BOOKS
BY NIC CROSARA
BOOK OF THE MONTH
YOUNG ADULT FICTION
BITTER
Akwaeke Emezi
The time has come! The long awaited prequel to Akwaeke’s critically acclaimed novel Pet is right around the corner.
Readers of Pet fell in love with the protagonist Jam, a young Black trans girl living in the city of Lucille. In Bitter, we follow Jam’s mother, Bitter, when she was a teenager herself. The Lucille we see in this book is very different. The city is overwhelmed by injustices and young people are dying in the fight for a better world. Bitter doesn’t think she has a part to play in the revolution; she just wants to stay inside and paint. Through their masterful prose and use of the magical realism genre, Akwaeke poignantly portrays the importance of revolution, as well as the sacrifices that come with it. With the theme of this year’s LGBT+ History Month being Politics In Art, what better book to read than this one which portrays the power of art and protest?