We’re Going to Need More Wine: Stories

This sparkling book collects amusing and heartbreaking stories from the life of actress Union (Being Mary Jane). After moving with her family from Omaha, Neb., to Pleasanton, Calif., in grade school, Union grappled with being black in a predominately white student population and attempted to assimilate and gain peer approval by being the class clown. At 19, a stranger raped her at gunpoint; for a year afterward she barely left the house. In time, she began to heal, pursuing modeling and acting, attending college, and getting married. Union shines a light on issues of race in America and the difficulties young black women face in Hollywood; in an essay on raising boys (two from her basketball star husband Dwayne Wade’s previous marriage as well as his nephew), Union explores the daunting responsibility of parenting in a culture dangerous to black youths. Several essays deal with “teen drama,” dating, making friends, and sexuality; some are quite funny, as when she describes her surprising first encounter with a tampon and discusses when to drink wine or tequila after a break-up. Union’s no-holds-barred essays and intimate voice will appeal to her fans as well as those less familiar with her work. Agent: Albert Lee, Aevitas Creative Management. (Oct.)