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Debut books that made authors stars — and new releases you shouldn't miss
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Host Scott Tong speaks with Here & Now's go-to book expert, Traci Thomas of "The Stacks" podcast, about author debuts: books that put an author on the map or were one-hit wonders.
Thomas also has some new debuts to look out for.
Debuts that put folks on the map
- “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison
- “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini
- “Carrie” by Stephen King
- “Where the Line Bleeds” by Jesmyn Ward
- “The Joy Luck Club” by Amy Tan
Debuts that were one-hit wonders, or their first book was the lasting success
- “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee
- “Gone with the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell
- “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Brontë
- “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton
Authors with strong debuts and successful careers who have books out this year
- Crystal Hana Kim (“The Stone Home” out April 2)
- Danzy Senna (“Colored Television” out Sept. 3)
- Hanif Abdurraqib (“There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension” out March 26)
- Akwaeke Emezi (“Little Rot” out June 18)
2024 debuts I'm excited about
- “Dixon, Descending” by Karen Outen
- “A Fire So Wild” by Sarah Ruiz-Grossman
- “Oye” by Melissa Mogollon
- “Bones Worth Breaking” by David Martinez
- “Mean Boys” by Geoffrey Mak
- “A Small Apocalypse” by Laura Chow Reeve
- “Acts of Forgiveness” by Maura Cheeks
- “Broughtupsy” by Christina Cooke
- “City of Laughter” by Temim Fruchter
- “Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum” by Antonia Hylton
- “Here After” by Amy Lin
Want more debut author suggestions? Check out the podcast “Debutiful” hosted by Adam Vitcavage.