Essie Chambers

Oct 25, 2024 | barnesandnoble.com | Isabelle McConville |Hanif Abdurraqib |Essie Chambers |Sarah Chapelle

Flip the script on an American classic as Huck Finn steps to the side and Jim takes center stage in a powerful, and often very funny, story of family, home and freedom. Listen in to Miwa and Percival talk about language, storytelling, identity and more on Poured Over.

Oct 21, 2024 | barnesandnoble.com | Isabelle McConville |Essie Chambers |Elizabeth A. O'Connor |Kaveh Akbar

Our Discover Prize Winner 2024 We’re so excited to announce the 2024 Discover Prize Winner, Swift River by Essie Chambers. Each month, we select a debut novel to feature as the Discover Monthly Pick. Booksellers read and deliberate to deliver a shortlist from these selections and other debuts, and ultimately select an overall Discover Prize winner.

Jun 21, 2024 | barnesandnoble.com | Essie Chambers |Isabelle McConville

A Outsider Story: A Guest Post by Essie Chambers Swift River, our Discover Pick for June, is a novel about being an outsider, and looking to the past to understand our present. Beautifully written, the story is told with the wry voice of 16-year-old Diamond — funny, irrepressible, and the only Black girl in her small New England town. Read on for author Essie Chambers’ exclusive essay on the inspiration for the novel and what coming-of-age means to her.

Jun 7, 2024 | thestate.com | Janet Skeslien Charles |Kaliane Bradley |Essie Chambers |Samantha Harte

FIRST Book Club is back with more thrilling book recommendations and new titles, perfect to sink into as the summer gets into full swing. Kicking us off for the week of June 7 through June 13 is Swift River by Essie Chambers, a new coming of age book that FIRST Associate Food Editor Emily Boyette couldn’t put down. If you’re in the mood for a romance, Funny Story by Emily Henry is the perfect new book to wrap yourself in.

Jun 6, 2024 | thenation.com | Essie Chambers |Kali Holloway

Early on in the pages of Swift River, the astonishing debut novel from author Essie Chambers, teenage protagonist Diamond Newberry describes a typical scene as she walks down Main Street in the book’s titular New England town: If I’m on foot, people stare so hard it’s like I’m on fire. Heads in cars flip all the way around.