This event is run in partnership with our friends at Books are Magic (support independent bookstores in NYC).

A conversation with Rae Mariah MacCarthy (Squad, Macmillan) and Jane Hoppen Resident Lexie Bean to celebrate the release of Lexie's debut novel, The Ship We Built. Inspired by Pixar movies, Mr. Rogers, The Little Prince, and growing up in the 90s, The Ship We Built tackles adults themes for a young audience. Lexie will read from the text, followed by the hosts holding dialogue on reclaiming and navigating childhood memory of queer-phobia, classism, and loss. Books will be made available to purchase through Books are Magic. 

FREE! REGISTER HERE. Books on sale from Books Are Magic.

*Each attendee is encouraged to bring a rock :)  (If you are able to)

Lexie Bean is a queer and trans multimedia artist from the Midwest. Their work in film, literature, and curation revolves around themes of bodies, homes, cyclical violence, and LGBTQIA+ identity. Lexie is a Lambda Literary Award Finalist and passionate about creating honest and complex trans narratives that "transition and grow" alongside them. Their writing has been featured in Teen Vogue, Huffington Post, The Feminist Wire, Ms. Magazine, Them, Logo's New Now Next, Bust Magazine, Autostraddle, and more. The Ship We Built is their debut novel supported with residencies at the Sundress Academy, Paragraph New York, and the Santa Cruz Bookshop. Like the protagonist, Lexie has a deep resonance with water, letter writing, and is also a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. 

Rae Mariah MacCarthy (they/them) is an award-winning writer, a performer, and a birth parent. Their first novel, Squad, was published in Spring of 2019 by FSG. Washington Blade Springs Arts 2019 Book List Pick, Barnes & Noble Teen Blog's Most Anticipated LGBTQAP YA Book of 2019; "An openhearted debut that, like [protagonist] Jenna herself, has wonderfully surprising depth" ―Booklist; "Jenna certainly won me over, and so did Squad." ―NPR. They live in North Hollywood with their cat, Sophie.

Rae's plays have been performed and developed all over the world, from stages in Paris to New York City subway stations, and the New York Times called their immersive party play Mrs. Mayfield’s Fifth-Grade Class of ’93 20-Year Reunion “a lot of fun.” Awards: The Doric Wilson Independent Playwright Award; Lotos Foundation Prize in the Arts and Sciences; PoNY nominee. They live in North Hollywood with their cat, Sophie.

This event is run in partnership with our friends at Books are Magic (support independent bookstores in NYC).

Join us for a “lively” reading and conversation between bestselling author Mary Roach, and debut author Jessica Ferri, who both have a lot of prescient knowledge to share about the dead.

FREE! REGISTER HERE. Books on sale from Books Are Magic.

Mary Roach is the bestselling author of Stiff, Spook, Grunt, Bonk, Packing for Mars and Gulp (hands down, the best one-word titles of any author). A freelance writer and humorist turned accidental science journalist, Mary likes to ask the questions we all wonder about but are usually too polite to mention. What happens after we die, anyway? How fast do cadavers rot? Can a corpse have an orgasm? She grew up in Etna, New Hampshire and knows how to drive a Skidoo and shoot a rifle.

Jessica Ferri’s first book, Silent Cities: New York (Globe Pequot) was published this month in the middle of the pandemic. Silent Cities presciently tells the stories of the permanent residents of New York cemeteries, from the movers and shakers of New York society, to corrupt political bosses and mafiosi, Jazz legends, all as diverse and vibrant as the city itself. Jessica work has been published in The New Yorker's Page Turner, The Daily Beast, NPR, Yahoo!, The Economist, The Barnes and Noble Review, Time Out New York, and more. She lives in Berkeley, CA (formerly Brooklyn).