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We Do!: American Leaders Who Believe in Marriage Equality
by Jennifer Baumgardner and Madeleine M. Kunin&“The encouraging story of American acceptance of gay marriage and the roles that politicians—gay and straight—have played in that history&” (The Philadelphia Tribune). Through speeches, interviews, and commentary, this book chronicles the road toward marriage equality in the United States, edited by former Vermont governor Madeleine Kunin and author and activist Jennifer Baumgardner. &“Baumgardner and Kunin have compiled the writings and public pronouncements of public officials and other figures on the issue of marriage equality . . . This book will serve as a resource for what was said about the struggle.&” —New York Journal of Books &“Detail[s] the politicians out there who are good-hearted, decent and basically worth knowing about.&” —Detroit Metro Times &“Compiles speeches, interviews and commentary from 1977 through 2013, in which an array of political leaders . . . voice their unconditional support for the queer citizens of the US in their quest for same-sex marriage rights.&” —Bay Area Reporter &“Highlights the path politicians have taken from Harvey Milk of San Francisco in 1977 until now, to advance the cause of marriage equality.&” —Sun News Miami &“Powerful . . . As Vermont&’s governor, Madeleine Kunin was a leader on gay rights years before it was fashionable and years before our state became the first in the country to allow civil unions and, later, gay marriage without a court order. The struggle for gay rights in Vermont was very difficult, divisive, and acrimonious. If you talk to young people today about gay rights or gay marriage, they ask, What was the big deal? Madeleine and Jennifer Baumgardner remind us what a big deal it was and how important it is.&” —Bernie Sanders &“The gay marriage movement, like all civil rights movements, began with individuals telling the truth about who they are to a world that doesn&’t accept them. It ends with an entire generation of young people who reject blatant civil rights discrimination . . . We Do! triumphantly chronicles this recent chapter.&” —New Pages Included on the American Library Association&’s Over the Rainbow Project Book List
We Do What We Do in the Dark: 'A haunting study of solitude and connection' Meg Wolitzer
by Michelle Hart'A beautiful book so filled with sharp longing and perfectly phrased vulnerability that I read it in a reverent hush' Torrey Peters, author of Detransition, BabyMallory sees the woman for the first time at her college gym and is immediately transfixed. As a naturally reserved person who is now reeling from the loss of her mother, Mallory finds herself compelled by the woman's assurance, and longs to know her better. Despite the discovery that she is a professor at the college, Mallory finds herself falling into a complicated love affair with the woman, the stakes of which she never quite understands.In the years that follow, Mallory must come to terms with how the relationship shaped her, for better or worse, and learn to become a part of the world that she sacrificed for the sake of a woman she never truly knew.In this enthralling debut novel, the complexities of influence, obsession, and admiration reveal how desire and its consequences can alter the trajectory of a life.'A gorgeous storyteller, Hart is gifted with a poet's precision, blending image and idea. Sensual and wise, this novel channels the melancholic exhilaration of dangerous love' - Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage'Guaranteed to wow' Oprah Daily
We Do What We Do in the Dark: 'A haunting study of solitude and connection' Meg Wolitzer
by Michelle Hart'A beautiful book so filled with sharp longing and perfectly phrased vulnerability that I read it in a reverent hush' Torrey Peters, author of Detransition, BabyMallory sees the woman for the first time at her college gym and is immediately transfixed. As a naturally reserved person who is now reeling from the loss of her mother, Mallory finds herself compelled by the woman's assurance, and longs to know her better. Despite the discovery that she is a professor at the college, Mallory finds herself falling into a complicated love affair with the woman, the stakes of which she never quite understands.In the years that follow, Mallory must come to terms with how the relationship shaped her, for better or worse, and learn to become a part of the world that she sacrificed for the sake of a woman she never truly knew.In this enthralling debut novel, the complexities of influence, obsession, and admiration reveal how desire and its consequences can alter the trajectory of a life.(P) 2022 Penguin Audio
We Do What We Do in the Dark: A Novel
by Michelle Hart&“An unforgettable account of a forbidden romance.&” – Nicole Dennis-Benn, author of Patsy &“Moving and memorable.&” – Meg Wolitzer, author of The Female Persuasion &“Sensual and wise.&” – Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage &“Will remind readers of Sally Rooney&’s work… This is auspicious and breathtaking.&” – Publishers Weekly *STARRED review*A novel about a young woman&’s life-altering affair with a much older, married woman.Mallory is a freshman in college when she meets the woman. She sees her for the first time at the university&’s gym, immediately entranced by this elegant, older person, whom she later learns is married and works at the school. Before long, they begin a clandestine affair. Self-possessed, successful, brilliant, and aloof, the woman absolutely consumes Mallory, who is still reeling from her mother&’s death a few months earlier. Mallory retreats from the rest of the world and into a relationship with this melancholy, elusive woman she admires so much yet who can never be fully hers, solidifying a sense of solitude that has both haunted and soothed her as long as she can remember. Years after the affair has ended, Mallory must decide whether to stay safely in this isolation, this constructed loneliness, or to step fully into the world and confront what the woman meant to her, for better or worse. This simmering, unsettling debut novel reveals the consequences of desire and influence, portraying two women whose lives have been transformed by love, loss, and secrecy.
We Found Love
by Kade Boehme Allison CassattaIt's no surprise Riley Connors is dealing with issues. He was kidnapped as a young boy, and his parents abandoned him after his newsworthy return. He bounced from foster home to facility and back. Now an adult, ghosts from his past continue to haunt him. After a suicide attempt, he is locked away in Hartfield so that people can make him tune in to emotions he has tried to bury. Hunter Morgan had the kind of love that spans ages. But the stress of college and adulthood became too much to handle, and the love of Hunter's life turned to drugs. After he overdoses, Hunter finds himself soaring out of control on the same miserable path. His brother finds him and calls an ambulance, and the sister Hunter would rather not have calls it a suicide attempt, landing Hunter in Hartfield. Finding love isn't easy, but it can happen under the most dire circumstances. Together Hunter and Riley may be able to grow from their pain. But they will need to learn to live for themselves, letting love come second.2015 Rainbow Awards Best Gay Book Runner-Up
We Got the Beat
by Jenna Miller"Charmingly wry and sharply perceptive. An ode to first love, complicated friendships, and the messy joy of rewriting your own story." —Becky Albertalli, New York Times bestselling author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens AgendaJordan Elliott is a fat, nerdy lesbian and the first junior to be named editor in chief of the school newspaper. Okay, that last part hasn’t happened yet, but it will. It’s positive thinking that has gotten Jordan this far. Ever since Mackenzie West, her friend-turned-enemy, humiliated her at the start of freshman year, Jordan has thrown herself into journalism and kept her eyes trained on the future.So it’s a total blow when Jordan discovers that she not only didn’t get the editor in chief spot, but she’s been assigned the volleyball beat instead. And who is the star and newly crowned captain of the volleyball team? Mackenzie West. But words are Jordan’s weapon, and she has some ideas about how to exact a long-awaited revenge on her nemesis. Then things get murky when forced time together has Mack and Jordan falling back into their friendship and into something more. And when Mack confesses the real reason she turned on Jordan freshman year, it has Jordan questioning everything—past, present, and future.If Jordan lets her guard down and Mack in, will she get everything she wants, or will she be humiliated all over again?
We Had to Remove This Post
by Hanna BervoetsWHAT IS “NORMAL”?WHAT IS “RIGHT”?AND WHO GETS TO DECIDE?To be a content moderator is to see humanity at its worst—but Kayleigh needs money. So she takes a job working for a social media platform whose name she isn’t allowed to mention. Her task: review offensive videos and pictures, rants and conspiracy theories, and decide which need to be removed. It’s grueling work. Kayleigh and her colleagues spend all day watching horrors and hate on their screens, evaluating them with the platform’s ever-changing moderating guidelines. Yet Kayleigh is good at her job, and she finds in her colleagues a group of friends—even a new girlfriend—and for the first time in her life, her future seems bright.But soon the job seems to change them all, shifting their worlds in alarming ways. How long before the moderators’ own senses of right and wrong begin to bend and flex?From one of the most acclaimed Dutch writers of her generation, We Had to Remove This Post is a chilling, powerful, and urgent literary masterpiece about who or what determines our worldview, who sets the boundaries, and just how much a person can be asked to accept.
We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir
by Samra HabibHow do you find yourself when the world tells you that you don't exist? <P><P>Samra Habib has spent most of her life searching for the safety to be herself. As an Ahmadi Muslim growing up in Pakistan, she faced regular threats from Islamic extremists who believed the small, dynamic sect to be blasphemous. From her parents, she internalized the lesson that revealing her identity could put her in grave danger. <P><P>When her family came to Canada as refugees, Samra encountered a whole new host of challenges: bullies, racism, the threat of poverty, and an arranged marriage. Backed into a corner, her need for a safe space--in which to grow and nurture her creative, feminist spirit--became dire. The men in her life wanted to police her, the women in her life had only shown her the example of pious obedience, and her body was a problem to be solved. <P><P>So begins an exploration of faith, art, love, and queer sexuality, a journey that takes her to the far reaches of the globe to uncover a truth that was within her all along. A triumphant memoir of forgiveness and family, both chosen and not, We Have Always Been Here is a rallying cry for anyone who has ever felt out of place and a testament to the power of fearlessly inhabiting one's truest self.
We Make It Better: The LGBTQ Community and Their Positive Contributions to Society
by Eric Rosswood Kathleen Archambeau&“For all LGBTQ teens and young adults, this book will help inspire and empower you to become your best selves.&” —Dustin Lance Black, Academy Award-winning screenwriter, Milk LGBT history is as old as history itself. We Make It Better profiles people, places, and events that show just how awesome and inspiring the LGBT community is. They have served their country, served in office, pushed for the protection of human rights, and impacted all fields of study, sport, art and industry. We Make It Better offers biographies of some of the most famous thinkers and changers in history from Bayard Rustin, Alan Turing, Dr. Sally Ride, and Oscar Wilde to present-day innovators and world-changers such as Billie Jean King, Jason Collins, Ellen DeGeneres, Tim Cook, the Wachowski sisters, Sir Ian McKellen and more. But more than a &“who&’s who&” of LGBT history, We Make It Better is also a vibrant chronicle of the events in history in which the LGBT community came together to fight for equality and to save lives. Learn how they united during the HIV/AIDs crisis, fought for marriage equality, protested discrimination, and pushed for progressive change throughout the years. Places and cultures important to the LGBT community are also proudly profiled in this enlightening mix of biographies, history, and memorable quotes.Includes photos
We Met in Dreams
by Rowan McallisterIn Victorian London, during a prolonged and pernicious fog, fantasy and reality are about to collide—at least in one man’s troubled mind. A childhood fever left Arthur Middleton, Viscount Campden, seeing and hearing things no one else does, afraid of the world outside, and unable to function as a true peer of the realm. To protect him from himself—and to protect others from him—he spends his days heavily medicated and locked in his rooms, and his nights in darkness and solitude, tormented by visions, until a stranger appears. This apparition is different. Fox says he’s a thief and not an entirely good sort of man, yet he returns night after night to ease Arthur’s loneliness without asking for anything in return. Fox might be the key that sets Arthur free, or he might deliver the final blow to Arthur’s tenuous grasp on sanity. Either way, real or imaginary, Arthur needs him too much to care. Fox is only one of the many secrets and specters haunting Campden House, and Arthur will have to face them all in order to live the life of his dreams.
We Mostly Come Out at Night: 15 Queer Tales of Monsters, Angels & Other Creatures
by Rob CostelloAn empowering cross-genre YA anthology that explores what it means to be a monster, exclusively highlighting trans and queer authors who offer new tales and perspectives on classic monster stories and tropes. Be not afraid! These monsters, creatures, and beasties are not what they appear. We Mostly Come Out at Night is a YA anthology that reclaims the monstrous for the LGBTQA+ community while exploring how there is freedom and power in embracing the things that make you stand out. Each story centers on both original and familiar monsters and creatures—including Mothman, Carabosse, a girl with thirteen shadows, a living house, werebeasts, gorgons, sirens, angels, and many others—and their stories of love, self-acceptance, resilience, and empowerment. This collection is a bold, transformative celebration of queerness and the creatures that (mostly) go bump in the night. Contributors include editor Rob Costello, Kalynn Bayron, David Bowles, Shae Carys, Rob Costello, H.E. Edgmon, Michael Thomas Ford, Val Howlett, Brittany Johnson, Naomi Kanakia, Claire Kann, Jonathan Lenore Kastin, Sarah Maxfield, Sam J. Miller, Alexandra Villasante, and Merc Fenn Wolfmoor.
We Now Return to Regular Life
by Martin Wilson<P>The Face on the Milk Carton meets The Impossible Knife of Memory in this ripped-from-the-headlines novel that explores the power of being an ally—and a friend—when a kidnapped boy returns to his hometown. <P>Sam Walsh had been missing for three years. His older sister, Beth, thought he was dead. His childhood friend Josh thought it was all his fault. They were the last two people to see him alive. Until now. Because Sam has been found, and he’s coming home. Beth desperately wants to understand what happened to her brother, but her family refuses to talk about it—even though Sam is clearly still affected by the abuse he faced at the hands of his captor. <P>And as Sam starts to confide in Josh about his past, Josh can’t admit the truths he’s hidden deep within himself: that he’s gay, and developing feelings for Sam. And, even bigger: that he never told the police everything he saw the day Sam disappeared. <P> As Beth and Josh struggle with their own issues, their friends and neighbors slowly turn on Sam, until one night when everything explodes. Beth can’t live in silence. Josh can’t live with his secrets. And Sam can’t continue on until the whole truth of what happened to him is out in the open. <P>For fans of thought-provoking stories like The Face on the Milk Carton, this is a book about learning to be an ally—even when the community around you doesn’t want you to be.
We Play Ourselves: A Novel
by Jen SilvermanAfter a humiliating scandal, a young writer flees to the West Coast, where she is drawn into the morally ambiguous orbit of a charismatic filmmaker and the teenage girls who are her next subjects.&“A blistering story about the costs of creating art.&”—O: The Oprah Magazine (LGBTQ Books That Will Change the Literary Landscape)Not too long ago, Cass was a promising young playwright in New York, hailed as &“a fierce new voice&” and &“queer, feminist, and ready to spill the tea.&” But at the height of all this attention, Cass finds herself at the center of a searing public shaming, and flees to Los Angeles to escape—and reinvent herself. There she meets her next-door neighbor Caroline, a magnetic filmmaker on the rise, as well as the pack of teenage girls who hang around her house. They are the subjects of Caroline&’s next semidocumentary movie, which follows the girls&’ clandestine activity: a Fight Club inspired by the violent classic. As Cass is drawn into the film&’s orbit, she is awed by Caroline&’s ambition and confidence. But over time, she becomes troubled by how deeply Caroline is manipulating the teens in the name of art—especially as the consequences become increasingly disturbing. With her past proving hard to shake and her future one she&’s no longer sure she wants, Cass is forced to reckon with her own ambitions and confront what she has come to believe about the steep price of success.
We Set the Dark on Fire (We Set the Dark on Fire)
by Tehlor Kay MejiaIn this daring and romantic fantasy debut perfect for fans of The Handmaid’s Tale and Latinx authors Zoraida Córdova and Anna-Marie McLemore, society wife-in-training Dani has a great awakening after being recruited by rebel spies and falling for her biggest rival. <p><p>At the Medio School for Girls, distinguished young women are trained for one of two roles in their polarized society. Depending on her specialization, a graduate will one day run a husband’s household or raise his children. Both paths promise a life of comfort and luxury, far from the frequent political uprisings of the lower class. <p><p>Daniela Vargas is the school’s top student, but her pedigree is a lie. She must keep the truth hidden or be sent back to the fringes of society.vAnd school couldn’t prepare her for the difficult choices she must make after graduation, especially when she is asked to spy for a resistance group desperately fighting to bring equality to Medio. <p><p>Will Dani cling to the privilege her parents fought to win for her, or will she give up everything she’s strived for in pursuit of a free Medio—and a chance at a forbidden love?
We Set the Night on Fire: Igniting the Gay Revolution
by Martha ShelleyMartha Shelley didn't start out in life wanting to become a gay activist, or an activist of any kind. The daughter of Jewish refugees and undocumented immigrants in New York City, she grew up during the Red Scare of the late 1940s and 1950s, was inspired by the civil rights and anti–Vietnam War movements that followed, and struggled with coming out as a lesbian at a time when being gay made her a criminal. Shelley rose to become a public speaker for the New York chapter of the lesbian rights group the Daughters of Bilitis, organized the first gay march in response to the Stonewall Riots of 1969, and then cofounded the Gay Liberation Front. She coproduced the newspaper Come Out!, worked on the women's takeover of the RAT Subterranean News, and took a central role in the Lavender Menace action to confront homophobia in the women's movement.Martha Shelley's story is a feminist and lesbian document that gives context and adds necessary humanity to the historical record.
We Shall Be Changed
by Alexandra CaluenBenny Schneider has lived in Las Vegas for a lot of years, working in medical billing for the past fifteen. In February 2021, he runs into new friend Dorian Weathers at the supermarket and they start a conversation that goes in some unexpected directions.Dori’s seen a lot during his years of working as a hospital orderly, but hit the wall after eight months of coping with a pandemic. Now staying with a longtime friend, he’s been offered a free apartment in Los Angeles and help with tuition to level up his career. When Benny offers a room in his own house instead, Dori gets a vision of what might be possible.By the end of that first conversation, it’s clear they’ll be housemates with benefits. Over the months that follow, they grow closer. Benny’s twenty years older and he’s been through a change that even most of his friends don’t know about. Before long, Dori wants everything Benny is, was, and ever will be.With the support of their friends and the freedom of drag, they’re determined to embrace a new change. Can they carry it into the future along with everything else they are?
We Should Not Be Friends: The Story of a Friendship
by Will SchwalbeA NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • A warm, funny, irresistible memoir that follows an improbable and life-changing college friendship over the course of forty years—from the best-selling author of The End of Your Life Book Club • &“A rare view of male friendship.&”—NPR&“Moving…salted with Schwalbe&’s well-established literary intelligence and a palpable empathy.&” —The New York Times Book ReviewBy the time Will Schwalbe was a junior at college, he had already met everyone he cared to know: the theater people, writers, visual artists and comp lit majors, and various other quirky characters including the handful of students who shared his own major, Latin and Greek. He also knew exactly who he wanted to avoid: the jocks. The jocks wore baseball caps and moved in packs, filling boisterous tables in the dining hall, and on the whole seemed to be another species entirely, one Will might encounter only at his own peril. All this changed dramatically when Will collided with Chris Maxey, known to just about everyone as Maxey. Maxey was physically imposing, loud, and a star wrestler who was determined to become a Navy SEAL (where he would later serve for six years). Thanks to the strangely liberating circumstances of a little-known secret society at Yale, the two forged a bond that would become a mainstay of each other&’s lives as they repeatedly lost and found each other and themselves in the years after graduation. From New Haven to New York City, from Hong Kong and Panama to a remarkable school on an island in the Bahamas—through marriages and a divorce, triumphs and devastating losses—We Should Not Be Friends tracks an extraordinary friendship over decades of challenge and change. Schwalbe&’s marvelous new work is, at its heart, a joyful testament to the miracle of human connection—and how if we can just get past our preconceptions, we may find some of our greatest friends.
We Think The World of You
by J. R. Ackerley P. N. FurbankWe Think the World of You combines acute social realism and dark fantasy, and was described by J.R. Ackerley as "a fairy tale for adults." Frank, the narrator, is a middle-aged civil servant, intelligent, acerbic, self-righteous, angry. He is in love with Johnny, a young, married, working-class man with a sweetly easygoing nature. When Johnny is sent to prison for committing a petty theft, Frank gets caught up in a struggle with Johnny's wife and parents for access to him. Their struggle finds a strange focus in Johnny's dog--a beautiful but neglected German shepherd named Evie. And it is she, in the end, who becomes the improbable and undeniable guardian of Frank's inner world.
We Three (Lorimer Real Love)
by Markus Harwood-JonesJasbina "Jassie" Dhillon is at summer camp to address concerns over her struggles at school and her lack of close friends. To Jasbina's surprise, she quickly makes two new friends, Ams and Sydney. Jassie realizes she has romantic feelings for both of them, and is upset until Ams and Syd tell Jassie they want to be with her too. The three spend their time at camp working out their relationship. As camp gets close to ending, Syd proposes that they run away together. Ams feels they should just end their relationship. In this high-low YA romance, Jassie must find the courage to convince her partners that their love can survive in the real world. Distributed in the U.S by Lerner Publishing Group
We Three Kings
by A. F. HenleyChicago 1982 is a goldmine for the construction industry, and Eric and his two business partners are thriving. Once living as struggling orphans in a Catholic boys' home, they've overcome poverty and abuse to obtain success. Now living the lives they once only dreamed of, they're sure of one thing: they will never look back.Then the past returns, by way of a cheap polyester suit and a smile Eric has never forgotten, and all the dark memories come crashing back. Lucky for him, Jimmy has no idea who Eric is, or who Eric used to be.
We, Too, Must Love
by Ann AldrichA literary lesbian landmark that &“will transport today&’s readers . . . to the 1950s homosexual scene&” (Marcia M. Gallo, author of Different Daughters). Three years after the publication of her groundbreaking 1955 bestseller, We Walk Alone, Ann Aldrich expanded on her journalistic portraits of lesbian subcultures in and around New York, in We, Too, Must Love. Inspired by the hundreds of letters she received by women from around the country (many reprinted here), Aldrich tackled questions of class division; explored the diverse careers lesbians held; guided readers through the social cliques and bar scenes; set the record straight on gay stereotypes; observed the differences among the &“Village,&” &“Uptown,&” and Brooklyn lesbian communities; and hinted at the growing consciousness that would fuel later lesbian and gay rights movements. We Walk Alone and We, Too, Must Love are, in effect, &“indispensable guides to a hidden world&” (Advocate.com). &“Simultaneously intimate and investigative, subjective and discerning&” (UTNE Magazine), &“Aldrich touched innumerable lives and gave hope to lesbians mired in a harsh and ignorant era. Read these books to learn what it was like back then, what we believed and how we made a start in the struggle against prejudice.&” —Ann Bannon, author of The Beebo Brinker Chronicles
We Unleash the Merciless Storm (We Set the Dark on Fire)
by Tehlor Kay MejiaIn this nail-biting sequel to Tehlor Kay Mejia’s critically acclaimed fantasy novel We Set the Dark on Fire, La Voz operative Carmen is forced to choose between the girl she loves and the success of the rebellion she’s devoted her life to.Perfect for fans of The Handmaid’s Tale and Anna-Marie McLemore.Being a part of the resistance group La Voz is an act of devotion and desperation. On the other side of Medio’s border wall, the oppressed class fights for freedom and liberty, sacrificing what little they have to become defenders of the cause. Carmen Santos is one of La Voz’s best soldiers. She spent years undercover, but now, with her identity exposed and the island on the brink of a civil war, Carmen returns to the only real home she’s ever known: La Voz’s headquarters.There she must reckon with her beloved leader, who is under the influence of an aggressive new recruit, and with the devastating news that her true love might be the target of an assassination plot. Will Carmen break with her community and save the girl who stole her heart—or fully embrace the ruthless rebel she was always meant to be?
We Walk Alone
by Ann AldrichThe 1950s queer-life groundbreaker by &“a literary pioneer . . . [who] forever changed perceptions of same-sex love and desire&” (Advocate.com). Ann Aldrich flung a provocative assertion at her readers in 1955 when she opened her landmark account of lesbian life in New York City by saying this book was the &“result of fifteen years of participation in society as a female homosexual.&” After the release of We Walk Alone, Aldrich became both a heroine and a scapegoat in some of the period&’s most contentious public debates over what exactly &“lesbian culture&” was. Her non-fiction pulp literally transformed the landscape overnight, and &“the effect on women was electric. From every corner of creation, they wrote wrenching letters of relief and gratitude&” (Ann Bannon, author of The Beebo Brinker Chronicles). Part Kinsey-esque portraits of real people, part you-are-there reports on the scene in bars and offices and at clubs and house parties, We Walk Alone is revealing and compelling composite of an alienated yet amazingly self-aware community—one that Aldrich would revisit three years later in We, Too, Must Love. Today, &“these essential cultural artifacts&” (UTNE Magazine), as Stephanie Foote explains in her afterword, are &“as rich and conflicted a look at the formation of lesbian urban culture as that of any contemporary queer historian.&”
We Were Promised Spotlights
by Lindsay SproulHopuonk, Massachusetts, 1999 Taylor Garland's good looks have earned her the admiration of everyone in her small town. She's homecoming queen, the life of every party, and she's on every boy's most-wanted list. <p><p> People think Taylor is living the dream, and assume she'll stay in town and have kids with the homecoming king--maybe even be a dental hygienist if she's super ambitious. But Taylor is actually desperate to leave home, and she hates the smell of dentists' offices. Also? She's completely in love with her best friend, Susan. <p> Senior year is almost over, and everything seems perfect. Now Taylor just has to figure out how to throw it all away. Lindsay Sproul's debut is full of compelling introspection and painfully honest commentary on what it's like to be harnessed to a destiny you never wanted.
We Were the Universe: A novel
by Kimberly King ParsonsA MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2024A young mother, in denial after the death of her sister, navigates the dizzying landscapes of desire, guilt, and grief in this darkly comic, highly anticipated debut novel from Kimberly King Parsons, author of the story collection, Black Light (long-listed for the National Book Award)."Kimberly King Parsons sings the lushest, cruelest, kindest, weirdest, darkest and most hilarious songs on paper; I want to hang these sentences in my house and admire them like the interdimensional multisensory illuminated artworks they truly are." —Karen Russell, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of Swamplandia!The trip was supposed to be fun. When Kit&’s best friend gets dumped by his boyfriend, he begs her to ditch her family responsibilities for an idyllic weekend in the Montana mountains. They&’ll soak in hot springs, then sneak a vape into a dive bar and drink too much, like old times. Instead, their getaway only reminds Kit of everything she&’s lost lately: her wildness, her independence, and—most heartbreaking of all—her sister, Julie, who died a few years ago.When she returns home to the Dallas suburbs, Kit tries to settle in to her routine—long afternoons spent caring for her irrepressible daughter, going on therapist-advised dates with her concerned husband, and reluctantly taking her mother&’s phone calls. But in the secret recesses of Kit&’s mind, she&’s reminiscing about the band she used to be in—and how they&’d go out to the desert after shows and drop acid. She&’s imagining an impossible threesome with her kid&’s pretty gymnastics teacher and the cool playground mom. Keyed into everything that might distract from her surfacing pain, Kit spirals. As her already thin boundaries between reality and fantasy blur, she begins to wonder: Is Julie really gone?Neon bright in its insight, both devastating and laugh-out-loud funny, We Were the Universe is an ambitious, inventive novel from a revelatory new voice in American fiction—a fearless exploration of sisterhood, motherhood, friendship, marriage, psychedelics, and the many strange, transcendent shapes love can take.