Dead Man Walking: Graphic Edition

by Helen Prejean, Rose Vines, illus. by Catherine Anyango Grünewald

Sister Helen Prejean's bestselling memoir, Dead Man Walking, becomes a graphic masterpiece with a script by Rose Vines, who's worked closely with Prejean since 2002, and superb illustrations by award-winning Swedish Kenyan artist Catherine Anyango Grünewald. In the appended timeline that highlights relevant events since the memoir's 1993 publication, the penultimate entry marks Donald Trump's November 2024 promise of "dramatically expanding the use of the death penalty." That threat underscores the gravity

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Son of the Morning

by Akwaeke Emezi

Akwaeke Emezi (Freshwater; The Death of Vivek Oji) builds twists and turns into the plot of Son of the Morning, a propulsive story that brims with sexy scenes and sensual details as it literally straddles Heaven and Hell--and the mortal Earth between them.

Galilee knows she is not like her "sisters." She feels loved in her all-woman community, but she senses unease from some of the others. Bees swarm around her protectively, and she has a gift for healing. Once she turns 25, Galilee sets out for the nearby

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Busted

by Dan Gemeinhart

In the hilarious, outrageous, and heartwarming novel Busted by Dan Gemeinhart, a 12-year-old rule follower unwillingly teams up with an ex-mobster and a snarky girl to get cash for his grandfather's skyrocketing rent.

Oscar Aberdeen has lived his entire life with his grandfather, Pops, at the Sunny Days Retirement Community, and it shows. His language ("humdinger," "malarkey," "hogwash") and cultural references (Frank Sinatra, PBS NewsHour) skew 80-something. His strict sense of responsibility, which at Sunny

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Vagabond: A Memoir

by Tim Curry

Most people's first glimpse of Tim Curry was probably as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the "sweet transvestite from Transylvania," in the 1975 film The Rocky Horror Picture Show. But as Curry's delightful memoir, Vagabond, shows, the British actor's prolific career began with his 1968 debut in the London stage production of Hair.

With a strong, affable voice, Curry warns readers not to expect a gossipy tell-all, an assertion he sticks with as he frankly recounts his life but never gives hints about his loves. Actors,

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Palaver

by Bryan Washington

In Bryan Washington's quietly powerful novel Palaver, a queer Black man who's swapped Houston for Tokyo reconnects with his estranged mother and rebuilds his mental health, thanks to his chosen family.

The central players are only ever "the son" and "the mother." He's found a niche in Japan as a private English tutor and is sleeping with a married man; she came from Jamaica via Canada to raise a family in Texas. They have been out of touch for years when he phones her. Concerned about the son's safety,

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