Relevant Reads for Progressives

Non-Fiction:  

Title: Choosing Family: A Memoir of Queer Motherhood and Black Resistance | Author: Francesca Royster | Publication Date:  Abrams Press, 2/7/23

DePaul University professor Royster gives an intimate look at her family, which is comprised of same-sex parents, one of whom is black (Royster) and the other white (her wife, Annie). Their child is an adopted black queer daughter. Royster describes the way her family tackles the complexity of ordinary life through their status of being queer, multi-racial and feminist.

The author also delves into her own childhood in South Side Chicago, where families were often very nontraditional. But she makes the point that all families are complex, and parenthood is often frightening. 

   Readers will feel Royster’s anticipation, joy and deep love, along with her fear.   

Fiction:  

Title: Endpapers | Author: Jennifer Savran Kelly | Publication Date:  Algonquin, 6/30/20

 In early 2000s New York City, twenty-something Dawn Levit’s career and creativity have stalled and her relationship with her boyfriend is unraveling. 

Then one day at work in the conservation department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, she discovers the torn-off cover of an old pulp fiction book. On the back is a handwritten note from one woman to another, written in German. “Ich liebe dich” (“I love you”) is all she can understand. Intrigued, Dawn determines to unravel not only what the book was about, but the relationship between these two women.

    During this period, Dawn also does a lot of soul-searching and experiments with her sexuality. She experiences a hate crime.

Endpapers is a coming-of-age story about growing as an artist and learning to trust and build relationships in a world that doesn’t want to make room for you.