Great Nonfiction for Dads and Grads

Sometimes, Father’s Day sucks. Maybe your father has passed away or perhaps you’re no contact with your dad. Maybe you want to be a dad but can’t. This holiday can come with a lot of multifaceted feelings. Michele Filgate gets that. After the success of her anthology What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About, she’s back with another group of authors writing about their complex relationships with their dads. Among the featured writers are Alex Marzano-Lesnevich, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, Jaquira Díaz, Isle McElroy, and Susan Muaddi Darraj.

I grew up following my dad to fishing spots across Appalachia and the Midwest. When I saw Gather at the River, I immediately thought of him. This collection of essays by 25 different writers examines their relationship with fishing. These essays explore love, loss, family, relationships, and more. But they all delve into this one question: why do we come to the water? These fish tales feature writers like Ron Rash, J. Drew Lanham, Silas House, and Gabino Iglesias.

I’m a nature-loving girlie who also happens to love a beautifully packaged book. High school or college graduate me would have loved this perfect little book by Indigenous scientist Robin Wall Kimmerer. She asks readers to learn from the humble serviceberry, a tiny fruit that provides so much to its ecosystem, which supports it in turn. The vibrant illustrations by John Burgoyne accompanying the text make the book even more special.

There are many different published commencement speeches out there, but one of my favorites is the one that Jesmyn Ward gave at Tulane University in 2018. Ward is the first of her family to graduate from college, and in her speech, she described how her success truly began with respect for herself and respect for others. Of course, like all of Ward’s work, it’s beautifully written. The book is illustrated by Gina Triplett.