“Just Kids”

Patti Smith, dubbed the “godmother of punk,” chronicles her relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in the book “Just Kids.” As Publisher’s Weekly notes, “This beautifully crafted love letter to her friend (who died in 1989) functions as a memento mori of a relationship fueled by a passion for art and writing.” Smith met Mapplethorpe on her first day living in New York after she fled the ’burbs of New Jersey. The pair bonded romantically, but the dynamic duo soon found out that they were more in love with the vibrant city art scene than with each other. Mapplethorpe eventually declared his homosexuality, and Smith stayed by his side, living together in the famed haven for eccentrics — the Chelsea Hotel. She perfectly encapsulates the artistic self-devotion and free spirit of the early ’70s. The New York Times says, “The tone is at once flinty and hilarious, which figures: She’s always been both tough and funny, two real saving graces in an artist this prone to excess.” Their pure childlike bond is preserved through this book.