Y’all, yesterday was a BUSY day! As those of you who follow us on social media know, we had planned to hide a few books at the spring premiere of the Reveille Men’s Chorus show “Heroes, Sheroes, Theyroes” (and we did!).

But, before I get to that, we actually started our book hiding day earlier when we hid 30 books at Kingan Gardens for Southern Arizona Aids Foundation/Thornhill Lopez Center/Eon Youth Lounge‘s Glitter Ball: A Queer Fairytale!

We’ve been talking to SAAF/Eon Youth Lounge for a few weeks about collaborating on sharing some books with our LGBTQ+ youth community, and the Glitter Ball seemed like the PERFECT place to hide some books (how could we not when the theme was “A Queer Fairytale”?!?!?). So, we selected 6 books (5 copies of each!) that are all queer retellings/reimaginings of fairytales and myths and hid them throughout the gardens and venue (which is a BEAUTIFUL hidden gem event space near downtown!). All of the books were wrapped (as usual) in glittery ribbon… so the theme was ON POINT. Glitter for all! We hope that those who found the hidden books enjoy their new reads!

After hiding books at Kingan Gardens, we took a little break, grabbed some dinner downtown, and then went to the Temple of Music and Art to see the Reveille Men’s Chorus and hide a few signed copies of Rasheed Newson’s My Government Means to Kill Me. I (Emily) had a chance to meet Rasheed when he was in Tucson for the Festival of Books (and I moderated one of his panels!) – he and his book are amazing ♥️

The book is a “fierce and riveting queer coming-of-age story following the personal and political awakening of a young, gay, Black man in 1980s New York City.” Notably, one of the significant side characters is a fictionalized Bayard Rustin, who was an African American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, nonviolence, and gay rights ✊ This was the perfect book to hide at this event because the show featured a newly composed piece that honored the life and work of Bayard Rustin!!! 

In short, we had an absolutely lovely and fun day supporting our local LGBTQ+ community. We had a great time, and we’re excited to continue building a kind, inclusive, and book-loving community in Tucson! Special shoutout to Reveille Men’s Chorus for inviting us to attend the premiere ❤