Coming October 20, 2026
Real Sugar Is Hard to Find

"Kern is a master at creating worlds that feel vast and lived-in with very few words, as well as balancing pathos with wry humor. The result is a searing, urgent, but still achingly tender work that will wow any reader of speculative fiction." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

From the bestselling author of Genocide Bad and The Free People's Village comes a collection of genre-bending short stories, charting a course from bleak dystopian nightmares to wildly liberated futures.

Whether on a far-off planet spiraling out of orbit or in an enchanted forest poisoned by pesticides, the characters inhabiting these mirror-worlds face off against environmental collapse and rising fascism with hope, resistance, and enduring human connection.

Through eleven funny, fast-paced, and closely observed stories, Real Sugar is Hard to Find guides readers from apathy and despair towards radical, revolutionary optimism.

Now with a new afterword by the author, providing a behind-the-scenes look at their creative process.