Remember those long summer days on the water, boom box safely perched away from rogue splashes, waiting for your favorite song to come on the radio? Bestselling author Emma Straub taps into that exact feeling with her new 2026 novel, American Fantasy. A nostalgic, music-centered escape that’s already making waves, the novel is earning praise from outlets like NPR, Vogue, and Parade as a must-read of the season.
Meet Annie. She’s 50-something, newly divorced, and about to see her teen dream come true. Reluctantly, she agrees to board a four-day themed cruise with her sister, devoted entirely to a throwback pop group called Boy Talk — along with 3,000 other middle-age fans who have worshipped them for decades. But once the music starts and the sounds of her formative years come rushing back, something unexpected begins to unfold.
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View this post on InstagramBlending fantasy with emotional reality, the queen of beach reads delivers a heartfelt, joyful, and often laugh-out-loud exploration of identity, reinvention, and reconnecting with the youthful spirit that’s been pushed way down. And the story, both richly textured and deeply observed, is informed by Straub’s own research.
“People don’t believe me when I say I went on the New Kids on the Block cruise for research,” she tells Vogue. “I mean, it was also for profound, deep, personal pleasure, but … I went by myself because I was not interested in being perceived, and I did not want to have to take care of anyone else. I didn’t have to worry about whether someone else was having a good time or if they thought it was a total nightmare; I wanted to fade into the wallpaper as much as possible and just observe.”
Straub also shares that the inspiration for her latest New York Times best seller was born out of a really sad time, saying “I loved New Kids on the Block as a child, and in 2022, my father had just died and I had just written this really sad book. I was crying every day and I wanted to write something really different, and I saw something online about a New Kids on the Block cruise and I just thought, Well, that’s my next novel.”
And it seems like it’s also everyone’s next read. Including Lin-Manuel Miranda, who calls it an "incredible book." A reminder that nostalgia is more than an anchor, it’s a tool for moving forward, American Fantasy gives readers permission to rediscover joy at every age … and to let their boy band flags fly.
Related: Best Selling Author’s Hit Book Is ‘Fastest-Selling Adult Novel in 20 Years’
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