"From New York Times-bestselling author of ALL BOYS AREN'T BLUE comes an illuminating set of profiles of Black and Queer icons from the Harlem Renaissance, interspersed with personal essays and spot illustrations by a Steptoe Award-winning illustrator"-- - (Baker & Taylor)

Profiling the Black and Queer icons from the Harlem Renaissance, an Emmy nominated, award-winning Black nonbinary author and activist interweaves personal stories to bring these flamboyant writers, artists and activists to life, detailing their contributions to American thought and culture that have profoundly impacted our world. Simultaneous eBook. Illustrations. - (Baker & Taylor)

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.

George M. Johnson (they/them) is an Emmy nominated, award-winning, and bestselling Black nonbinary author and activist. They have written on race, gender, sex, and culture for Essence, the Advocate, BuzzFeed News, Teen Vogue, and more than forty other national publications. George has appeared on BuzzFeed’s AM2DM as well as on MSNBC. They are also a proud HBCU alum twice over and a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated. Their debut memoir, All Boys Aren’t Blue, was a New York Times bestseller and garnered many accolades. It was the second-most banned book of 2022 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.” While writing their memoir, George used he/him pronouns. 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.

Booklist Reviews

Punctuated with vibrant paintings and expressive poetry, Johnson (All Boys Aren't Blue, 2020) explores the queerness of Black Americans who have contributed to modern culture, while connecting how their actions and sacrifices impacted the author as a queer Black person. Johnson explains the shortcomings of how Black excellence is taught in our modern society, highlighting how the omitted details can allow modern people to connect to the stories of these figures. Johnson shows that it is essential to give Black queer people opportunities to see themselves in historical figures, especially those who have had essential details of their lives snuffed out by a conservative worldview. Figures mentioned include Langston Hughes, Josephine Baker, and Zora Neale Hurston, alongside several others; each of their stories is told with special attention to what has been historically erased or left out. 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. Grades 7-12. Copyright 2024 Booklist Reviews.