We celebrate both Women’s History and Transgender Visibility in March. This month’s book selection is Summer Fun by Jeanne Thornton, winner of the 2022 Lammy Award for transgender fiction.

The main character of Summer Fun, Gala, a young trans woman, works at a hostel in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. She is obsessed with the Get Happies, the quintessential 1960s Californian band, helmed by its resident genius, B–. Gala needs to know: Why did the band stop making music? Why did they never release their rumored album, Summer Fun? And so she writes letters to B– that shed light on the Get Happies and paint an extraordinary portrait of Gala. The parallel narratives of B– and Gala form a dialogue about the creation of music, identity, self, culture, and counterculture. Summer Fun is a brilliant and magical work of trans literature that marks Thornton as one of our most exciting and original novelists.

About the Book Club

NWA Equality’s Reading Between the Lines LGBTQ book club typically meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at rotating locations in Benton and Washington Counties. Reading selections include a variety of cross-cultural and Queer subjects and works by LGBTQ authors. The book club is open to LGBTQ individuals and our allies, 18 and older. Please fill out a one-time registration here.

Books are available through our local program partners Pearl Books in Fayetteville and Two Friends Book Shop in Bentonville. Follow us on social media to win free books courtesy of program sponsor Tyson Foods.