We are thrilled to have an author guest post from Kathy Iandoli, author of God Save the Queens: The Essential History of Women in Hip-Hop, which releases in paperback today, November 10, 2020. God Save the Queens was named an NPR Best Book of the Year. It pays tribute to the women of hip-hop—from the early work of Roxanne Shante, to hitmakers like Queen Latifah and Missy Elliot, to the superstars of today. Exploring issues of gender, money, sexuality, violence, body image, feuds, objectification and more, God Save the Queens is an important and monumental work of music journalism that at last gives these influential female artists the respect they have long deserved.
There's so much love for this book:
"Iandoli's book is rigorous, insightful, and authoritative—but it's also deadly personal."
—NPR Books
"In writing God Save the Queens, Kathy finally does what dozens of histories of Hip-Hop have never even attempted, telling the stories of women in the genre…Without God Save the Queens, it is possible that the contributions of dozens of important female hip-hop artists who have sold tens of millions of albums, starred in monumental films, and influenced the direction of the culture would continue to go unrecognized."
—AllHipHop.com
"Intended to be a narrative homage to women in hip-hop, this latest work by Iandoli is that and more…. Iandoli gives female artists the recognition they deserve, while showing that there is still work to do. Place this book in the hands of fans of Hanif Abdurraqib and Jeff Chang."
—Library Journal
“Music lovers will celebrate this much-needed exploration of the overlooked experiences of women in hip-hop.”
—Publishers Weekly
Now, a few words from Kathy:
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It’s safe to say that I fell in love with libraries in utero. I come from a family of library lovers. There’s my Great Aunt who was a school librarian, my Mom, whose first job was working at a library, and me, the music-loving book nerd who hung out in libraries a lot. The fascination started during my summer vacations in grade school. My Mom was a teacher, so she was on vacation as well. Every week we would go to the library and pick out a new book. I had summer reading assignments from my school, but I would make it a point to either breeze past those in June or right before the school bell rang in September.
The most fun I had was picking out the books I liked with my Mom at the library. I was a huge Nancy Drew fan, and while I inherited most of my Mother’s collection (she lost a significant number of them during a basement flood in her childhood home), I would read the Nancy Drew books available at the library before I committed to buying them. We would sit on our deck in my backyard and read for hours on end. I would then provide my Mom with an unsolicited book report. We kept the same tradition during winter breaks, only then we would sit in the library and read. This was in my hometown of Hawthorne, NJ also the hometown of Blondie’s Debbie Harry, one of the first names I mention in God Save The Queens. When I found out that my book was acquired by so many different libraries across the country, I was thrilled.
When I was writing my book, I returned to that library. I sat at the same table where my mother and I would sit. I had a pile of music books next to me, cross-referencing my research. When I turned in my book, my Mother passed away, and I edited part of my book at that library. It made me feel closer to her. I just sold my childhood home recently, and while I was saying goodbye to it, I walked back on the deck. I saw a young me, sitting on a lounge chair reading my newest find, with my Mother right next to me. I hope there’s a young girl reading my book in her backyard, with her Mom right beside her.
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Thank you for this fantastic note about libraries, Kathy! Kathy supplied us with a photo of her and her Mother:
It's very fitting that this book has a companion playlist available to listen to while reading. Listen to Kathy's playlist here:
In celebration of the paperback release of God Save the Queens, we are giving away 10 copies to the first 10 librarians who email us at librarylovefest@harpercollins.com.
-Lainey