Join Word Up and Q & T Community for the launch of local author Steven Salvatore’s latest YA novel No Perfect Places about twins whose incarcerated father dies and leaves behind a life-changing secret, perfect for fans of I’ll Give You the Sun and Euphoria. In conversation with Salvatore is Camille Kellogg, author of Just as You Are.

“With NO PERFECT PLACES, Steven Salvatore has gifted us a unique and deeply personal book that beautifully explores the different forms grief can take, the subtle ways secrets can pull us apart, and the unexpected joys that await us when we embrace imperfection.” —Abdi Nazemian, author of Stonewall Honor book Like a Love Story

If you can’t make the event, preorder a copy of No Perfect Places by May 29th to receive a personalized signed copy. Make sure to mention what you’d like signed in the comments of your order!

This event is a $5 suggested donation ticket with 50 max attendees. Please register in advance. 

Recirculation, a project of Word Up Community Bookshop, is located at 876 Riverside Drive (near 160th St.) in Washington Heights, NYC. You can take the 1 train to 157th St., A/C train to 163rd St., and the M4 and M5 to Broadway and 159/160th.

ABOUT THE BOOK

When their father went to prison last year for embezzlement, twins Alex and Olly Brucke lost everything: their house, their college funds, most of their friends, and even their mother, who’s so focused on making ends meet that she’s never around anymore. The only thing they can count on lately is each other.

But after their father dies unexpectedly in prison, the twins start to fracture. Alex is spiraling, skipping classes to spend all of her time drunk or high. And Olly is struggling with a secret his dad ordered him to keep: they have a secret half-brother named Tyler.

When Tyler shows up in their lakeside town for the summer, hoping to get to know his siblings, Olly hides the truth from Alex. But as Alex and Tyler start to form a friendship, the lies become harder to juggle. If they can’t confront their father’s past and fix their relationship, Olly and Alex each risk losing two siblings forever.

No Perfect Places is a thought-provoking novel about grief, family secrets, and figuring out how to belong against the odds.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Steven Salvatore is a gay, genderqueer author, writing professor, Mariah Carey lamb, and Star Wars fanatic with an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School. They are the founder and CEO of Queerative Writers, a virtual creative workshop series for LGBTQ+ aspiring writers. They are the author of AND THEY LIVED…, CAN’T TAKE THAT AWAY, and NO PERFECT PLACES: A Novel, and are represented by Jess Regel of Helm Literary Agency. As a native New Yorker, their heart belongs to the Adirondacks.

Camille Kellogg is a queer writer based in New York City, where she works as an editor for children’s and young adult books. She studied English and creative writing at Middlebury College and attended the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference on a fiction scholarship. She’s passionate about queer stories, cute dogs, and bad puns.