The books Southern indie booksellers are recommending to readers everywhere!

Coming of Age

Phoebe’s Diary by Phoebe Wahl

Incredibly earnest, honest account (in graphic novel form!) of a teenage theatre kid navigating the move to public high school from an unschooling/homeschool education in a smallish city in the Pacific NorthWest. I love Phoebe Wahl’s art and children’s books (she illustrates and writes), and I adored her peek into the boy-obsessed, music-loving, art-driven world she creates from her own teenage diaries. I laughed out loud, cringed, cried, and cheered. If you loved Judy Blume’s Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret, you’ll love Phoebe’s Diary.

Phoebe’s Diary by Phoebe Wahl, (List Price: 19.99, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 9780316363563, September 2023)

Reviewed by Adah Fitzgerald, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina

All the Fighting Parts by Hannah V. Sawyerr

All the Fighting Parts is a much needed book. The verse format makes it a quick read, but it spares no punches, delving deep into the heart of one sexual assault survivor’s journey through grief, guilt, resistance, and reclamation. Healing is a journey through, not a journey’s end; and while the powers of her local church are stacked against her, her loved ones (whom she withdraws from in the aftermath) learn how to support her through every step. It’s poignant and oh-so relevant. Amina’s story is unlike anything I’ve read before, and I hope with all my might that All the Fighting Parts falls into the hands of those who need it most.

All the Fighting Parts by Hannah V. Sawyerr, (List Price: $19.99, Amulet Books, 9781419762611, September 2023)

Reviewed by Isabel Agajanian, Oxford Exchange in Tampa, Florida

This One Summer by Jillian Tamaki

This poignant story paints those subtle shifts from childhood to adulthood for Rose as she spends time at a lake house with her parents, who are going through a rough patch, and her younger friend Windy, who suddenly seems immature. It’s a quiet story, full of melancholy and growing pains, but still so lovely and achingly honest.

This One Summer by Jillian Tamaki, (List Price: $18.99, First Second, 9781596437746, May 2014)

Reviewed by Julie Jarema, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

Family Meal by Bryan Washington

At times heartwarming, others heartrending, this tender work from Washington is delectable. Lust, hunger, grief, and a longing for belonging squeeze up against the forces that seek to tear us apart, but, what Family Meal serves is a generous familial communion made up of the people we love and those who, despite our flaws, love us back. A restorative novel to be shared, undoubtedly set to bring its readers together.

Family Meal by Bryan Washington, (List Price: $28, Riverhead Books, 9780593421093, October 2023)

Reviewed by Luis Correa, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

An August 2023 Read This Next! Book

Ann Patchett does it again! Tom Lake is so good it’s like eating a favorite dessert. Do you gobble it up quickly, or slowly savor it so that it lasts longer? I would give a million stars to this one. I loved it so much. Everyone should read this book. It is gorgeous. Tom Lake is a heartwarming tale about a woman recounting her youth to her daughters who see her as their mother, not as a girl who navigated the trials of early love, the temptations of Hollywood, and the love of a man who became a star. It explores family bonds, parental love, sisterly love, and the very events that make us who we are. A fantastic read for parents and young adult children alike. You will see yourself in many of the characters. Absolutely delicious.

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, (List Price: 30, Harper, 9780063327528, August 2023)

Reviewed by Monie Henderson, Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi

Frontera by Julio Anta

Incredibly moving and powerful. Frontera gives emotional insight into deportations, border crossing and the separation of families. Through impactful graphics and storytelling, it showcases the harsh realties of those making a perilous journey across the border in search of a better life or in Mateo’s case the life they once had.

Frontera by Julio Anta, (List Price: $18.99, HarperAlley, 9780063054943, July 2023)

Reviewed by Keeshia Jacklitch, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Give Me a Sign by Anna Sortino

Though she’s hearing-passing (using hearing aids & lip reading), every day feels like an uphill battle to Lilah: struggling through interactions others find easy, guessing at bits and pieces of missed conversations, and pretending like everything’s totally fine. One of the few times she remembers feeling fully accepted and accommodated was at a summer camp for Deaf and blind kids that she attended many years ago. So when she gets the opportunity to return as a junior counselor, Lilah is thrilled…never mind that the camp is running out of money.

Sortino seamlessly blends spoken & signed dialogue, highlights a myriad of systemic issues facing the Deaf community, and showcases community thriving around disability difference. A sweet, summery coming-of-age story (with a hint of romance) that’s equal parts fun and important!

Give Me a Sign by Anna Sortino, (List Price: $18.99, G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 9780593533796, July 2023)

Reviewed by Talia Smart, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

The Say So by Julia Franks

A June 2023 Read This Next! Title

This is such a smart novel about the true power of our choices. It made me think about my own mother and daughter, and how the act of motherhood is as fundamental as it is complex. It’s also a sharp picture of transformation in our little corner of the South. What a great book for book club discussion!

The Say So by Julia Franks, (List Price: 28, Hub City Press, 9798885740074, June 2023)

Reviewed by Ashley Warlick, M. Judson Booksellers in Greenville, South Carolina

The Adult by Bronwyn Fischer

I love when queer women make bad choices. Natalie is eighteen, freshly independent, and painfully naive when she starts an all-consuming relationship with Nora, an older woman who is connected to her own life in surprising ways. Fischer perfectly captures that enraptured feeling of first love, especially with someone older and more experienced. There are parts of this book that are also deeply melancholy; bits and pieces that made me exhale and set the book aside for a minute or two. A little bit heart-wrenching, this one will be perfect for Sally Rooney fans and sad gay people alike.

The Adult by Bronwyn Fischer, (List Price: 27, Algonquin Books, 9781643752723, May 2023)

Reviewed by Gaby Iori, Epilogue Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Thirst for Salt by Madelaine Lucas

This gorgeous coming-of-age book swept me away to southern Australia. Not a single word is wasted in Madelaine Lucas’s debut novel; she writes with such precision and beauty. It took me days to read it not because I wasn’t enthralled but because I wanted to savor every perfect word. Lucas captures the thrills and tiny devastations of a first love affair so perfectly, remembered through the eyes of an older and wiser narrator.

Thirst for Salt by Madelaine Lucas, (List Price: 16.95, Tin House Books, 9781953534651, March 2023)

Reviewed by Kate Storhoff, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Spotlight on: Go As a River by Shelley Read

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Shelley Read, photo credit the author

“The deeper in the wilderness I am, the higher in elevation I am, the happier I am. It is an unforgiving landscape and so deeply humbling. There’s a quote from the Norwegian philosopher Arne Næss that I come back to over and over, and it’s the entire reason I climb big mountains. He says, ‘The smaller we come to feel ourselves compared with the mountain, the nearer we come to participating in its greatness.'” ―Shelley Read, interview, Alta

Go As a River by Shelley Read

What booksellers are saying about Go As a River

  • This book is beautifully written and will stay with you for a very long time. This is the book that you pass on to your mother, your daughter, your best friend and make them promise to read it. I think we will be talking about this book for all of 2023 and after.
      ―Mary Patterson from The Little Bookshop in Midlothian, VA | Buy from The Little Bookshop

  • Phenomenal. As perfect as a homegrown, juicy, sweet peach. I will carry this story with me for many, many, many days to come.
      ―Jill Naylor from Novel in Memphis, TN | Buy from Novel.

  • With lush, atmospheric prose, Go As a River is about seventeen year old Victoria Nash who lives on a peach orchard in 1940’s rural Colorado. The only female at home, she is the one who keeps the household running with daily chores and working her family’s land. Her life changes when she meets the mysterious and gentle Wilson Moon, an indigenous boy passing through town. A love story that starts in innocence is shattered by bigotry. Go As a River is about surviving after loss, our connection to the natural world around us, quiet and enduring friendships, and lasting love. This is my kind of historical fiction, and I can’t wait to share this with readers at Main Street Books!
      ―Jessica Nock from Main Street Books in Davidson, NC | Buy from Main Street Books

About Shelley Read

Shelley Read is a fifth generation Coloradoan who lives with her family in the Elk Mountains of the Western Slope. She was a Senior Lecturer at Western Colorado University for nearly three decades, where she taught writing, literature, environmental studies, and Honors, and was a founder of the Environment & Sustainability major and a support program for first-generation and at-risk students. Shelley holds degrees in writing and literary studies from the University of Denver and Temple University’s Graduate Program in Creative Writing. She is a regular contributor to Crested Butte Magazine and Gunnison Valley Journal, and has written for the Denver Post and a variety of publications.

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Spotlight on: Maame by Jessica George

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Jessica George, photo credit Suki Dhonda

I have conversations with myself every day. It’s just an easy way to get out of my brain. It’s a great tool for Maddie because it’s meant to highlight how alone Maddie feels. She doesn’t feel like she has people to talk to, so that’s where the conversationalist tone comes from. I think we see a little less of that by the end, because she has come to this place where she’s more open to being dependent on her friends and family. ” ―Jessica George, Interview, Everything Zoomer

 

Maame by Jessica George

What booksellers are saying about Maame

  • I stood up and clapped after finishing Maame. Maddie is a new favorite character, all the stars for this one!
      ―Jessica Nock from Main Street Books in Davidson, NC | Buy from Main Street Books

  • You’ll absolutely fall in love with Maame, a coming-of-age story featuring a young British-Ghanaian woman who’s learning how to live for herself after years of looking after her sick father. Heartbreaking and magical.
      ―Maggie Robe from Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, NC | Buy from Flyleaf Books

  • Maame will get under your skin with her naive outlook on life. As she comes into her own she will blow you away with her depth.
      ―Suzanne Lucey from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC | Buy from Page 158 Books

  • Bridget Jones meets Eat, Pray, Love in this brilliantly written work of family, love, loss and self-discovery. Maddie (Maame), a 20-something year old young woman living in London at job she hates, an overbearing mother who spends most her time in Ghana, and a father with Parkinson’s, begins on a journey of self discovery when she moves out of her parents house. Maddie promises herself that she will now begin a new life of dating, spending time with friends, and advancing in her career. However, things take a turn when she loses her job and her father passes away. Maame is a book for our times, as our main character faces dating dilemmas, racism, and loss all while using Google to help her through her hard time. Be prepared to laugh, cry and cheer for Maame.
      ―Sharon Davis from Book Bound Bookstore in Blairsville, GA | Buy from Book Bound Bookstore

About Jessica George

Jessica George was born and raised in London to Ghanaian parents and studied English Literature at the University of Sheffield. After working at a literary agency and a theatre, she landed a job in the editorial department of Bloomsbury UK. Maame is her first novel.

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Everything Calls for Salvation by Daniele Mencarelli

Over seven days in a psychiatric ward in 1994 in Italy, the main character Daniele Mancarelli (who shares the author’s name and some life experiences) documents his involuntary committal. We spend most of our time on the ward itself with occasional flashbacks of the six patients’ and staff’s pasts. Mencarelli (author and character) is also a poet, and the language is beautiful and delicately translated by Wendy Weathly. While not dismissing the need for the truly suffering or dangerous to be treated, the author presents much to be considered about the way society categorizes those who are simply different or passing through a difficult phase of life.

Everything Calls for Salvation by Daniele Mencarelli, (List Price: $22, Europa Editions, 9781609458065, January 2023)

Reviewed by Kelly Justice, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia

Begin Again by Emma Lord

A January 2023 Read This Next! Title

Emma Lord brings the feels in her new novel, Begin Again. Andie didn’t get into her first choice college with her boyfriend, but she has a plan. She works really hard and ends up getting in as a transfer student after her first semester at community college. The problem is that she planned her transfer as a surprise for her boyfriend….who did the same thing, transferring to the school Andie WAS at.

Begin Again by Emma Lord (List Price: $18.99, Wednesday Books, 9781250783363, January 2023)

Reviewed by Jennifer Jones, Bookmiser in Marietta, Georgia

Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson

Now is Not The Time to Panic covers that wry space between childhood and adulthood – how we want to be seen and how others see us. Frankie and Zeke ask the questions about the nature of art both to the maker and the viewer, what does obsession really look like, and how do things spin out of control so smoothly. All against an early 90s world that may as well be a thousand years ago. The questions of consequences, family and what lies in front of us through a 90s era time warp. The writing is amazing. Sentences that stop you in your tracks. I loved everything about the novel!

Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson, (List Price: $27.99, Ecco, 9780062913500, November 2022)

Reviewed by Susan Williams, M. Judson Booksellers in Greenville, South Carolina

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