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A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe Audiobook
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Publisher Description
A powerful, genre-bending mosaic of fiction and poetry that celebrates the humanity, grace, and resilience of teenage New Yorkers riding out the pandemic—from the award-winning author of Chlorine Sky
“We found out what true longing looked like. Longing for crushes to crush back the week after next. Longing for hugs. Longing for connection.”
As New York goes into lockdown and neighborhoods begin to feel the brunt of the pandemic, the city’s teens persevere with love and hope amidst all the fear and loss. Malachi writes an Armageddon short story inspired by his new reality. Tariq helps their ailing grandmother survive quarantine. Zamira struggles with depression and loneliness after losing her parents. Mohamed tries to help keep his community spirit alive.
Mahogany L. Browne’s unforgettable, interconnected short stories and poems remind us to breathe as these New York City teens discover their will to survive, their determination to dream, and their joy.
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“The book boasts memorable characters and beautiful writing—especially the poems. It is singularly relevant in its unsparing examination of the plague and its impact on young lives.”
— Booklist (starred review)
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“A gorgeous, tender testament to the generation of young people who shouldered the pandemic.”
— Brendan Kiely, New York Times bestselling author
Awards
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Longlisted for the National Book Award
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Finalist for the Audie Award for Best Ensemble Narration
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A School Library Journal Best Book of 2025
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A Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Pick of 2025's Best Books
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A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
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About Mahogany L. Browne
Mahogany L. Browne is a writer, play-wright, organizer, and educator. She was a named a Kennedy Center Next 50 fellow. Founder of the diverse lit initia-tive Woke Baby Book Fair, she is the 2024 winner of the Paterson Poetry Prize. She is the inaugural poet in residence at the Lincoln Center.
About the Narrators
Ron Butler is a Los Angeles–based actor, Earphones Award–winning audiobook narrator, and voice artist with over a hundred film and television credits. Most kids will recognize him from the three seasons he spent on Nickelodeon’s True Jackson, VP. He works regularly as a commercial and animation voice-over artist and has voiced a wide variety of audiobooks. He is a member of the Atlantic Theater Company and an Independent Filmmaker Project Award winner for his work in the HBO film Everyday People.
Andrea Emmes is an actress and audiobook narrator. She started as a SAG-AFTRA equity actor and has been performing for over twenty years on stage, TV, and film. She is an Audible Approved Narrator known as “the Girl with a Thousand Voices,” her wide range of character voices and dynamic, emotionally invested performances has reviewers and listeners alike commenting on how she effortlessly pulls listeners in, has versatility and charisma, and is quite suited for young adult literature. She has won the LA Music Award for Best Contemporary Christian Artist for her 2008 debut release album I’m On My Way.” She earned an AA in fine arts and a BS in art and design.
Adenrele Ojo is an actress, dancer, and audiobook narrator, winner of over a dozen Earphones Awards and the prestigious Audie Award for best narration in 2018. She made her on-screen debut in My Little Girl, starring Jennifer Lopez, and has since starred in several other films. She has also performed extensively with the Philadelphia Dance Company. As the daughter of John E. Allen, Jr., founder and artistic director of Freedom Theatre, the oldest African American theater in Pennsylvania, is no stranger to the stage. In 2010 she performed in the Fountain Theatre’s production of The Ballad of Emmett Till, which won the 2010 LA Stage Alliance Ovation Award and the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award for Best Ensemble. Other plays include August Wilson’s Jitney and Freedom Theatre’s own Black Nativity, where she played Mary.
Suehyla El-Attar Young is an actress and writer based in Atlanta, Georgia. She dabbled in radio for a bit, working with several well-known stations as a morning news personality and DJ. Eventually, she returned to acting, on stage and in film. She has nurtured both crafts of acting and writing, working with local companies such as Theatre du Reve, Synchronicity Theatre, the Alliance Theatre Company, and Horizon Theatre Company as dramaturge, actress, and playwright on several projects.
Ron Butler is a Los Angeles–based actor, Earphones Award–winning audiobook narrator, and voice artist with over a hundred film and television credits. Most kids will recognize him from the three seasons he spent on Nickelodeon’s True Jackson, VP. He works regularly as a commercial and animation voice-over artist and has voiced a wide variety of audiobooks. He is a member of the Atlantic Theater Company and an Independent Filmmaker Project Award winner for his work in the HBO film Everyday People.
Tara Sands is an American actress, television host, and voice talent who has won numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards for narration. She is former cohost of Fridays on the Cartoon Network. In addition to performing in plays and musicals, her voice can be heard on numerous commercials, audiobooks, cartoons, and video games.
Bleak December Inc. is a multimedia company founded by Canadian actor and filmmaker Anthony D.P. Mann.