Flamboyants - by George M Johnson (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

From the New York Times-bestselling author of All Boys Aren't Blue comes an empowering set of essays about Black and Queer icons from the Harlem Renaissance.

In Flamboyants, George M. Johnson celebrates writers, performers, and activists from 1920s Black America whose sexualities have been obscured throughout history. Through 14 essays, Johnson reveals how American culture has been shaped by icons who are both Black and Queer - and whose stories deserve to be celebrated in their entirety.

Interspersed with personal narrative, powerful poetry, and illustrations by award-winning illustrator Charly Palmer, Flamboyants looks to the past for understanding as to how Black and Queer culture has defined the present and will continue to impact the future. With candid prose and an unflinching lens towards truth and hope, George M. Johnson brings young adult readers an inspiring collection of biographies that will encourage teens today to be unabashed in their layered identities.

Review Quotes

An Indie Bestseller
A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
A Shelf Awareness Best Book of the Year
Rainbow Book List Selection

"A triumphant." --Shelf Awareness, starred review

"Johnson's voice fills a void in teen literature, and their newest collection of essays about Black and queer folks from the 1920s unequivocally belongs on shelves across the country... There is no question, this must be purchased, read, and shared." -School Library Journal, starred review

"Flamboyants is not merely a much-needed history lesson, and it's certainly not standard biographical fare. Johnson puts these figures in conversation with each other and with the present, enriching each essay with personal anecdotes delivered in a witty, conversational tone, and with cultural criticism that draws a direct through line from the Harlem Renaissance to Black queer culture today... Flamboyants suggests that we must see those who came before us as whole people to have any hope of making sense of our present." --BookPage, starred review

"Johnson (All Boys Aren't Blue) combines incisive prose commentary, skewering verse, and revealing memoir in this collection of abridged biographies of Harlem Renaissance-era Black queer luminaries.... Palmer (The Legend of Gravity) combines background textures resembling subway maps and skyscrapers with canvas portraiture to produce graphic and hyperrealistic imagery that harkens to the Harlem Renaissance while maintaining contemporary appeal." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

"A sincere and beautifully illustrated ode to queer Black figures who shaped the Harlem Renaissance." --Kirkus

"Punctuated with vibrant paintings and expressive poetry...Through divulging details about how queerness affected their lives, Johnson paints pictures of important people who should serve as a beacon to Black queer people, as they do to the author." --Booklist

About the Author

George M. Johnson (they/them) is an Emmy nominated, award-winning, and bestselling Black nonbinary author and activist. Their debut memoir, All Boys Aren't Blue, was a New York Times bestseller and garnered many accolades. It was the #1 most banned book of 2024 in the United States, according to the American Library Association. For their work fighting book bans and challenges, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) honored George with its Free Speech Defender Award, and TIME Magazine named them one of the "100 Next Most Influential People in the World." They also wrote Flamboyants: The Queer Harlem Renaissance I Wish I'd Known. Originally from Plainfield, New Jersey, they now live in Los Angeles, California.

Charly Palmer is a graphic designer, illustrator, and the Coretta Scott King John Steptoe New Talent Award winner for Mama Africa! As a child, he was fascinated by Ezra Jack Keats's illustrations for The Snowy Day, which inspired Charly's own use of color and geometric shapes. He studied art and design at the American Academy of Art and the School of the Art Institute, both in Chicago.