Books & Stories — Sim Kern

The Free People’s Village

Levine Querido, September 12, 2023

An alternate-timeline scifi novel exploring the failures of neoliberal climate policy, the Free People’s Village takes place in a 2020 where Al Gore won the 2000 election and declared a War on Climate Change rather than a War on Terror. For two decades, a supermajority of Democrats have passed sweeping climate regulation, transforming the country into a solarpunk utopia—but only for wealthy, white neighborhoods.

English teacher by day, Maddie Ryan spends her nights and weekends as the rhythm guitarist of Bunny Bloodlust, a queer punk band living in a warehouse-turned-venue called “The Lab” in Houston’s historically Black Eighth Ward. When Maddie learns that the Eighth Ward is to be sacrificed for a new electromagnetic hyperway out to the suburbs, she joins “Save the Eighth,” a Black-led organizing movement fighting for the neighborhood. At first, she’s only focused on keeping her band together and getting closer to Red, their reckless and enigmatic lead guitarist. But working with Save the Eighth forces Maddie to reckon with the harm she has already done to the neighborhood—both as a resident of the gentrifying Lab and as a white teacher in a predominantly Black school. As their protest evolves into a revolution, she must decide just how much she’s willing to sacrifice in pursuit of justice.

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Seeds for the Swarm

Stelliform Press, March 1st, 2022

Rylla McCracken dreams of escaping her mother’s trailer in the Dust states to go to college, but her mother demands she work for Lockburn chemical refinery instead. When Rylla learns Lockburn is planning to dam the Guadalupe River—the last flowing water in Texas—Rylla defies her mother to protest in the state capital. While the protest ends in disaster, it gains her viral infamy and an acceptance to the mysterious Wingates University.

At Wingates, Rylla befriends a diverse group of students, all working on new technologies to save the planet. Besides mountains of homework, Rylla struggles with guilt for leaving her family behind in the Dust, where tensions with the Lush States are escalating towards civil war. Succeeding at Wingates seems like Rylla’s best chance to help her family, until she learns a terrible secret about the school’s billionaire backers. With the help of her new friends, Rylla uncovers their plot to survive the climate-ravaged world—no matter the cost.

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Real Sugar is Hard to Find

A collection of short stories by Sim Kern, Real Sugar is Hard to Find explores intersections of climate change, reproductive justice, queer identities, and family trauma. Whether fantasy, science fiction, or terrifyingly close-to-home, the worlds of these stories are inhabited by flawed characters whose lives are profoundly impacted by climate change and environmental degradation.

Arranged in a progression from dystopian to utopian worlds, the stories chart a path from climate despair towards resilience and revolutionary optimism. Even in the bleakest of futures, however, Kern offers reasons to hope, connect, and keep fighting for a better world.

Like Kelly Link’s "Magic for Beginners" or Karen Russell’s "Vampires in the Lemon Grove," Kern's stories are unflinching, intimate explorations of trauma and our deepest fears, rendered irresistible through the infusion of fantastic speculative elements and a dark sense of humor.

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Depart, Depart!

**A 2021 OTHERWISE AWARD HONOR LIST BOOK**

When an unprecedented hurricane devastates the city of Houston, Noah Mishner finds shelter in the Dallas Mavericks’ basketball arena. Though he finds community among other queer refugees, Noah fears his trans and Jewish identities put him at risk with certain “capital-T” Texans. His fears take form when he starts seeing visions of his great-grandfather Abe, who fled Nazi Germany as a boy. As the climate crisis intensifies and conditions in the shelter deteriorate, Abe’s ghost grows more powerful. Ultimately, Noah must decide whether he can trust his ancestor — and whether he’s willing to sacrifice his identity and community in order to survive.

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