The high desert
(Graphic Novel)

"From the creator of AFRO-PUNK"--Dust jacket.

Scene: Apple Valley, California, in the late eighties - a thirsty, miserable desert. Teenage James Spooner hates that he and his mom are back in town after years away. The few Black kids here seem to be gangbanging, and the other kids fall on a spectrum of microaggressors to future neo-Nazis. Mixed-race and acutely aware of his Blackness, James doesn't know where he fits in until he meets Ty, a young Black punk who introduces him to the school outsiders - skaters, unhappy young rebels, caught up in the punk groundswell sweeping the country. A haircut - and a few Sex Pistols, Misfits, and Black Flag records later - James has friends, romantic prospects, and knows the difference between a bass and a guitar. But this desolate landscape hides brutal, building undercurrents: a classmate overdoses and a friend must prove himself to his white-supremacist brother and the local Aryan Brotherhood through a show of violence. And everything and everyone are set to collide at one of the year's biggest shows in town... Weaving in the Black roots of punk rock and a vivid interlude in New York's thriving DIY scene, this is the memoir of a budding punk, artist, and activist. -- Adapted from jacket flap description.

Alex Award, 2023.