Drag me if you want but I feel like a major problem with liberal/Western gender ideology is that it’s so focused on aesthetics. Like “Look at me, I’m defying gender norms by wearing a dress/suit/makeup/whatever.” Like okay but what about defying gender norms via the breakdown of behaviour? What about acknowledging things like male entitlement, aggression, perceived weakness and submissiveness, the expectation of women to perform emotional labour etc. If we don’t actively work to break down oppressive and dangerous gender stereotypes, what is the point? Defying gender norms and identities can’t just be limited to clothing, hair, and makeup
All it means when people say “you’re speaking from a place of privilege” is that you’re likely to underestimate how bad the problem is by default because you are never personally exposed to that problem. It’s not a moral judgement of how difficult your life is.
^^^^^^ read it. say it out loud. keep repeating it until you understand.
At this point, when we consider the lies and the secrets, and the key to these events, then we have to consider it was you, Donna Noble. What? Who did I kill? No, but you said it all along, the vital clue: this whole thing is being acted out like a murder mystery, which means it was you, Agatha Christie.
I’m very happy to share more details about Almost Midnight, a book that collects “Midnights” and “Kindred Spirits,” with illustrations by my friend @siminiblocker.
Both these stories have been published elsewhere, but this is a very beautiful gift edition with a sparkling cloth cover and black-and-white illustrations throughout. (It’s really properly illustrated.) We went with this title because, coincidentally, both stories count down to midnight.
Almost Midnight comes out Nov. 2, 2017 in the UK. If you’re in the UK, order from your favorite bookshop!
But you can preorder the book from all over the world. (Book Depository is a pretty good choice.) My editor has told me that only the first printing will have the sparkly cover. So if that’s a selling point for you, definitely preorder.
Now for the really good stuff! I’ve gotten permission to share some of Simini’s illustrations. I met Simini online in 2013, when Eleanor & Park came out. (Simini’s E&P fan art is lovely.) We became friends, and I even named a character in “Midnights” after her. Which makes this book especially dear to me – to have her illustrate her own namesake!
I’ve loved watching Simini’s illustrations take shape. She always shows such a rich understanding of the characters. Here are Noel and Mags from “Midnights”–
And here’s Elena (also named after a friend, my assistant Elena Yip) and Gabe at the movie theater in “Kindred Spirits”–
The book features Simini’s illustration throughout. Some of my favorite details are in the smaller illustrations, like on these pages from “Midnights”–
I think the book is going to be really lovely, and I’m so grateful to my editor, Rachel Petty at Macmillan Children’s Books in London, for working to make it happen.
Solutions Without Problems 