Do Not Give Up Kid

"Do Not Give Up Kid" is a collection of short stories + reflective essays by Britt Kemp spanning from 2011 to 2017. Together, these seven stories encompass a prolonged coming of age that is distinctive to the author but also, in a sense, universal. There's a bit of everyone to be found in these (digital) pages. As Sarah Maria Rainer states in the foreword, "She writes in a self-deprecating tone that is wholly relatable to anyone who has ever thought maybe they aren’t “the shit.” The stories shift from first-person memories to third-person forays into fiction; it's best to view the pieces as footnotes of a greater work than a cohesive, themed collection. In the end, narrator and the writer emerge as their own heroes, ready to bear yet another day.