About \;The Hystericals and V ivek Shraya:
\nFrom the bestselling author of I'm Afraid of Men< /em> comes \;a propulsive and chilling novel for the post-#MeToo era\, set in an isolationist state where one woman's death sparks a movement th at could liberate women or destroy them all.
\nWhen Sarah Munroe is sexually assaulted on her university campus and her attacker walks free\, she makes a devastating choice: she publicly takes her own life in a final act of defiance against a regime that has stripped women of their rights. Her final message ignites a radical movement called #FreeToo. Soon\, mass es of women are taking up "Sarah's Call" and "freeing" themselves as extre me acts of protest. As these deaths multiply across the state\, the govern ment declares the movement a contagion. Overnight\, all women are reclassi fied as "hystericals." \; Forced into a new reality where her very exi stence is criminalized\, Sarah's sister\, Kennedy\, struggles with her own grief\, guilt\, and anger. And as the regime tightens its grip\, she will have to reckon with her sister's legacy--and decide whether to surrender or survive.
\nVivek Shraya is an artist whose body of work crosses t he boundaries of music\, literature\, visual art\, theatre\, and film. She is the author of The Subtweet\, Death Threat\, even this page is white\, The Boy &\; The Bindi\, She of the Mountains\, and God Loves Hair\; and her best-selling I&rsquo\;m Afraid of Men was her\;ald\;ed by Van ity Fair as &ldquo\;cultural rocket fuel&rdquo\;. She is one half of the m usic duo Too Attached\, founder of the publishing imprint VS. Books\, and an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Calgary.\n
About \;The Shapeshifter's Guide to Gym Class and Kai Cheng Thom:
\nIn every generation\, a special few of Nor Numinem are born shapeshifters. Unfortunately\, being one of the &ldquo\;special few& rdquo\; does not get you out of gym class.
\nNor Numinem. A town of hope and beauty. A place where freedom for all blooms as abundantly as the flowering vines that cover the buildings on every street. Yet even in thi s beautiful town\, a kid like Maia&rsquo\;s got problems.
\nMaia is a shapeshifter. And worse\, she&rsquo\;s starting middle school.
\nI n every generation\, a special few of Nor Numinem are born children who de velop the mysterious ability to transform into a part-animal shape. Unfort unately for Maia\, her ability is merely to grow giant moth wings that gro w uncontrollably out of her back whenever she&rsquo\;s excited\, or upset\ , or for some reason\, whenever her new classmate Luke looks at her in a p articular way. Worse than worse? Maia&rsquo\;s wings are useless. Weak and fragile--unlike her talented friends.
\nBut Maia&rsquo\;s problems are about get much harder than even she knows. A strange illness is spread ing through the gardens of Nor Numinem. The very gardens that feed and sus tain this once-perfect town. Worse still\, some of the adults think the sh apeshifter children are to blame. A rumors turn into hate\, life gets toug her for those who aren't seen as "normal". Maia and her friends will soon discover that there is a dark rift in Nor Numinem\, one that will take all their talents\, known and unknown\, to heal.
\nKai Cheng Thom is a writer\, performance artist\, social worker\, fierce trans femme and notor ious liar who loves lipstick and superhero cartoons. A prolific essayist a nd poet\, her work appears online in publications including BuzzFeed\, xoJ ane\, Everyday Feminism\, and Autostraddle\; and in print in Asian America n Literary Review\, Plenitude\, and Matrix Magazine\, among others. As a s poken word artist\, she has appeared and featured at venues including Budd ies in Bad Times Theatre and the Banff Centre for the Arts. She is also a mental health community worker and co-founder of the collective Monster Ac ademy: Mental Health Skills for Montreal Youth. Kai Cheng lives in Montrea l and Toronto\, both of which were built on unceded Indigenous territory.< /p>\nhttps://kfpl.libnet.info/event/17760877 URL;VALUE=URI:https://kfpl.libnet.info/event/17760877 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR