Name: The High Desert
ISBN: 9780358659112

James Spooner

A formative coming-of-age graphic memoir by the co-founder of Afro-punk: a young man's immersive reckoning with identity, racism, and belonging in an isolated California desert town, and a search for salvation and community through punk.

Black. Punk. Nowhere

The High Desert

August Stone

Maya Johnson

The High Desert. Black. Punk. Nowhere, is the story of a young James Spooner (creator of Afro-Punk) and how he discovered punk rock at the age of 13 years old. I don't usually rate memoirs because rating someone's experience is a strange concept. However, I rated this 4.5 out of 5 stars from the entertainment I received from the story-telling as well as the art (because it's a graphic novel and then art is nice). 

The story was so relatable, being one of the few Black people around and having to deal with racism and then violence as a result is an experience many Black people end up going through. I love that the author became an activist at a young age.

The High Desert Black. Punk. Nowhere

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