e-Audio, 02:23:29
Narrated by: George M. Johnson
Release Date: September 24, 2024
Published by: Macmillan Audio
Read from: September 10-11, 2024
Stand-alone
Source: Netgalley (I received a copy of this e-audio from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning: Biphobia, Fatphobia, Homophobia
For Readers Interested In: 2sLGBTQ+, Non-fiction, Essays, Biographies, YAFrom the New York Times–bestselling author of All Boys Aren’t Blue comes an empowering set of essays about Black and Queer icons from the Harlem Renaissance.
In Flamboyants, George M. Johnson celebrates writers, performers, and activists from 1920s Black America whose sexualities have been obscured throughout history. Through 14 essays, Johnson reveals how American culture has been shaped by icons who are both Black and Queer – and whose stories deserve to be celebrated in their entirety.
Interspersed with personal narrative, powerful poetry, and illustrations by award-winning illustrator Charly Palmer, Flamboyants looks to the past for understanding as to how Black and Queer culture has defined the present and will continue to impact the future. With candid prose and an unflinching lens towards truth and hope, George M. Johnson brings young adult readers an inspiring collection of biographies that will encourage teens today to be unabashed in their layered identities.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I never know how to review non-fiction, but this one needs to be done. This book was so good. I learned so much about these people that I thought I had already known. I hope y’all pick this one up.
So the coolest part of this book is hard to pinpoint. I want to say its the colorful pages and the illustrations. Because Lordt they are gorgeous. But in reality, I really believe its the narration. It was narrated by the author who did an amazing job. I’m not a huge fan of non-fiction, but I can’t deny this one made me sit still and listen to this one non-stop. It was so good!
The subject itself was also very cool. I loved this because even though I knew some of these things, there were still things that I didn’t know. And that was amazing. So don’t ever let people tell you that you can’t be an adult that learns from YA books. Because Lordt knows I Googled a lot when I finished this book lol And really, this is something I never thought about, mainly because I’ve always been so upset that they always talk about the same Black people from history. But LGBTQ+ people deserved to know their heroes too, so I love that Johnson gave this gift to today’s teens.
This is a short one tho! Its only 2 hours and its a quick read! I hope that y’all pick this up. It’s good and short but hella informative. You don’t want to miss this one.
Overall, I give this
