Two Richmond-area authors have been gathering national attention for their debut novels. Robin Farmer’s forthcoming “Malcolm and Me” was recently hot-listed by BuzzFeed, while Rachel Beanland’s first novel sizzled over the summer as a Barnes & Noble Book Club pick.
Farmer’s novel doesn’t drop until late November, but the striking cover and story have already caught the attention of BuzzFeed. The news and entertainment website named the novel one of the “12 Most Anticipated YA … Books for Back to School,” along with heavy hitters such as “Twilight” author Stephenie Meyer’s eagerly anticipated “Midnight Sun.”
“I was really excited to see my book up there with ‘Twilight’s’ Stephenie Meyer,” Farmer said in a recent phone interview from her home in Hanover County.
“Malcolm and Me” is about Roberta Forest, a feisty teenager growing up in 1970s Philadelphia. After clashing with her Catholic school teacher over Thomas Jefferson’s enslavement of people, Roberta begins to question everything in her life: her parents, school and the Watergate scandals.
“The Autobiography of Malcolm X” helps her cope with her parents’ troubled marriage and the inequality of the world around her.
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