“Bingo Love,” which was published during Valentine’s Day this year, told the story of two elderly African-American women, Hazel Johnson and Mari McCray, who fell in love as girls in 1963, and realized they were still in love with each other after reuniting at a church bingo contest. The sequel will follow Mari’s granddaughter, after she finds her grandmother’s diaries, and her learning about her marriage to Hazel, as well as her life beforehand, as a preacher’s wife with five children.
Before the sequel’s release, the original book will be reprinted in November as “Bingo Love, Vol 1: Jackpot Edition.” The rerelease will add 50 pages of additional material from Marguerite Bennett (“Batwoman”) and Johnson, Shawn Pryor (“Cash & Carrie”), Paulina Ganucheau (“Zodiac Starforce”), Gail Simone (“Plastic Man”), Boston-based illustrator Sara Alfageeh, and Ariela Kristantina (“Mata Hari”). The 136-page collection will also include an afterword from novelist/comic book writer Gabby Rivera (“America”), and a preview of the sequel.
“Bingo Love, Vol. 2: Dear Diary” will be published February 12, 2020, and will be 128 pages long. “Bingo Love, Vol 1: Jackpot Edition” will be released in hardcover and paperback on November 7. In the meantime, head on over to the Reporter to read Bennett and Johnson’s additional story, which is simply called, ‘Honeymoon.’
