'Mid-Air' is a middle grade book about fitting in, friendship and grief

NPR's Book of the Day

NPR

Arts, Books

4.2 • 671 Ratings

🗓️ 30 April 2024

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Middle school can be a rough time no matter what. But for Isaiah, the eighth grader at the heart of Alicia D. Williams' book Mid-Air, there are some added challenges: feeling like his affinity for rock music and nail polish makes him weird, grieving the loss of a close friend, and drifting further and further apart from his other best bud. In today's episode, Williams speaks with NPR's Andrew Limbong about the particular difficulties Black boys face to feel like they belong, and why — in the face of tragedy or discomfort — it can be even harder for them to connect with one another.

To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. Before we get into today's show,
0:07.0	I want to tell you about a new offering we have here at Book of the Day. We have now launched
0:11.6	Book of the Day Plus, which is a new way to support our work here at NPR. When you sign up,
0:17.2	you get access to a special feed where you can listen to our new episodes sponsor free.
0:22.5	Nothing is changing about our regular show, but Book of the Day Plus is another way to help
0:27.7	us keep giving you the books coverage you love. So please do sign up. We really appreciate it.
0:33.8	You can find out more at plus.npr.org slash book of the day. All right, onto today's show.
0:39.7	The middle grade writer, Alicia D. Williams, is on the pot today. Her new book, Midair,
0:43.8	centers around this 13-year-old kid named Isaiah. And when I asked her to describe him,
0:49.2	I couldn't help but think that if I were 13, we would have sat at the same lunch table together,
0:53.8	talking about new pop-punk
0:55.1	bands, and knowing we were commiserating over the other kids without actually, you know, saying
1:01.3	anything? Because the main issue Williams tries to tackle in mid-air is how boys, and in Isaiah's
1:06.8	case, particularly black boys, are disincentivized from sharing their feelings with their parents
1:12.9	or each other. My interview with Alicia D. Williams after the break.
1:17.9	In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life. Distant wars, murky conflicts,
1:24.8	diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, Sources and Methods.
1:29.2	NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people,
1:33.0	helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.
1:36.8	Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:42.2	Get a bunch of 13-year-olds together,
1:44.0	and you can pretty easily see where that natural urge to send it comes from.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.