2 Books Published by YesYes Books on AALBC — Book Cover Collage

Poetry. Latino/Latina Studies. Women’s Studies. BEASTGIRL & OTHER ORIGIN MYTHS by Elizabeth Acevedo is the first title in YesYes Books’ BLUE NOTE EDITION Chapbook Series. BEASTGIRL & OTHER ORIGIN MYTHS is a collection of folkloric poems centered on the historical, mythological, gendered, and geographic experiences of a first generation American woman. From the border in the Dominican Republic, to the bustling streets of New York City, Acevedo considers how some bodies must walk through the world as beastly beings. How these forgotten myths be both blessing and birthright.

Poetry. LGBT Studies. African American Studies.

Winner, Lambda Literary Award, Gay Poetry 2015.
Chosen by Don Share for Boston Globe’s Best Poetry Books, 2014.
2016 Kate Tufts Discovery Award.
Finalist, Norma Farber First Book Award, Poetry Society of America.

"The poems of [INSERT] BOY have need of the body—desire it and lament its mortality—but over and again they assert Smith’s seemingly religious belief that every sound the body makes, every word and wail, is only possible through connection to some other plane of existence. This is a lovely, voice-driven book, singing high notes sharp as a switchblade."—Jericho Brown

"Danez Smith lays down the gauntlet for all of us to speak our deepest truths with more elegance, more ferocity, and almost more beauty than a reader can bear."—Gabrielle Calvocoressi