New South Tacoma book shop Clover Daydreams spotlights marginalized writers and books
Hidden in the back of Black Sheep Resale in South Tacoma is a book shelf laden with colorful fantasy novels, children’s books, zines, stickers, graphic novels, fiction and more.
The shelf is a physical manifestation of Clover Tamayo’s dream of selling books that feature characters who are queer, transgender, disabled, Black Indigenous people of color as well as other historically marginalized voices.
Clover Daydreams book space had its grand opening Tuesday and will be open during Black Sheep Resale hours. New and used book titles range in price from $5-$35, and the shop offers audio books and book delivery.
As one of the only independent booksellers in South Tacoma, Tamayo said Clover Daydreams embodies a vision of a more healed and just future. Clover Daydreams opened online last year and sold books at pop-up events before soft launching at its physical space within Black Sheep Resale last week.
The shop’s name is a reference to Tamayo’s chosen name Clover and the word “daydreams” as used as a verb, Tamayo said.
“It sort of started as this dreaming exercise. I remember reading ‘Rest is Resistance’ by Tricia Hersey. Dream space is very important, that’s why rest is resistance,” Tamayo said, who uses they/them pronouns as well as the gender-neutral pronoun “siya” in Filipino. “It’s important to dream. And to slow down and to do that for yourself. Society in the way that we function kind of robs us of that dream space.”
For Tamayo, representation in books is powerful.
“I am biracial and queer and non-binary and also I have complex PTSD,” Tamayo said. “As an adult now, the stories that I wanted as a kid are out. They’re here. They’re accessible.”
Some of the book titles Tamayo pulled Friday included children’s book “Starhug” about a night star befriending a starfish, an Indigenous dark fiction anthology called “Never Whistle at Night” and the New York Times bestseller “Safe and Sound: A Renter-Friendly Guide to Home Repair” authored by TikTok star Mercury Stardust, also known as the Trans Handy Ma’am.
“It’s funny, because I technically was really bad at reading as a kid. I didn’t always finish the books, and then I’m [realizing] it’s because I didn’t have the books I wanted,” Tamayo said. “When you have stories that really connect with who’s reading them, that is the big difference. Just to be able to see yourself and see joy, or some sort of shared self or shared identity … it’s really uplifting to have that.”
Tamayo stocks books, essays, poetry, zines and memoirs from local authors and publishing companies like Tacoma’s Blue Cactus Press. A proud South Tacoma resident, Tamayo said they wanted to have an independent bookstore there to provide community access to those materials.
“There’s Half Price Books, but there really isn’t any small independent bookstores in South Tacoma. They’re all sort of in the North End or Gig Harbor or McKinley or downtown. Even Lakewood, I think they have a Barnes & Noble, but it’s not a small bookstore,” Tamayo said. “Just being able to bring books and deliver books to the community is super important and just have that access point. Because like, oh, goodness, even taking the bus to the areas I just listed where all those bookstores are is really difficult.”
Tamayo said they’re planning to stay at Black Sheep Resale at least through 2024.
If you go
▪ 4020 S. Steele St. #106, Tacoma, WA 98409
Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.
