Stories from The Tenants Downstairs | 
pickThis is a low pick for me, which is on me not the book. The book is excellent. I appreciate how the language and tone shift from pov to pov inside of the stories, and each tenant is a full person. I think I just needed more depth at the moment. Some of these stories are only 10-15 pages and while you get a feel for each person you also feel like a lot of their story is missing.
Overall though this is excellently constructed.
I love every bit of this Soubhi!! I immediately opened up and tried all of the Burt's Bees products, and the coffee candy is delicious! I'm really looking forward to reading this book! Thank you so much for thinking of me on my birthday. @Soubhiville
pickA story set in a huge apartment complex in Harlem where we meet several of its residents. Connected through the building, but several also through the local school.
About gentrification, surviving and how strangers see may not be how you see yourself
pickI‘m glad this was drawn as my #doublespin for January, I‘ve been meaning to read it for so long!
It‘s a book of short stories with each one from the point of view of a different tenant in a big apartment complex in Harlem. Themes of a school system with teachers who aren‘t in touch with their student‘s needs, gentrification, and living in constant struggle to make enough for rent. Brilliant writing that lands you right in the thick of it.
pickI could not believe how much I became engrossed in each characters' story as well as in the setting that Sidik Fofana depicts them in. The powerful messages come through with each resident, with issues like poverty, crime, affordable housing, and education being brought front and center for the reader. These short vignettes, these slices of life, will stick with you long after you finish reading this collection.
“From a superb new literary talent, a rich, lyrical collection of stories about a tight-knit cast of characters grappling with their own personal challenges while the forces of gentrification threaten to upend life as they know it.”
This story gives soul to the people who live in older buildings who should not just be a number in a boardroom, but should be seen as complex individuals who need to stay in their homes for so many reasons.
pickI was fortunate to hear the author speak at a 2022 Brooklyn Book Festival session on newly published writers. He was a quiet, humble speaker, and his journey intrigued me. A few weeks later, I listened to his interview on NPR's podcast, Book of the Day and it sealed the deal.
I am so glad I bumped this collection of short stories to the my list.
pickThis moving debut collection of short stories stars various tenants of a low-income high rise in Harlem. Read my full review here: https://debbybrauer.org/#stories-from-the-tenants-downstairs
