Novelist and screenwriter Abdi Nazemian’s 2019 YA novel, Like a Love Story, has made the Panorama Picks list twice, in two different regions—Hawaii in Q1, and the Midwest in Q2. This story of a young gay Iranian boy and his friends in 1980s New York published by HarperCollins imprint Balzer & Bray, it was a Summer 2019 IndieNext pick, 2020 Stonewall Honor award winner, and a 2020–2021 Project Lit Book Club selection. Ericka McIntyre recently spoke with Nazemian for the Panorama Project about his book, and what its popularity among library patrons might mean for other authors, booksellers, and publishers.

Why did Walkabout Northern California make an impression on library patrons in California, and what insights does it offer to publishers, authors, and booksellers about libraries’ impact on discovery and retail sales?