Year of the Cicada

On the cusp of her thirtieth birthday, Mei-Mei returns to her hometown to find it swarmed by the mysterious 17-year cicada, which last appeared when she was twelve and on the edge of adolescence. The emergences of these biblical Mid-Atlantic insects intersect with Mei-Mei's evolving understanding of an absent grandmother, a mixed-race heritage, and the long shadow of suicide, giving her the tools to connect these profound threads together. In poetry and lyric prose, Year of the Cicada delicately