“Best Books Summer 2019: The Hottest Beach Reads” / Refinery 29 / Kathleen Newman-Bremang / June 19, 2019
Haven’t you heard? Graphic novels are great beach reads. In this one, Ebony Flowers tells multiple coming-of-age stories through the minefield that is Black hair. It’s a topic that has inspired songs, plays, and Chris Rock documentaries, and it is one that will always hit home for Black women. Too curly. Not curly enough. Too straight. Not straight enough. In the novel’s titular story, Hot Comb, Flowers explores the insecurities that can come with a seemingly simple hairstyle as told through a young girl getting her first perm to fit into her all-Black neighbourhood. It’s a stunning piece of art that “explores the poetry in everyday life,” according to Drawn & Quarterly.
