The Door of No Return

By: Kwame Alexander

Narrated by: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

From the Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award winning author Kwame Alexander, comes the first book in a searing, breathtaking trilogy that tells the 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!

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Kwame Alexander (P)2022 Little, Brown Young Readers

Critic reviews

"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 best-selling 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)

One of Kwame’s Best!

I loved this book! It was not at all what I expected, but certainly exceeded my expectations.

Powerful and heart wrenching

It took me a minute to get into it at first, but once I was in, I was hooked. Kwame Alexander is an amazing storyteller. I have an almost 11 year old son, so to hear this from an 11 year old boy’s perspective was both beautiful and heartbreaking. The narration was outstanding and frankly wowed me. The voices were so distinct and different. Well done, all around. Highly recommend.

I love The Ending!

It read like poetry! The words flowed and the Reader sounded quite authentic. I was pleasantly surprised by the uplifting ending, since this period of time leaves very little to smile about. Making associations with other publications about the power of African people like The People Could Fly and familiar stories like Anansi pulled the young readers in and made the story that much more believable! It was a delightful yet Enlightening piece of historical fiction, most worthy of recommendation.

Powerful and Quotable

This book was so powerful, I will be purchasing a hard copy of it. I want to see all these beautiful words on the page. A novel-in-prose, the audiobook is performed exquisitely. The music, language, energy, symbolism, and narrative structure are artfully done. We need more stories like this. Thank you, Kwame Alexander. (I believe this is the first of a trilogy, in which case I cannot wait for the 2nd and 3rd tomes.)

Amazing!

This story was tragically beautiful. It took on new meaning for me as I tracked to Akra, Ghana this summer and visited the castles. I will never be the same. I will be better! Ase

The narrator was phenomenal!!

Excellence All Around

No only will the words be classic, so too will the performance! This is surely a must listen!

Beautiful and heartbreaking

I loved seeing the world of Kofi through his eyes. It is only learning of through richness of his life can I process all he lost.

Powerful

Beautiful sharing of heartbreaking story of incredible words to share a powerful perspective too often ignored and/or silenced.

Another one!

This is another great work by Kwame Alexander. He seems to get more creative and bolder with each new venture into the taboo topics he challenges his readers to face.

Ancestral Song & Praise

Kwame Alexander is a master storyteller! But this!!As I read and listened to this work, I could hear the ancestors’ response to Alexander’s powerful call, “We are a great people.” I can’t wait to share this experience with my 6th Grade English students. It is what we all need to hear right now.