Pretty: A Memoir

Nonbinary poet Brookins imagines “a world where [they] don’t have to be resilient” in their bold debut. Flitting in time between their early childhood and young adulthood, the 28-year-old author recounts growing up as an adopted, church-going, Black lesbian in the Stop Six neighborhood of Fort Worth, Tex., where their masculine interests and religious antipathy made them an outsider. With the aid of pop culture—namely Ciara and Frank Ocean—they became their own mentor, teaching themselves, in fits and starts, precisely how they’d like to show up in the world. Brookins’s writing thrives on well-observed juxtapositions: as the author explored their gender expression, they often acted “toxically masculine” even as they ached to be “treated softly”; medical transition helped them come across as they’d always hoped, but they found that others started to see them as a “scary Black man,” with all the baggage that stereotype conjures. Linguistically, Brookins pulls equally from playful internet slang and queer theory, often joining both syntaxes in the poems that punctuate each chapter. Though the final product feels slightly underbaked—there’s little narrative thrust—the author’s dazzling voice and sure-footed perspective manage to hold everything together. Brookins is a writer to watch. Agent: Annie Dewitt, Shipman Agency. (May)