The Free People's Village

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.

"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


Author: Sim Kern
Publisher: Levine Querido
Published: 09/12/2023
Pages: 400
Binding Type: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781646142668


Review Citation(s):
Booklist 06/01/2023 pg. 48
Kirkus Reviews 07/01/2023
Foreword 06/27/2023

About the Author
Sim Kern is a Gulf Coast author and environmental journalist. Their debut horror novella, Depart, Depart!, was selected for the Honor List for the 2020 Otherwise Award, and their short story collection, Real Sugar is Hard to Find, was hailed in a starred review by Publishers Weekly as, "a searing, urgent, but still achingly tender work that will wow any reader of speculative fiction." As a journalist, they report on petrochemical polluters and drag space billionaires.

Sim spent ten years teaching English to middle and high schoolers in Houston, Texas, before shifting to writing full-time. They live near Brays Bayou with their spouse, two kids, and a very good dog.