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Party: A Mystery - Book Cover


Three girls—Pam, Bess, and Sue—attend a party to celebrate publication of the first of the Nancy Drew mystery books. There are many distractions at the fancy affair: flowers, partygoers, refreshments, and lots of marble. Suddenly, Pam sees what can only be described as something truly . . . bilious . . . not good! Beth sees it too. Sue, does not, and as usual she has a hard time getting anyone to tell her anything.

“I loved Party. It’s a beautiful book right in the tradition of Ezra Jack Keats.”
—Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of Marvel’s Black Panther

Party has layers. It functions as a subtle message about what it means to witness horror to such a degree that we lose our language for it; it is a quiet story about coming of age, suddenly, as a young black girl because of what the world shows us. It is about the many words our silence can hold, the way our absences can ring as loudly and discordantly as the words we do feel able to say.”  —Literary Hub

“This send-up of the Nancy Drew mysteries by Kincaid first appeared as a 1980 New Yorker story about a gala celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first book’s publication. Here, Kincaid’s piece is recast as a picture book with dramatic artwork by Cortés. . . Detailed, almost photographically realistic portraits of girls and partygoers by Cortés, shown against marble architectural backdrops that suggest the New York Public Library, engage throughout . . . A gem.”
Publishers Weekly

Party - A Mystery is written by Jamaica Kincaid and illustrated by Ricardo Cortés     Hardcover: 32 pages


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