blog — November 15

Seven Stories Press Holiday Gift Guide 2021

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Browse the Holiday Gift Guide

Books For Adults Books For Kids Books in Spanish

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Books for Adults

“Kia Corthron is a singular crucial creative artist with enormous vitality, re-imagining the real life of New York City rooted in new histories.” —Sarah Schulman

"Arrogant, affectionate, and dogmatic, Guevara is intimately revealed in this compilation of personal letters sent over the latter half of his extraordinary life... This offers a thrilling, eyewitness account of battles whose repercussions still reverberate today."  —Publishers Weekly 

“Olga Tokarczuk’s The Lost Soul, an experimental fable illustrated by Joanna Concejo and translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones, resonates with our current moment... What a striking, and lovely, material object it is. One of John’s problems is that he feels “as if he were moving across a smooth page in a math exercise book, entirely covered in evenly spaced squares.” Much of the book, then, unfolds on top of graph paper, including Concejo’s drawings. Translucent paper sometimes adds to the mix, offering layers of trees and leaves. Bits of a fragmented personal archive also accrue over the pages — envelopes, photographs, empty photo corners, yellowed notes — making the surface feel tactile. Bright color, appearing initially in tiny, almost missable specks, overtakes the final scenes and back endpapers.” —Hillary Chute, New York Times Book Review

 “I’d love to see Octavia E. Butler’s novel Parable of the Sower read in more high school English classes. It’s a brilliant, endlessly rich dystopian novel that pairs well with 1984 or The Handmaid’s Tale, and it’s also a fascinating exploration of how crises can fuel new religious and ideological movements.” —John Green, author of Turtles All the Way Down, The New York Times Book Review

“Renowned sf author Butler's first novel since Parable of the Talents (1998) delves deeply into the world of vampires… Butler has a reputation as a master for good reason, and her narrative flows quickly and seamlessly along as Shori seeks those who would destroy her. Gripping and memorable, Butler's latest is a welcome return performance.” —Booklist (Starred Review) 

“Innosanto Nagara is writing a new kind of children's book. Besides being a fun, rhythmic, and lively text to read, the book's illustrations present a world of diversity and complex, inclusive beauty. We should shower our children, schools, libraries, and our communities with books like this one.” —Julia Alvarez, author of A Wedding in Haiti: the Story of a Friendship and In the Time of the Butterflies

“In this extraordinary book, Angela Davis challenges us to confront the human rights catastrophe in our jails and prisons. As she so convincingly argues, the contemporary U.S. practice of super-incarceration is closer to new age slavery than to any recognizable system of 'criminal justice.” —Mike Davis, author of Dead Cities and City of Quartz

“This is a portrait of the artist, narrated by a priest and a poet and a gay man with tenderness and searing honesty. Spencer Reece weaves the poetry he loves into how he has lived, the poetry as solace and relief, as confirmation and rescue, as redemption.” —Colm Toíbín, author of The Magician

“Bill de Buys is one of the planet's great observers, and this may be his masterwork—a story of an exploration, of Nepal, but also of the present and future of this planet. Caring for that world, and all that's in it, is necessary, painful, and as he makes clear, exquisitely beautiful work.” —Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature

“Voices should be on every bookshelf. [It presents] the rich tradition of struggle in the United States, from the resistance to the conquest of the Americas in the era of Columbus through the protests today of soldiers and their families against the brutal invasion and occupation of Iraq.” —Arundhati Roy

“While many books attempt to explain how we got to this political moment (some successfully), Noam Chomsky’s latest, Requiem for the American Dream, provides necessary historical context. Zooming in on ten ways that government and corporate interests have kept the American people down, Chomsky offers a compelling history that explains today’s economic and political landscape. At 157 pages, it’s a short, beautifully put together book.” —Huffington Post 

“[This book] should be affixed to the bulletin boards in every newsroom in America. And, perhaps, read aloud to a few publishers and television executives.” —Ralph Nader

“A book that reaches into this country’s heart of darkness … A tragically human story more telling than a thousand polls. The photographs by Mr. Williamson are eloquent.” —Herbert Mitgang, The New York Times 

“This is an extraordinary collection of writings, documenting one of the most important grassroots rebellions of our time. It conveys the mind and spirit of the Zapatista movement with eloquence and astonishing immediacy.” —Howard Zinn 

"It is a remarkable book. It is different from other Socialist books. . . We can truthfully say that no Socialist will be disappointed in this book once having bought one." —The Northwest Worker, 1915

“A tale of two kingdoms, mirroring the reflective insight of animals and closing eyes of human kind. Animal Envy is a clarion call!” —Patti Smith

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Graphic Novels & Illustrated Books

"A rare book that is both a complete work of art and a complete work of science, Evolution dismantles the natural history museum into its parts, revealing a stripped-down animal kingdom and the commonalities at its core." —Michelle Legro, Brainpickings

“Bold, brilliant ... By turns playful and beautiful, this visual treatment is more than entertainment; it offers a new perspective for understanding these enduring works.” —Reader’s Digest

The most complete Gilgamesh in translation—including the new discoveries from tablet V. 

“Just when I thought I had read every version of Gilgamesh out there (in English, that is, I don’t read Assyrian cuneiform) along comes a cool new “rendition,” as Kent H. Dixon calls his collaborative effort with his son Kevin H. Dixon, an artist/illustrator. . . . Beautifully executed in a handsome edition.” —Julia Alvarez, author of How the García Girls Lost Their Accents

“[Emma's drawings] show how comics can break down something that seems complicated with utmost clarity. The idea of the mental load shines attention on how women so often become, by default, the household manager, organizing what needs to be done, so that a man expects to be asked to do tasks instead of executing them on his own initiative. The story creates an intimate flowchart of household routine; Emma illustrates just how effective even the most basic comics can be at crystallizing social dynamics.” —Hillary Chute, New York Times Book Review

“Florence Shay was a force to be reckoned with, a marvelous, witty, beautiful and well-read lady whose husband Art loved her very much and took some pictures of her that pierce my heart: there she is, glorious Florence. I miss her (and her book shop, too). Art Shay’s photographs bring us into their family, so immediately and warmly that it is a little shocking and quite wonderful.” —Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler’s Wife 

“Elizabeth Swados is blessed with ferocious intelligence, artistic vision, and courage in this insightful book. She deploys these gifts to take us on a highly original journey of understanding.” —Jane Pauley

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Books for Kids 

“Vonnegut tells the story of the Nativity in his own original style that's both delightful and charming. Complete with illustrations [by Ivan Chermayeff], this is a read suitable for both children and adults alike.” —The Bookbag UK

“Innosanto Nagara is writing a new kind of children's book. Besides being a fun, rhythmic, and lively text to read, the book's illustrations present a world of diversity and complex, inclusive beauty. We should shower our children, schools, libraries, and our communities with books like this one.” —Julia Alvarez, author of A Wedding in Haiti: the Story of a Friendship and In the Time of the Butterflies 

“Nothing short of revolutionary. Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth’s newest book is brilliant in its approach to giving caregivers and educators the tools they need to talk to kids about their bodies... Though representation of many bodies shouldn’t be revolutionary, most of our media – children’s books included – showcases white, thin bodies in ways that are often ableist, sexist, homophobic, and trans-exclusive. In this way (and many others), Silverberg and Smyth’s contribution to the dialogue is revolutionary: finally young people have a way to see all bodies (including their own body) represented. Yes.” —Kristin Russo, Buzzfeed 

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