The Door of No Return

Author Kwame Alexander
Narrator Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
Publisher Hachette Audio
Publish Date 27 September 2022
Run Time 3 hours and 35 minutes
Format Audio
Genre Children’s / Teenage fiction: Action and adventure stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: General fiction, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Historical fiction, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Stories in verse, Children’s / Teenage general interest: Places and peoples, Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Prejudice and intolerance, Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Racism.

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What to expect

From the Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award winning author Kwame Alexander, comes a searing and breathtaking story of a boy, a village, and the epic odyssey of an African family.

In his village in Upper Kwanta, 11-year-old Kofi loves his family, playing oware with his grandfather and swimming in the river Offin. He’s warned though, to never go to the river at night. His brother tells him ”There are things about the water you do not know. “Like what?" Kofi asks. “The beasts.” His brother answers.

One fateful night, the unthinkable happens and in a flash, Kofi’s world turns upside down. Kofi soon ends up in a fight for his life and what happens next will send him on a harrowing journey across land and sea, and away from everything he loves.

This spellbinding novel by the author of The Crossover and Booked will take you on an unforgettable adventure that will open your eyes and break your heart.

The Door of No Return is an excellent choice for independent reading, sharing in the classroom, book groups, and homeschooling.

An instant #1 New York Times Bestseller!

Critics Review

"Absolutely spellbinding: Kwame Alexander weaves together storytelling, poetry, music and history like no one else can. An unforgettable journey to be treasured and shared across generations.”—Rick Riordan, New York Times bestselling author of the Percy Jackson series

“Kwame Alexander's story, The Door of No Return, humanizes the experience of the people who knew the flavors of freedom long before they knew the sting of slavery. Alexander lures you in and endears you to Kofi and his world in a way that has you fully invested in time and place. Alexander seems to trust the heaviness of history to hold its own, and so he is able to tell a story with such a lightness of foot which only further emphasizes that weight of history that is undeniable and irrevocable. His writing is at once vivid and simple, lyrical and surgical, expressive and exacting, comforting and cutting. It hypnotizes and sobers, hypnotizes and sobers, in a rhythm as timeless as the talking drum that carries the tales of his people: Kum-PUM PUM! Kum-PUM PUM! I wish this book existed alongside Huckleberry Finn when I was in school. I am glad it exists now!” —Lupita Nyong’o, Actress and Author

"Alexander turns the nightmare of the past into an epic story for all times and all people. The Door of No Return is a breathtaking, heartbreaking triumph and an instant classic."—Lev Grossman, New York Times bestselling author of The Magicians

Author	Kwame Alexander
Narrator	Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
Duration	3 hours and 35 minutes
Release Date	27 September 2022
ISBN	9781668610770
Format	Audiobook
Publisher	Hachette Audio
Genre	Children’s / Teenage fiction: Action and adventure stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: General fiction, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Historical fiction, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Stories in verse, Children’s / Teenage general interest: Places and peoples, Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Prejudice and intolerance, Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Racism
Availability	US

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