Shannon Gibney of Minneapolis writes:
I've been reading "Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories From Social Justice Movements" (Adrienne Maree Brown and Walidah Imarisha, eds.). It's a wonderful anthology of pieces by community organizers — many of them from communities of color — that explore human invasion of other worlds, misguided angels who have been kicked out of heaven and post-apocalyptic cave-dwelling societies that punish their deviants by banishing them above ground. And then I just started Ashley Hope Perez's searing YA novel "Out of Darkness," a beautifully rendered, deeply disturbing story of forbidden love between a Mexican-American and black American teen in the context of the 1937 New London school explosion, which was the worst school disaster in U.S. history. Definitely a book that keeps you up at night.
Shannon Gibney's YA novel "See No Color" was released in November. She teaches writing at MCTC.
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