About the Book
2022 Audie Award Winner!
Six critically acclaimed, bestselling, and award-winning authors bring the glowing warmth and electricity of Black teens in love to this charming, hilarious, and heartwarming novel that shines a bright light through the dark. This full-cast audio edition is performed by Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Dion Graham, Imani Parks, Jordan Cobb, Shayna Small, A.J Beckles, and Audible Hall-of-Famer Bahni Turpin.
A summer heatwave blankets New York City in darkness. But as the city is thrown into confusion, a different kind of electricity sparks...
A first meeting.
Long-time friends.
Bitter exes.
And maybe the beginning of something new.
When the lights go out, people reveal hidden truths. Love blossoms, friendship transforms, and new possibilities take flight.
Beloved authors--Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon--celebrate the beauty of six couples and the unforgettable magic that can be found on a sweltering starry night in the city.
About the Author :
Nicola Yoon is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything and The Sun Is Also a Star, both of which have been adapted into major motion pictures. She is a National Book Award finalist, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book recipient, and a Coretta Scott King New Talent Award winner. She's also co-publisher of Joy Revolution, a Random House young adult imprint focused on love stories starring people of color.
Tiffany D. Jackson is the New York Times bestselling author of Allegedly, Monday's Not Coming, Let Me Hear a Rhyme, Grown, White Smoke, The Weight of Blood, and The Scammer. A Margaret A. Edwards Award and Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe New Talent Award winner, the Brooklyn native is splitting her time between the South and the borough she loves. You can visit her at writeinbk.com
Angie Thomas is the author of the award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling Nic Blake and the Remarkables series, The Hate U Give, On the Come Up, and Concrete Rose as well as Find Your Voice: A Guided Journal for Writing Your Truth. She is also a coauthor of the bestselling collaborative novels Blackout and Whiteout. A former teen rapper who holds a BFA in creative writing, Angie divides her time between her native Mississippi, and Atlanta. You can find her online at angiethomas.com.
Dhonielle Clayton is the New York Times bestselling author of the Belles series and The Marvellers and the coauthor of The Rumor Game and the Tiny Pretty Things duology, which was made into a Netflix original series. She is COO of the nonprofit We Need Diverse Books and the owner of Cake Creative.
Nic Stone is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the William C. Morris Award finalist Dear Martin, NAACP Image Award finalist Dear Justyce, Dear Manny, Chaos Theory, and Clean Getaway and the Shuri novel series with Marvel Comics. You can find her online at nicstone.info.
Ashley Woodfolk is the award-winning author of over ten books including the highly acclaimed novels The Beauty That Remains, When You Were Everything, and Nothing Burns As Bright As You. A publishing professional for over a decade, Ashley is now a full-time mom and writer who spends the majority of her time drinking coffee, running after her children, and making up stories she sometimes writes down. She lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
Shayna Small is an actress, singer, and educator based in New York, where she received her BFA in Drama from the Juilliard School. She has worked across a variety of media including theater, film and tv, music and voice-over.
Jordan Cobb is a New York City-based actress, voice-over artist, and writer. She is the founder of the audio fiction company No Such Thing Productions and has been featured in over two dozen fictional podcasts. She has narrated over a dozen audiobooks, including New York Times bestsellers Roseanne A. Brown's A Song of Wraiths and Ruin duology and Kalynn Bayron's This Poison Heart duology. When she isn't comfortably settled behind the mic, you can usually find her up on stage, or buried under paper and ink. Nicole Small (a.k.a. Shayna Small) is an actress/singer born and raised in Chicago. In the middle of her freshman year of high school she relocated to Baltimore to attend a performing arts school. She holds a BFA in drama at the Juilliard School. Her theater credits include Hurt Village and The Threepenny Opera.
Joniece Abbott-Pratt has narrated many audiobooks for children, young adults, and adults. She has won several AudioFile Earphones Awards and in 2021 was a finalist for the prestigious Audie Award for Best Fantasy Narration. She earned an MFA degree in acting from the University of Iowa and has performed on regional theater stages across the country, including the Public Theater in New York City. She has also appeared on television shows, including The Good Fight, Law and Order: SVU, Luke Cage, and Orange Is the New Black, and has voiced commercials and projects for US Bank, Johnson & Johnson, and others.
Bahni Turpin has guest starred in many television series, including NYPD Blue, Law & Order, Six Feet Under, and Cold Case. Her film credits include Brokedown Palace and Crossroads. She has won numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and three prestigious Audie Awards.
Imani Parks is a voice talent and Earphones Award-winning narrator.
Dion Graham is an award-winning narrator named a "Golden Voice" by AudioFile magazine. He has been a recipient of the prestigious Audie Award numerous times, as well as Earphones Awards, the Publishers Weekly Listen Up Awards, IBPA Ben Franklin Awards, and the ALA Odyssey Award. He was nominated in 2015 for a Voice Arts Award for Outstanding Narration. He is also a critically acclaimed actor who has performed on Broadway, off Broadway, internationally, in films, and in several hit television series. He is a graduate of Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts, with an MFA degree in acting.
Review :
"An easy, entertaining summer read, with each author taking advantage of the premise to write into the underserved space of Black young adult rom-com."
-- "Horn Book Magazine"
"In Blackout, young Black love with all its insecurities, mistakes, emotion, honesty, and humanity makes for a lush read."
-- "NPR"
"Readers in search of joyful stories of young Black love will adore Blackout."
-- "BookPage (starred review)"
"There's plenty to smile, sigh, or swoon at here, and readers will happily keep the lights on to see these charming romances to the end."
-- "Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)"
"This beautiful collaboration hits different from your typical romance novel, ultimately evoking the warmth of greater connection, community, and belonging."
-- "Booklist (starred review)"
"This joyful anthology brings a wonderful elation to stories of Black love, queer love, and alternative forms of affection."
-- "Publishers Weekly (starred review)"
