This August we have a diverse collection of new book releases! We have two stories about sisters who find themselves all on different paths. Another is about a trans-Afro-Latinx woman released from a men’s prison after several decades of incarceration, a memoir in verse that gives voice to Black women and girls, and an unlikely romantic pairing. Which titles will you be adding to your reading list?

Walking Gentry Home by Alora Young  – August 02, 2022

In this unique American epic in verse, Alora Young gives voice to her unnamed ancestors. In the process, she retells the stories of Amy, the first of her foremothers to arrive in Tennessee; her great-grandmother Gentry, unhappily married at fourteen; and her mother, a teenage beauty queen, rejected by her white neighbors. Then, we meet Young in the present day as she leaves her childhood behind and enters young adulthood.

Each poem is a story that speaks to generational curses, coming of age, fleeting loves and lasting consequences, and the legacy of slavery in our nation’s psyche.

 

 

Ben and Beatriz by Katalina Gamarra – August 02, 2022

Beatriz Herrera is a fierce biracial queer woman with a sharp tongue and quick wit. She’s incredibly close to her sweet BFF cousin, Hero, and finds that her loyalty to her cousin lands her in the ridiculous Cape Cod mansion of stupid-hot playboy Ben Montgomery. The same Ben Montgomery she should’ve never hooked up with that one time.

Ben is rich, white, and dripping with privilege. But below the surface, he struggles with his conservative family’s politics and expectations. Ben’s hugely attracted to Beatriz’s caustic tongue but knows he’s the last person she’d want. She’d never compromise her identity to please his family. Plus, he’d never even dream of asking Beatriz to.

As their assumptions of one another unravel, they begin to wonder if it’s possible to hope for more.

How to Grow Wings by Rimma Onoseta – August 09, 2022

Cheta is the sharp-tongued sister. Zam is the quiet one. Cheta is stubborn but never shies away from conflict, even if it’s their mother firing off the abuse. Zam flies under the radar, escaping most of their mother’s anger and avoiding her sister as much as possible.

Zam goes to live with their aunt’s luxurious family in a sudden stroke of luck. Jealous, Cheta decides to leave home, but her options will lead her toward a series of terrible decisions. After reuniting, Zam will have Cheta’s fate in her hands.

Set in Nigeria, the story of these two sisters explores classism, colorism, and cycles of abuse.

The Neapolitan Sisters by Margo Candela – August 09, 2022

The Bernal sisters reunite for a wedding and encounter a maelstrom of family secrets. Growing up with an alcoholic father forced each sister to develop unique coping methods, leading them down different paths. Now that they’re reuniting for Maritza’s wedding, they find themselves back in their childhood home in East L.A. They’ll each take steps to understand each other, their parents, and the secrets from their mutual past.

 

 

Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta by James Hannaham – August 30, 2022

Author James Hannaham follows the story of Carlotta, a trans-Afro-Latinx woman released on parole over an epic Fourth of July weekend. Carlotta spent decades in a men’s prison for her involvement in a robbery gone wrong. Throughout the holiday, she finds herself in a different Fort Greene, as the Brooklyn she once knew gentrified into a place unrecognizable. She explores complex relationships with family and friends following her release, navigating the prison system’s relentless injustice at the same time.