The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois.  Honoree Fanonne Jeffers. 2021. Harper. 801 pages. [Source: Public library.] The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois is an early contender for my favorite read of 2022. It recounts the history of the Pinchard family through the juxtaposition of modern-day experiences of its protagonist, Ailey Garfield, and flashbacks to the lives of her ancestors as far back as Africa during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Throughout the book, Jeffers pulls the reader forward and backward through centuries, giving snapshots of the family’s experiences in and around the rural town of Chicasetta, Georgia. Clocking in at just over 800 pages, Love Songs is a substantive read, not only in length but also in breadth. Jeffers addresses a wide range of topics related to slavery in the U.S., and by centering the small town she’s able to dig into topics like racism, segregation, and colorism. Jeffers’ approach obviously centers the enslavement of Black members of the Pinchard family, but in doing so, she also examines the complicated relationships that included indigenous people — the Creek who predated plantations — and the white families that established plantations. As the title alludes to, the scholarship of W.E.B. Du…

Paperback Crush. Gabrielle Moss. 2021. Quirk Books. 257 pages. [Source: Public library.] Be still, my heart. As a child of the ’80s, I longed for few things more than the day the Scholastic book flyer was distributed at school or a Saturday spent at the mall with my friends, roaming through Sam Goody & Waldenbooks while figuring out when we’d get our Cinnabon and Orange Julius fix. My world has always been consumed by books, but nothing brings on nostalgia like remembering the thousands of hours I spent devouring teen fiction. Series like The Baby-Sitters Club, Sweet Valley High, and, of course, R.L. Stine’s Fear Street had a chokehold not just on me, but countless teen readers and Paperback Crush is a retrospective of the genre with attention paid to heavy hitters and lesser-known books. With Paperback Crush, Moss revisits some of the most seminal teen fiction of the 1980s and ’90s with remarkable depth. While it’s not a scholarly read, it’s clear Moss conducted extensive research on the history of teen fiction and its content’s evolution over time. There are readers who would argue that this era of teen fiction is a “golden era” of sorts, without considering what…

Shuggie Bain. Douglas Stuart. 2020. Grove Press. 448 pages. [Source: Public library.] Shuggie Bain is a sensitive, unwaveringly loyal boy who has the misfortune of being born to an alcoholic mother and abusive father, with older siblings who are nearly tripping over themselves to get away from the family. Set in 1980s Glasgow, Shuggie Bain is a coming of age story about a boy everyone seems to know is “no right” and who ends up in a flopped household where he’s more of a caregiver to his mother Agnes. Stuart excels in setting the tone and environment for a story that is incredibly bleak, with fleeting moments of happiness. Throughout the book, there is an ever-present climate of despair that is hard to shake, not just for Shuggie but for everyone in his orbit. He is living in a Scotland that’s been ravaged deindustrialization, where rampant unemployment and extreme poverty are the new norm. When his family goes from living with his mother’s parents in a bustling city to living in a remote former mining town among strangers, they struggle to find a sense of belonging. Agnes, with her coiffed hair and meticiously neat outfits, doesn’t quite fit in with…

Clap When You Land. Elizabeth Acevedo. 2020. Quill Tree Books. 432 pages. [Source: Public library.] As the daughter of an immigrant and a man whose image in my mind is nothing like what society holds … this book touched me on so many levels. Acevedo amazingly highlights a family and its complexities. She pays homage to a tragedy I’ve never heard of (flight 587 ), expresses understanding, respect and honor to a religion that showcases the strength of our ancestors. She shows the masses and unfamiliar that not everyone is dying to get to this country. Through Camino, she reminds that there is not always the assumed hatred for one’s native country, but a desire for a better opportunity. The love, respect and allegiance for their home remains … and along with their opportunity, they inherit a debt to those left behind. The one that “left” shoulders the burden of providing more opportunities for those that remain. The characters perfectly reflect the emotions each side feels … the difference in perspective. Add in the secrets held within a family, and like this book you have a pot boiling over with history, hidden agendas, lack of understanding and moments that will…

New Year, New Ci. Nicole Falls. 2021. 269 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] Usually when people say “new year, new me,” there’s a lot of personal agency at play. You know, someone wants a new job and they’ve started planning. Or they want to move and start shopping neighborhoods. Cienna doesn’t have that same fortune. Instead, her career and relationship implode unexpectedly, leaving her heading into the new year with more uncertainty than ever before. New Year, New Ci does have a heavy focus on Cienna’s dating life, but it’s very much about how she rebuilds not just her life, but herself. More aptly, though, it shines a light on how she sometimes gets in the way of her own success — something I think most folks can relate to on some level. She’s a great example of “once bitten, twice shy,” and while it’s easy to understand why she’s like that, it’s still disappointing to watch. So the idea of crafting a “new Ci” is critical to her moving forward with her great new life. The book is, of course, filled with drama between friends, family, coworkers, etc. Nicole Falls doesn’t disappoint when it comes to creating a story that…