A sixteen-year-old girl’s coming-of-age dress provides the catalyst for this intergenerational reflection on struggle, sexual identity, family history, and the importance of community to the young. Red at the Bone is a novel that shifts timescapes and class structures with dexterity Ron Charles commented in The Washington Post, “Woodson explores class, race, and death with unflinching honesty and emotional depth. … [She] manages to remember what cannot be documented, to suggest what cannot be said.”
Red at the Bone, by Jacqueline Woodson. Published by Riverhead Books. The editor is Sarah McGrath and the agent is Dorian Karchmar. Red at the Bone is a finalist for the Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBTQ Fiction, administered by the Publishing Triangle and Ferro-Grumley Literary Awards; the winner will be announced on April 30. (WRITTEN BY JERRY WHEELER.)