In improvising poetry, aka a live-action cento, aka fashioning a poetry jam band, I start with a makeshift canon. Like throwing a party, you put different poets, different styles at play with/in each other, and see if it takes off. Like throwing a party, I try to be well-rested and hydrated before I host. I spend time thinking of who to invite. I light a candle. I open the space up. I have party games ready in case it gets awkward. There is some noise, which starts out steady and comforting, before we trust each other enough to get real weird.
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Published: AK Press - April 18th, 2017
Other recommended texts include Sun Ra's This Planet is Doomed: The Science Fiction Poetry of Sun Ra and CA Conrad's Ecodeviance: (Soma)tics for Future Wilderness.
Elena Gonzales Melinger is a poet and writer. Her work has appeared in the Texas Review, Glass Mountain and Dangerous Constellations. She has performed most recently with Public Poetry and Poetry Fix. Her chapbook, Write What You Know, and zine, Light Skinned Tears, will be available at Brazos Bookstore on February 8th, 2019 for her event.
Everything is heightened in a crisis. The way we interact with people changes. We become fiercely protective of those we love. We act selfishly or selflessly. Fear, grief, and loneliness become sharper, but so do those brief moments of joy, wonder, and connection.
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Published: Ember - September 4th, 2018
Justyce McAllister comes face to face with racial injustice and police brutality and tries to find answers by starting a journal to the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. A brief, but powerful YA novel that will resonate with teens and adults alike as Justyce ponders King's teachings.
A quintessential depiction of the African American experience in the early/mid 20th century and a stunning literary achievement that gave voice to an entire community unseen by a racist society.
This is a favorite of ours because of the powerful positive image Wiley's magnificent portraits bestow on his subjects--contemporary black people posed in the regal aesthetic of classical Western art.
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Published: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) - March 6th, 2018
Thrilling, gorgeous, and epic to the highest degree, Adeyemi's book is a world-building masterpiece. The land of Orïsha is deftly written, inspired by West-African culture and tradition. A NY Times Best Seller for over 34 weeks, CHILDREN is a landmark achievement for black fantasy authors.
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Published: Ballantine Books - October 30th, 2018
Glory Edim brings together original essays by some of the best black women writers to shine a light on how important it is that we all have the opportunity to find ourselves in literature.
Ruffin's WE CAST A SHADOW takes place in a near-future Southern city, in which an experimental medical procedure is gaining popularity -- and fast. Dr. Nzinga's clinic will make anyone whiter, narrow anyone's nose, and (in his words) make them more "beautiful." As Nigel, a biracial boy, gets darker and darker with each passing day, his father gets more terrified. This sharp, satirical book adds an amazing perspective to our real-life country, which is still dealing so deeply with systemic racism.
Join us on 2/2 for an event with Maurice Carlos Ruffin. We can't wait to host him!
At Brazos, we LOVE supporting authors. And it’s particular fun to promote Texas authors (especially but not limited to Houston authors!, first because they are awesome, and also because they often pop in even when they don’t have a new book out! Texas has a phenomenal and huge literary community, so there are far more amazing kidlit authors in the state than I can feature in one article. So I thought I’d introduce you to some (but certainly not all!) of my Houston favorites--in alpha order!-- and encourage you to discover them, buy their books, and spread the word.
Crystal Allen writes award-winning, funny, heartwarming early reader and middle grade fiction featuring African American characters. Her books blow off the shelves and her school visits are prized events all over the country. Start with her debut, HOW LAMAR’S BAD PRANK WON HIM A BUBBA-SIZED TROPHY (which won the coveted Sid Fleischman Award for humorous writing), and then read on from there. She’s going to be helping us kick off Spring Break Houston Reads week, where we’ll be featuring her early reader MYA TIBBS series.
Published: Nancy Paulsen Books - February 12th, 2019
Varsha Bajaj’s HOW MANY KISSES DO YOU WANT TONIGHT is consistently one of our bestselling board books. Her ABBY SPENCER GOES TO BOLLYWOOD is also a hit in our middle grade section. And her THIS IS OUR BABY BORN TODAY sells and sells as a perfect new baby and shower gift! Varsha’s got more on the way, including a lovely picture book titled HOMEBUILDERS, which she’ll be reading at a special story time on 3/2 at our usual 10:30.
Chris Cander writes both children’s books and adult novels. Her adult novel WEIGHT OF A PIANO is out soon, getting many starred reviews and lots of acclaim and buzz, and we are hosting an event on 1/22 that you should definitely attend! And check out her picture book WORD BURGLAR next time you’re in the Treehouse!
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Published: Delacorte Press - February 5th, 2019
Lynne Kelly writes amazing middle grade novels. Her SONG FOR A WHALE is getting fabulous trade reviews and enormous buzz (Newbery, anyone?) and will be out next month! We are thrilled to be hosting her on school visits in HISD, and we’re crossing our fingers that she can join us in the coming months for Middle Grade Book Club. I’ll be doing an interview with Lynne for a future newsletter so you can learn more about her (she’s also a sign language interpreter and SONG’s main character and her grandmother are both Deaf). Pre-order SONG FOR A WHALE here.
Caroline Leech is a friend of the store, our favorite Scottish ex-pat, and a full part of Houston’s arts community because not only is she an author of wonderful, historical-fiction YA novels, she’s also married to Perryn Leech, the managing director of the Houston Grand Opera! Caroline has launched two of her novels right here at Brazos, both of which are set in WII-era rural Scotland, and both of which are delightful, romantic reads. Here’s a link to her most recent, IN ANOTHER TIME, can be ordered right here.
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Published: Square Fish - September 18th, 2018
YA novel, MOXIE--the story of a girl who, tired of the sexism in her high school, creates a protest zine and ends up starting a feminist revolution-- is consistently one of our store bestsellers! It’s a great read for ages 12/13 and up, a great read for adults, too. Jennifer is a prolific, award-winning writer, and also an English teacher at Bellaire HS. We adore her and can’t wait for her next novel, coming this fall! You can grab a copy of MOXIE here.
Anna Meriano’s LOVE SUGAR MAGIC middle grade series is a wonderful, magical delight. Think small town Texas bakery, a family of brujas, and a girl who’s still trying to figure out her place in the family--and her magic! It’s fun, funny, and heartwarming and Anna will be launching the second book right here at Brazos! Pre-order LOVE SUGAR MAGIC: A SPRINKLE OF SPIRITS and join us on 2/9 for the launch party!
Those are enough to get you started discovering Houston’s many, wonderful kidlit authors! (I’m one of them, too, so feel free to ask me next time you’re in the store!) And stay tuned for other articles in which we branch out to the rest of Texas!
We can't wait for the new releases 2019 will bring! There are many undiscovered treasures to be read, but in the meantime, here are a few 2019 books we just can't wait to share!
This new memoir from Shapiro is part detective novel and part family history. It's all about finding a place where you belong after your life is turned upside down.
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Published: Coffee House Press - August 6th, 2019
A road trip of two young friends, Felipe and Iquela, in modern-day Chile that casts light on the past generations and the dictatorship. Darkly comic, sad and profound. With a brilliant translation by Sophie Hughes.
In picture books, I can hardly wait for SWEETY by Andrea Zuill, the quirky and delightfully charming story of an awkward but lovable naked mole rat who is looking for her people and finding out that she is awesome.
Two professional archivists/sound recorders -- a documentarist and a documentarian -- set out on a road trip across the US with their two kids. This book is a meditation on loss, family, borders, and human rights that only Valeria Luiselli could accomplish.
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Published: Catapult - February 5th, 2019
A stunning and lyrical coming-of-age novel Mexico City, the 1980's, a young girl runs away from home with another boy to find a group of Ukrainian dwarves who have escaped a Russian circus. As strange as the plot may sound, this novel is moving and urgent and my favorite of Aridjis' three novels in English. Ideal for fans of Guadalupe Nettel and Roberto Bolaño.
Finally, we have a seminal work of contemporary Houston literature! This is the book I can put into people's hands when they want to know what it's like to live in our city. What's more, it is a stunning story collection heralding a big new talent from Texas.
I am beyond excited for Figuring by Maria Popova, which comes out in February. With the same boundless curiosity that makes her website and newsletter Brainpickings so fascinating, Popova examines the wildly different lives of several artists, writers, and scientists, from Emily Dickinson to Rachel Carson. From the lives of these fascinating people come questions about the universe, the search for knowledge, and what it means to live a meaningful life.
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Published: Delacorte Press - February 5th, 2019
I'm really excited for the middle grade novel, SONG FOR A WHALE, by Lynne Kelly, coming on 2/5/19 from Delacorte. It's a luminous and triumphant story of a deaf girl's fascination with Blue 55, the loneliest whale in the world and her journey to find a way to communicate with him.
One of the most intriguing books I read in 2018 is Kendra Fortmeyer’s HOLE IN THE MIDDLE, which, as the title reflects, is about a teenage girl named Morgan who was born with a hole in her middle-- this perfect, round, empty space that somehow has no other effect on her body other than being this strange, at times almost mystical deformity. She has spent her whole life hiding it, until one day she doesn’t. What happens after that is engine that drives this fascinating contemporary with a little bit of magical realism intersecting.
I think one of the few things we can all agree on lately is that it’s been a tumultuous year for our fiery and often tragic political and social landscape. This is what kept sticking in my head as I worked to come up with my top ten list, which originally was going to be droll and lighthearted and then, well, wasn’t. The timely and moving YA books below vary in perspective, tone, and genre, but all of them have one thing in common: They are on some level about girls claiming their place, fighting back, speaking up, commanding space, and being heard.
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Published: Wednesday Books - September 4th, 2018
A dead girl. A sister’s revenge. A podcast. A powerhouse and now bestselling novel with two narrative strands from an author you should all be reading.
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Published: Balzer + Bray - February 28th, 2017
Technically this one came out last year, but the movie arrived a few weeks ago. If you haven’t read it, read it. A girl with a foot in two worlds. A senseless shooting. Our sadly pervasive racial divides. Standing up for the truth. Starr’s story is so much more than a ‘ripped from the headlines’ read.
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Published: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers - January 2nd, 2018
Black’s back to her faerie story roots with this tale of Jude, fully human but taken away by her stepfather to grow up in Faerie. The result is a story of political machinations, a girl finding her power among dangerous creature, and a bit of a twisted love story to spice things up. The human girl who would be king. I loved it. And the soon to arrive sequel is even better.
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Published: Katherine Tegen Books - October 2nd, 2018
Felicity Montague is going to achieve her dream of becoming a physician-- even if it’s the 1700s and the world expects nothing more of her than to be a wife and raise a brood. Adventure. Lady Pirates. Girl power. And organically seamless LGBTQ representation in this companion to last year’s GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO VICE AND VIRTUE.
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Published: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) - March 6th, 2018
Black Lives Matter meets Nigerian folklore-based fantasy. Women whose magic has been forcefully repressed and ripped away… until it begins to return. A story of protest, identity and female power. I’d call this one a solid companion piece to Thomas’s Hate U Give. Jimmy Fallon even made it his first book club pick. Plus, it's first in a series.
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Published: Square Fish - September 18th, 2018
Another title that’s been out since last year, but which had to be on this list, both for its brilliance and for Houston author Mathieu’s own tireless political advocacy work. A teen girl fights institutional misogyny through her initially anonymous Moxie zine. A feminist primer.
I’d love to see readers pair this one with Hole in the Middle. But it stands strong on its own. A dark fantasy version of New Orleans setting. And a post-2016 election inspired deep dive into our perceptions of beauty and a confrontation of the effects on women of color of both white feminism and the patriarchy. Clayton’s one of the co-founders of We Need Diverse Books.
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Published: Algonquin Young Readers - September 4th, 2018
No one writes twisty disturbing , angry girl stories quite like Nova Ren Suma, who like Elana K. Arnold and Margo Lanagan and others goes fearlessly after her themes. This one’s a little Gothic, a lot mysterious, and a willingness to create flawed girls whose determination to break free makes them beautiful.
Each year, when asked to compile our 10 top list, I try to narrow down the focus on the items that managed to stand out over the past year. As the gift buyer I wanted to strictly focus on the gift items and, more importantly, the vendors we carry that give back to the community. It’s important for me to buy from smaller companies and companies that focus not only on supporting the communities around them, but on being socially responsible as well.
Calyan Candles were brought to my attention by Thu and Mark while they visiting Fort Worth. Besides the fact these wonderful soy candles fill the room (as well as the entire store, which you will notice if you stop by during the holidays), 10% of their profits help to fight human trafficking. They partner with local nonprofits to provide funding for prevention, prosecution, or restoration.
Each of their scents is amazing and it was difficult to find one for the list; however the lavender & bergamot tumbler ended making it to my #1. Each of their tumblers burns for approximately 45 hours and the glass tumbler can be recycled or used again as a cocktail glass or regular drinking glass.