Needlework

Raised by his proud, traditional grandmother, Kody Prewitt, 16, is a responsible young man with an oft-criticized love of quilting, Golden Girls, and Dolly Parton. With his father incarcerated for armed robbery; his chronically unemployed mother, who struggles with opioid addiction, living in a nearby trailer; and his nine-year-old brother taken in by their uncle and his wife, Kody’s closest confidante is Nanny, but neither his grandmother nor his devout Christian best friend Lexy Jo know about “Dolly Dress-Up Hour,” when he dons his hidden makeup and wig. An unexpected message from his alleged half sister—the child of an affair between Kody’s white mother and a Black man while she was married to Kody’s abusive father—forces truths about Kody’s family and his own identity into the light. Watts (Quiver) depicts queer existence in a conservative white Appalachian town with realism and, effectively, hope. Even as Kody experiences harm caused by those closest to him, he never doubts his value, a characterization that proves validating in this poignant exploration of the generational trauma caused by poverty, addiction, and racism, and of the power of being loved for oneself. Ages 15–up. (Oct.)