By Cassie Baudouin
Hello everyone, welcome back! Happy New Year! With every new year, there’s a fresh set of new releases coming out. Everyone knows about the big ones: Sarah J. Maas, “Brandy Sandy,” Taliah Hibert, Stephen King, Taylor Jenkins Reid, etc. Good for them, cool, they’re loved by many! But I’d love to shed some light on some that you might have no idea about at all. From fiction to nonfiction, I’ve got another set of rapid-fire pitches coming your way!
“The Prophets” by Robert Jones Jr. (January 5) – Adult
This is about two young men, enslaved on a plantation in the deep south who find refuge in each other. Their relationship was normal to them, and everyone else, until a fellow slave sought to seek the favor of a slave master by spreading the gospel, and the enslaved started to turn on their own. Jones’ prose is compared to the likes of Toni Morrison and James Baldwin.
“Across the Green Grass Fields” by Seanan McGuire (January 12) – YA
This isn’t exactly underrated, but I’m excited so I’m throwing it in here anyway. The sixth installment in The Wayward Children’s Series. This one is unrelated to the last five, an actual stand-alone, and takes place in a completely new portal world with a new protagonist. I’m hearing centaurs and kelpies.
“The Rib King” by Ladee Hubbard (January 19) – Adult
Set in the early 20th century, August Sitwell works for a wealthy white family, along with “Miss Mamie,” the talented cook, and others that Mr. Barclay has taken in to “civilize.” The Barclay family falls on hard times and decides to sell Miss Mamie’s rib sauce with the brand name “The Rib King” using a caricature of August. Neither of them agree, and neither of them will see any money from the sales. Hubbard explores the fascination with black iconography and the exploitation that defined black stereotypes.
“Girl A” by Abigail Dean (February 2) – Adult
Lex Gracie’s identity in her parent’s House of Horrors was Girl A, the girl who escaped. She helped free her siblings, her father never made it out, and her mother spent her life behind bars. She has to stop running from her past when her mother dies in prison and leaves the house to her. Her and her siblings want to turn the house into a force for good, but first they have to come to terms with each other, and the childhood that they shared.
“Roman and Jewel” by Dana L. Davis (January 5) – YA
When a video of Jerzie and Zepp rehearsing together goes viral, the whole world weighs in on who should play the lead role. Jerzie learns just how high a price fame is. This is being pitched as “If ‘Romeo and Juliet’ got the ‘Hamilton’ treatment. Star-crossed love with the mess and inner workings of a Broadway theatre company as the backdrop.
“Of Woman and Salt” by Gabriela Garcia (March 30) – Adult
Daughter of Cuban immigrant, Carmen, Jeannette, is battling addiction. She wants to learn more about her family and makes the snap decision to take in a young girl whose mother was just detained by ICE. Carmen is still grappling with her own issues with her own mother and displacement. Jeanette decides to travel to Cuba to see her grandmother, searching for familial answers, and secrets that eventually erupt.
“Detransition, Baby” by Torrey Peters (January 12) – Adult
Reese’s life is pretty much perfect. The only thing missing is a baby. But when her girlfriend detransitions and becomes Ames, everything falls apart. Ames isn’t happy either. He thought detransitioning would make things easier, but it only resulted in him losing everything. When his new lover gets pregnant, he thinks this might be an opportunity for the three of them to raise this baby as an unconventional family.
“Ariadne” by Jennifer Saint (May 4) – Adult
If you’re at all familiar with Greek mythology, you probably know the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. This is a retelling of that story. If you read “Circe” by Madeline Miller, you might remember Circe’s sister, Pasiphae, had a daughter with King Minos: Ariadne. She first had a son, the Minotaur. Saint retells the story of Ariadne and Thesus in the palace in Crete, and how she grapples with the decision to betray Crete or sacrifice herself for her lover’s ambition.
“Darling” by K. Ankrum (June 22) – YA
A modern “Peter Pan”, thriller retelling in Chicago. That’s it, that’s the tweet.
“The Final Revival of Opal & Nev” by Dawnie Walton (March 30) – Adult
“Afropunk before that term existed.” When singer/songwriter Neville Charles discovers her at a bar’s amateur night, Opal takes him up on his offer to make rock music together for Rivington Records. In 70’s New York, a rival band of their label brandishes a confederate flag at a promotional concert. Opal’s bold protest and the violence that proceeds changes everything. Held up as a reminder that repercussions are always worse for women, particularly black women, who speak up.
“Let’s Get Back to the Party” by Zak Salih (February 16) – Adult
Weeks after the Supreme Court marriage equality ruling, Sebstian wants to settle down. He runs into his childhood best friend Oscar at a wedding, and sees this as a second chance. However, Oscar sees the ruling as a death to gay culture, an assimulation to heteronormativity. Both get into cross-generational relationships with other people, and will have to reckon with each other and themselves.
“Milk Blood Heat” by Dantiel W. Moniz (February 2) – Adult
An anthology collection delving into “the ordinary worlds of young girls, women, and men who find themselves confronted by extraordinary moments of violent personal reckoning.” Casting a light on the nature of family, faith, consumption, and what we might owe each other.
“Homo Irrealis: Essays” by Andre Aciman (January 19)
An essay collection on what the present tense means to artists. Meditations on poets, poetry, the lives and work of Sigmund Freud, Constantine Cavafy, portraits of cities like Alexandria and St. Petersburg… Called, “a deep reflection of the imagination’s power to shape our memories under time’s seemingly intractable hold.” I’ve made public statements about this-I’d read this man’s grocery list… Next!
“A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance” by Hanif Abdurraqib
(March 10)
A detailed description of black performance in America and how it has been at the forefront and foundation of American culture. From Merry Clayton wailing “rape, murder” on The Rolling Stone’s rendition of “Gimme Shelter” to Josephine Baker’s speech, “I was a devil in other countries, but I was a little devil in America, too.”
Fourteen books to get excited for in 2021. And there’s so much more! This is barely a spec on the top of the mountain of releases coming out. I didn’t even touch the second half of the year. Happy reading, everyone! Stay safe, wash your hands, where your mask over your nose, smile at a stranger, all that jazz.
Goodreads:
Cass https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/107994654-cass
