From Powells.com
Hot new releases and under-the-radar gems for adults and kids.
Synopses & Reviews
While many iconic figures of 1920s Black America may not have been public about their sexuality at the time, they still found ways to express their identities in essays, songs, poetry, and other art forms. And it wasn’t always pretty or polite! From high-society weddings to raunchy music and friendship feuds, George M. Johnson delivers all the juicy details in twelve short biographies of these iconic flamboyants—like Langston Hughes, Ma Rainey, Zora Neale Hurston, or Josephine Baker—whose sexualities have been obscured throughout history.
Interspersed with Johnson’s personal narrative and their own poetry, Flamboyants illuminates how American culture has always been shaped by people who are both Black and Queer. Award-winning author and illustrator Charly Palmer brings these flamboyant writers, artists, and activists to life on the page through gorgeous full-color portraits.
In their contributions to American thought and culture, these figures left a roadmap for the future. A future where people like George M. Johnson and others can not only live publicly as a queer person, but can create art fully immersed in a queer experience. And lead a flamboyant life!
Review
"An exuberant, unapologetic memoir infused with a deep but cleareyed love for its subjects." —The New York Times
"This title opens new doors, as the author insists that we don't have to anchor stories such as his to tragic ends: 'Many of us are still here. Still living and waiting for our stories to be told—to tell them ourselves.' A critical, captivating, merciful mirror for growing up black and queer today." —Kirkus Reviews
"The conversational tone will leave readers feeling like they are sitting with an insightful friend . . . This young adult memoir is a contemporary hallmark of the blossoming genre. Johnson anchors the text with encouragement and realistic guidance for queer Black youth." —School Library Journal
About the Author
George M. Johnson (they/them) is an Emmy nominated, award-winning, and bestselling Black nonbinary author and activist. Their debut memoir, All Boys Aren’t Blue, was a New York Times bestseller and garnered many accolades. It was the second-most banned book of 2022 in the United States, according to the American Library Association. For their work fighting book bans and challenges, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) honored George with its Free Speech Defender Award, and TIME Magazine named them one of the “100 Next Most Influential People in the World.”
Charly Palmer is a graphic designer, illustrator, and the Coretta Scott King John Steptoe New Talent Award winner for Mama Africa! As a child, he was fascinated by Ezra Jack Keats’s illustrations for The Snowy Day, which inspired Charly’s own use of color and geometric shapes. He studied art and design at the American Academy of Art and the School of the Art Institute, both in Chicago.