Creative seeds planted during the peak of the pandemic are still coming to fruition. During a time when the world was undergoing intense sadness and pain, people were searching for every ounce of happiness. For author Camryn Garrett, her third novel, “Friday I’m in Love,” was her source of light.
The romantic comedy follows Mahalia Harris, who decides to throw herself a coming-out party because she missed out on having a “Sweet 16” party like her best friend. Her intention is to celebrate her sexuality with her friends and family, but she runs into several hurdles along the way. The story follows the 16-year-old as she tries to balance taking on extra hours at her after-school job to save money, trying on dresses, flirting awkwardly with the new girl in school, and more.
Inspired heavily by teen movies and young adult novels, Garrett, a Gen Z-er herself, aimed to write something fun. She was very intentional about putting Black queer kids at the center of the story. Although the characters don’t know every detail about their developing selves, she wanted to depict them as still being proud of who they are.
“There can be a lot of pressure to … know exactly who you are at such a young age, and I think we should celebrate the parts of yourself that you already know [and] who you are, before you change,” Garrett told theGrio.
With this novel, Garrett joins the multitude of Black authors being elevated in the renaissance of storytelling. Every genre, from fantasy to murder mystery, and at every level, from children’s books to adult novels, is seeing an increase in authentic and diverse Black stories, something Garrett is happy to see.
At a young age, the serial novelist was extremely shy. Garrett used books as a way to learn about the world and about herself, which is why she believes it is absolutely necessary to have a variety of stories featuring Black main characters. She also…
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