I had to sit with this book for a bit and while I did, I ended up changing my original four-star rating to a five. Why? Because I still think about this book often. It truly resonates and has me thinking of it while I read and experience real-life events and situations. The stories in it--especially "Alcatraz" and the novella, "The Office of Historical Corrections"--are smart, topical, powerful, and engaging.

All the stories explore the idea of history--how the varying characters process it, learn about it, engage with it, and, ultimately, act based on it. It particularly focuses on the history of racism in the United States. In "Boys Go To Jupiter," a young woman reacts to the social-media uproar--support and denigration--that result from her wearing a bikini with a Confederate flag on it. The incident is presented from the point-of-view of the woman who wore the bikini and how her history with a friend and boyfriend who are Black affect her feelings and actions in the present. "Alcatraz," is another stellar story that mixes history with race. Cecilia is Black and wrestles with her family's history, including her great-grandfather, who was an innocent white man imprisioned in Alcatraz. Cecilia sets it up for her mother, who is also Black, to spend the day touring the jail with her first cousin, Nancy, who is white. Issues of race, family, and love take center stage in this emotional and thought-provoking tale.

My favorite is the novella that bears the collection's name. Cassie works for the Office of Historical Corrections, a division of the federal government that corrects historical records that are inaccurate. Everything from a sign in a bakery celebrating the Emancipation Proclamation to a plaque in a Wisconsin town--that recognizes the location of the murder of a Black man by white residents who burned down his store with him in it because they wanted his land--are fair game. Cassie, an ex-history professor, took the job to try and make a difference.

Since she is Black, Cassie's office sends her to Wisconsin to investigate the sign. You see, an ex-Office employee--and childhood friend of Cassie's--has changed it on her own to name the white townspeople who committed the crime and were never charged (there's a picture of them posing and smiling by the rubble). One of the white townspeople's descendants found information that implies that the Black man who was supposedly killed, may have survived. Another of the white townspeople's descendants is a member of a white supremacist group and he's threatening Cassie and anyone else who is involved with erecting and changing the sign. Cassie's on the case to find out the truth.

Even though this novella is fictional, it's still so timely. In today's world, the topics of historical accuracy regarding official information about racism in America, the concepts of cancel culture versus suffering consequences for your actions, and the scourge of white supremacy groups committing violence are prevalent and widely discussed and debated. The idea that the government would create a group whose job it is to go in and "correct" depictions of history is controversial, in and of itself. But add to that a particular plot point (that I won't spoil!) that's both intriguing and shocking and you've got yourself one amazing novella. And for me, as a white woman, reading it from the point-of-view of a Black character was eye-opening, too. A must-read, especially if you've tasked yourself with reading more stories and books from the POV of characters who are different from you in race, ethnicity, or gender.

Read this book! One of the best short story collections I've read in years.