Debutiful’s Adam Vitcavage recommends noteworthy debut books for readers to discover each month.
Girl’s Girl by Sonia Feldman (June 2)
From the publisher: A hypnotic debut about the pivotal summer that shatters the delicate balance between three best friends
From the publisher: “An extraordinary book about friendships, first lust, and other quiet terrors. Full of longing and many different kinds of love.”—Frances Cha, author of If I Had
Summer leaps off every page in Feldman’s carefully crafted coming-of-age novel. So many teenage novels capture the moments, but Feldman captures the essence of when the world seems limitless, and your mistakes are equally catastrophic as they are meaningless. Feldman simply gets it.
Rabbit, Fox, Tar by P.C. Verrone (June 2)
From the publisher: A mesmerizing, fable-like debut novel about a mysterious young Black woman whose arrival in an insular neighborhood threatens to shake its foundations
What others are saying: “P.C. Verrone’s debut novel Rabbit, Fox, Tar is as haunting as it is enchanting. Innovative in its play on one of America’s best known folktales, adroit in its exploration of themes ranging from gentrification, political campaigning and racial dispossession to the complexities of race, desire and selfhood, and written with incomparable lyricism and verve, Rabbit, Fox, Tar offers a striking new take on a quintessential American story.” —John Keene, author of Punks
Verrone will bewitch you with this debut novel that feels unlike any book I’ve ever read. I floated throughout this folksy novel that felt like entering Verrone’s brain. I felt like I knew exactly what he was envisioning with every paragraph. This book truly came alive.
The Problem Drinker by Kyle Kouri (June 2)
From the publisher: His girlfriend is horror famous, his own writing and acting is floundering, and he is drinking to make sense of it all.
What others are saying: “Searing, sobering, powered by an immense heartbeat all its own, The Problem Drinker effortlessly brings to life a singular literary voice, as humorous as it is grave. With candid and profoundly moving prose, Kouri journeys through grief, duty, art, apocalypse, and the absurdity of human life to create nothing short of a manifesto for the goriness and glory of being alive. I cried, and laughed, and I could not put this book down.” –Mina Seçkin, author of The Four Humors
A tongue-in-cheek collection of essays about failing as a writer, feeling like a loser, and the shenanigans that unfold when you’re just trying your best. It reminded me a lot of another CLASH Books memoir, Out in Public by Greg Mania in all the right ways.
They Fall In Love At The End by Haili Blassingame (June 2)
From the publisher: Cat St. Clair is ready for her messy love triangle era now that she’s in an open relationship. But she didn’t foresee a forbidden love triangle with the only two people who are off-limits: her boyfriend’s best friend and his girlfriend. Being a twenty-something writer who lives for plot, she falls for them anyway, with deliciously disastrous consequences, in this electric literary debut for fans of Xochitl Gonzalez, Coco Mellors, Lily King, and Raven Leilani.
What others are saying: “As a satirist and fresh American voice, Blassingame is a talent to watch.” —Dawnie Walton, author of The Final Revival of Opal and Nev
Blassingame’s novel is pure joy. She brings the hijinks of a messy triangle that we all know and love to life, and twists expectations to hilarious results. So often, funny dosn’t land on the page. Blassingame understands comedy.
Cat Love by Tomás Q. Morín (June 9)
From the publisher: A contemporary dystopian elegy narrated by a cat imprisoned in a Schrödinger’s box, by the prizing-winning poet and memoirist whose writing “cuts to the core with electrifying force” (The Free-Lance Star).
What others are saying: “The cat at the center of this daring novel might be trapped in a Schrödinger’s box but her consciousness is thrillingly unbounded, spiky, unafraid to wrestle with the epic questions. Cat Love bounds between comedy and tragedy, as our tenacious and hilarious heroine struggles to comprehend a bewildering new reality and grieves a stolen life. Tomás Q. Morín has written a wondrous, original, and singularly moving novel.” —Laura van den Berg, author of State of Paradise
Poet and memoirist Morín’s first novel smashed expectations. Throwing around perfect when discussing art feels hyperbolic, but Morín finds perfection in humor and vibes. Come for the cats, stay for the pitch-perfect prose.
A Sense of Occasion by Brodie Crellin (June 9)
From the publisher: An electric, stylish—and very British—novel exploring the tensions and transgressions of relationships and sex, as one dysfunctional family gathers for a funeral
What others are saying: “It would be a mistake to call the members of Brodie Crellin’s fictional family unlikeable characters – they’re simply real, recognizable characters. Crellin has a genius for tracking the internal logic behind all kinds of catastrophically bad behavior. A Sense of Occasion is a wonderful book, at once shrewd and ethereal.” —Chris Kraus, author of The Four Spent the Day Together and I Love Dick
This is the summer of comedy, and Crellin adds another banger to the bookshelf. Sharp and sexy, this novel embodies the hilarity sex brings like Bridget Jones embodied the awkardness sex brings.
Voyagers by Meg Charlton (June 16)
From the publisher: With the imaginative soul and propulsive storytelling of Station Eleven and The Ministry of Time, Voyagers is a thrillingly original and brilliantly ambitious literary debut about friendship at the end of the world.
What others are saying: “In Voyagers, Meg Charlton explores the connections between memory, storytelling, and truth. Against the backdrop of a global crisis, her characters contend with the lasting pain and confusion of a personal crisis. This novel grapples with the possibility of extraterrestrial life, but even more so with the possibility of friendship that is generous and forgiving. A delightful and moving debut.” – Helen Phillips, author of Hum and The Need
When I got my hands on an early draft of this, devoured it in less than a week. Charlton writes with such pristine propulsion and packs a punch on every page. This is going to be the book everyone loves this summer. I can’t stop thinking about Charlton’s world.
Close Relationships With Strangers by Krista Diamond (June 23)
From the publisher: Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler meets Ryan Gosling in Drive, Close Relationships with Strangers follows a Las Vegas wildlife photographer who moves to Los Angeles to become a paparazzo and in the process loses his relationships, his morals, and eventually his tether to reality.
What others are saying: “Krista Diamond beautifully depicts Ben, a paparazzo at the end of the golden age of tabloid photography, as he is drawn into the liminal zone between illusion and delusion. She’s captured the uncanny solitude of Las Vegas and Los Angeles, both cities in the American west that loom as simulacra in popular imagination, with an undercurrent of nostalgia for the recent past in this story of a loner obsessively pursuing his already anachronistic calling; it’s reminiscent of the noir stories of Raymond Chandler and Nathaniel West, and the mood it evokes has stayed with me a very long time.” —Maile Chapman, author of Your Presence is Requested at Suvanto
I’ve been more obsessed with celebrity culture than I care to admit. I felt seen by Diamond. There’s an ineffable tension to the writing in this book that Diamond lets readers traverse across a tightrope.
Names Have Been Changed by Yu-Mei Balasingamchow (June 23)
From the publisher: After ten years on the run around the world, Ophir—not her real name—comes clean in a confessional podcast about her life as a fugitive, charming countless fans even as she risks her freedom.
What others are saying: “Names Have Been Changed is a spiky, smart story about an itinerant Singaporean ex-con who yearns above all, to return. It’s a book about displacement, friendship, diaspora, love, and criminal enterprise, but above all, the gasping need for connection, when home is out of reach.”
—Vanessa Chan, international bestselling author of The Storm We Made
I first read Balasingamchow’s book last July, and I have been thinking about it ever since. Ophir is one of the most memorable characters to jump off the page and the inevitable Hollywood adaptation will have actresses chomping at the bit to play this role.. Names Have Been Changed is crackling with energy.
All This Want (and I Can’t Get None) by T Clark (June 23)
From the publisher: A piercing short story collection that explores the feverish hunger and dizzying pleasure of girlhood and queer coming-of-age in a small town, from an acclaimed emerging writer
What others are saying: “An ode to Black girlhood in all its forms, each story its own messy, hilarious, profound illustration of desire, friendship, the masks we put on, and the ways we learn to love. T Clark has written a short story collection for the ages.”—Leila Mottley, author of The Girls Who Grew Big
I may not look like the girls in this collection, but I needed this. The world needs T Clark’s writing. Clark peels back the layers of her characters, making them dazzle. Each story is as riotous as it is endearing.
The Future Perfect by Cay Kim (June 23)
From the publisher: A radiant portrait of a young woman caught between cultures, and what is lost and found in the struggle to succeed.
What others are saying: “Elegant and deeply felt, this is a novel full of poise, precision and luminous prose. An assured debut.” —Charles Yu, author of Interior Chinatown
A moving story about identity as Kim takes us through how the cultures of Korea and the United States shape her main character. Each line sings, each page transports you. This is the type of novel that will grow with the reader as the days pass after finishing the final page.
Retro by Jessica M. Goldstein (June 23)
From the publisher: An out-of-work actress gets a job as a tour guide for an ultra-luxury time travel company—only to discover her trips to the past could upend her present—in this rollicking, speculative debut novel.
What others are saying: “Retro is a funny, punchy, delightful romp through American history, tourism, and the modern workplace. . . . Existential but silly, heady but oh so juicy!”—Casey Scieszka, author of The Fountain
So many writers slid into my DMs to recommend this book. They said it was right up my alley. Expectations were sky high. And Goldstein delivered a book that oozes charm. This is the page-turning wild ride you need this summer.