Sour Heart: Stories

A sly debut story collection that conjures the experience of adolescence through the eyes of Chinese American girls growing up in New York City—for readers of Zadie Smith and Helen Oyeyemi. Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize • Winner of the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction • Finalist for the New York Public Library’s Young Lions Fiction Award NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New Yorker • NPR • O: The Oprah Magazine • The Guardian • Esquire • New York • BuzzFeed A fresh new voice emerges with the arrival of Sour Heart, establishing Jenny Zhang as a frank and subversive interpreter of the immigrant experience in America. Her stories cut across generations and continents, moving from the fraught halls of a public school in Flushing, Queens, to the tumultuous streets of Shanghai, China, during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s. In the absence of grown-ups, latchkey kids experiment on each other until one day the experiments turn violent; an overbearing mother abandons her artistic aspirations to come to America but relives her glory days through karaoke; and a shy loner struggles to master English so she can speak to God. Narrated by the daughters of Chinese immigrants who fled imperiled lives as artists back home only to struggle to stay afloat—dumpster diving for food and scamming Atlantic City casino buses to make a buck—these seven stories showcase Zhang’s compassion, moral courage, and a perverse sense of humor reminiscent of Portnoy’s Complaint. A darkly funny and intimate rendering of girlhood, Sour Heart examines what it means to belong to a family, to find your home, leave it, reject it, and return again. Praise for Sour Heart “[Jenny Zhang’s] coming-of-age tales are coarse and funny, sweet and sour, told in language that’s rough-hewn yet pulsating with energy.”—USA Today “One of the knockout fiction debuts of the year.”—New York “Compelling writing about what it means to be a teenager . . . It’s brilliant, it’s dark, but it’s also humorous and filled with love.”—Isaac Fitzgerald, Today “[A] combustible collection . . . in a class of its own.”—Booklist (starred review) “Gorgeous and grotesque . . . [a] tremendous debut.”—Slate

Literature & Fiction

ZHANG, JENNY

United States

Lenny

Jenny Zhang

“Part love story, part supernatural thriller and completely engrossing” (People)—from the acclaimed author of You, now a hit Netflix series “A dark beauty of a book, Providence kept me up at night with characters that made my heart a little bigger.”—Jessica Knoll, New York Times bestselling author of Luckiest Girl Alive Best friends in small-town New Hampshire, Jon and Chloe share an intense, near-mystical bond. But before Jon can declare his love for his soul mate, he is kidnapped, and his plans for a normal life are permanently dashed. Four years later, Jon reappears. He is different now: bigger, stronger, and with no memory of the time he was gone. Jon wants to pick up where he and Chloe left off—until the horrifying instant he realizes he possesses strange powers that pose a grave threat to everyone he cares for. Afraid of hurting Chloe, Jon runs away, embarking on a journey for answers. Meanwhile, in Providence, Rhode Island, healthy college students and townies with no connection to one another are inexplicably dropping dead. A troubled detective prone to unexplainable hunches, Charles “Eggs” DeBenedictus suspects there’s a serial killer at work. But when he starts asking questions, Eggs is plunged into a shocking whodunit he never could have predicted. With an intense, mesmerizing voice, Caroline Kepnes makes keen and powerful observations about human connection and how love and identity can dangerously blur together. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY REAL SIMPLE “Providence is a novel that doesn’t fit into one box—it’s tender and dark, eerie and cool, heartbreaking but also an affirmation of the power of love. Kepnes perfectly captures each character’s struggle and pain in such a unique, unconventional way that every page—every sentence—is a delightful surprise.”—Sara Shepard, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Little Liars “Caroline Kepnes is cool right this minute. . . . [Providence is] terrifically conceived and executed. . . . Kepnes has an exhilarating, poppy, unexpected voice.”—The New York Times Book Review “An addictive horror-tinged romance that’ll keep you guessing.”—Entertainment Weekly

Providence: A Novel

Kepnes, Caroline

A collection of essays celebrating the influential former first lady, by an array of acclaimed contributors and with a foreword by Lena Dunham. Michelle Obama’s legacy transcends categorization. Mrs. Obama was not only our first black first lady; she was President Obama’s equal partner in marriage and parenthood and a tireless advocate for women’s rights, education, healthy eating, and exercise. Her genre-busting personal style encouraged others to speak, to engage, even to dress as they wished. In an extension of his popular T, The New York Times Style Magazine feature, Nick Haramis has assembled nineteen essays from prizewinning writers, Hollywood stars, and political leaders—all of whom have been moved and influenced by Mrs. Obama’s extraordinary example of grace in power. Here are original testimonials from Gloria Steinem, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Alice Waters, and Charlamagne tha God, among others. Presidential biographer Jon Meacham supplies historical perspective. Actress Tracee Ellis Rosssuggests that Mrs. Obama “provided an antidote to all the false representations of black women that have inundated us for centuries.” Anna Wintour and designer Jason Wu celebrate the former first lady’s impact as an international fashion icon. Two ninth-grade girls—one in training to be a boxer—talk about how Mrs. Obama has emboldened them to be themselves. Here are some of the many facets of Michelle Obama as she continues to inspire us, a stirring reminder that the best of America once lived in the White House, embodied in one authentic, inclusive, and courageous woman. Advance praise for Courage Is Contagious “Courage Is Contagious reminds us of the fortitude, brilliance, grace, humility, compassion, and humor of a woman we were so crazy lucky to have serve as first lady. This is an exceptional celebration of a most exceptional American.”—J.J. Abrams “The first lady planted a powerful new knowledge inside of each of us. When you read this book you realize it’s still in there and always will be.”—Miranda July, author of The First Bad Man and No One Belongs Here More Than You “The diversity of the voices in Courage Is Contagious captures perfectly why Michelle Obama is so remarkable. If we can all see our best selves in her so vividly, how can we really be that different from each other? This glorious little book will give you goosebumps as it takes you on a journey celebrating one of the most important people alive.”—iO Tillett Wright, author of Darling Days

Courage Is Contagious: And Other Reasons to Be Grateful for Michelle Obama

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

A wise, witchy, and welcoming guide to living life magically Mya Spalter has spent years among candles, herbs, cats, and spells as an employee at New York City’s oldest occult shop, Enchantments. Since it would get crowded in there if all of you visited, this beautifully illustrated book will be your guide to its secrets and stories; in the process, Mya will introduce you to some mystical concepts you can use to build spells and rituals that resonate with your own personal style, including: • Create and maintain altars Even people who aren’t spiritually inclined seem to be able to get down with the beneficial function of an altar as a place to model beauty and balance in their lives. It’s aspirational. • Save your love magic for yourself Because casting a love spell on someone else is pushy and far too easy to mess up. • Clean your filthy apartment Fine, maybe you make your bed every day, but Mya’s talking about the kind of grime you can’t necessarily see. • Money magic for need, not greed Hint: It starts with tipping well; it doesn’t pay to be miserly when asking the universe for abundance. Mya reveals the power of colors (Louboutins wouldn’t have the same status if their soles were lavender), the keys to banishing unfriendly spirits (with cleansing rituals or even a dance party), and invaluable instructions in the timeless arts of astrology, tarot, and finding a parking spot downtown. Open up this book and enchant your own life! Praise for Enchantments “Hilariously conversational, deceptively deep, and phenomenally illustrated, Enchantments will blow your mind and make you laugh while imparting expert knowledge of witchcraft and why it’s so needed today.”—Natasha Lyonne, actress and producer “Imagine that your best friend, a supremely cool, funny, and irreverent person, is also a witch willing to educate and inspire you toward your own witchy practice with humor, sass, and intelligence. This book is magic—literally!”—Michelle Tea, author of Modern Tarot “Part memoir, part recipe book, and part poetry collection, Enchantments lets readers in on the great secret of all witchcraft—that being a witch is about being free to be yourself.”—Dorothea Lasky, author of Milk and co-creator of Astro Poets “We can all use more magic in our lives in these trying times, and Enchantments will help us get started.”—Kimya Dawson, singer/songwriter, The Moldy Peaches

Enchantments: A Modern Witch's Guide to Self-Possession

Politics & Social Sciences

Spalter, Mya

Sociology

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