A teenage orphan’s quest of self-discovery in Equitorial Guinea, and a "unique contribution to LGBTQ literature" (Kirkus Reviews). “Though I live a world away from Equatorial Guinea, I saw so much of myself in Okomo: a tomboy itching to be free and to escape society’s rigged game. I cheered her on with every page, and wished—for myself and all girls—for the bravery to create our own world.” —Maggie Thrash, author of Honor Girl The first novel by an Equatorial Guinean woman to be translated into English, La Bastarda is the story of the orphaned teen Okomo, who lives under the watchful eye of her grandmother and dreams of finding her father. Forbidden from seeking him out, she enlists the help of other village outcasts: her gay uncle and a gang of “mysterious” girls reveling in their so-called indecency. Drawn into their illicit trysts, Okomo finds herself falling in love with their leader and rebelling against the rigid norms of Fang culture.

Skye is looking for normal. She grew up different and it rankles. Home isnt normal; her mom isnt normal. Her brother, beloved as he is, isnt quite normal, either. Her marriage was kind of normal (Cam is a wealthy, handsome man whos nice enough) and now its a dumpster fire. And look at South Africaentirely NOT normal. Shes got PTSD and shes in mourning. She doesnt know who she is or what she wants. She tries to anchor herself to tangible things: to her cooking, to her neighbours children, to sex. But as she relives her past and tries to plan her future, she feels increasingly dislocated. Skye escapes when things get overwhelming, and realises almost too late that shes about to make everything worse.

The term "viola bastarda" refers to both an instrument and a style of playing that is one of the crowning achievements of musical mannerism. The Italian repertory for the solo viola da gamba in the 16th and early 17th centuries was largely music played "alla bastarda," an art of performance in which a polyphonic composition is transformed into a single melodic line derived from the original parts and spanning their ranges. Jason Paras has traced the development of the "viola bastarda" and has assembled and transcribed 46 peices in this genre. The music in his collection is a rich and fascinating repertory that is rarely heard today. This anthology is an invitation to present-day players to recreate the improvisation practice of the 16th and 17th centuries in ways not fully disclosed by ornamentation manuals of that time.

A “vivid and entertaining” (Chicago Tribune) tale about the tangled history of two families, from the author of The Island of Missing Trees (a Reese's Book Club Pick) "Zesty, imaginative . . . a Turkish version of Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club." —USA Today As an Armenian American living in San Francisco, Armanoush feels like part of her identity is missing and that she must make a journey back to the past, to Turkey, in order to start living her life. Asya is a nineteen-year-old woman living in an extended all-female household in Istanbul who loves Jonny Cash and the French existentialists. The Bastard of Istanbul tells the story of their two families--and a secret connection linking them to a violent event in the history of their homeland. Filed with humor and understanding, this exuberant, dramatic novel is about memory and forgetting, about the need to examine the past and the desire to erase it, and about Turkey itself.

A profound portrait of family dynamics in the rural South and “an essential novel” (The New Yorker) “As close to flawless as any reader could ask for . . . The living language [Allison] has created is as exact and innovative as the language of To Kill a Mockingbird and The Catcher in the Rye.” —The New York Times Book Review The publication of Dorothy Allison’s Bastard Out of Carolina was a landmark event that won the author a National Book Award nomination and launched her into the literary spotlight. Critics have likened Allison to Harper Lee, naming her the first writer of her generation to dramatize the lives and language of poor whites in the South. Since its appearance, the novel has inspired an award-winning film and has been banned from libraries and classrooms, championed by fans, and defended by critics. Greenville County, South Carolina, is a wild, lush place that is home to the Boatwright family—a tight-knit clan of rough-hewn, hard-drinking men who shoot up each other’s trucks, and indomitable women who get married young and age too quickly. At the heart of this story is Ruth Anne Boatwright, known simply as Bone, a bastard child who observes the world around her with a mercilessly keen perspective. When her stepfather Daddy Glen, “cold as death, mean as a snake,” becomes increasingly more vicious toward her, Bone finds herself caught in a family triangle that tests the loyalty of her mother, Anney—and leads to a final, harrowing encounter from which there can be no turning back.

“Thrash has so carefully and skillfully captured a universal moment. . . . A luminescent memoir not to be missed.”— Kirkus Reviews (starred review) All-girl camp. First love. First heartbreak. At once romantic and devastating, brutally honest and full of humor, this graphic-novel memoir is a debut of the rarest sort.

“In this bold new book, Tovar eviscerates diet culture, proclaims the joyous possibilities of fatness, and shows us that liberation is possible.” —Sarai Walker, author of Dietland Growing up as a fat girl, Virgie Tovar believed that her body was something to be fixed. But after two decades of dieting and constant guilt, she was over it—and gave herself the freedom to trust her own body again. Ever since, she’s been helping others to do the same. Tovar is hungry for a world where bodies are valued equally, food is free from moral judgment, and you can jiggle through life with respect. In concise and candid language, she delves into unlearning fatphobia, dismantling sexist notions of fashion, and how to reject diet culture’s greatest lie: that fat people need to wait before beginning their best lives. “This book feels like spending a margarita-soaked day at the beach with your smartest friend. Virgie Tovar shares juicy secrets and makes revolutionary ideas viscerally accessible. You’ll be left enlightened, inspired, happier, and possibly angrier than when you started.” —Joy Nash, actress “Tovar is a vital voice in contemporary activism, media, and feminism. The joy she takes in her own body and life, combined with the righteous anger she expresses at an oppressive world is a truly radical act. She is deeply thoughtful, but does not equivocate. She confronts bigotry, but does not engage with bullshit.” —Kelsey Miller, author of Big Girl “Long-time body positive writer, speaker and activist Virgie Tovar is gifting brown round girls the book we’ve been hungry for.” —Mitú