para

A novel about invisibility, identity, and emergence.

The Story

April Young is a paraprofessional at a Bronx special-education school — exceptional at her job, invisible in it. She covers for her student's violence, watches everyone profit from her labor, and is edged out when a charismatic substitute arrives. When her student wins $70 million dollars and gives it to her replacement, April is forced to reclaim her identity or face complete erasure.

para comparables

  • Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour

  • The Need by Helen Phillips

Durell Arrington sitting on a concrete ledge by a lake with mountains in the background, wearing sunglasses, a baseball cap, a varsity jacket, gray sweatpants, and white sneakers, with one foot resting on the ledge.

the author

Durell Arrington spent over a decade working in New York City's special-education system as a one-to-one aide — the kind of invisible, intimate labor at the heart of Para. An artist across multiple forms, he's currently based in Switzerland. Para is his debut literary novel.

Get in Touch

Tactile Therapy, a self-published speculative fiction novel, is available at tactiletherapy.net.