Wings of Red by James W. Jennings; 2023. Softcover.

June Papers is a twenty-eight-year-old MFA grad with a felony record, 'the classic young, Black and gifted American misfit.' He's also a substitute teacher. He's also homeless. With dreams of becoming a writer, June endures a host of trials and dilemmas as he reluctantly realizes mentoring and teaching might actually be a path forward for him. Wings of Red is driven by June's unique narrative style, a propulsive voice that intimately and vulnerably guides readers through the condemned external reality of a Black educator's personal and professional world falling apart, and coming together again. Populated by a host of true-to-life characters who are attempting to realize their dreams despite precarious professional and financial realities, Wings of Red elucidates the fallacy of the American dream while serving as a reminder of how powerful and necessary autofiction can be.