

Adults

The Wright Brothers

Two bicycle mechanics teach themselves to fly, read by the much-loved historian himself in his warm, grandfatherly voice. Read by David McCullough, 10 h 2 min.