Desiree Cooper is a Pulitzer Prize–nominated journalist and 2015 Kresge Artist Fellow. Her essays and fiction have appeared in publications from The New York Times to the Norton collection Flash Fiction America. Cooper is the author of Nothing Special, which won the 2023 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People and the 2023 Independent Publisher Book Award for Most Original Concept, and Know the Mother, a Michigan Notable Book (both Wayne State University Press). She currently serves as a series editor for the Made in Michigan Writers Series. Contributors: Tommye Blount, Justin Boggués, Isaiah Chambers, Esperanza Cintrón, Zig Zag Claybourne, Nandi Comer, Desiree Cooper, Bridgett M. Davis, Kahn Santori Davison, Jean Alicia Elster, shannon garth-rhodes, D'Nae Hearn, Stephen Henderson, Charisma Holly, Xavier Jackson, Mic Jennings, Luther Keith, Angela Atabex Lugo-Thomas, MARS. Marshall, Chace Morris, Keith A. Owens, Pamela Hilliard Owens, Kamron Reynolds, Brittany Rogers, Satori Shakoor, Renee Simms, Cassandra Spratling, Lillien Waller, Rochelle Wilson-Ellis.

"Though racism often intrudes, Cooper's deftly curated collection of stories, poems, and drawings by Detroiters illustrates the best of urban summer life, its joys, fragility, and resonance." — Lesley Williams, Booklist

• ContentsForewordWe Water - Desiree CooperBackyard Balm - Bridgett M. DavisBlack Out, August 2003, Detroit - Brittany RogersWhere the Run At? - MARS. MarshallFeral Fields - Esperanza CintrónThe Daddy, the Isle, and the Tunnel Drive - Zig Zag ClaybourneChasing Blackness in Detroit—and Finding It -Keith A. OwensAt Franklin Amphitheater - Kam KomicsAfro Nation: The Summer Experience I Didn't Know I Needed - Kahn Santori DavisonDetroit Boricua - Angela Atabex Lugo-ThomasThe Deep End - Stephen HendersonSwimmobile - Kam KomicsA Boatswain's Boblo Memories - Rochelle Wilson-Ellis with Desiree CooperThe Trump Boot - Nandi ComerListen, Children, All Is Not Lost - Lillien WallerGoing South for a Family Reunion - Kam KomicsBiking Detroit - Cassandra SpratlingDreams of the Corner - Luther KeithThe Neighborhood Constitutional - Jean Alicia ElsterSurviving Joy - Charisma HollyShade - Justin BogguésDesire Paths - Tommye BlountO Me - Xavier JacksonFlight of the Bumblebee - Satori ShakoorBorderline - Renee SimmsPoets in Their Natural Habitats - Isaiah ChambersJuly 4th at Pontiac Lake - Kam KomicsThe Summer Protest - shannon garth-rhodesFactory of Light - Chace MorrisSummertime Krampus - Mic JenningsThe Black Middle Class: Staking Our Claim to Detroit - Pamela Hilliard OwensForest Bathing — D'Nae HearnWe on the Lodge with It - Nandi ComerContributorsAcknowledgments

Desiree Cooper is a Pulitzer Prize–nominated journalist and 2015 Kresge Artist Fellow. Her essays and fiction have appeared in publications from The New York Times to the Norton collection Flash Fiction America. Cooper is the author of Nothing Special, which won the 2023 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People and the 2023 Independent Publisher Book Award for Most Original Concept, and Know the Mother, a Michigan Notable Book (both Wayne State University Press). She currently serves as a series editor for the Made in Michigan Writers Series. Contributors: Tommye Blount, Justin Boggués, Isaiah Chambers, Esperanza Cintrón, Zig Zag Claybourne, Nandi Comer, Desiree Cooper, Bridgett M. Davis, Kahn Santori Davison, Jean Alicia Elster, shannon garth-rhodes, D'Nae Hearn, Stephen Henderson, Charisma Holly, Xavier Jackson, Mic Jennings, Luther Keith, Angela Atabex Lugo-Thomas, MARS. Marshall, Chace Morris, Keith A. Owens, Pamela Hilliard Owens, Kamron Reynolds, Brittany Rogers, Satori Shakoor, Renee Simms, Cassandra Spratling, Lillien Waller, Rochelle Wilson-Ellis.

"Though racism often intrudes, Cooper's deftly curated collection of stories, poems, and drawings by Detroiters illustrates the best of urban summer life, its joys, fragility, and resonance." — Lesley Williams, Booklist

• ContentsForewordWe Water - Desiree CooperBackyard Balm - Bridgett M. DavisBlack Out, August 2003, Detroit - Brittany RogersWhere the Run At? - MARS. MarshallFeral Fields - Esperanza CintrónThe Daddy, the Isle, and the Tunnel Drive - Zig Zag ClaybourneChasing Blackness in Detroit—and Finding It -Keith A. OwensAt Franklin Amphitheater - Kam KomicsAfro Nation: The Summer Experience I Didn't Know I Needed - Kahn Santori DavisonDetroit Boricua - Angela Atabex Lugo-ThomasThe Deep End - Stephen HendersonSwimmobile - Kam KomicsA Boatswain's Boblo Memories - Rochelle Wilson-Ellis with Desiree CooperThe Trump Boot - Nandi ComerListen, Children, All Is Not Lost - Lillien WallerGoing South for a Family Reunion - Kam KomicsBiking Detroit - Cassandra SpratlingDreams of the Corner - Luther KeithThe Neighborhood Constitutional - Jean Alicia ElsterSurviving Joy - Charisma HollyShade - Justin BogguésDesire Paths - Tommye BlountO Me - Xavier JacksonFlight of the Bumblebee - Satori ShakoorBorderline - Renee SimmsPoets in Their Natural Habitats - Isaiah ChambersJuly 4th at Pontiac Lake - Kam KomicsThe Summer Protest - shannon garth-rhodesFactory of Light - Chace MorrisSummertime Krampus - Mic JenningsThe Black Middle Class: Staking Our Claim to Detroit - Pamela Hilliard OwensForest Bathing — D'Nae HearnWe on the Lodge with It - Nandi ComerContributorsAcknowledgments

Desiree Cooper is a Pulitzer Prize–nominated journalist and 2015 Kresge Artist Fellow. Her essays and fiction have appeared in publications from The New York Times to the Norton collection Flash Fiction America. Cooper is the author of Nothing Special, which won the 2023 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People and the 2023 Independent Publisher Book Award for Most Original Concept, and Know the Mother, a Michigan Notable Book (both Wayne State University Press). She currently serves as a series editor for the Made in Michigan Writers Series. Contributors: Tommye Blount, Justin Boggués, Isaiah Chambers, Esperanza Cintrón, Zig Zag Claybourne, Nandi Comer, Desiree Cooper, Bridgett M. Davis, Kahn Santori Davison, Jean Alicia Elster, shannon garth-rhodes, D'Nae Hearn, Stephen Henderson, Charisma Holly, Xavier Jackson, Mic Jennings, Luther Keith, Angela Atabex Lugo-Thomas, MARS. Marshall, Chace Morris, Keith A. Owens, Pamela Hilliard Owens, Kamron Reynolds, Brittany Rogers, Satori Shakoor, Renee Simms, Cassandra Spratling, Lillien Waller, Rochelle Wilson-Ellis.

"Though racism often intrudes, Cooper's deftly curated collection of stories, poems, and drawings by Detroiters illustrates the best of urban summer life, its joys, fragility, and resonance." — Lesley Williams, Booklist

• ContentsForewordWe Water - Desiree CooperBackyard Balm - Bridgett M. DavisBlack Out, August 2003, Detroit - Brittany RogersWhere the Run At? - MARS. MarshallFeral Fields - Esperanza CintrónThe Daddy, the Isle, and the Tunnel Drive - Zig Zag ClaybourneChasing Blackness in Detroit—and Finding It -Keith A. OwensAt Franklin Amphitheater - Kam KomicsAfro Nation: The Summer Experience I Didn't Know I Needed - Kahn Santori DavisonDetroit Boricua - Angela Atabex Lugo-ThomasThe Deep End - Stephen HendersonSwimmobile - Kam KomicsA Boatswain's Boblo Memories - Rochelle Wilson-Ellis with Desiree CooperThe Trump Boot - Nandi ComerListen, Children, All Is Not Lost - Lillien WallerGoing South for a Family Reunion - Kam KomicsBiking Detroit - Cassandra SpratlingDreams of the Corner - Luther KeithThe Neighborhood Constitutional - Jean Alicia ElsterSurviving Joy - Charisma HollyShade - Justin BogguésDesire Paths - Tommye BlountO Me - Xavier JacksonFlight of the Bumblebee - Satori ShakoorBorderline - Renee SimmsPoets in Their Natural Habitats - Isaiah ChambersJuly 4th at Pontiac Lake - Kam KomicsThe Summer Protest - shannon garth-rhodesFactory of Light - Chace MorrisSummertime Krampus - Mic JenningsThe Black Middle Class: Staking Our Claim to Detroit - Pamela Hilliard OwensForest Bathing — D'Nae HearnWe on the Lodge with It - Nandi ComerContributorsAcknowledgments