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Blessings: A Novel
by Chukwuebuka Ibeh&“Chukwuebuka Ibeh&’s writing has a certain delicacy to it, so wonderfully observant, and so beautiful.&” —Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie, author of AmericanahA powerful portrait of sexual awakening and self-acceptance set in a Nigeria on the brink of criminalizing same-sex relationships.Uzoamaka&’s miracle baby, Obiefuna, arrives after a series of miscarriages. As a young boy, he brings luck to his family and joy to those in his orbit, from the teachers at his school to the ladies getting their hair braided at Uzoamaka&’s salon. But by adolescence, Obiefuna has grown unsure of himself. After his father brings home an apprentice from a nearby village, the lightness Obiefuna feels is quickly dashed when the two are caught sharing a moment of intimacy.Without explanation, Obiefuna is sent off to Christian boarding school, where he must navigate strict codes, hierarchies, and alliances among his new classmates. There, he internalizes the lesson that he must hide his true self, pushing away those who may have otherwise brought him comfort. Back home, Uzoamaka must contend with the absence of her beloved son, her husband&’s cryptic reasons for sending him away, and realizations that were within her all along.Told from the alternating perspectives of Obiefuna and Uzoamaka, as they reach towards a future that will hold them both, Blessings is an elegant rendering of the compromises made in a country that forbids homosexuality and the love that can flourish in spite of them—among friends and partners, but also between a parent and child.
Blessings: A Novel
by Chukwuebuka IbehA MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK • Moonlight meets Purple Hibiscus in this coming of age novel about self-acceptance, sexual awakening, and first love set in a Nigeria on the verge of criminalizing same-sex relationships&“Chukwuebuka Ibeh&’s writing has a certain delicacy to it, so wonderfully observant, and so beautiful.&” —Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author of AmericanahObiefuna has always been the black sheep of his family—sensitive where his father, Anozie, is pragmatic, a dancer where his brother, Ekene, is a natural athlete. But when Obiefuna&’s father witnesses an intimate moment between his teenage son and another boy, his deepest fears are confirmed, and Obiefuna is banished to boarding school.As he navigates his new school&’s strict hierarchy and unpredictable violence, Obiefuna both finds and hides who he truly is. Back home, his mother, Uzoamaka, must contend with the absence of her beloved son, her husband&’s cryptic reasons for sending him away, and the hard truths that they&’ve all been hiding from. As Nigeria teeters on the brink of criminalizing same-sex relationships, Obiefuna&’s identity becomes more dangerous than ever before, and the life he wants drifts further out of reach.Set in post-military Nigeria and culminating in the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act of 2013, Blessings is an elegant and exquisitely moving story that asks how to live freely in a country that forbids one&’s truest self, and what it takes for love to flourish despite it all.
Blizzards and Bullets
by Mere RainRILEY -- Shane has been my favorite person for my entire life. I’ve always loved him, and now I’m in love with him. I know he cares about me, too, but I’m sure he just thinks of me as his best friend’s kid. Now that he’s finished with active duty, he’ll probably start dating, and I’ll have to pretend to be happy for him. At least I’ll have this Christmas vacation with him and my family to look back on. I wasn’t planning to ever tell him how I felt, but now we’re snowed in together and I’m not sure I can hide my feelings. Especially when he holds me and tells me everything will be okay.SHANE -- I devoted my life to the military. The closest thing I have to a family is my best friend and his wife and kids. I would never risk damaging that relationship by making a move on Riley, even though I realized last year that I’m in love with him. He should have someone better, anyway; someone smart and young and happy, like him. I don’t deserve him, especially now that my secrets have put his life in danger. I’ll do anything to keep Riley from being hurt, especially by me. But when he asks me for something I so badly want to give him, can I find the strength to say no?
Blood City Rollers (Blood City Rollers #1)
by V.P. AndersonSkates on. Fangs out. Let&’s roll. This perfectly paranormal graphic novel about a 13-year-old ice skater who embraces the dark side and finds her light when she joins a vampire roller derby team is to die for.Ice-skater Mina is on a one-track path to Olympic gold and glory—that is, until she totally wipes out at her biggest competition, and is kinda-sorta-kidnapped by undead kids on roller skates. Sucked into the high stakes world of Paranormal Roller Derby, she finds herself "recruited" by a squad of vampires who need a human player to complete their team—just in time to save the league from losing it all.Between learning to play derby well enough to kick butt on the track, crushing hard on the dreamy team captain, and navigating the spooky rules of the supernatural, how can Mina go from striving to be a ten alone, to becoming one of nine chaotic bodies forming a perfectly-imperfect team? Forget being the best. Will she be enough to help her new friends survive the season?
Blood Justice (Blood Debts)
by Terry J. Benton-WalkerBlood Justice is the hotly anticipated sequel to Terry J. Benton-Walker's debut Blood Debts.'An extravaganza' Chloe GongCristina and Clement Trudeau have conjured the impossible: justice. Having restored their family's stolen throne, the time has come to look forward to a brighter future for the magical community. But for Valentina Savant, she lost everything and is hellbent on revenge. And lucky for her, she's not the only one. Hateful anti-magic protesters and a ruthless detective with a personal vendetta sabotage their reign at every turn. Worst of all, to protect the boy he loves, Clem has summoned a brutal god that stalks them from the shadows. Shocking murders, disappearances, and new alliances are changing the game forever - and not everyone will survive the final round.'Sings with hope and barely disguised rage'TJ Klune
Blood Justice (Blood Debts)
by Terry J. Benton-WalkerBlood Justice is the hotly anticipated sequel to Terry J. Benton-Walker's debut Blood Debts.'An extravaganza' Chloe GongCristina and Clement Trudeau have conjured the impossible: justice. Having restored their family's stolen throne, the time has come to look forward to a brighter future for the magical community. But for Valentina Savant, she lost everything and is hellbent on revenge. And lucky for her, she's not the only one. Hateful anti-magic protesters and a ruthless detective with a personal vendetta sabotage their reign at every turn. Worst of all, to protect the boy he loves, Clem has summoned a brutal god that stalks them from the shadows. Shocking murders, disappearances, and new alliances are changing the game forever - and not everyone will survive the final round.'Sings with hope and barely disguised rage'TJ Klune
Blood Justice (Blood Debts #2)
by Terry J. Benton-WalkerBlood Justice is the hotly anticipated sequel to Terry J. Benton-Walker’s Most Anticipated debut Blood Debts.Praise for Blood Debts: “A conjuring of magnificence.” —NIC STONE • “A force.” —ROSEANNE A. BROWN • “An extravaganza.” —CHLOE GONG • “Powerful.” —AYANA GRAY • “Sings with hope and rage.” —TJ KLUNE • “An unforgettable thrill ride.” —J. ELLE • “Steeped in magic.” —ALEXIS HENDERSON • “Crackles with mystery and ferocity.” —MARK OSHIROCristina and Clement Trudeau have conjured the impossible: justice. They took back their family’s stolen throne to lead New Orleans’ magical community into the brighter future they all deserve. But when Cris and Clem restored their family power, Valentina Savant lost everything. Her beloved grandparents are gone and her sovereignty has been revoked—she will never be Queen. Unless, of course, someone dethrones the Trudeaus again. And lucky for her, she’s not the only one trying to take them down.Cris and Clem have enemies coming at them from all directions: Hateful anti-magic protesters sabotage their reign at every turn. A ruthless detective with a personal vendetta against magical crime is hot on their tail just as Cris has discovered her thirst for revenge. And a brutal god, hunting from the shadows, is summoned by the very power Clem needs to protect the boy he loves.Cris’s hunger for vengeance and Clem’s desire for love could prove to be their family’s downfall, all while new murders, shocking disappearances, and impossible alliances are changing the game forever. Welcome back to New Orleans, where gods walk among us and justice isn’t served, it’s taken.Most Anticipated from Publishers Weekly, Bookpage, TheGrio, and more!At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Blue Heat: A Portfolio of Poems and Drawings (Sapphic Classic)
by Alexis De VeauxIn 1984, Alexis De Veaux independently published and distributed Blue Heat. Mainstream publishing's interest in work by radical Black women was waning and De Veaux knew that she could reach women with the poems in Blue Heat directly---and she knew they needed these poems.Forty years later, Blue Heat is a Sapphic Classic from Sinister Wisdom with a stunning new introduction and guiding exercises for engaging the poems by Alexis Pauline Gumbs. In Blue Heat, De Veaux insists on survival and encourages risk-taking. In these poems, liberation is necessary, and there is only one means to achieve it: by creating a spark. Blue Heat brings intensity akin to the deepest, hottest part of a flame. Like its namesake, this poetry collection is flammable, igniting courage in its readers, achieving De Veaux goal of kindling a spirit of "power, joy and change" in the Black feminist communities.
A Bluestocking's Guide to Decadence (Lucky Lovers of London #3)
by Jess EverleeLove can make even the most buttoned-up bluestocking come undone…London, 1885A lesbian in a lavender marriage, Jo Smith cuts a dashing figure in pin-striped trousers, working in her bookshop and keeping impolite company. But her hard-earned stability is about to be upended thanks to her husband&’s pregnant paramour, who needs medical attention that no reputable doctor will provide.Enter Dr. Emily Clarke, a tantalizing bluestocking working at a quaint village hospital outside the city. Emily has reservations about getting mixed up in Jo&’s scandalous arrangement, but her flustered, heart-racing response to Jo has her agreeing to help despite herself.There&’s a world of difference between Jo&’s community of underground clubs and sapphic societies and Emily&’s respectable suburbs. Perhaps it&’s a gap that even fervent desire can&’t bridge.But for those bold enough to take the risk, who knows what delicious adventures might be in store…Lucky Lovers of LondonBook 1: The Gentleman's Book of VicesBook 2: A Rulebook for Restless RoguesBook 3: A Bluestocking's Guide to Decadence
Bodies beyond Labels: Finding Joy in the Shadows of Imperial Spain (Toronto Iberic)
by Daniel Holcombe Frederick A. De ArmasBodies beyond Labels explores moments of joy and joyful expressions of self-identity, intimacy, sexuality, affect, friendship, social relationships, and religiosity in imperial Spanish cultures, a period when embodiments of such joy were shadowed by comparatively more constrictive social conventions. Viewed in this manner, joy frames historic references to gender, sexuality, and present-day concepts of queerness through homoeroticism, non-labelled bodies, gender fluidity, and performativity. This collection reveals diverse glimmers of joy through a variety of genres, including plays, poems, novels, autobiographies, biblical narratives, and civil law texts, among others. The book is divided into five categories: theatrical works that use mythology to enjoy themes of homoeroticism; narrative prose and visual arts that reveal public and private homoerotic expressions; scopophilia within garden and museum spaces that make possible joyous observations of non-labelled and non-corporeal bodies; biblical narratives and epistolary works that signal religious transgressions of gender and friendship; and sexual geographies explored in historic and legal documents. As new generations develop more nuanced senses of gender and sexual identities, Bodies beyond Labels strives to provide new academic optics, as framed by non-labelled bodies, queer theorizations, joy in unexpected places, and the light that has historically (re)emerged from the shadows.
The Bone Spindle: Book 3 (The Bone Spindle #3)
by Leslie VedderTwo fighting partners. One monstrous prince. A last battle. The finale of The Bone Spindle, a fractured fairy tale based on Sleeping Beauty, with a m/f and a f/f romance. Perfect for fans of CINDERELLA IS DEAD.With Prince Briar Rose's life on the line as he slowly turns into a monster at the hands of the Spindle Witch, treasure hunter Fi must escape from a tower to rescue him.Meanwhile, her axe-wielding partner Shane is on the hunt for a mysterious weapon that holds the key to the Spindle Witch's demise. But Shane must also protect her lover, the beautiful witch Red, from the Spindle Witch's executioner.As tensions rise and partnerships crumble, Fi and Shane need to work together again, putting their treasure hunting skills to the test at the greatest lost ruin of them all - the tomb of the Witch Queen Aurora.Will they finally unravel the thread that ties them all together and defeat the Spindle Witch and her twisted creatures once and for all?Packed with kick-ass fight scenes and featuring two romantic storylines, this retelling of Sleeping Beauty is the spectacular finale to The Bone Spindle.
The Bone Spindle: Book 3 (The Bone Spindle #3)
by Leslie VedderTwo fighting partners. One monstrous prince. A last battle. The finale of The Bone Spindle, a fractured fairy tale based on Sleeping Beauty, with a m/f and a f/f romance. Perfect for fans of CINDERELLA IS DEAD.With Prince Briar Rose's life on the line as he slowly turns into a monster at the hands of the Spindle Witch, treasure hunter Fi must escape from a tower to rescue him.Meanwhile, her axe-wielding partner Shane is on the hunt for a mysterious weapon that holds the key to the Spindle Witch's demise. But Shane must also protect her lover, the beautiful witch Red, from the Spindle Witch's executioner.As tensions rise and partnerships crumble, Fi and Shane need to work together again, putting their treasure hunting skills to the test at the greatest lost ruin of them all - the tomb of the Witch Queen Aurora.Will they finally unravel the thread that ties them all together and defeat the Spindle Witch and her twisted creatures once and for all?Packed with kick-ass fight scenes and featuring two romantic storylines, this retelling of Sleeping Beauty is the spectacular finale to The Bone Spindle.
A Botanical Daughter
by Noah MedlockMexican Gothic meets The Lie Tree by way of Oscar Wilde and Mary Shelley in this delightfully witty horror debut.A captivating tale of two Victorian gentlemen hiding their relationship away in a botanical garden who embark on a Frankenstein-style experiment with unexpected consequences.It is an unusual thing, to live in a botanical garden. But Simon and Gregor are an unusual pair of gentlemen. Hidden away in their glass sanctuary from the disapproving tattle of Victorian London, they are free to follow their own interests without interference. For Simon, this means long hours in the dark basement workshop, working his taxidermical art. Gregor&’s business is exotic plants – lucrative, but harmless enough. Until his latest acquisition, a strange fungus which shows signs of intellect beyond any plant he&’s seen, inspires him to attempt a masterwork: true intelligent life from plant matter.Driven by the glory he&’ll earn from the Royal Horticultural Society for such an achievement, Gregor ignores the flaws in his plan: that intelligence cannot be controlled; that plants cannot be reasoned with; and that the only way his plant-beast will flourish is if he uses a recently deceased corpse for the substrate.The experiment – or Chloe, as she is named – outstrips even Gregor&’s expectations, entangling their strange household. But as Gregor&’s experiment flourishes, he wilts under the cost of keeping it hidden from jealous eyes. The mycelium grows apace in this sultry greenhouse. But who is cultivating whom?Told with wit and warmth, this is an extraordinary tale of family, fungus and more than a dash of bloody revenge from an exciting new voice in queer horror.
Boundaries of Queerness: Homonationalism and Racial Politics in Sweden (Gender, Sexuality and Global Politics)
by Katharina KehlOver recent decades, LGBTQ people have successfully fought for civil and reproductive rights across Western states, including the right to marry, have children and serve openly as public servants and in the armed forces. Internationally, states have started to use their stance on homonormativity to position themselves as progressive. This book provides new insights into the role played by race, sexuality, and gender by analysing contemporary constructions of Swedishness through LGBTQ rights by using three specific case studies:• a “pride parade” organised by the Swedish populist right;• Swedish Armed Forces’ marketing material;• a social media account by and for racialised LGBTQ people.
The Boy Who Fell From the Sky
by Benjamin DeanCombining the warmth and heart of Ross Welford&’s The 1,000 Year Old Boy with the epic adventure and inseparable friendship of Frank Cottrell Boyce&’s Cosmic comes an otherworldly new middle grade adventure from the award-winning Benjamin Dean. Twelve-year-old Zed has always been fascinated by the Demons that fall from the sky. His whole life his dad has worked as a Hunter, tasked with eliminating Demons once and for all, and Zed hopes to one day follow in his footsteps. But then one night Spark appears and disrupts everything Zed thought he knew. Because this Demon is nothing like the myths – he&’s a frightened boy, no older than Zed, who wants to go back home. Can Zed stand up for what&’s right, even if it means going against his own family?Praise for Benjamin Dean: &‘Warm-hearted and cheering, with a dash of sparkle&’ – Guardian 'A life-affirming, must-read' – The Independent 'The novel wears its heart on its sleeve, and it is a very big heart' – Financial Times 'Funny, fresh and full of heart' – Katie Tsang, co-author of DRAGON MOUNTAIN &‘Vibrant, funny and wise – a book to savour&’ – Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of THE GIRL OF INK AND STARS 'A joyful and thoughtful celebration of family, identity and inclusivity' – Anna James, author of the PAGES & CO. series
The Boyfriend Fix
by Lee PiniRenowned surgeon Ben McNatt is up for the job of his dreams, and when he gets it, he&’ll be the youngest chief of neurosurgery in his hospital&’s history. His success rate is flawless, but his perceived lack of compassion is hurting his chances. He&’s always viewed relationships as a distraction, but a loving partner might change his colleagues&’ ideas about his heartlessness. He&’ll do whatever it takes for this promotion—even pretend to date. The natural choice for his fake boyfriend is the cute guy at the coffee shop. Jamie Anderson is in student loan debt up to his eyeballs. He has three roommates, and not in a quirky found-family way. He works sixty hours a week as a barista, and his boss won&’t stop hitting on him. He&’s even given up on love. He makes do with fantasies about the hot doctor that comes in for coffee every day like clockwork. A fake relationship might solve Jamie&’s handsy boss problem too. And there&’s no way it will lead to real feelings when that&’s the last thing either of them wants. So why are they having so much trouble convincing themselves they aren&’t falling for each other?
The Boyfriend Subscription
by Steven SalvatoreEqual parts sizzling, sweet and irresistibly fresh, Steven Salvatore&’s The Boyfriend Subscription is the LGBTQIA+ Pretty Woman rom-com fans have been waiting for.What happens when a simple deal gets…complicated?After losing his marriage and his beloved retail plant business, Teddy Hughes is ready to drown his sorrows—or would be, if he could afford another beer in his favorite dive bar. He has no choice but to uproot his dreams and leave New York for good. And then a gorgeous stranger walks in with cheekbones that could cut glass and a confidence that leaves Teddy panting.Like the leather harness he wears under his designer suit, Cole Vivien is a mass of contradictions. He&’s a successful entrepreneur whose app, VERSTL, allows consumers and sex workers to form real—if temporary—connections. But now Cole is in the unfamiliar position of needing something from someone else. A fake boyfriend can help Cole project a more traditional image for a potential investor. And Teddy—shy, smart and so much hotter than he knows—is perfect for the part. Maybe too perfect.Cole just has two conditions: no kissing and no falling in love. In exchange for one week together, Teddy will get enough money to get back on his feet, and no messy feelings will be in the mix.But some rules are made to be broken…From showing up to glowing up, these characters are on the path to leading their best lives and finding sizzling romance along the way.Don&’t miss these other fun titles from Afterglow Books:The (Fake) Dating Game by Timothy JanovskyThe Bookbinder&’s Guide to Love by Katherine GarberaThe Devil in Blue Jeans by Stacey KennedyFrenemy Fix-Up by Yahrah St. JohnManila Takes Manhattan by Carla de GuzmanFake Flame by Adele BuckOut of Office by A.H. Cunningham
Breaking the Curse: A Memoir about Trauma, Healing, and Italian Witchcraft
by Alex DiFrancescoA tour de force of narrative nonfiction, a reimagining of the self-help genre, and a brave memoir about mystical forces, trauma, trans life, and how we must heal ourselves to survive.For readers of memoirs by Elliot Page (Pageboy) and Elissa Washuta (White Magic), and fans of writers like Carmen Maria Machado, Samantha Hunt, and Chavisa Woods.In Breaking the Curse, Alex DiFrancesco takes their own crushing experiences of assault, addiction, and transphobic violence as the starting point for a journey to self-reclamation. Reeling in the aftermath of a rape that played out as painfully in public as in private, DiFrancesco begins to pursue spirituality in earnest, searching for an ancestral connection to magic as a form of protection and pathway to transformation. Propelled by a knowledge of the spiritual role of the transgender person in society, Alex winds through Cleveland and Brooklyn and Philly—from rehab and pagan AA meetings and friends&’ spare mattresses to tarot readers and books about Italian witchcraft to daily ritual, prayer, altar-making, and folk tradition. In so doing, they begin to not only piece together a way to heal but also call into existence a life that finally feels worth living. Breaking the Curse weaves spells, blasphemous novenas, and personal memories to imagine a new memoir form. Speaking about trauma does not always take its power away, DiFrancesco reminds us, but one can write their truth so that the hurt no longer fills the whole horizon."'I see this world as few others do,' writes Alex DiFrancesco, and thank goodness for that. In their memoir, Breaking the Curse, DiFrancesco offers readers a mesmerizing vision of this world and the workings of trauma, gender identity and magic within it. A spell-binding work."—Molly Roden Winter author of More: A Memoir of Open Marriage
The Breakup Lists
by Adib KhorramLove is more complicated than &“boy meets boy&” in bestselling author Adib Khorram&’s sharply funny new romantic comedy, set in the sordid world of high school theaterJackson Ghasnavi is a lot of things—a techie, a smoothie afficionado, a totally not obsessive list-maker—but one thing he&’s not is a romantic. And why would he be? He&’s already had a front row seat to his parents&’ divorce and picked up the pieces of his sister Jasmine&’s broken heart one too many times.No, Jackson is perfectly happy living life behind the scenes—he is a stage manager, after all—and keeping his romantic exploits limited to the breakup lists he makes for Jasmine, which chronicle every flaw (real or imagined) of her various and sundry exes.Enter Liam: the senior swim captain turned leading man that neither of the Ghasnavi siblings stop thinking about. Not that Jackson has a crush, of course. Jasmine is already setting her sights on him and he&’s probably—no, definitely—straight anyway.So why does the idea of eventually writing a breakup list for him feel so impossible?
Breaststrokes
by Margaux VialleronA novel on consent told in five acts over the course of one weekend. Cloe and Gertrude and the Jenkins-Bell sisters, Mathilde and Sarah, have never met. They are strangers who share a city. It is Sunday morning. Cloe has woken-up in someone else&’s home; Gertrude starts her shift in the pub kitchen, while Mathilde and Sarah are on their way to lunch. Soon, these four women&’s lives will overlap. Saturday felt like a normal day, but on Sunday the past will catch-up with them as they realise that there never is only one side to a story.Sharply observed and painfully relatable, Breaststrokes is a novel that seems to emerge from the haze of our current time. This story of unexpected encounters and intimacies is perfect for fans of Cleopatra and Frankenstein and Beautiful World, Where Are You.
Breathe: Journeys to Healthy Binding
by Maia Kobabe Sarah PeitzmeierA graphic guide to chest binding with real-life stories and research-backed advice from bestselling Gender Queer author MAIA KOBABE and University of Michigan professor SARAH PEITZMEIER. Breathe arose from the need for a resource for folks considering chest binding as gender-affirming care. Dr. Peitzmeier interviewed twenty-five people of different ages and backgrounds about their journeys with binding, and then she and Kobabe combined excerpts from those interviews with evidence-based resources on binding into this extremely accessible guide. Breathe is both a practical resource for trans and nonbinary folks and an engaging and perspective-broadening read for anyone interested in what it means to be on a journey of expressing one&’s gender in ways that are joyful, healthy, and affirming.
Bridging Hope (Bridging Hearts)
by Greyson McCoyWhen workaholic Pierce Simms&’s sister passes, he suddenly finds himself unemployed, back in the hometown he fled, and raising his niece and nephew. Despite that, he&’s confident he has things under control—at least until his sister&’s high-school sweetheart shows up. With his teaching grant ended, Dalton O&’Dell is at loose ends and tight purse strings. Just as the world crashes down on him, he learns his ex-girlfriend has passed and named him guardian of her two young children. Chaos ensues when he and her brother, Pierce, are forced together to raise the toddlers in Pierce&’s family farmhouse. Nestled in the enchanting beauty of the farm, Pierce and Dalton bond over the challenges of co-parenting and their shared grief as unexpected love blossoms. Love might not be enough, however, if they can&’t learn to bridge the gap between their different worlds and overcome the trauma of their pasts.
The Broken Heart
by Aaron ChanA younger sister tries to put her brother&’s heart back together after his boyfriend breaks up with him—a touching story of how to support a loved one who&’s grieving.Stephanie loves to fix broken things, but when her older brother Cody walks in and says his heart is broken, she&’s not sure how to fix it. All the pieces of his heart are spread out, Cody tells her. So Stephanie sets off to track them down by going to Cody&’s high school, the movie theater, the beach—all places that were special to Cody and his ex-boyfriend. Still, even with all the pieces, Stephanie&’s not sure she can fix Cody&’s broken heart—but maybe she can help him heal.
Broughtupsy: A Novel
by Christina CookeAt once cinematic yet intimate, Broughtupsy is an enthralling debut novel about a young Jamaican woman grappling with grief as she discovers her family, her home, is always just out of reachTired of not having a place to land, twenty-year-old Akúa flies from Canada to her native Jamaica to reconnect with her estranged sister Tamika. Their younger brother Bryson has recently passed from sickle cell anemia—the same disease that took their mother ten years prior—and Akúa carries his remains in a small wooden box with the hope of reassembling her family.Over the span of two fateful weeks, Akúa and Tamika visit significant places from their childhood, but time spent with her sister only clarifies how different they are, and how years of living abroad have distanced Akúa from her home culture. "Am I Jamaican?" she asks herself again and again. Beneath these haunting doubts lie anger and resentment at being abandoned by her own blood. "Why didn&’t you stay with me?" she wants to ask Tamika.Wandering through Kingston with her brother's ashes in tow, Akúa meets Jayda, a brash stripper who shows her a different side of the city. As the two grow closer, Akúa confronts the difficult reality of being gay in a deeply religious family, and what being a gay woman in Jamaica actually means.By turns diasporic family saga, bildungsroman, and terse sexual awakening, Broughtupsy is a profoundly moving debut novel that asks: what do we truly owe our family, and what are we willing to do to savor the feeling of home?
Bugsy & Other Stories
by Rafael FrumkinFrom the author of Confidence and The Comedown comes a wildly imaginative story collection about queerness, neurodivergence, sexuality, and self-discovery. Frumkin&’s latest book is a deliciously entertaining collection of five genre-defying stories that range from downright hilarious to brilliantly unhinged. Taken together, they celebrate a wide variety of human experiences. In the title story, a queer young adult with bipolar disorder drops out of college in a fog of depression, aimlessly drifting between maintaining their job at a fast food restaurant and dodging their mom&’s texts. But when they fall in with a group of sex workers starring in BDSM films, they find radical freedom, love, and community. In other stories, we meet a psychiatrist whose meticulously-maintained life is upended by an Alex Trebek-like voice in his head, an e-girl celebrity who is being courted by a delusional fan, a young boy on the spectrum at odds with a neurotypical world determined to &“cure&” him, and an elderly woman whose consciousness is being transformed by her oncoming death. With incredible insight, compassion, and honesty, Frumkin unravels each story with tantalizing precision. Sexy and raw—and compulsively readable—this collection offers a look at our innermost selves as we all try to make sense of the world and our place in it.