Flamboyants, George M. Johnson
Flamboyants, George M. Johnson
List: $10.99 | Sale: $7.70
Club: $5.49

Flamboyants
The Queer Harlem Renaissance I Wish I'd Known

Author: George M. Johnson

Narrator: George M. Johnson

Unabridged: 2 hr 23 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/24/2024

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

“Johnson’s lively delivery keeps listeners interested…Each chapter is delightfully introduced with music from the period that highlights the timeframe…Both teens and adults will enjoy listening to Johnson's masterful performance in this vivid production.” — AudioFile

This program is read by the author and features music from Josephine Baker, Gladys Bentley, Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Ethel Waters to enhance the listening experience.

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.

A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

About George M. Johnson

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.

About Charly Palmer

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.


Reviews

This is a great introduction to queer artists and musicians involved in the Harlem Renaissance, and serves as a jumping off point for learning more about them. Written for teens, it feels like a personal invitation into something the author is passionate about. Johnson inserts relevant asides, juicy......more

Goodreads review by Lois on September 06, 2024

This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by George M. Johnson, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley. I highly encourage the reader to consume this as an audiobook. This is narrated by the author George M. Johnson with a lively jazz based musical soundtrack. Each chapter we are intro......more

Goodreads review by Bailey on February 18, 2025

Such an awesome book that would be great for any reader. Even with a background in Queer studies, there were a few new-to-me names in here. Johnson is a wonderful author and narrator (as always) and I loved the care they put into this book to make sure these icons get the recognition they deserve.......more

Goodreads review by Rachel | All the RAD Reads on May 07, 2025

making it my mission to learn about the history school didn’t teach me 💃🏿 this is a lovely collection of short bios on Black, queer icons of the 1920s, including some i know (langston hughes! zora neale hurston!) and most i didn’t! it was so clear throughout this book how identity is so intersectional......more

Goodreads review by Barb reads......it ALL! on November 02, 2024

#NonFictionNovember24 - Book 2 A love letter. A history lesson. An art gallery. A Renaissance. George M. Johnson collected an amazing collection of people to bring to life the Harlem Renaissance. His writing is endearing and I dare you not to check out books from his recommended reading. Charly Palmers do......more


Quotes

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


Awards

  • Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year
  • NYPL Best Books of the Year