Upright Women Wanted
Readers rate it 3.7 (165 on Hardcover)
126 pages · Released Feb 4, 2020 · Tordotcom
Content report card
Upright Women Wanted parent’s guide: what’s inside
Substance use
What it offers
Educational value
A note for parents
This is a short, award-winning novella that centers queer identity and resistance to authoritarianism in a near-future Western setting. While the story handles mature themes like execution and loss, the violence is not graphic and the tone remains hopeful. The book offers strong positive messages about resistance to oppression, found family, and living authentically, with compelling role models in the librarian characters.
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From the publisher
A 2021 Hugo Award Finalist! A 2021 Locus Award Finalist! A 2020 ALA Booklist Top 10 SF/F Pick! A Booklist Editor's Choice Pick! Book Riot's Best Books of 2020 So Far! Named a Best of 2020 Pick for NPR | NYPL | Booklist | Bustle | Den of Geek In Upright Women Wanted, award-winning author Sarah Gailey reinvents the pulp... A 2021 Hugo Award Finalist! A 2021 Locus Award Finalist! A 2020 ALA Booklist Top 10 SF/F Pick! A Booklist Editor's Choice Pick! Book Riot's Best Books of 2020 So Far! Named a Best of 2020 Pick for NPR | NYPL | Booklist | Bustle | Den of Geek In Upright Women Wanted, award-winning author Sarah Gailey reinvents the pulp Western with an explicitly antifascist, near-future story of queer identity. “That girl’s got more wrong notions than a barn owl’s got mean looks.” Esther is a stowaway. She’s hidden herself away in the Librarian’s book wagon in an attempt to escape the marriage her father has arranged for her—a marriage to the man who was previously engaged to her best friend. Her best friend who she was in love with. Her best friend who was just executed for possession of resistance propaganda. The future American Southwest is full of bandits, fascists, and queer librarian spies on horseback trying to do the right thing. Praise for Upright Women Wanted "A good old-fashioned horse opera for the 22nd century. Gunslinger librarians of the apocalypse are on a mission to spread public health, decency, and the revolution."—Charles Stross "A dazzling neo-western adventure. . . . Gailey’s gorgeous writing and authentic characters make this slim volume a pure delight."—Publishers Weekly, starred review At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Shelved under
- Fiction
- Loveable Characters
- Diverse Characters
- Character driven
- Strong Character Development
- Weak Character Development
- A mix driven
- Unloveable Characters
- Not Diverse Characters
- Plot driven
- Adventurous
- hopeful
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ISBN 9781250213655 · Tordotcom