Plums for Months, Zaji Cox
Plums for Months, Zaji Cox
List: $14.95 | Sale: $10.47
Club: $7.47

Plums for Months
Memories of a Wonder-Filled Neurodivergent Childhood

Author: Zaji Cox

Narrator: Stephanie Weeks

Unabridged: 2 hr 46 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/09/2023

Synopsis

As a neurodivergent child in a hundred-year-old house, Zaji Cox collects grammar books, second-hand toys, and sightings of feral cats.She dances and cartwheels through self-discovery and doubt, guided by her big sister and their devoted single mother.Through short essays that evoke the abundant imagination of childhood, Plums for Months explores the challenges of growing up mixed race and low-income on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon.

About Zaji Cox

Zaji Cox wrote her first short story at age nine. A dancer, model, and artist, she has performed at the PDX Poetry Festival, Survival of the Feminist reading series, Corporeal Writing’s LOOP, and the 50th annual Northwest Folklife Festival. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English, and her writing can be found in Pathos Literary Magazine, Entropy magazine, and the Portland Metrozine. 

Reviews

Goodreads review by B.

In “Wildflower Bouquet,” which is one of the prose poems in Plums for Months, author Zaji Cox says, “I love the way mismatched things will fit perfectly together to make something imperfect.” In so many ways that statement sums up the unique observations of the neurodivergent author. She lives in a......more

Goodreads review by Becky

I read this book because I was looking for a small press book set in Portland, Oregon and I was peripherally familiar with this from local indie bookstores. This collection of short, poetic essays reflects on Zaji Cox’s childhood in a coming-of-age memoir encompassing everything from the big (school......more

Goodreads review by Murphy

Plums for Months is a unique memior that honors the riches of Cox's childhood even while growing up low-income. Through imaginative and emotionally intelligent essays, Cox shares the joys of nature, strenghtening the body, and growing into an artist with the support of her mother and older sister. N......more

Quotes

“Cox paints a beautiful portrait of growing up in Portland, Oregon, as a low-income child with Asperger’s…[with] dreamlike storytelling and unorthodox structure…This a tour de force, layered with complexities and wonder, that alchemizes Cox’s unique girlhood to something almost divine.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“One of the most beautiful books I have ever read.” Jennifer Pastiloff, author of On Being Human

“[An] anthem, Plums for Months shows how to seek solitude, coping, and comfort in everyday interactions.”  Joe Biel, author of Good Trouble

“Zaji Cox has given the world the profound gift of re-imagining…A poetic love song as big as the cosmos. This book brings me back to life.” Lidia Yuknavitch, author of Thrust

“An intimate portrait of a girl so smart and so wise and so open about her fears and insecurities that I wanted to wrap my arms around the very pages I was reading…Her earnest struggle and all her obvious strengths are the picture of a hero." Liz Scott, author of This Never Happened

“One of the most beautiful books I have ever read, or held, and one which defies every category. It leaves me not knowing what to call it so I’ll just call it MAGIC.” Jennifer Pastiloff, author of On Being Human

“An intimate portrait of a girl so smart and so wise and so open about her fears and insecurities that I wanted to wrap my arms around the very pages I was reading.” Liz Scott, author of This Never Happened

Add to Cart
Add to Wish List