{"title":"Sim Kern","description":"\u003cp\u003eDive into the thought-provoking worlds of Sim Kern, where speculative fiction meets queer narratives and climate activism. Explore stories that challenge, inspire, and offer fresh perspectives on our future.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"depart-depart-book-sim-kern-9781777091705","title":"Depart, Depart!","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen an unprecedented hurricane devastates the city of Houston, Noah Mishner finds shelter in the Dallas Mavericks' basketball arena. Though he finds community among other queer refugees, Noah fears his trans and Jewish identities put him at risk with certain \"capital-T\" Texans. His fears take form when he starts seeing visions of his great-grandfather Abe, who fled Nazi Germany as a boy. As the climate crisis intensifies and conditions in the shelter deteriorate, Abe's ghost grows more powerful. Ultimately, Noah must decide whether he can trust his ancestor and whether he's willing to sacrifice his identity and community in order to survive.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49591090807057,"sku":"GOR012724075","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50658002567441,"sku":"CIN1777091705G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51052719407377,"sku":"NIN9781777091705","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52686859174161,"sku":"NLS9781777091705","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1777091705.jpg?v=1750801756"},{"product_id":"free-people-s-village-book-sim-kern-9781646142668","title":"The Free People's Village","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eUSA TODAY\u003c\/i\u003e BESTSELLER\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Official IndieNext Selection\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"Incisive and insightful.\" --\u003ci\u003eTexas Monthly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eFrom environmental journalist and founder of the #TransRightsReadathon Sim Kern, comes the eat-the-rich climate fiction you won''t want to put down:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e In an alternate 2020 timeline, Al Gore won the 2000 election and declared a War on Climate Change rather than a War on Terror. For twenty years, Democrats have controlled all three branches of government, enacting carbon-cutting schemes that never made it to a vote in our world. Green infrastructure projects have transformed U.S. cities into lush paradises (for the wealthy, white neighborhoods, at least), and the Bureau of Carbon Regulation levies carbon taxes on every financial transaction.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e English teacher by day, Maddie Ryan spends her nights and weekends as the rhythm guitarist of Bunny Bloodlust, a queer punk band living in a warehouse-turned-venue called \"The Lab\" in Houston''s Eighth Ward. When Maddie learns that the Eighth Ward is to be sacrificed for a new electromagnetic hyperway out to the wealthy, white suburbs, she joins \"Save the Eighth,\" a Black-led organizing movement fighting for the neighborhood. At first, she''s only focused on keeping her band together and getting closer to Red, their reckless and enigmatic lead guitarist. But working with Save the Eighth forces Maddie to reckon with the harm she has already done to the neighborhood--both as a resident of the gentrifying Lab and as a white teacher in a predominantly Black school.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e When police respond to Save the Eighth protests with violence, the Lab becomes the epicenter of \"The Free People''s Village\"--an occupation that promises to be the birthplace of an anti-capitalist revolution. As the movement spreads across the U.S., Maddie dreams of a queer, liberated future with Red. But the Village is beset on all sides--by infighting, police brutality, corporate-owned media, and rising ecofascism. Maddie''s found family is increasingly at risk from state violence, and she must decide if she''s willing to sacrifice everything in pursuit of justice.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"Sim Kern''s masterpiece burns with righteous fury. This book doesn''t pull punches -- instead of hopelessness, it sliced straight through frustration, fatalism, and ennui and made me want to fight back.\"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e --\u003cb\u003eShana Hausman\u003c\/b\u003e, All She Wrote Books\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"Achingly real, bitterly funny, and deeply moving, The Free People''s Village is a commentary, both compassionate and cutting, on the woke white activist''s journey and, above all, a full-throated ode to resistance and the found family that fuels it.\"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e --\u003cb\u003eMegan Bell\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSouthern Bookseller Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"The Free People''s Village tackles many social and environmental issues at once without feeling heavy or prescriptive, focusing on personal stories amid the larger ones it tells about capitalism, climate, and activism. Its commentary never comes off as rote or tedious, bolstered by humor and humanity.\"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e -- Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya for \u003ci\u003eAutostraddle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"\"Full of furious kindness, radical community, passionate politics, and authentic friendships, \u003ci\u003eThe Free People''s Village\u003c\/i\u003e is a sharply-written paean to hope, set in a vivid, brilliantly imagined future that alternately filled me with loathing and yearning. From the carefully crafted timelines to the intensely real characters, this was a story that yanked me into its world and didn''t let me surface for hours. You live because you still can, and you organize because you still can, and you fight because you still can.\"\"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e --\u003cb\u003ePremee Mohamed\u003c\/b\u003e, Nebula Award-winning author of \u003ci\u003eAnd What Can We Offer You Tonight\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"A thought-provoking, exciting ride. \u003ci\u003eThe Free People''s Village\u003c\/i\u003e is a mesmerizing portrait of revolutions -- the internal ones that call us to find and fight for the best versions of ourselves; the external that consume, invigorate, and demand as they explore paths to justice. Grounded in an imaginative landscape and rounded out by an inclusive, complex cast, this novel masterfully explores identity, morality, and the choices we make as vehicles that hold radical power in the quest for liberation. More than a love letter to Houston, its bayous, and people forgotten and remembered, Sim Kern''s world sings with possibility, hope, and joy that will leave you laughing--and crying -- long after the last bomb has dropped.\"\"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e --\u003cb\u003eEhigbor Okosun\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eForged by Blood\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"\"Beautiful, brilliant, and unflinching, \u003ci\u003eThe Free People''s Village\u003c\/i\u003e will both inspire you and devour you...in the best possible way.\"\"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e --\u003cb\u003eNicky Drayden\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eEscaping Exodus\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Prey of Gods\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49724737782033,"sku":"CIN1646142667VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50143832736017,"sku":"CIN1646142667G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50986335142161,"sku":"GOR013677665","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51044397252881,"sku":"NIN9781646142668","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1646142667.jpg?v=1751120204"},{"product_id":"seeds-for-the-swarm-book-sim-kern-9781777682309","title":"Seeds for the Swarm","description":"\u003cp\u003eRylla McCracken dreams of escaping her family's trailer in the Dust States to go to college, but on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, her mother demands she drop out of school to work for Lockburn chemical refinery instead. When Rylla learns Lockburn is planning to dam the Guadalupe River - the last flowing water in Texas - she defies her mother to protest in the state capital. The protest ends in disaster, but her ensuing viral infamy gains Rylla an acceptance to the mysterious Wingates University.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAt Wingates, Rylla befriends a diverse group of students, all working on new technologies to save the planet. Besides mountains of homework, Rylla struggles with guilt for leaving her brother behind in the Dust, where tensions with the Lush States are escalating towards civil war. Succeeding at Wingates seems like Rylla's best chance to help her family, until she uncovers a terrible secret about the school's billionaire backers. Now, Rylla and her friends are in a race against the rich to reclaim the world-altering technology they've developed - before it's too late.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50399989367057,"sku":"CIN1777682304G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51049946743057,"sku":"NIN9781777682309","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52434410995985,"sku":"NLS9781777682309","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52812495421713,"sku":"CIN1777682304VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1777682304.jpg?v=1750994562"},{"product_id":"real-sugar-is-hard-to-find-book-sim-kern-9781958121030","title":"Real Sugar is Hard to Find","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50405397725457,"sku":"CIN1958121037G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":53006264467729,"sku":"NLS9781958121030","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1958121037.jpg?v=1750868386"},{"product_id":"free-people-s-village-book-sim-kern-9781646144655","title":"The Free People's Village","description":"USA TODAY BESTSELLER — NOW IN PAPERBACK!  From environmental journalist and founder of the #TransRightsReadathon Sim Kern, comes the eat-the-rich climate fiction you won't want to put down:   In an alternate 2020 timeline, Al Gore won the 2000 election and declared a War on Climate Change rather than a War on Terror. For twenty years, Democrats have controlled all three branches of government, enacting carbon-cutting schemes that never made it to a vote in our world. Green infrastructure projects have transformed U.S. cities into lush paradises (for the wealthy, white neighborhoods, at least), and the Bureau of Carbon Regulation levies carbon taxes on every financial transaction.  English teacher by day, Maddie Ryan spends her nights and weekends as the rhythm guitarist of Bunny Bloodlust, a queer punk band living in a warehouse-turned-venue called “The Lab” in Houston’s Eighth Ward. When Maddie learns that the Eighth Ward is to be sacrificed for a new electromagnetic hyperway out to the wealthy, white suburbs, she joins “Save the Eighth,” a Black-led organizing movement fighting for the neighborhood. At first, she’s only focused on keeping her band together and getting closer to Red, their reckless and enigmatic lead guitarist. But working with Save the Eighth forces Maddie to reckon with the harm she has already done to the neighborhood—both as a resident of the gentrifying Lab and as a white teacher in a predominantly Black school.  When police respond to Save the Eighth protests with violence, the Lab becomes the epicenter of “The Free People’s Village”—an occupation that promises to be the birthplace of an anti-capitalist revolution. As the movement spreads across the U.S., Maddie dreams of a queer, liberated future with Red. But the Village is beset on all sides—by infighting, police brutality, corporate-owned media, and rising ecofascism. Maddie’s found family is increasingly at risk from state violence, and she must decide if she’s willing to sacrifice everything in pursuit of justice.   P R A I S E   \"Incisive and insightful.\"  —Texas Monthly  “Sim Kern’s masterpiece burns with righteous fury. This book doesn’t pull punches — instead of hopelessness, it sliced straight through frustration, fatalism, and ennui and made me want to fight back.” —Shana Hausman, All She Wrote Books  “Achingly real, bitterly funny, and deeply moving, The Free People’s Village is a commentary, both compassionate and cutting, on the woke white activist’s journey and, above all, a full-throated ode to resistance and the found family that fuels it.”  —Megan Bell, Southern Bookseller Review  “The Free People’s Village tackles many social and environmental issues at once without feeling heavy or prescriptive, focusing on personal stories amid the larger ones it tells about capitalism, climate, and activism. Its commentary never comes off as rote or tedious, bolstered by humor and humanity.” — Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya for Autostraddle  \"Full of furious kindness, radical community, passionate politics, and authentic friendships, The Free People's Village is a sharply-written paean to hope, set in a vivid, brilliantly imagined future that alternately filled me with loathing and yearning. From the carefully crafted timelines to the intensely real characters, this was a story that yanked me into its world and didn't let me surface for hours. You live because you still can, and you organize because you still can, and you fight because you still can.\" —Premee Mohamed, Nebula Award-winning author of And What Can We Offer You Tonight  “A thought-provoking, exciting ride. The Free People's Village is a mesmerizing portrait of revolutions — the internal ones that call us to find and fight for the best versions of ourselves; the external that consume, invigorate, and demand as they explore paths to justice. Grounded in an imaginative landscape and rounded out by an inclusive, complex cast, this novel masterfully explores identity, morality, and the choices we make as vehicles that hold radical power in the quest for liberation. More than a love letter to Houston, its bayous, and people forgotten and remembered, Sim Kern's world sings with possibility, hope, and joy that will leave you laughing--and crying — long after the last bomb has dropped.\"  —Ehigbor Okosun, author of Forged by Blood   \"Beautiful, brilliant, and unflinching, The Free People's Village will both inspire you and devour you...in the best possible way.\"  —Nicky Drayden, author of Escaping Exodus and The Prey of Gods","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51044886348049,"sku":"NIN9781646144655","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51107635855633,"sku":"NGR9781646144655","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51816908587281,"sku":"CIN1646144651G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51841926234385,"sku":"GOR014422962","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1646144651.jpg?v=1751058076"},{"product_id":"genocide-bad-book-sim-kern-9781623716363","title":"Genocide Bad","description":"\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e BESTSELLER\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eA 2025 \u003ci\u003ePUBLISHERS WEEKLY\u003c\/i\u003e BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Part activist memoir, part crash course in Jewish and Palestinian history, \u003ci\u003eGenocide Bad\u003c\/i\u003e dismantles Zionist propaganda in ten unapologetic essays. Drawing connections between Biblical promises and exploding pagers, medieval dress codes and modern-day apartheid, Kern sketches a sweeping history of imperialism with their characteristic blend of far-ranging research, pop-culture insights, and scathing humor.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Kern, a former teacher, journalist, novelist, and book influencer, gained international recognition as an anti-Zionist Jewish activist in the days after October 7th, 2023. At a time when social media was flooded with \"I Stand with Israel\" posts, Kern started sharing content encouraging their followers to read Palestinian books, learn Palestinian history, and question Western reporting on Palestine--videos which went viral into tens of millions of views.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Despite facing hate messages, death threats, and exile from the Zionist Jewish community, Kern has remained steadfast in their advocacy over the past year. They've posted daily videos on Palestinian, Jewish, and colonial history, and they've raised over $500,000 in direct aid for families in Gaza--all while navigating the challenges of pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting a newborn. In \u003ci\u003eGenocide Bad\u003c\/i\u003e, Kern reflects on the life experiences that led them to anti-Zionist activism, while capturing and expanding upon their online educational content.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Kern doesn't flinch when confronting the horrors of genocides past and present, but there is also tremendous hope contained in these pages--hope that springs from examples of courage and resilience in the face of extreme violence, and from the kinds of resistance that might just lead to our collective liberation.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51202174877969,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51202175107345,"sku":"NGR9781623716363","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51487965053201,"sku":"NIN9781623716363","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51772185542929,"sku":"GOR014397384","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51797218394385,"sku":"CIN1623716365VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51886091043089,"sku":"CIN1623716365G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52470015852817,"sku":"GOR014533137","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1623716365.jpg?v=1751151220"},{"product_id":"real-sugar-is-hard-to-find-book-sim-kern-9781623715472","title":"Real Sugar is Hard to Find","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"Kern is a master at creating worlds that feel vast and lived-in with very few words, as well as balancing pathos with wry humor. The result is a searing, urgent, but still achingly tender work that will wow any reader of speculative fiction.\" --\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly,\u003c\/i\u003e starred review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e From the bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eGenocide Bad\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Free People's Village\u003c\/i\u003e comes a collection of genre-bending short stories, charting a course from bleak dystopian nightmares to wildly liberated futures.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Whether on a far-off planet spiraling out of orbit or in an enchanted forest poisoned by pesticides, the characters inhabiting these mirror-worlds face off against environmental collapse and rising fascism with hope, resistance, and enduring human connection.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Through eleven funny, fast-paced, and closely observed stories, \u003ci\u003eReal Sugar is Hard to Find\u003c\/i\u003e guides readers from apathy and despair towards radical, revolutionary optimism.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Now with a new afterword by the author, providing a behind-the-scenes look at their creative process.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53218256224529,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":53218256552209,"sku":"NGR9781623715472","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781623715472.jpg?v=1779183971"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-sim-kern.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}