“Both of Bechdel’s memoirs, this and Are You My Mother? are darkly funny and ultimately touching stories of trying to love and understand your parents to love and understand yourself.” – Robin (staff)
CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED, NATIONAL BESTSELLER Time Magazine #1 Book of the Year • National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist • Winner of the Stonewall Book Award • Double finalist for the Lambda Book Award • Nominated for the GLAAD Media Award Alison Bechdel’s groundbreaking, bestselling graphic memoir that charts her fraught relationship with her late father.
Distant and exacting, Bruce Bechdel was an English teacher and director of the town funeral home, which Alison and her family referred to as the “Fun Home.” It was not until college that Alison, who had recently come out as a lesbian, discovered that her father was also gay. A few weeks after this revelation, he was dead, leaving a legacy of mystery for his daughter to resolve.
In her hands, personal history becomes a work of amazing subtlety and power, written with controlled force and enlivened with humor, rich literary allusion, and heartbreaking detail.
Banned Books Week celebrates the resilience of literature, the fact that often the same books that are challenged and banned are, in other circumstances, recommended, proudly displayed, and most importantly, read and enjoyed.
Not every book is for every reader, but look closely at those who think they should get to decide across-the-board what’s appropriate for everyone. Increased book banning efforts, and new legislation have created an atmosphere that chills. Make no mistake. This is about control – control over what young people can read, learn, and even think. (Although no one can ban thoughts – yet.)
Until recently most book challenges were brought by parents or community members concerned about specific books, but in the last few years book bans have become a state-sponsored agenda in which multiple titles are being challenged at the same time, often cavalierly.
“These efforts to chill speech are part of the ongoing nationwide ‘Ed Scare’ — a campaign to foment anxiety and anger with the goal of suppressing free expression in public education,” write the authors of PEN America’s Banned in the USAreport. “As book bans escalate, coupled with the proliferation of legislative efforts to restrict teaching about topics such as race, gender, American history, and LGBTQ+ identities, the freedom to read, learn, and think continues to be undermined for students.”
Book banning is also happening in public libraries. The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom documents a record number in the more than 20 years they have been tracking book banning efforts. “ALA recognizes all of the brave authors whose work challenges readers with stories that disrupt the status quo and offer fresh perspectives on tough issues,” said the president of ALA. “Closing our eyes to the reality portrayed in these stories will not make life’s challenges disappear.”
Last year over 40% of all book bans occurred in school districts in Florida. But if you aren’t a K-12 student looking for The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, I Am Ruby Bridges, a picture book about Ruby’s life, or any one of thousands of other titles, you might not believe book bans happen here.
They do.
And always, kids are the real losers. The very child who may need a book to find a character just like them, to know they’re not alone, loses that chance. They lose the chance to read widely. They lose the chance to discover, to find out, to question.
What about the teachers and librarians whose jobs are threatened, who can lose their pensions? How do we protect them? The fear is palpable. “I’ve worked 35 years to bring books and young readers together,” a visiting school librarian from another district told us. “And now I can lose my pension if I don’t comply. Well, I’m not going to do it. I’m going to keep standing up for the kids. It’ll be hard if I lose my job and pension but I’ll figure out another way to earn a living.” Another told us, “I just close my classroom door and continue teaching the way I always have, by bringing in the best books I can. And if the day comes when I can’t teach that way, I’ll quit. I hate to lose my pension. I’ve worked long and hard for that. But I’m not going to give in to this craziness.”
But how many can afford to say that?
What about here in Key West?
Key West is not Florida. This is commonly heard among those of us living in the Keys, especially in Key West. We feel isolated not only geographically but also politically from anything we find alarming on the mainland. Life can be good in the Key West bubble but it’s important to not lose track of what’s happening in our own back yard.
We understand that during the past summer recess, media specialists in the district were required to go through their school libraries to determine that all materials were in compliance with new, and stricter, state and district guidelines. The outcome of that process is unclear. We have had sharply conflicting reports from parents, teachers and administrators. We doubt that we have seen an end to this process. But whatever is happening, this is exactly why we all should be paying attention. Don’t rest on the assumption that book bans aren’t happening where you live.
Here’s what you can do:
If you have a child in a public school ask them what they’re reading in school and if they get to visit the media center regularly.
Check out the online catalogs of schools in your district (most are posted publicly on the school’s website. In Florida they’re required to make media center catalogs open to the community). If a book from a banned books list appears available don’t stop there. Do what you can to make sure it’s actually on the shelf and available to students.
Check to make sure new books are available. Counties are able to “ban by omission.” Though books may not have been pulled, ask about titles they’re choosing not to include in the school library.
Teachers and media specialists need and deserve our support in standing up for their students and their right to read, even those books that make some uncomfortable. Any one book could be the key that saves a young person’s life. The threats to these educators have escalated – their jobs are at stake, their pensions could be lost, and felony charges can be brought against them. It’s a nightmare, as one teacher said.
Many of the things we are doing in store for Banned Books Week are fun – we’ll have Banned Books Bingo cards, a special bookmark, stickers, and interesting and informative displays – but we also hope you’ll think about what would be missing in your life if you couldn’t pick up and read the books of your choice.
So speak out! You’re not alone. There are groups and organizations who can help you whether you’re a teacher, librarian, parent, student, or a reader who cares about others having free access to books and learning. You’re busy. We know that. But if you read just one of these websites and if you can become a member, you’re helping.
UniteAgainstBooksBans.org: This grassroots anti-censorship campaign has social media tools to show your support, background information, and resources on how to oppose book banning locally.
Banned Books Week is an opportunity to think about the importance of access to a wide range of ideas and representation in books across many sectors of society, including schools and public libraries. It is also an opportunity to read great books that you might not have otherwise picked up.
Here are some recommendations from the store staff of books that have been on various banned and challenged lists.
Robin loved Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love. “The art for this book is beautiful, and wonderfully complements the story of an imaginative little boy getting to do something he loves.”
Riona recommends The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab, which features a rash deal with the devil that unfolds in surprising and moving ways.
Lori says The Color Purple by Alice Walker will have you rooting for Celie, Shug, Sofia and Nettie, rejoicing in their triumphs.
“Jonathan prepares to join the Israeli army while desperately hoping to keep his two best friends in his life. Besides being the most important people to him they are also Palestinian. The stakes are high. Tradition, culture, history, family responsibility, and love all battle for space in Jonathan’s heart. I read this book fast because I needed to know if I was going to be left heartbroken or relieved. Ultimately it’s so beautifully written that either option would’ve been worth it.” – Emily, staff
In this “nuanced, sharp, and beautifully written” (Michael Chabon) debut novel, a young man prepares to serve in the Israeli army while also trying to reconcile his close relationship to two Palestinian siblings with his deeply ingrained loyalties to family and country.
The story begins in an Israeli military jail, where—four days after his nineteenth birthday—Jonathan stares up at the fluorescent lights of his cell and recalls the series of events that led him there.
Two years earlier: Moving back to Israel after several years in Pennsylvania, Jonathan is ready to fight to preserve and defend the Jewish state. But he is also conflicted about the possibility of having to monitor the occupied Palestinian territories, a concern that grows deeper and more urgent when he meets Nimreen and Laith—the twin daughter and son of his mother’s friend.
From that morning on, the three become inseparable: wandering the streets on weekends, piling onto buses toward new discoveries, laughing uncontrollably. They share joints on the beach, trading snippets of poems, intimate secrets, family histories, resentments, and dreams. But with his draft date rapidly approaching, Jonathan wrestles with the question of what it means to be proud of your heritage, while also feeling love for those outside of your own family. And then that fateful day arrives, the one that lands Jonathan in prison and changes his relationship with the twins forever.
“Unflinching in its honesty, unyielding in its moral complexity” (Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize–winning author), Sadness Is a White Bird explores one man’s attempts to find a place for himself, discovering in the process a beautiful, against-the-odds love that flickers like a candle in the darkness of a never-ending conflict.
Award-winning actor, director, producer, and activist Kerry Washington shares the “exquisitely moving” journey of her life so far (Isabel Wilkerson), and the bravely intimate story of discovering her truth.
While on a drive in Los Angeles, on a seemingly average afternoon, Kerry Washington received a text message that would send her on a life-changing journey of self-discovery. In an instant, her very identity was torn apart, with everything she thought she knew about herself thrown into question.
In Thicker than Water, Washington gives readers an intimate view into both her public and private worlds—as a mother, daughter, wife, artist, advocate, and trailblazer. Chronicling her upbringing and life’s journey thus far, she reveals how she faced a series of challenges and setbacks, effectively hid childhood traumas, met extraordinary mentors, managed to grow her career, and crossed the threshold into stardom and political advocacy, ultimately discovering her truest self and, with it, a deeper sense of belonging.
Throughout this profoundly moving and beautifully written memoir, Washington attempts to answer the questions so many have struggled with: Who am I? What is my truest and most authentic self? How do I find a deeper sense of connection and belonging? With grace and honesty, she inspires readers to search for—and find—themselves.
V. E. Schwab, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, opens another door to a new fantasy series set in the dazzling world of Shades of Magic.
Prepare for tangled schemes and perilous adventures with friends old and new in The Fragile Threads of Power.
Once, there were four worlds, nestled like pages in a book, each pulsing with fantastical power and connected by a single city: London. Until the magic grew too fast and forced the worlds to seal the doors between them in a desperate gamble to protect their own. The few magicians who could still open the doors grew more rare as time passed and now, only three Antari are known in recent memory—Kell Maresh of Red London, Delilah Bard of Grey London, and Holland Vosijk, of White London.
But barely a glimpse of them have been seen in the last seven years—and a new Antari named Kosika has appeared in White London, taking the throne in Holland’s absence. The young queen is willing to feed her city with blood, including her own—but her growing religious fervor has the potential to drown it instead.
And back in Red London, King Rhy Maresh is threatened by a rising rebellion, one determined to correct the balance of power by razing the throne entirely.
These two royals from very different empires now face very similar struggles: how to keep their crowns—and their own heads.
Amidst this tapestry of old friends and new enemies, a girl with an unusual magical ability comes into possession of a device that could change the fate of all four worlds.
Her name is Tes, and she’s the only one who can bring them together—or unravel it all.
The greatest literary landmark of antiquity masterfully rendered by the most celebrated translator of our time.
When Emily Wilson’s translation of The Odyssey appeared in 2017—revealing the ancient poem in a contemporary idiom that was “fresh, unpretentious and lean” (Madeline Miller, Washington Post)—critics lauded it as “a revelation” (Susan Chira, New York Times) and “a cultural landmark” (Charlotte Higgins, Guardian) that would forever change how Homer is read in English. Now Wilson has returned with an equally revelatory translation of Homer’s other great epic—the most revered war poem of all time.
The Iliad roars with the clamor of arms, the bellowing boasts of victors, the fury and grief of loss, and the anguished cries of dying men. It sings, too, of the sublime magnitude of the world—the fierce beauty of nature and the gods’ grand schemes beyond the ken of mortals. In Wilson’s hands, this thrilling, magical, and often horrifying tale now gallops at a pace befitting its legendary battle scenes, in crisp but resonant language that evokes the poem’s deep pathos and reveals palpably real, even “complicated,” characters—both human and divine.
The culmination of a decade of intense engagement with antiquity’s most surpassingly beautiful and emotionally complex poetry, Wilson’s Iliad now gives us a complete Homer for our generation.
From the award-winning, bestselling author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk comes a brilliant and propulsive new novel about greed, power, and American complicity set in Haiti
MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2023: Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, ABC News, Yahoo! Finance, Seattle Times, Lit Hub, The Chicago Tribune, and more!!!
“[A] big, deeply humane political thriller that proves the flame of Graham Greene and John le Carré is still burning.” —The Washington Post
Haiti, 1991. When a violent coup d’état leads to the fall of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, American expat Matt Amaker is forced to abandon his idyllic, beachfront scuba business. With the rise of a brutal military dictatorship and an international embargo threatening to destroy even the country’s most powerful players, some are looking to gain an advantage in the chaos–and others are just looking to make it through another day.
Desperate for money—and survival—Matt teams up with his best friend and business partner Alix Variel, the adventurous only son of a socially prominent Haitian family. They set their sights on legendary shipwrecks that have been rumored to contain priceless treasures off a remote section of Haiti’s southern coast. Their ambition and exploration of these disastrous wrecks come with a cascade of ill-fated incidents—one that involves Misha, Alix’s erudite sister, who stumbles onto an arms-trafficking ring masquerading as a U.S. government humanitarian aid office, and rookie CIA case officer Audrey O’Donnell, who finds herself doing clandestine work on an assignment that proves to be more difficult and dubious than she could have possibly imagined.
Devil Makes Three’s depiction of blood politics, the machinations of power, and a country in the midst of upheaval is urgently and insistently resonant. This new novel is sure to cement Ben Fountain’s reputation as one of the twenty-first century’s boldest and most perceptive writers.
Don’t be fooled by the title, or its listing as fiction. This is a brilliant biography of the greatest genius of the 20th century, John von Neumann, inventor of Game Theory and the modern digital computer (known by the acronym MANIAC, which his wife Clara called the JONNYAC)that was first used to design the hydrogen bomb.
Rather than taking us dryly through von Neumann’s endless accomplishments, many of which are beyond explaining to laymen, the author beguiles us with the voices of the genius’s celebrated scientific colleagues (who either loved or hated him) and his wives (who felt the same). We thus become witness not only to von Neumann’s triumphs but also his peccadillos and (in)humanity. The book is full of vignettes, from private meetings to marital quarrels, which give it a fascinating and compelling life.
He was a consultant to the Manhattan Project, drifting in from time to time and quickly solving problems other mental giants had been struggling with, and went on to a fruitful career with the U.S. Defense Department. But the problem that challenged him most was trying to generalize the process uniting biology, technology, and computer theory to explain all self-replicating phenomena, from life on earth to the possibility of machines doing the same.
He died at only fifty-six from cancer, in 1959, in a special suite provided for him by the government at Walter Reed Hospital, surrounded by dignitaries and attendants, hoping to catch the last pearls of wisdom from the fruitful mind of this singular polymath.
When asked what it would take for a machine to think and behave like a human being, he said it would have to “understand language, to read, to write, to speak. And it would have to play like a child.” But his death preceded the development of the truly powerful computers of today (still operating on the fundamental principles of MANIAC) that are doing just that. The very first project of DeepMind, a leading Artificial Intelligence machine, was playing Go, the game universally acknowledged to be the most intellectually difficult, and beating its human master. (The book concludes with a dramatic blow-by-blow description of this five game challenge match.)
When asked how he could bring together his ideas on computers and self-replicating machines with those on the brain and mechanisms of thought, von Neumann offered: “Cavemen created gods, I see no reason why we shouldn’t do the same.”
Don’t miss this book if you’re interested in biography, science or even science-fiction, because both were part of von Neumann’s world.
An eclectic collection by writers who have lived, worked, and played in Key West, Florida. Key West has long been America’s most vibrant writers’ colony, tracing its writerly roots to Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, Robert Frost, John Hersey, Richard Wilbur, James Merrill, and Elizabeth Bishop. More recently, Thomas McGuane, Robert Stone, Judy Blume, Robert Richardson, Ann Beattie, Philip Caputo, Alison Lurie, and Meg Cabot have added their luster to the island’s literary heritage. This collection includes a treasure trove of more than sixty essays, reminiscences, musings, and poems about Key West. It features the town’s best-known writers: Lurie, Blume, Caputo, Cabot, McGuane, Beattie, Shames, Lee Smith, Frank Deford, Phyllis Rose, Glenn Frankel, Joy Williams, Barbara Ehrenreich, Billy Collins, and on and on.
