Books

Unabashed Triumph: “You Should See Me in a Crown” Reimagines the Prom Queen

Leah Johnson, author of You Should See Me in a Crown. Leah is a Black woman with curly hair and a nosering. She wears a black mockneck tank top and smiles at the camera.
by Rachel Charlene Lewis
June 30, 2020 at 10:46am
This is a book that, at its core, offers hope.
The Herd by Andrea Bartz and Self Care by Leigh Stein. The former cover features a white woman with a purple highlight blocking out her features. The second features a lotion bottle.

Slaying the Girlboss: New Books Explore the Underbelly of Corporate Feminism

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
June 30, 2020 at 9:59am
Against differing backdrops, Andrea Bartz and Leah Stein offer their own look into the darker underbelly of these easily marketable spaces. Read more »
A close up of a Black woman’s hair.

A Multifaceted Beauty: In Emma Dabiri’s “Twisted,” Black Hair Is Both Historic and Personal

by Mary Retta
June 29, 2020 at 10:08am
Emma Dabiri’s analysis also shines in its unexpected critique of today’s natural hair movement in an international context. Read more »
A white woman reads a book. The text next to her reads, “I’m tired of white people ‘trying.’”

Very Online: Anti-Racist Readers Are Plaguing the DMs of Black People

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
June 26, 2020 at 10:53am
We’re in the time of the online anti-racism book club. Read more »
Felix Ever After author Kacen Callender, who is Black and nonbinary and smiles directly at the camera while wearing a pink tee, has blue hair.

Unexpected Connection: “Felix Ever After” Lets Queer and Trans Teens Be Messy

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
June 17, 2020 at 1:15pm
The characterization in this book should serve as an example to others writing queer YA in 2020. Read more »
Zaira Arafat, a Palestinian American writer with shoulder-length brown hair, sits in front of a concrete wall and smiles

Rupture and Reform: “You Exist Too Much” Is a Meditation on Queerness and Desire

by Katherine Connell
June 16, 2020 at 9:00am
Obsession serves a two-pronged function in queer stories. Read more »
A Black woman holds a book. The text overlay reads: They paid you how much?

Very Online: The Literary World May Never Recover from #PublishingPaidMe

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
June 12, 2020 at 12:45pm
For Black writers, Twitter acts as a guiding force. Read more »
These Women, a book cover that features a teenage Latinx girl sitting on a bed and smoking a cigarette while a teen boy lays behind her

Detangling the Web: “These Women” Breaks the Crime Thriller Mold

by Joline Faujour
June 12, 2020 at 9:59am
Ivy Pochoda’s book is about the pitfalls sex workers face and how their precarious position prevents them from seeking and obtaining justice. Read more »
painting of a warrior woman riding a lion about to shoot an arrow into a distant floating eye surrounded by a ring of fire

Gilead Is Now: For Feminist Authors, Dystopia Is Already Here

by Abby Neufeld
June 11, 2020 at 10:00am
In modern times, dystopian fiction is an outlet for authors to imagine the world as it already is. Read more »
A collage of four books: Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, Hurricane Child by Kacen Callender, Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas, Wild Beauty by Anna Marie McLemore.

Safe and Seen: Leave Potter Nostalgia behind in Favor of Trans Authors

by Alaina Leary
June 10, 2020 at 3:15pm
It’s heartbreaking to learn that one of your icons is transphobic. Read more »
Jenara Nerenberg, a white person with shoulder-length brown hair, stares at the camera

Collective Softening: Jenara Nerenberg Seeks to Empower Neurodivergent Women

by Maya Dusenbery
June 9, 2020 at 10:09am
A flawed medical system leaves women with neurological differences, such as ADHD and autism, overlooked and misunderstood. Read more »

Pages

Best of Bitch

Rewriting the Future: Using Science Fiction to Re-Envision Justice

by Walidah Imarisha
Spring 2015 • Law & Order
Our justice movements desperately need science fiction. Read more »

Demanding the Impossible: Walidah Imarisha Talks About Science Fiction and Social Change

by Kristian Williams
April 13, 2015 at 2:23pm
Before she was a poet, journalist, documentary filmmaker, anti-prison activist, and college instructor, Walidah Imarisha was fascinated... Read more »

Mock & Awe: Janet Mock on Truth-Telling, Community Building, and Writing the Story She Had Been Waiting for Her Whole Life

Janet Mock, a transgender Hawaiian woman with curly, brown hair, smiles
by Tina Vasquez
Spring 2014 • Maps & Legends
“Redefining Realness” is written with astounding honesty and heart. Read more »

Eat, Pray, Spend: Priv-Lit and the New, Enlightened American Dream

Elizabeth Gilbert, a white woman wearing a navy blue jumpsuit, leans forward and holds hand with and Oprah Winfrey, a Black woman wearing a gray cardigan and jeans
by Joshunda Sanders
Summer 2010 • Action
Even as reports on joblessness, economic recovery, and home foreclosures suggest that no one is immune to risk during this recession, the popularity of women’s wellness media has persisted and, indeed, grown stronger.  Read more »