Indies Introduce Interview

“Escape Artist is a gripping, sad, inspirational, and amazing story of being on death row in America’s worst prison,” said Chris Morrow of Northshire Bookstore.

“Mira T. Lee’s Everything Here Is Beautiful is an extremely powerful and timely work of fiction,” said Janine De Boisblanc of Orinda Books.

Lindsey Stoddard’s Just Like Jackie is “a heartfelt and unflinchingly honest story of what defines, challenges, and bonds together family,” said Kathleen Carey of Little Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza.

Nic Stone is the author of Dear Martin, a Summer/Fall Indies Introduce pick for young adults that follows Justyce McAllister as he explores his feelings on race through letters to Martin Luther King Jr.

Jeannie Vanasco’s The Glass Eye is “an absolutely beautiful exploration of family, grief, memory, and madness,” said Jamie Thomas of Women & Children First.

Kate Schlademan of The Learned Owl Book Shop has called Karina Yan Glaser’s middle-grade debut, The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street, “heartbreaking and hopeful at every turn.”

Jake Burt’s Greetings From Witness Protection! “is a funny, entertaining, and original story about family, friendship, identity, and starting over,” said Lauren Savage of The Reading Bug.

Margaret Rogerson is the author of the Indies Introduce young adult debut An Enchantment of Ravens, in which fairies rely on humans for craft work in exchange for enchantments.

Gregory Scott Katsoulis is the author of the young adult debut All Rights Reserved, which takes place in a dystopian future where nearly all words and gestures are copyrighted.

Celia C. Pérez is the author of the debut middle-grade novel The First Rule of Punk, which Laura Delaney of Rediscovered Books said she loved for its “blend of music, art, and family.”

Margot Farris of pages: a bookstore said she “couldn’t help but root for every single character” in Margaret Wilkerson Sexton’s A Kind of Freedom.

In Sidetracked, author Diana Harmon Asher “gives us a narrator with a unique voice,” said Dave Shallenberger of Little Shop of Stories.

Courtney Flynn of Trident Booksellers & Café called Danya Kukafka’s Girl in Snow “a whodunit with the added bonus of rich, wonderful characters and good writing.”

F.C. Yee is the author of the young adult debut The Epic Crush of Genie Lo, which will “fill that Buffy- or Sailor Moon-shaped hole in your life,” said Allison Senecal of Old Firehouse Books.