"We were curiosities:" Being black at Harvard in the 1950s

Also this week: Nguyen Phan Que Mai, Sopan Deb, spring romance and more [Kent Garrett and his family at Harvard in the fall of 1959]( Courtesy of Kent Garrett Kent Garrett graduated from Harvard in 1963 -- one of just 18 black students in a class of over 1000. He writes about that experience in a new memoir, The Last Negroes at Harvard. "We were curiosities," he tells reporter Jon Kalish. Other students asked them the same questions repeatedly: "What is it like to be a Negro?" and "What do you people want?" "After you hear that question every day for X number of days, it gets tiring," Garrett says. "You definitely don't want to hear it, you want to steer the conversation somewhere else." Find the full story -- and more about Garrett's classmates -- [here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- [The Mountains Sing, by Nguyen Phan Que Mai]( Author Nguyen Phan Que Mai is a poet and world traveler whose first novel, The Mountains Sing, is about four generations of a Vietnamese family enduring many hardships — something she understands well. The 47-year-old writer was born in North Vietnam, but grew up in a small village in the South, destitute, hungry and horrified by the ruins of war. "Looking back," [she tells NPR's Mandalit del Barco]( "I'm grateful for the experiences. Because I could only write The Mountains Sing having lived through difficult times." [Betsey: A Memoir, by Betsey Johnson]( Designer Betsey Johnson has been pushing fashion boundaries for decades. She's known for her very personal, very whimsical style, for bright colors, animal prints – and doing cartwheels into a splits at the end of her fashion shows. And, of course, there's pink. Lots of pink. Johnson has a new memoir out, Betsey, and she talked to NPR's Michel Martin about it -- and about how she wanted to be a Rockette when she grew up. [Check out their conversation here.]( [Missed Translations, by Sopan Deb]( Sopan Deb had a childhood in suburban New Jersey that doesn't sound particularly unhappy -- but he was often unhappy with his parents, whom he calls "mismatched souls." They had an arranged marriage, and it was miserable. "And, you know, they let that unhappiness fester for several decades," Deb tells NPR's Scott Simon -- leading to years of estrangements. But eventually Deb decided to reconnect, to try to figure out who his parents were before their ill-fated marriage. He writes about it in Missed Translations -- [hear his conversation with Scott here.]( Finally this week, critic Caitlyn Paxson is here with a roundup of some of this [spring's best young adult novels]( -- all featuring girls pushed to their limits, whether by magic or mortality. Our romance columnist Maya Rodale offers her [April picks]( full of the delicious escapes we need right now. And reviewer Barbara J. King says [What It's Like to Be a Bird]( "is a feast for the mind and, thanks to Sibley's gorgeous illustrations, the eye." [When We Were Magic, by Sarah Gailey]( [The Happy Ever Playlist, by Abby Jimenez]( [What it's LIke to Be a Bird, by David Allen Sibley]( Happy reading! -- Petra --------------------------------------------------------------- What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: [books@npr.org](mailto:books@npr.org?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback) Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can [sign up here](. Looking for more great content? [Check out all of our newsletter offerings]( — including Music, Pop Culture, Code Switch and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Books emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy](