One thing we can say for sure at the HYP Book Club is that we’ve never read an African-American female sci-fi author. Since we like to take the road less traveled, we’re going to remedy that this month, with “Kindred” by the renowned Octavia Butler. It’s about a young African-American writer, who somehow travels back and forth between her present-day LA home and a pre-Civil War Maryland plantation, meeting her ancestors, and becoming more and more involved in their lives the more she goes back. Although it’s categorized as sci-fi, Butler herself has talked about how “Kindred” crosses boundaries, calling it a “kind of grim fantasy.”
We meet in the back room (behind the children’s section) of the Midtown Scholar. Please RSVP and/or send questions to Joe Foner at joefoner1@gmail.com. See you there, and happy reading!