Proper Library

by Carolyn Ferrell

In the Bronx, a Black gay teenager is determined to conquer the vocabulary drills enforced by his mother, navigating the tumult of high school, a fractured home life, the scars of bullying, and the flicker of first love.

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Carolyn Ferrell is the author of the short-story collection, Don’t Erase Me, which was awarded the Art Seidenbaum Award of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize program, the John C. Zacharis Award given by Ploughshares, and the Quality Paperback Book Prize for First Fiction. She has also received grants from the Fulbright Association, German Academic Exchange (DAAD), City University of New York MAGNET Program, and National Endowment for the Arts. Ferrell’s stories have been anthologized in Best American Short Stories 2018 and The Best American Short Stories of the Century, among other places. She teaches writing at Sarah Lawrence College and lives in New York with her husband and children.