National Network for Equitable Library Service

Close to Spider Man marks the debut of an exciting new literary talent—a collection of connected stories whose female narrators seek out lives for themselves amidst the lonely, breathtaking landscape of the Yukon. The young women in Ivan Coyote's deeply personal stories are looking to make a break from their circumstances, but the North is in their bones—so are their connections to family, friends, and other women. Like the protagonist in the title story, a waitress whose attempts to help a young co-worker saddled with a lunatic father finds her running across rooftops and climbing ladders; by getting close to Spider Man, she gets closer to freedom. Startling in their intimacy, the stories in Close to Spider Man make up a moving scrapbook of what it's like to be a young queer woman in the North—journeys imbued with the colors of a prescient sexuality and an honest heart. Runner-up—Danuta Gleed Award for Short Fiction.