What do you think?
Rate this book
Supersonic
“Masterfully rendered and mercilessly readable. Kohnstamm populates these pages with insight, hilarity, emotion, and unforgettable characters. Supersonic is a novel with so much narrative propulsion that it manages to live up to its name.” —Jonathan Evison, author of Small World and Lawn Boy
When PTA president Sami Hasegawa-Stalworth petitions to rename a Seattle elementary school after her late grandmother, she ignites a battle over the school’s future and the history of its surrounding neighborhood. Supersonic launches readers into a kaleidoscopic tale of the generations of interrelated families who breathed life into that small, hilltop community.
The story cuts in time from the arrival of white settlers’ ships to the last indigenous landowner fighting to hold on to scraps of his ancestral home and back to the school’s PTA auction. It interweaves an opioid-addicted nineteenth-century con man–cum–civic booster, a disgraced Navy seaman building an airplane that travels faster than sound, a stay-at-home dad hustling to open the city’s first legal weed shop and Sami’s grandmother, a Japanese internment survivor who founded the school’s once-celebrated music program.
The novel traces their false starts, triumphs, and heartbreaks through the booms and busts of the Yukon gold rush, the jet age, Big Tech, and beyond. By exploring the converging and often clashing personalities that make up the dynamic soul of a place, Supersonic illuminates themes of identity, displacement, destruction, and reinvention that give rise to all great American cities.
When PTA president Sami Hasegawa-Stalworth petitions to rename a Seattle elementary school after her late grandmother, she ignites a battle over the school’s future and the history of its surrounding neighborhood. Supersonic launches readers into a kaleidoscopic tale of the generations of interrelated families who breathed life into that small, hilltop community.
The story cuts in time from the arrival of white settlers’ ships to the last indigenous landowner fighting to hold on to scraps of his ancestral home and back to the school’s PTA auction. It interweaves an opioid-addicted nineteenth-century con man–cum–civic booster, a disgraced Navy seaman building an airplane that travels faster than sound, a stay-at-home dad hustling to open the city’s first legal weed shop and Sami’s grandmother, a Japanese internment survivor who founded the school’s once-celebrated music program.
The novel traces their false starts, triumphs, and heartbreaks through the booms and busts of the Yukon gold rush, the jet age, Big Tech, and beyond. By exploring the converging and often clashing personalities that make up the dynamic soul of a place, Supersonic illuminates themes of identity, displacement, destruction, and reinvention that give rise to all great American cities.
400 pages, Hardcover
Published February 25, 2025
53 people are currently reading
3547 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Kohnstamm
13 books62 followersNew novel, LAKE CITY, out January 2019 on Counterpoint Press.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 17, 2025
Supersonic… more like midsonic. This novel is hard to summarize, but it focuses on an elementary school in Seattle on the brink of shutting down and the efforts to rename it. Kohnstamm uses this situation as a launching pad to explore topics like heritage, technological development, internment camps, wealth disparity, privilege, etc. It’s a lot, but Kohnstamm successfully paints a nuanced picture of Seattle throughout its many stages through time jumps and multiple points of view.
While this started off strong for me, I lost steam about 2/3rds of the way through. My main issue with this book was Bruce. I am a fan of flawed characters, sure. But Bruce? I would fight Bruce on the street if I saw him and spit on him. I think Bruce was supposed to come off as somewhat likable and quirky, but he made my blood boil and we had to hear from him allllll the time. I am SICK of characters that are neglectful parents and partners, then they make one grand gesture and suddenly everyone forgives them. “That’s just Bruce being Bruce!” NO! He should be better!
Without him, I would’ve given this a 4/5, but it’s a 3/5. Fuck you Bruce
While this started off strong for me, I lost steam about 2/3rds of the way through. My main issue with this book was Bruce. I am a fan of flawed characters, sure. But Bruce? I would fight Bruce on the street if I saw him and spit on him. I think Bruce was supposed to come off as somewhat likable and quirky, but he made my blood boil and we had to hear from him allllll the time. I am SICK of characters that are neglectful parents and partners, then they make one grand gesture and suddenly everyone forgives them. “That’s just Bruce being Bruce!” NO! He should be better!
Without him, I would’ve given this a 4/5, but it’s a 3/5. Fuck you Bruce
February 23, 2025
Thank you SO much Counterpoint Press for sending me this gifted early copy of Supersonic by Thomas Kohnstamm.. I am so happy to have had this opportunity, this book was excellent.
What you’ll get:
A multi POV book with timelines and characters that seem completely unrelated- BUT IT ALL WORKS!
Historical fiction
Family saga
Likeable and/or relatable characters. Kohnstamm does a great job developing them all.
Smart humor
Kind of long - but worth it
Supersonic is a great work of character-driven historical fiction that is told during a few windows of time. This mosaic-style multi-POV novel kicks off in the 1800s and sets the scene for generations to come in the Pacific Northwest area. The story weaves in a young woman and her strict mom in the 1970s, a “slacker,” who is working his damndest to open a legal pot dispensary and a PTA mom. There are rich and interesting characters found throughout. They’re well developed and I feel they get the treatment they deserve. Their often ordinary life challenges are treated with beauty and are lovely to read about. When I first read the description of the book I thought “how will this all work?” Trust me, it works out great. It’s entertaining and laced with great humor along the way.
Yes, there’s a lot going on in this book. But Kohnstamm is a pro at keeping it all straight, organized and together. Yes you’ll scratch your head - but it truly all works and part of the satisfying journey of reading this book.
There’s an important character, Larry in the 1970’s. He’s probably my favorite. If you read this one, you’ll have to let me know yours.
My favorite quote was about a character in the early timeline, “You’re a wonderful manipulator of the press. A downright master of the dark arts” (slight paraphrase there.) A statement like this just seems so fitting about so many today. I’m probably going to start referring to people as “masters of the dark arts” in my everyday vernacular!
My quick take: Super enjoyable. A fulfilling story about rich characters.
What you’ll get:
A multi POV book with timelines and characters that seem completely unrelated- BUT IT ALL WORKS!
Historical fiction
Family saga
Likeable and/or relatable characters. Kohnstamm does a great job developing them all.
Smart humor
Kind of long - but worth it
Supersonic is a great work of character-driven historical fiction that is told during a few windows of time. This mosaic-style multi-POV novel kicks off in the 1800s and sets the scene for generations to come in the Pacific Northwest area. The story weaves in a young woman and her strict mom in the 1970s, a “slacker,” who is working his damndest to open a legal pot dispensary and a PTA mom. There are rich and interesting characters found throughout. They’re well developed and I feel they get the treatment they deserve. Their often ordinary life challenges are treated with beauty and are lovely to read about. When I first read the description of the book I thought “how will this all work?” Trust me, it works out great. It’s entertaining and laced with great humor along the way.
Yes, there’s a lot going on in this book. But Kohnstamm is a pro at keeping it all straight, organized and together. Yes you’ll scratch your head - but it truly all works and part of the satisfying journey of reading this book.
There’s an important character, Larry in the 1970’s. He’s probably my favorite. If you read this one, you’ll have to let me know yours.
My favorite quote was about a character in the early timeline, “You’re a wonderful manipulator of the press. A downright master of the dark arts” (slight paraphrase there.) A statement like this just seems so fitting about so many today. I’m probably going to start referring to people as “masters of the dark arts” in my everyday vernacular!
My quick take: Super enjoyable. A fulfilling story about rich characters.
March 15, 2025
This book is so clever, so timely, so ambitious, so eye-opening about the destruction of a community. There are lots of laughs but some dark points as well. The author captures what it means to feel lost mid-life and grasp at hope in whatever way possible. I related to Loose Bruce, who is disappointed by the turn his life has taken. I also identified with Ruth, who needs to break away from her mother but doesn’t know how to go confidently into the world. This novel is a tribute to people born during the wrong era, as well as a story about deep rooted racism in the Pacific Northwest. It’s a complicated story that comes together beautifully in the end. A slow burn, a tragic predicament befalling a bleak school.
February 23, 2025
I received an ARC of this historical fiction book from Counterpoint Press and Goodreads. These well developed characters are part of a hill top community, each navigating the changing world around them with humor, frustration, and perserverance.
In 2014, Sami is attempting to save the local elementary school and name it for the grandmother who raised her. Stay-at-home Dad, Bruce, assists her while planning his "next big thing."
In 1971, Ruth is avoiding her mother's matchmaking and intrigued by Larry, who owns a motorcycle, smokes, and works at the Supersonic jet plant.
In 1958, Masako teaches music at the elementary school, while facing scrutiny from the white community. Surviving the internment camp has given her strength.
It all began in 1856, when the "Bostons" arrived in Washington State and massacred the local tribe. Young Si'sia will stay on his land.
In 2014, Sami is attempting to save the local elementary school and name it for the grandmother who raised her. Stay-at-home Dad, Bruce, assists her while planning his "next big thing."
In 1971, Ruth is avoiding her mother's matchmaking and intrigued by Larry, who owns a motorcycle, smokes, and works at the Supersonic jet plant.
In 1958, Masako teaches music at the elementary school, while facing scrutiny from the white community. Surviving the internment camp has given her strength.
It all began in 1856, when the "Bostons" arrived in Washington State and massacred the local tribe. Young Si'sia will stay on his land.
May 5, 2025
4.5 really. This is a lovely book, just not knock-my-socks-off level so it falls short of five stars. But it's very good. By my standard measure--did it make me both think and feel--it earns a big thumbs up. It had me in tears at the end, which speaks to Kohnstamm's skill in weaving together a big story over the span of more than a century with well-drawn believable individual characters. By the end he's done a splendid job of pulling it all together, saying something about history and something about humanity.
My quibble is one of my usual ones: a fair number of anachronisms in language, not enough to ruin the book by any means, but enough to be a bit annoying. I so so wish younger authors would do a better job at researching what language their characters would use in various eras. Two examples to boot. (1) While the expression "he couldn't care less" has unfortunately in the last decade or so morphed into the horrible "he could care less," which means the opposite, it most definitely was not "could" rather than "couldn't" back in the ate 19th century. When a character said or thought that he "could care less" in a late 1890s scene, it made me roll my eyes. (2) Among the several more anachronisms in the 1971 sections are the use of "senior" instead of "senior citizen" when the former shorthand was not yet in use then; the use of "dude" when this now ubiquitous annoyance was nowhere near ubiquitous back then; the use of the word "optics" which, though it's become as irritatingly normalized as dude, this only happened over the last decade, two at the most. Before that the word "image" or "appearance" would have been used.
It's a terrible habit of mine to spend many sentences on minor criticisms, especially with a book like this that deserves a lot of praise. So let me end by reiterating that this is a very fine novel, an important novel even, a bighearted novel, a novel that left me in tears, left me feeling and thinking, which is my nearly highest level of praise. It didn't blow my mind but it very much touched my heart.
My quibble is one of my usual ones: a fair number of anachronisms in language, not enough to ruin the book by any means, but enough to be a bit annoying. I so so wish younger authors would do a better job at researching what language their characters would use in various eras. Two examples to boot. (1) While the expression "he couldn't care less" has unfortunately in the last decade or so morphed into the horrible "he could care less," which means the opposite, it most definitely was not "could" rather than "couldn't" back in the ate 19th century. When a character said or thought that he "could care less" in a late 1890s scene, it made me roll my eyes. (2) Among the several more anachronisms in the 1971 sections are the use of "senior" instead of "senior citizen" when the former shorthand was not yet in use then; the use of "dude" when this now ubiquitous annoyance was nowhere near ubiquitous back then; the use of the word "optics" which, though it's become as irritatingly normalized as dude, this only happened over the last decade, two at the most. Before that the word "image" or "appearance" would have been used.
It's a terrible habit of mine to spend many sentences on minor criticisms, especially with a book like this that deserves a lot of praise. So let me end by reiterating that this is a very fine novel, an important novel even, a bighearted novel, a novel that left me in tears, left me feeling and thinking, which is my nearly highest level of praise. It didn't blow my mind but it very much touched my heart.
June 29, 2025
An intergenerational saga intertwining five families with indelible cords of ambition, place, and hopeless love, SUPERSONIC tells the story of the forces deciding who gets to name what, who gets to live where, and who gets remembered and forgotten.
Cycling between the late 1800s/early 1900s, the late ‘50s, the early ‘70s, and 2014, the work’s breadth of scope becomes focused on its characters’ incarnated realities. Siab (Indian Sam), rare survivor of the Duwamish resistance to the colonizers, becomes the lone Native land holder who must fend off the predations of the burgeoning white population. Young widow turned intrepid music teacher, Masako Hasegawa must navigate hostile white hegemony while maintaining high standards for her daughter and her own integrity as a musician. PTA Pro and mother of four, Sami is on a quest to rename the neighborhood elementary school to honor her grandmother. Grunt-level plane mechanic Larry Dugdale nurses delusions of grandeur, hoping to usher in a new era for his city by working on the Supersonic jet; meanwhile his love-interest, Ruth, has to squirm free from her domineering mother’s stifling expectations for her future, even as she endures Larry’s increasingly unhinged grasp on reality.
If these intricate story lines and compelling characters weren’t enough of a reason to read SUPERSONIC, Kohnstamm’s layering of images (seagulls, a bolder, and the bones beneath which our metropolises and schools are built) is carried on the light sails of his prose, with wit and insight landing every time right between a reader's breast bones just enough to nick their heart while making them laugh. With the opening and closing pages achieving near mathematical mirroring of each other, the novel is a master class in the craft of pacing and interweaving of motif, achieving tragedy and comedy of the highest caliber sublime. In Kohnstamm’s unnamed Seattle-esque metropolis, his core characters find acceptance in the face of catastrophe and disappointment, learning to appreciate the wheeling gulls even while getting blasted by the bird shit.
Cycling between the late 1800s/early 1900s, the late ‘50s, the early ‘70s, and 2014, the work’s breadth of scope becomes focused on its characters’ incarnated realities. Siab (Indian Sam), rare survivor of the Duwamish resistance to the colonizers, becomes the lone Native land holder who must fend off the predations of the burgeoning white population. Young widow turned intrepid music teacher, Masako Hasegawa must navigate hostile white hegemony while maintaining high standards for her daughter and her own integrity as a musician. PTA Pro and mother of four, Sami is on a quest to rename the neighborhood elementary school to honor her grandmother. Grunt-level plane mechanic Larry Dugdale nurses delusions of grandeur, hoping to usher in a new era for his city by working on the Supersonic jet; meanwhile his love-interest, Ruth, has to squirm free from her domineering mother’s stifling expectations for her future, even as she endures Larry’s increasingly unhinged grasp on reality.
If these intricate story lines and compelling characters weren’t enough of a reason to read SUPERSONIC, Kohnstamm’s layering of images (seagulls, a bolder, and the bones beneath which our metropolises and schools are built) is carried on the light sails of his prose, with wit and insight landing every time right between a reader's breast bones just enough to nick their heart while making them laugh. With the opening and closing pages achieving near mathematical mirroring of each other, the novel is a master class in the craft of pacing and interweaving of motif, achieving tragedy and comedy of the highest caliber sublime. In Kohnstamm’s unnamed Seattle-esque metropolis, his core characters find acceptance in the face of catastrophe and disappointment, learning to appreciate the wheeling gulls even while getting blasted by the bird shit.
April 19, 2025
Well crafted story and history of a small piece of what I would expect to be Seattle. The main character is Sami, a local with very deep local roots, four children, a sort of understanding husband, and one final thrust to make a difference as the head of the local elementary school PTA. Sami swore she would never get involved again with the PTA, but with her last child and in search of honoring her grandmother, she dives in. Unfortunately, life is not perfect just like the past. This story does an excellent job of moving between various time periods and still manages to get to today. Well done. FYI, soften your picture tough guy.
March 13, 2025
This is a sharp-witted read with complex characters and caricatures across several generations, which I had to record separately to keep straight. It occasionally bogs down and presents many sad situations, but quickly ramps up again to delight the reader. I laughed out loud several times. I recommend it to adults: brief descriptions of sexual activity, extensive drug use, and suicide.
April 24, 2025
Great cast of characters! This story sounds familiar, having grown up in the PNW. I would liken the book to Michener's Chesapeake. Having multi-generational stories in the same location spanning hundreds of years. There are good times and bad times. People with good intention and those without. Kohnstamm writes with good humor and even made me weepy. Bravo!! Can't wait for the next one.
June 1, 2025
DNF. I really, really tried. A book about Seattle? Yes! A story about Boeing and the development of a Supersonic Jet. Yes! I only made it 30% through, even after a second attempt. Very disappointing. I see this author has another book set in Seattle. Normally I would read that too, but will not bother based on my experience with this book. But still, #BringBackTheSonics
April 30, 2025
As a native of the northwest and resident of Seattle, this novel captures a cast of characters that comically reflect the region and historical settings. The struggles are universal, but this story made me ponder what events defined the makeup of a northwest native.
June 11, 2025
An interesting novel set in Seattle. The story touches on a little bit of everything Seattle: the First Nations, internment of US citizens of Japanese descent during WWII, Boeing, Microsoft, interracial marriage, the legalization of marijuana, etc.
September 8, 2025
A book that will haunt me for awhile…in a good way. Great dialog, absolutely plausible plot lines, relatable, endearing characters, and seamless connections across hundreds of years. Really an extraordinary work of fiction.
March 24, 2025
I enjoyed Kohnstamm's humor, characters and storytelling. Great read!
June 26, 2025
Really enjoyed this book... and it was fun having Seattle as the background of the story.
July 12, 2025
Another amazing novel from Thomas Kohnstamm. His best one yet. Filled with nuanced yet relatable characters and a beautiful arc. I loved every page.
April 19, 2025
This book was f’ing tragic.
I loved it.
I loved it.
May 6, 2025
Mixed reviews. Normally I really don't like a book that jumps back and forth over many years/decades following characters that only later are revealed to be connected. Also, some of the characters are very stereotypical; the noble indigenous man who has lost almost everything to the greed of the white man, the over protective asian mother whose daughter rebels and gets into trouble, the slightly mentally ill homeless type who is very good hearted but screws up everything he tries. Despite all of these obvious "losers" the book holds together telling a compelling story. In particular the dialog is very well done; one can even almost identify with some of the characters and feel sympathy for their plight even if their mistakes are totally obvious.
December 25, 2025
This book was great saga that followed generations of different families in Seattle and their different experiences of the city's history. I really appreciated the way it showed how indigenous land theft, Japanese American incarceration, and segregation weren't that long ago and continue to affect people in the present. The multi-generational kaleioscopic narrative style really helped get this point across. I also liked the twists at the end of the book, and I found the ending satisfying.
There were two problems I had with this book: First, I didn't like Bruce's character at all. I was frustrated by how sympathetically he was portrayed when he was really nothing more than a pathetic incompetent man and neglectful parent, and I'm not a fan of the trope of a large gesture repairing a broken relationship. Secondly, I didn't like the book's emphasis on symbolic actions like renaming buildings as a way to reconcile past injustices. Sure, it can promote awareness, but I believe that material reparations are far more effective at addressing the root of the issue.
There were two problems I had with this book: First, I didn't like Bruce's character at all. I was frustrated by how sympathetically he was portrayed when he was really nothing more than a pathetic incompetent man and neglectful parent, and I'm not a fan of the trope of a large gesture repairing a broken relationship. Secondly, I didn't like the book's emphasis on symbolic actions like renaming buildings as a way to reconcile past injustices. Sure, it can promote awareness, but I believe that material reparations are far more effective at addressing the root of the issue.
July 6, 2025
What a fun read with great characters. I didn’t expect to fall so hard for these characters. I enjoyed the way in which the author artfully left the reader space to interpret the characters intentions and motivations. This method lent itself well to a beautifully told story.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews