Listen!

Here’s the deal with Durrow:

1.   She’s done a little bit of everything. In this interview, with Bookreporter, she talks about her days as a journalist and a lawyer and a greeting-card writer and an author…and a pro sports consultant. Love it.

2.   She’s NPR approved (and you know how I feel about NPR). In the car or on your computer or with that enormous boom box you have left over from ’89–Listen TONIGHT between 4 pm and 6 pm!

3.   She blogs. I know that doesn’t automatically make a person endearing (in my experience, it’s often the opposite), but she’s just the coolest. She writes about American Idol and the inspiration for her writing and important current events–check it out.

4.    She tours. Like a rock star. Catch up with her in two weeks at the Virginia Festival of the Book or find a reading near you! Along those same lines, you can buy The Girl Who Fell From The Sky on iTunes.

So if anybody wants to start a fan club with me, I’m having t-shirts made on Thursday.

-Susannah

Segue: SPEAKING OF NPR, I just love it. If you’re ever in the car, listening to mindless radio, and that Lady Gaga song comes on again, just make the change. Do something good for yourself. And that’s my Public Radio PSA.

Need a warm-up before Monday? Jill McCorkle was recently featured on North Carolina’s public radio station, reading from her collection of short stories, Going Away Shoes. Listen here!

-Susannah

Good News!

Today we launch The Girl Who Fell From The Sky by Heidi Durrow.

We have a couple launch-day treats for you. First, click here for a clip from the audio CD. Also, we have Durrow’s newest video, which is about her grandmother. Knowing a little more about Durrow’s family sheds a lot of light on the subject matter of the book. To see more from Durrow’s Vimeo channel, click here. And last but not least, check out Durrow’s website for her podcast, short stories, articles, and essays. Enjoy!

About the book:

This debut novel tells the story of Rachel, the daughter of a Danish mother and a black G.I. who becomes the sole survivor of a family tragedy.

With her strict African American grandmother as her new guardian, Rachel moves to a mostly black community, where her light brown skin, blue eyes, and beauty bring mixed attention her way. Growing up in the 1980s, she learns to swallow her overwhelming grief and confronts her identity as a biracial young woman in a world that wants to see her as either black or white.

In the tradition of Jamaica Kincaid’s Annie John and Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, here is a portrait of a young girl— and society’s ideas of race, class, and beauty. It is the winner of the Bellwether Prize for best fiction manuscript addressing issues of social justice.

See, there’s this librarian. And a bird-watching boy. And a strange man with a harmonica and a roof-top pigeon keeper. There’s a glamorous aunt and her philanthropic boyfriend. There’s a desperate little family and a desperate little act. There’s also a survivor. Her name is Rachel. Rachel is growing up in the 1980s, haunted by her heritage (a black father and a Danish mother), as well as secrets she’s folded into her own history. The narrative weaves these lives and mysteries together effortlessly. Durrow tells this story in surround-sound, allowing the reader to step up and peek through the eyes of each character.

Shannon Rhoades, supervising senior editor at NPR’s  “Morning Edition,” says:

“The Girl Who Fell from the Sky is the most recent recipient of the Bellwether Prize. Founded (and funded) by author Barbara Kingsolver, the award promotes ‘socially responsible literature.’ While that sounds slightly medicinal, this book is anything but. Rachel’s voice resonated in my reading mind in much the same way as did that of the young protagonist of The House on Mango Street. There’s an achingly honest quality to it; both wise and naive, it makes you want to step between the pages to lend comfort.”

We’re so glad the good people at NPR love this book! We love it too! We’re so sure that you’re going to love it that we’d like to share a little sample with you. Don’t shove, there’s plenty for everyone.

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky