{"title":"Books by Kiese Laymon","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780593405567","title":"City Summer, Country Summer","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCORETTA SCOTT KING ILLUSTRATOR HONOR BOOK\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA lyrical picture book from the award-winning author of \u003ci\u003eHeavy\u003c\/i\u003e, about three Black boys who form a deep connection during a transformative summer trip down South to visit family.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eONE OF \u003ci\u003eBOOK RIOT\u003c\/i\u003e’S BEST CHILDREN’S BOOKS OF THE CENTURY (SO FAR)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eOn the ground of that garden, covered in vegetables and dirt, coated in laughter, I want to say that the Mississippi and New York in our Black boy bodies were indistinguishable. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThree Black boys spend one special summer exploring the Mississippi woods and woulds and coulds of sharing the kind of freeing friendship that is love.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWatched over and given space to discover by Grandmama and Mama Lara, New York, Country, and little C find camaraderie in their contrasts and all the unspoken things between them while playing games of marco polo in the thick garden and sledding on cardboard by the underpass. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith text brimming with love by award-winning author Kiese Laymon and deeply evocative illustrations by Alexis Franklin, \u003ci\u003eCity Summer, Country Summer \u003c\/i\u003eilluminates the tenuous and tender bonds of friendship Black boys forge with one another.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55205822923125,"sku":"9780593405567","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780593405567_a263547a-a7b2-4b11-89f6-b70dbc97c5a2.jpg?v=1786015206"},{"product_id":"9780300265736","title":"A Movement in Every Direction – Legacies of the Great Migration","description":"Contemporary artists and writers reflect on the Great Migration and the ways that it continues to inform the Black experience in America The Great Migration (1915–70) saw more than six million African Americans leave the South for destinations across the United States. This incredible dispersal of people across the country transformed nearly every aspect of Black life and culture. Offering a new perspective on this historical phenomenon, this incisive volume presents immersive photography of newly commissioned works of art by Akea, Mark Bradford, Zoë Charlton, Larry W. Cook, Torkwase Dyson, Theaster Gates Jr., Allison Janae Hamilton, Leslie Hewitt, Steffani Jemison, Robert Pruitt, Jamea Richmond-Edwards, and Carrie Mae Weems. The artists investigate their connections to the Deep South through familial stories of perseverance, self-determination, and self-reliance and consider how this history informs their working practices. Essays by Kiese Laymon, Jessica Lynne, Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts, and Willie Jamaal Wright explore how the Great Migration continues to reverberate today in the public and private spheres and examine migration as both a historical and a political consequence, as well as a possibility for reclaiming agency.   Published in association with the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Mississippi Museum of ArtExhibition Schedule:Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson (April 9–September 11, 2022)Baltimore Museum of Art (October 30, 2022–January 29, 2023)Brooklyn Museum (March 3–June 25, 2023)California African American Museum, Los Angeles (August 5, 2023–March 3, 2024)","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56232562590069,"sku":"9780300265736","price":30.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780300265736_09dfbc02-cd35-49d4-9836-462384fc27be.jpg?v=1786012588"},{"product_id":"heavy-1","title":"Heavy","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'So beautifully written, so insightful, so thoughtful, so honest, so vulnerable, so intimate ... A gift' \u003c\/b\u003e- Jesmyn Ward\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Wow. Just wow' \u003c\/b\u003e- Roxane Gay\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Unflinchingly honest' \u003c\/b\u003e- Reni Eddo-Lodge\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'An act of truth-telling unlike any other I can think of' \u003c\/b\u003e- Alexander Chee\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eTLS\u003c\/i\u003e BOOK OF THE YEAR\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe story of the black male experience in America you’ve never read before\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKiese Laymon grew up a hard-headed black son to a complicated and brilliant black mother in Jackson, Mississippi. From his early experiences of sexual violence, to his suspension from college, to his career as a young college professor, Laymon charts his complex relationship with his mother, grandmother, abuse, anorexia, obesity, sex, writing and ultimately gambling. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eHeavy\u003c\/i\u003e, by attempting to name secrets and lies that he and his mother spent a lifetime avoiding, Laymon asks himself, his mother, his nation and us to confront the terrifying possibility that few know how to love responsibly, and even fewer want to live under the weight of actually becoming free.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA defiant yet vulnerable memoir that Laymon started writing when he was eleven, \u003ci\u003eHeavy \u003c\/i\u003eis an insightful exploration of weight, identity, art, friendship and family.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Laymon's writing, as rich and elegant as mahogany, offers us comfort even as we grapple with his book's unflinching honesty ... Excellent' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e- New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57484209815925,"sku":"9781526605764","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781526605764.jpg?v=1786266257"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-kiese-laymon.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}