December 1, 2022
In Why Fathers Cry at Night, Newbery Medalist and New York Times best-selling author Alexander (Swing) blends memoir and love poems, recalling his parent and his first years of marriage and fatherhood as he ponders learning to love (50,000-copy first printing). After abandoning her marriage as the wrong path, Biggs looked at women from Mary Wollstonecraft to Zora Neale Hurston to Elena Ferrante as she considered how to find A Life of One's Own. A celebrated New York-based carpenter (e.g., his iconic Sky House was named best apartment of the decade by Interior Design), self-described serial dropout Ellison recounts how he found his path to Building. Shot five times at age 19 by a Pittsburgh police officer (a case of mistaken identity that amounted to racial profiling), Ford awoke paralyzed from the waist down and learned he was a new father; a decade later, he recounts his path to social activism and An Unspeakable Hope for himself and his son. From the first Black American female designer to win a CFDA Award, Wildflower takes James from high school dropout to designer of a sustainable fashion line showcasing traditional African design to founder of the booming social justice nonprofit Fifteen Percent Pledge (businesses pledge to dedicate 15 percent of their shelf space to Black-owned brands). Minka's fans will proclaim Tell Me Everything when they pick up her hand-to-mouth-to Hollywood memoir (30,000-copy first printing). In Whistles from the Graveyard, which aims to capture the experience of confused young millennials in the U.S. Marines, Lagoze recalls serving as a combat cameraman in the Afghan War and witnessing both bonding with locals against the Taliban and brutality toward innocent people by young men too practiced in violence. To cement ties with his eldest son, star of Netflix's hit Dead to Me, veteran actor and New York Times best-selling author McCarthy found himself Walking with Sam along Spain's 500-mile Camino de Santiago. A first-generation Chinese American with a seafaring father and a seamstress mother, Pen/Faulkner Award finalist Ng (Bone) recounts being raised in San Francisco's Chinatown by the community's Orphan Bachelors, older men without wives or children owing to the infamous Exclusion Act. Thought-provoking novelist Pittard (Reunion) turns to nonfiction with We Are Too Many, an expansion of her attention-getting Sewanee Review essay about her husband's affair with her best friend (80,000-copy first printing). Delighted by all the queer stories she encountered when she moved to Brooklyn, book publicist Possanza uses Lesbian Love Story to recover the personal histories of lesbians in the 20th century and muse about replacing contemporary misogynistic society with something markedly lesbian. In Uncle of the Year, Tony, Drama Desk, and Critics Choice Award nominee Rannells wonders at age 40 what success means and whether he wants a husband and family; 19 original essays and one published in the New York Times. Describing himself as Uneducated (he was tossed out of high school and never went to college), Zara ended up as senior editor at Fast Company, among other leading journalist stints; here's how he did it (30,000 copy first printing.)
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April 15, 2023
Fashion-philes, fans of reality shows about entrepreneurs, and social justice-minded readers will all appreciate this inside view of how Aurora James was able to parlay a shoestring small business into a full-fledged movement. The entrepreneur, activist, and CFDA award-winner describes her arduous journey from a traumatic childhood to the creation of her wildly popular Brother Vellies accessories brand. James credits her mother's influence and multiethnic ancestry for her reverence for culturally symbolic items handmade by African artisans using traditional methods and materials. Without the professional training and celebrity-fueled funding of most designers, James obtained a loyal customer base and established high-profile connections. Her growing media presence provided a forum for expanding her mission with the Fifteen Percent Pledge: a call for major retailers to radically increase the number of products sourced from Black-owned and -operated small businesses. With sincerity and passion, James confesses her na�vet� and acknowledges her missteps in overcoming the personal, professional, and sociopolitical barriers she faced. This inspiring memoir serves as an autobiographical success story and as a prescription for change within the monolithic fashion industry.
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Starred review from March 1, 2023
An award-winning Black designer, entrepreneur, and activist reflects on her past accomplishments and future ambitions. James has found success in a variety of ways: designer of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's iconic "Tax the Rich" dress for the 2021 Met Gala; founder of the Fifteen Percent Pledge, an organization that calls on corporations to donate 15% of their "shelf space" to Black-owned businesses; and winner of the Council of Fashion Designers of America/Vogue Fashion Fund Award for her company, Brother Vellies. In her debut memoir, the author chronicles her happy childhood growing up with her Ghanaian father and ethnically ambiguous mother, who was "adopted as an infant and never knew anything about her biological parents." During her early years, James thrived under her grandmother's loving care, but then her mother married a physically abusive man who also sexually assaulted James. "I did not tell my mother what he had done to me at that time because I already knew that she was battling for her life," writes the author. While both women eventually escaped the abuse, the marriage significantly damaged James' relationship with her mother. At the same time, it "allowed me to believe that I could forge my own path." Traveling to Africa, she learned how to make shoes at workshops in places like Namibia, South Africa, and Kenya and how to combine her creativity and fashion sense to found her company. Ultimately, the author's world travels and keen sense of justice led her to not only business success, but also social justice activism, which has informed her production models and her philanthropic involvement with Black Lives Matter and other movements. Throughout the text, James is vulnerable and frank, cultivating a narrative voice that is both intimate and captivating; on the line level, her language is impressively lyrical. A well-written, profoundly empathetic memoir from an entrepreneur with a very bright future.
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