Showing results by author "Asale Angel-Ajani" in All Categories

When sixteen-year-old Lara and her fiery mother, Yevgenia, find themselves homeless again, the misnamed Oasis Mobile Estates is all they can afford. In this new community, where residents are down on their luck but rich in humor and escape plans, Lara navigates what it means to be the Black, biracial daughter of a Russian mother and begins to wonder what a life beyond Yevgenia’s orbit—insistence on reading only the right kind of books (Russian), having the right kind of relationships (casual, with lots of sex)—might look like.

For readers of Cathy Park Hong, Imani Perry, and Jesmyn Ward, Angel-Ajani’s raw, lyrical exploration of her family history radically overturns established American myths about race, violence, and family. Deep in her family’s archives, Asale Angel-Ajani uncovered a story she never expected to...