Ultimately, this story is a refreshing, wonderful read focusing on two queer characters who have been begging for a novel of their own.

“Daddy’s mind left like a dream at dawn, and now the encounter could only take place in my imagination, so that’s where I went,” the author’s note of Daniel Black’s latest novel, “Don’t Cry For Me,” reads.

Black, who won the Distinguished Writer Award from the Mid-Atlantic Writer’s Association in 2014, published his newest work, “Don’t Cry for Me” earlier this month.

Published on Sept. 28, 2021, “Cloud Cuckoo Land” follows five characters across five centuries who, in one way or another, revolve around the fictitious story of Aethon, the boy who wanted to be transformed into a bird to fly to a better place.