"Fascinating and heartbreaking . . . an essential part of LA history." —LA Weekly
"Read this book and tell me you don't want to read more. I know I do." —Dorothy Allison
". . . subtle, effective . . . [with] a satisfyingly unpredictable climax." —Washington Post
"An engaging, thoughtful book that even East Coasters can enjoy." —New York Press
"Dead-on descriptions of California both gritty and golden." —East Bay Express
"Southland gripped my attention and would not let go until I turned the last page." —International Examiner
"A remarkable feat." —Susan Straight
"Southland is a simmering stew of individual dreams, family struggles, cultural relations, social changes, and race relations. It is a compelling, challenging, and rewarding novel." —Chicago Free Press
Nina Revoyr brings us a compelling story of race, love, murder, and history against the backdrop of Los Angeles. A young Japanese-American woman, Jackie Ishida, is in her last semester of law school when her grandfather, Frank Sakai, dies unexpectedly. While trying to fulfill a request from his will, Jackie discovers that four black teenagers were killed in the store he ran during the Watts Riots of 1965—and that the murders were never solved or reported. Along with James Lanier, a cousin of one of the victims, she tries to piece together the story of the boys' deaths. In the process, Jackie unearths the long-held secrets of her family's history—and her own. Moving in and out of the past, from the shipping yards and internment camps of World War II; to the barley fields of the Crenshaw District in the 1930s; to the means streets of Watts in the 1960s; to the night spots and garment factories of the 1990s, Southland weaves a tale of Los Angeles in all of its faces and forms.
Also available by Nina Revoyr: Wingshooters
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The Age of Dreaming is available in paperback and e-book editions. Our print books are available from our website and in online and brick & mortar bookstores everywhere. The digital edition is available wherever e-books are sold.
A Booklist Book of the Year 2011
Finalist for SCIBA's 2011 Fiction Award
Winner of the 2011 Midwest Booksellers Choice Award
Winner of the first annual Indie Booksellers Choice Award
Selected for IndieBound's March 2011 Indie Next List, "Great Reads from Booksellers You Trust"
Featured in O, The Oprah Magazine's March 2011 Reading Room section as one of 10 Titles to Pick Up Now
"Revoyr does a remarkable job of conveying [protagonist] Michelle's lost innocence and fear through this accomplished story of family and the dangers of complacency in the face of questionable justice." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Revoyr writes rhapsodically of a young girl's enthrallment to the natural world and charts, with rising intensity, her resilient narrator's painful awakening to human failings and senseless violence. In this shattering northern variation on To Kill A Mockingbird, Revoyr drives to the very heart of tragic ignorance, unreason, and savagery." —Booklist (starred review)
"Hauntingly provocative . . . an excellent choice for book discussion groups as it will force readers to dig deep and look inward." —Library Journal
"Gripping and insightful." —Kirkus Reviews
"A searing, anguished novel . . . The narration and pace are expertly calibrated as it explores a topic one wishes still wasn't so current." —Los Angeles Times
"Much can be said and commended about the book's themes of loyalty and love . . . I'll just say that this author is a big talent. Her book is a little thing of beauty. It's a story with American historical significance; it's a novel with emotional heft; it's a satisfying read in the spirit of what Picasso said about another writer, James Joyce: 'The incomprehensible that everyone can understand.'" —Brooklyn Rail
"Revoyr has written a searing portrait of the all-too-recent past, of a place where change comes slowly and painfully, and of a girl just trying to find her own space in the world." —Wichita Eagle
"Wingshooters understands what many of us know from experience: that love and hate can spring from the same source, that bigotry can coexist in the hearts of people who have shown us the tenderest of love." —Hyphen magazine
"Nina Revoyr's young protagonist and her searing, skillfully told story are unforgettable. Don't miss it." —Marian Wright Edelman, President, Children's Defense Fund
"Nina Revoyr is one of my favorite writers. What I admire most is the compassion she shows for her often flawed characters. Wingshooters is a gem of a novel—filled with beautiful language, thoughtful observations on life, deep heartache, and determined acceptance." —Lisa See, author of Shanghai Girls
Michelle LeBeau, the child of a white American father and a Japanese mother, lives with her grandparents in Deerhorn, Wisconsin—a small town that had been entirely white before her arrival. Rejected and bullied, Michelle spends her time reading, avoiding fights, and roaming the countryside with her English springer spaniel, Brett. She idolizes her grandfather, Charlie LeBeau, an expert hunter and former minor league baseball player who is one of the town's most respected men. Charlie strongly disapproves of his son's marriage to Michelle's mother, but dotes on his only grandchild, whom he calls Mikey.
This fragile peace is threatened when the expansion of the local clinic leads to the arrival of the Garretts, a young black couple from Chicago. The Garretts' presence deeply upsets most of the residents of Deerhorn when Mr. Garrett makes a controversial accusation against one of the town leaders, who is also Charlie LeBeau's best friend.
In the tradition of To Kill a Mockingbird, A River Runs Through It, and Snow Falling on Cedars, Revoyr's new novel examines the effects of change on a small, isolated town, the strengths and limits of community, and the sometimes conflicting loyalties of family and justice. Set in the expansive countryside of Central Wisconsin, against the backdrop of Vietnam and the post–civil rights era, Wingshooters explores both connection and loss as well as the complex but enduring bonds of family.
