Sympathy for Wild Girls: Stories

In McGhee’s enticing and off-kilter debut collection, Black girls and women search for acceptance and find cruelty. In the title story, Daisy opts to live with coyotes after her protective mother torments her with stories of dead girls. “Valerie” chronicles a woman’s frustration with her lovers and her mission to have her first orgasm from another person’s touch. A “sexospiritual” healer gives her a tea meant to release her “tamped down” desire, but it only makes her uncomfortably hot (“I’d rather be a fake bitch than a sweaty bitch,” she reflects). In “Be Good,” a runaway teen changes her name and moves in with a trio of seemingly virtuous Christian video bloggers and saleswomen, only to unearth their hypocrisy. “A Matter of Survival” follows a teen who is sent to her grandmother’s house for spring break after her mother catches her on a date with another girl. At her grandmother’s, she learns of her family’s troubling and violent history. In each entry, McGhee commits to a deep exploration of physical, emotional, and sexual desire. These are accomplished and visceral stories. Agent: Ismita Hussain, Great Dog Literary. (May)