Join author Johnson Feb. 16 in free virtual book event

Above : Kim Johnson is author of the novel “This Is My America.” (Photo: Maryland Today)

A quick Google search will bring up any number of quotes about the nature of reality, especially regarding the relationship between that reality and fiction.

As in this quote from Lewis Carroll : “Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality.”

Or this one from Douglas Adams: “Reality is frequently inaccurate.”

My favorite, though, is this one from John Lennon: “Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.”

All the above are authors, and all used their imaginations to shape their takes on what they considered to be reality. This, of course, is what authors do. And in the polarized political and social milieu of today’s America, more and more authors are using their imaginations to portray a reality that is both personal and universal.

One of those authors is Kim Johnson. Her debut novel, “This Is My America,” will be featured in a special Spokesman-Review Northwest Passages virtual book event at 7 p.m. on Feb. 16. Click here to order a free ticket.

The title of Johnson’s book is revealing. Her plot involves a young Black woman named Tracy and her quest to free first her father, then her brother, from prison.

“Tracy, an emerging journalist, has to wrestle with the present-day legacy of an overwhelmingly racist history, needing support not only from family, but also a strong legal team and, just maybe, a good cop, if there are any to be found,” wrote a reviewer for Kirkus Reviews.

“Johnson’s debut draws on her own experiences as an activist to offer a realistic depiction of reckoning with the complex and too-often-fatal issues that plague Black Americans today,” the reviewer added.

Revealing facts through fiction. Sometimes, as Lewis Carroll might say, it’s the best way.

Johnson’s novel is both a National Public Radio Best Book of the Year and 2021 Pac Northwest Book Award Winner. The virtual event, which will be moderated by Spokane NAACP President Kiantha Duncan, is the start of a new partnership between Northwest Passages and Wishing Tree Books .