Supersonic: imagining a new creation myth for Seattle

Seattle Public Schools is considering closing Stevenson Elementary School amid declining enrollment. 

One longtime parent there is pushing back and trying to change its name to better reflect the school’s Japanese-American history. 

That’s the kind of opening line you might hear on Soundside if the events of the book Supersonic were real.

The book is fiction, but it reflects the very real ethos of a city constantly reinventing itself through boom and bust cycles across generations. 

At the center of the story is Sami Hasegawa-Stalwarth, a PTA president with a deep history in the city.

But Supersonic also takes us through the city’s history, to see the connections across generations. We meet a gold rush conman, aerospace workers building the Supersonic transport, a stay at home dad trying to open the city’s first legal cannabis dispensary, and the Native people who have called this area home since time immemorial.  

Guest:

Thomas Kohnstamm, author of Supersonic

Links:

Third Place Books event info for Thomas Kohnstamm reading on Thursday, February 27

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