Illustration by Allegra Lockstadt.

Hear ye, hear ye!!!! You remember when we told you about our new book, Rookie on Love, right? Well, it’s finally out, TODAY, ready to imbue your new year with 288 pages and 45 voices on humankind’s funniest-feeling emotion! You can buy it here (or at your favorite local bookstore)!

Nearly a year ago, we asked people of all ages, walks of life, and artistic mediums to let us in on their secret worlds architectured by this sensation. We ended up learning about love of all kinds—romantic love, self-love, friend love, family love, pet love, book love, movie star love, et cetera. They came to us in many forms—poetry, comics, essays, interviews, et cetera. Having edited them all together, I now know everything there is to know about love, and am ready for a Dr. Phil-esque show of my own: Dr. Tavi, Heart Surgeon, But Not In the Literal Sense!

JK, love remains eternally mysterious and nearly impossible to express in words, but THAT’S WHY IT’S SO FUN TO READ ABOUT! And why this book was fascinating and exciting to make real. Like all things Rookie, it is for “young adults,” but full of enough goddamn #truth bombs and #timeless #wisdom to speak to readers of all ages. After all, what makes anyone feel more like a bumbling, sweating, pubescent little freak than love?

To celebrate this collection, we’re doing a bunch of events, featuring readings, signings, and more. The first will be this Saturday, January 6, at 5pm in Brooklyn at our very own Emma Straub’s bookstore, Books Are Magic! The event is free, but RSVP here. We’ll be hitting the road for a Galentine’s Day tour in February, too. More cities, dates, and details soon!

Thank you to everyone who cracked open their hearts for this book: Shania Amolik, Hilton Als, Upasna Barath, Tova Benjamin, Sunny Betz, Lena Blackmon, Esme Blegvad, Krista Burton, Alessia Cara, Marina Sage Carlstroem, Durga Chew-Bose, Victoria Chiu, Ogechi Egonu, Ugochi Egonu, Akwaeke Emezi, Kiana Kimberly Flores, Britney Franco, Ana Gabriela, Laia Garcia, Gaby Gloria, John Green, Danielle Henderson, Jazmine Hughes, Bassey Ikpi, Margo Jefferson, Bhanu Kapil, Etgar Keret, Elly Malone, Sarah Manguso, Collier Meyerson, Mitski Miyawaki, Janet Mock, Annie Mok, Maria Popova, Sukhai Rawlins, Brynne Rebele-Henry, Rainbow Rowell, Diamond Sharp, Gabourey Sidibe, Amy Rose Spiegel, Emma Straub, Marlo Thomas, Jackie Wang, Florence Welch, Sally Wen Mao, and Jenny Zhang. And, Allegra Lockstadt, for designing our book’s beautiful cover, and illustrating its interior.

Thanks to you for reading, and see you soon!

Love ;-) :^) >:),
Tavi