A bittersweet moment for Black booksellers

Also this week: Remembering Rudolfo Anaya, our summer YA roundup, critics' picks and more [Bookstore owner Katie Mitchell]( Lynsey Weatherspoon for NPR As protests and conversations about race have gripped the country, Black-owned bookstores have found themselves struggling to keep up with the demand for titles like White Fragility and How to Be an Anti-Racist. But many Black booksellers are grappling with complex, sometimes painful feelings about what all that new business means; grateful for the sales, but heartbroken at the pain and tragedy driving them. "Things are trendy for a while ... and then they're not, once it's comfortable for people that go back to their old ways," says Katie Mitchell (pictured above), co-owner of Good Books in Atlanta. "Will it still be going on a year from now, or is it just a flash in the pan?" Our pals at Code Switch talked to Black booksellers around the country -- [check out the full story here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- [Rudolfo Anaya receives the National Humanities Medal from President Barack Obama in 2016.]( This week we lost Rudolfo Anaya, [one of the founding fathers of Chicano literature.]( His 1972 novel Bless Me, Ultima is a semi-autobiographical story about a young Mexican American boy and his curandera mentor in 1940s New Mexico. Its mix of English and Spanish, folklore and memory inspired a new generation of Chicano writers. In 2016, Anaya was awarded a National Humanities Medal "for his pioneering stories of the American southwest." [A Song Below Water, by Bethany C. Morrow]( It's officially summer, and we've got a great selection of young adult fiction to help while away the long hot days. Critic Caitlyn Paxson has rounded up six novels that will transport you from Brooklyn to Ireland to the realms of fantasy, packed with mermaids, werewolves, witches, noble ladies, pirates -- and ordinary girls whose lives are rocked by family secrets. [Check it out here.]( [Sex and Vanity, by Kevin Kwan]( And speaking of summer reads -- what could be better than a new Kevin Kwan novel? The Crazy Rich Asians author has left Singapore for Capri in his new novel, a fizzy update of A Room With a View that has a satirical sting in its tail. "It hopefully will make them think, it'll make them laugh a little bit," [Kwan tells NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro.]( "But it will really hopefully let people consider that different people have different struggles. Finally this week, critic Jessica Wick says Silvia Moreno-Garcia's new Mexican Gothic "[is a pitch-perfect Gothic novel]( Jason Heller describes Emma J. Gibbon's story collection Dark Blood Comes From the Feet as [a mashup of Shirley Jackson and Johnny Rotten](. And reviewer Michael Schaub says Yu Miri's Tokyo Ueno Station, about a homeless man who dies and discovers the afterlife is not what he'd thought, is both unsparing and also "[quite beautiful]( [Mexican Gothic, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia]( [Dark Blood Comes From the Feet, by Emma J. Gibbon]( [Tokyo Ueno Station, by Yu Miri]( Take care of yourselves, and I hope books bring you what you need this week! -- 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](