Tag Archives: book club spotlight

Book Club Spotlight – Anxious People

Welcome to November! The holiday season is barreling towards us faster than ever, and somehow we’re already running behind as the New Year creeps in. The holidays and winter in general are notoriously hard on our mental health, leaving many feeling lost and alone. One author I always think of when looking for a story of heart and community, even in the coldest and loneliest days, is Fredrik Backman. Backman is a prolific Swedish author known for his heart-string tugging and bestselling titles such as A Man Called Ove (adapted into a 2022 movie starring Tom Hanks), and Beartown. And today’s Book Club Spotlight features his 2019 book, Anxious People. 

In a small town outside Stockholm, Sweden, eight people viewing an apartment are taken hostage by a bank robbery gone wrong. So wrong, in fact, that the awkward bank robber tried to rob a cashless bank…and then took hostages by accident! Desperately keeping up the charade for the police, the “hostages”, and the would-be thief are stuck in the apartment. Each prospective tenant comes to the table with insecurities, stressors, and fears, but here, they are not alone. During their forced proximity, the group learns, and grows from their new relationships, as their pasts and futures intersect in the strangest of circumstances all the while being surrounded by an increasingly confused police force trying to rescue them. 

Even if I knew the world was going to end tomorrow, I would still plant an apple tree today.”

Fredrik Backman

A common thread in Backman’s work is the importance of community, whether that is of friends, neighbors, or pure strangers. No matter how fleeting an interaction may be, we are all in this together. The titular anxious people in Anxious People face many issues. The pressure of parenthood, financial struggles, marriage breakdown, and an assortment of other loss of connection to those they love. Book Club Groups will undoubtedly find characters to empathize and sympathize with, maybe even learning something about themselves and their fellow members along the way. There is a sentiment going around that I have been particularly fond of: “It’s everyone’s first time living too”. So this season, be kind, be gentle, and like the characters in Anxious People, allow for mistakes (maybe even holding you hostage by accident if you’re feeling especially generous).

This book covers the topic of mental illness and suicide. If you, or someone you know is struggling- chat, text, or call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at https://988lifeline.org/ or dial 988.

To see more of our titles by Fredrik Backman, visit the link here

If you’re interested in requesting Anxious People for your book club, you can find the Request Form here. There are 7 copies. (A librarian must request items)

Backman, Fredrik. Anxious People. Atira Publishing. 2019

Posted in Books & Reading | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Book Club Spotlight – Conviction

Cover for Conviction by Denise Mina. A snake wraps around a anchor in the shape of an ampersand

It’s hard to ignore the impact that True Crime podcasts have had on pop culture. From movies to the TV Show Only Murders in the Building, and books like Listen for the Lie and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, we cannot get enough of the everyday person who gets swept up in the adrenaline of these dangerous stories. Gone are the days of the “Gentleman Detective” who solves crimes as a profession. The Amateur Detective is in it for the love of the game…and their lives! Today’s Spotlight Conviction by Denise Mina is no different. Here, her amateur detectives listen to True Crime podcasts to escape their lives but inextricably find themselves in the middle of the story- Murderers and all.

A woman with a false identity, and a disgraced famous musician race in the dead of night across the Scottish highlands. Just hours before, their respective partners had run off together, and now the two are on the case to solve a murder they heard about on a podcast. On their heels, the looming presence of someone far more powerful than they could ever imagine wants to see them silenced. 10 years ago, Leon Parker and his two adult children perished onboard as a famously haunted yacht sank under mysterious circumstances. The woman arrested for the crime could not have possibly committed it. Connecting this case to an unassuming housewife’s mysterious past, is the enigmatic and powerful Gretchen Teigler, who will stop at nothing to end anyone who dares get in her way. 

“Just when you think something can’t get any worse, someone who dislikes you comes to watch.”

Denise Mina

A 2019 Reese’s Book Club Pick, Conviction is a great choice for those Book Club Groups looking for thrills and laughs this Halloween. Mina’s pacing and punchy characters keep you engaged and invested as the mystery of The Dana unravels. Washed-up Fin Cohen and suburban Anna McDonald, are not only trying to solve the case but make a podcast along the way, which ends up being as helpful as it is deadly. The chemistry between our mystery-solving duo is a true delight. Both come to the partnership with loads of baggage and they aren’t afraid to push each other’s buttons. Each of the copies in our collection comes with a Reading Group Guide in the back of the book including an interview with the author!

This book deals with the unfortunate reality of sexual violence and eating disorders which may be hard for some groups to discuss. For resources on how to talk to your community about these topics, I recommend these programs for education:

If you’re interested in requesting Conviction for your book club, you can find the Request Form here. There are 5 copies. (A librarian must request items)

Mina, Denise. Conviction. Mulholland Books. 2019.

Posted in Books & Reading | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Book Club Spotlight – Bless Me, Ultima

To celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, and Banned Books Week (September 22-28), today’s Book Club Spotlight covers both occasions! Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya is considered a definitive American text by the National Endowment for the Arts, especially when representing the Chicano people, who embrace their Mexican identity culturally and politically in the United States. Winning the New Mexico Book Association Harris Award and the prestigious Premio Quinto Sol, Anaya, wrote from his life growing up in rural New Mexico for Bless Me, Ultima, highlighting and challenging predestination, prejudice, and the struggle to find where we belong.

Antonio Juan Márez y Luna is a perceptive six-year-old who feels as if he’s facing his destiny all too soon. His mother wants him to be a priest, his father wants him to be a farmer, and his brothers, now returned from the war, want him to take over their familial duties. But what does he want? Tony’s eyes are opened when the old curandera, Ultima, comes to live out the rest of her days with his family and takes him under her tutelage. From miraculous healings to finding gods in unassuming places, many paths now lay before him and he is torn between his burgeoning Catholic faith and the religion of the Earth. A young and tender boy with a lot of questions about the world, Tony learns from Ultima that there is so much more to his world hidden in the plains of the Vaqueros.

“The smallest bit of good can stand against all the powers of evil in the world and it will emerge triumphant.”

Rudolfo Anaya

Bless Me, Ultima is commonly taught in schools to middle-grade students and up. Exploring ideas of fate, right and wrong, and self-determination, Anaya’s novel is fit for anyone to discuss, making it a perfect choice for Book Club Groups of any age. Though its thoughtful discussions of religion, depictions of violence, and realistic language has led it to be the subject of book banning in the past. I encourage you to read PEN America’s incredible article arguing for the book, citing its impact and necessity as a fundamental educational text. To learn more about Bless Me, Ultima’s history of challenges, and how to implement the teaching into your group, visit its Book Resume courtesy of Penguin Random House.

If you’re interested in requesting Bless Me, Ultima for your book club, you can find the Request Form here. There are 12 copies. (A librarian must request items)

Anaya, Rudolfo. Bless Me, Ultima. TQS Publications. 1972.

Posted in Books & Reading | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Book Club Spotlight – The Joy Luck Club

cover for The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. Two mirrored Chinese dragons border the title.

Amy Tan’s debut novel, The Joy Luck Club, drifts between the stories of mothers and daughters like the four winds of mahjong. Originally written as disconnected pieces, Tan evolved her work into a sweeping novel of generations, loss, and perseverance. Today’s Book Club Spotlight is extra special because the author is in Lincoln tonight! “A Conversation with Amy Tan” will be hosted at the Lied Center for Performing Arts for free with an accompanying live-stream at 7:30 pm. Her talk is a part of “The 29th Annual Governor’s Lecture in the Humanities”, hosted by Humanities Nebraska and the E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues. Tickets and the live stream can be accessed, here: https://tickets.liedcenter.org/3342

The Joy Luck Club, a group of Chinese immigrant women who gather for mahjong and community, grow their lives and families together in 1980s San Francisco. When matriarch Suyuan Woo passes away, her daughter Jing-mei is invited to take her mother’s spot at the table. And there she learns a hidden truth about her mother- she never stopped searching for the children she had to abandon in China decades ago, and only now have they been found. Jing-mei struggles with the loss of her mother, someone she feels as if she hardly knew, and the sudden reunification with her resurrected sisters. And in turn, like Suyuan, each daughter and mother of The Joy Luck Club, have kept themselves secret to their loved ones. Hiding difficult and life-defining events as an act of piety or restraint, that could ultimately grow and foster their fraught relationships. 

“Then you must teach my daughter this same lesson. How to lose your innocence but not your hope. How to laugh forever.”

AMy Tan

The Joy Luck Club, while not an all-encompassing narrative of the Chinese Immigrant experience, shows four distinct paths taken. Suyuan Woo who fled from the war and left behind two children and her past. Lindo Jong, who escaped from a tyrannous marriage, believes in personal strength to her daughter’s detriment. An-mei Hsu, a passive player for most of her life, fears that she has bestowed those characteristics on her daughter. And Ying-ying St. Clair, a woman of means and wealth, is forced into poverty and silence, teaches her daughter to expect the same. All women with stories in equal measure, display their unresolved trauma to their daughters through words and actions, creating an endless cycle that must be broken. Tan’s work is essential to American literature (and media!), earning her the National Humanities Medal for “expanding the American literary canon. By bravely exploring experiences of immigrant families, heritage, memories, and poignant struggles”.  Book Club Groups from High School to Adulthood can discuss her dissection of the immigrant experience, womanhood and perseverance, generational trauma, and what do we share with our loved ones? 

If you’re interested in requesting The Joy Luck Club for your book club, you can find the Request Form here. There are 14 copies. (A librarian must request items)

Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club. Ballantine Books. 1989

Posted in Books & Reading | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Book Club Spotlight – You Don’t Know Everything, Jilly P!

This month is National Deaf Awareness Month, which includes International Week of Deaf People from Sept 23rd through the 29th! Each day of the week is themed with ways to get involved and learn about the deaf community worldwide!  Today’s Book Club Spotlight, You Don’t Know Everything Jilly P!, by Alex Gino, features a young girl learning about the Deaf community and beyond, when her sister is unexpectedly born Deaf. Best known for their debut novel, Melissa, Gino is a member of We Need Diverse Books and PEN America; two organizations with the mission to uplift marginalized voices and secure the right to read.

Jilly’s aunts say that after her baby sister is born, life will never go back to normal. And they’re right! When Emma is born Deaf, her parents aren’t prepared, but Jilly is way excited to tell her Deaf online friend Derek aka profoundinoaktown, the news. When his excitement doesn’t match hers, she’s confused and hurt. While her parents are busy meeting with audiologists, Jilly begins noticing her own differences and how they impact others. She’s hearing, so she doesn’t have to worry about communication and being left out of conversation. She’s also white and doesn’t have to worry about racism and violence like her Black friends and family do. Jilly’s aunt and her cousins are more than people who are Black, and Derek is more than someone who is Black and Deaf. They’re proud of their identities because each piece of them comes together to make who they are, but sometimes being who they are is unsafe. Jilly has a lot to learn, and even though she messes us up, she keeps trying. So when her sister is ready for the world, she will be too. 

“The hard thing about accidentally saying the wrong thing is that you don’t know it’s the wrong thing until you’ve already said it and hurt someone. And even if you didn’t mean it that way, you can’t take it back.”

Alex Gino

For 3rd-grade readers and up, You Don’t Know Everything, Jilly P, takes on aspects of Gino’s real-life experience of having Deaf and Black family and friends and learning how their life experiences and opportunities differ. In traditional Alex Gino fashion, the book handles some pretty intense topics with care and compassion, from learning and respecting Deaf culture, to spotting racist microaggressions and talking to others about racism. In the author’s note, Gino states that “books and stories are tools for talking about contemporary issues and that young readers need and deserve these tools just as much as the rest of us”. When it comes to discussing these topics with your students or a Book Club Group, don’t fear- the Scholastic Discussion Guide not only includes great questions for readers of all ages- but further resources into Deaf Culture, ASL, Civil Rights, and how to act as an ally, not just a bystander, in your community.  

Interview with Alex Gino by Deaf writer Ann Clare Le Zotte: 

If you’re interested in requesting You Don’t Know Everything, Jilly P!  for your book club, you can find the Request Form here. There are 22 copies. (A librarian must request items)

Gino, Alex. You Don’t Know Everything, Jilly P!. Scholastic. 2019

Posted in Books & Reading | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Book Club Spotlight – The Invisible Man

cover of the Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.  The title is shown in cursive impact font surrounded by green rectangles

A man of many passions, from music, art, to class consciousness, and social theory, Ralph Waldo Ellison (named after the leader of the Transcendentalist movement), is best known for his contributions to the American literary canon. His sharp satirical works and his contemporary exploration of the varied lives of African Americans pre-Civil Rights earned his place as the first African-American to win the National Book Award for Fiction for his 1952 novel, Invisible Man.

When we meet our narrator, the eponymous Invisible Man, he is living in an abandoned basement of a whites-only apartment in New York City. He reassures us that this is no hovel, as it glows with a thousand lights of promise (and siphoned electricity). Before he was in this shelter, he lived a life full of promise. As a young man, his academic prowess awarded him a chance to speak in front of the town’s white elites. But instead of a simple speech, he is forced into a blinded battle royale with other Black youth; and only once he is debased and beaten bloodless is he allowed to speak. As his life’s journey takes him from his home in the south to New York City, he is struck by how this promised land holds the same prejudices and obstacles to self-actualization. As a disillusioned young man stuck in the perpetual cycle of fighting for liberation, he must put on a respectable front to exist in a world that is systemically works against him. 

“I was pulled this way and that for longer than I can remember. And my problem was that I always tried to go in everyone’s way but my own. I have also been called one thing and then another while no one really wished to hear what I called myself.”

― Ralph Ellison

Not to be confused with the science fiction book of the same name- the invisibility in Ellison’s Invisible Man, is theoretical and social, rather than a physical condition. His unnamed narrator, a bright young Black man in the Jim Crow South, has a promising future that depends on him making himself inoffensive, and inconsequential to the white men who hold power over him. It’s also important to remember that these Black men who had to be “invisible” to the white society, were absolutely not invisible to the women and children in their lives. As we discussed in The Bluest Eye, Pecola Breedlove’s situation is informed by those around her and their treatment by society. Invisible Man was a large influence on Morrison’s work- acting as a conversation point to where she would take those deemed “invisible” and show them in the light that their contemporaries would have seen them. Here, her perspective is just as valuable as Ellison’s.

Invisible Man, while an important piece of American literature, is not an easy read. Taught in AP Literature courses and College-Level Classes, this book demands dissection and close reading. When working with your class, or dedicated Book Club Group, I highly recommend taking advantage of the Cliffs Notes. (Did you know that the founder, Clifton Hillegass, was a lifelong Nebraskan?) Study tools, like Cliffs Notes, are a great accessible tool for modern readers who might lack context for classic literature, and content thoughtful analysis that assists, not hinder the reading experience. 

If you’re interested in requesting Invisible Man for your book club, you can find the Request Form here. There are 10 copies. (A librarian must request items)

Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. Random House. 1952

Posted in Books & Reading | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Book Club Spotlight- The Bluest Eye

Cover for The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.  A young Black girl stands with her arms crossed in a white shirt and wide-brimmed straw hat looks off to the right in an expression of contemplation.

It’s no secret that here at the Book Club Spotlight, we adore Toni Morrison. After visiting her novel Sula two years ago- we’re back and reading her debut novel The Bluest Eye. Before her writing career, Morrison was a senior editor at Random House and amplified Black authors, like the incomparable Angela Davis during her tenure. The first Black woman recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, Morrison’s lyrical novels explore what it is like physically and emotionally to exist in a world that does its best to harm you through race, gender, and class. The Bluest Eye was born out of her need to express the realities of racism and its effects on the most vulnerable- young Black girls. 

The marigolds must grow, and Pecola Breedlove is pregnant. The marigolds must grow, and eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove is pregnant by her father. The marigolds never came, and Pecola Breedlove’s baby has died. Before the marigolds, and before her baby dies, Pecola yearns for one thing more than anything else in the world. To have beautiful blue eyes. To have beautiful blue eyes to keep her safe from the world. Eyes as blue as the blonde-haired baby doll that Claudia MacTeer despises. Claudia MacTeer despises the blue-eyed, blond-haired baby doll because others say she must love it. And she has not yet learned to hate her eyes. Who taught Pecola Breedlove to?

“Certain seeds it will not nurture, certain fruit it will not bear and when the land kills of its own volition, we acquiesce and say the victim had no right to live”

Toni Morrison 

The Bluest Eye is a harrowing journey of young Pecola Breedlove as the systems and people around her fail time and time again. It is a story long taught in literature classes around the country to educate readers on empathy, internalized racism, the importance of community, and the consequences of unchecked hatred and abuse towards the other as perpetuated by the “Master Narrative”. Like most of Morrison’s novels, The Bluest Eye can be read in an afternoon on one’s own. However, the subject matter and encouragement to dig deep into one’s internal predilections and biases let it thrive under discussions by literary-focused classrooms and Book Club Groups. In the Afterword (included in all of our copies), Morrison discusses how the intimate and cruel nature of the story is critical to sharing these taboo “cultural secrets”, and to put the story in the hands of the victims was a radical act of release and exposure. 

“I wanted the narrator’s presence of voice to take the hand of the reader to say “You know this is going to be terrible, but don’t worry it’s already happened. I have been there and we can get through it together and it’s going to be fine.

With its dark, yet revealing subject matter, it is no surprise that The Bluest Eye has long been a victim of book banning, and was the 7th most challenged book of 2023. For resources on how to fight book bans and prepare for 2024’s Banned Books Week (Sept 22-28), visit BannedBooksWeek.org.

If you’re interested in requesting The Bluest Eye for your book club, you can find the Request Form here. There are 15 copies. (A librarian must request items)

Morrison, Tony. The Bluest Eye. Vintage Books. 1970

Posted in Books & Reading | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Book Club Spotlight – The Penderwicks

For this week’s Book Club Spotlight, we are visiting a favorite of mine since I was nine years old, and when my roommate saw the book on our table she ran to grab her own copy- excited to revisit the world herself. The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall immediately draws the reader in with a gorgeous cover; and its pastoral setting is like falling into the world of The Secret Garden. The Penderwick sisters, with their charming wit and a tendency for mischief rivaling the March sisters, culminate in a timeless story that spans five books. Following “a family that believes in truth and honor, yet can’t seem to stay out of trouble” [x], this modern classic has been translated into 30 languages and most deservedly won the 2005 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.

Mr. Penderwick, a mild-mannered botanist who frequently speaks in Latin to his four young daughters, has booked the clan a summer getaway to a cozy cabin in rural Massachusetts. After getting lost, the Penderwick sisters, Rosalind (12), Skye (11), Jane (10), and Batty (4), discover their small cottage is nestled in a grand estate named Arundel. The rambunctious children are told to behave as the owner, the stuffy Mrs. Tifton, doesn’t take kindly to ruckus. But soon, they are out on an adventure of a lifetime- braving bulls, hiding in the expansive gardens, and enlisting Mrs. Tifton’s son, Jeffery, in their daring escapades.

“And then I’d ask you to have pity on motherless girls brought up without a woman’s gentle influence, which doesn’t really count, because our father is gentle, but I thought it sounded good”

– Jeanne Birdsall 

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy is a delight that enchants 19 years later. It’s not a tale of growing up but of the present. The responsibilities of an elder sister, young courage, individuality, and the unbreakable family bond. Birdsall revels in character and atmosphere, letting the sisters take her wherever they want to go next. Perfect for a book group of young readers wanting to hold onto the last bit of summer or adults who still feel the magic of inhibition and promise.  

“There is no better feeling than being 10 years old and feeling represented, accepted, and like someone out there knows you are much more mature than the world thinks you are. Even when the Penderwick books end, I can find the same happiness knowing there will always be 10 year olds in the world who want to feel those same things, and the Penderwicks will always be there for them, just as they were for me.”

Delaney Plant

If you’re interested in requesting The Penderwicks for your book club, you can find the Request Form here. There are 11 copies. (A librarian must request items)

Birdsall, Jeanne. The Penderwicks. Random House. 2005

Posted in Books & Reading | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Book Club Spotlight – Being Mortal

Cover for Being Mortal By Atul Gawande. A single blade of grace sits against a beige background.

For generations, kids have been warned by their parents to not “put them in a home” when they get too old to care for themselves. But why is that? There is a stigma around placing our elderly in the care of others, especially in seemingly harsh and sterile nursing homes, but with no cultural framework in America for intergenerational family homes, there are few other options. Dr. Atul Gawande, a surgeon, public health researcher, and the Assistant Administrator for Global Health at USAID, wants to bring our attention to how we treat those in the last years of their lives as their health starts to fail them and look toward a future of more involved and personalized care. His book, Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End (2016’s One Book One Lincoln) may seem morbid, but Gawande writes with knowing compassion and professionalism giving insight and tools for caregivers and those who need end of life care.

Son of immigrant doctors from India, Dr. Atul Gawande’s first introduction to the elderly was his grandfather who lived on his own land surrounded by family and riding horses until he passed at 110 years old. It was a communal end of life that is not familiar in the United States, where aging and death are taboo topics. There is a shame in needing help, and the sacrifice of freedom that it often brings. Interspersed with personal stories of his ailing father, friends, and patients, Being Mortal takes the reader through the medical side of caring for those at the end of their lives, and how often the goals of treatment can outweigh the wishes of the dying. Through his years of practice, Dr. Gawande began to ask himself difficult questions concerning his very field. When does prolonging life through technology and medicine begin to harm the patient? Comparing notes and practices between nursing homes, assisted living, hospice, and independent communities, he found that when people are given a chance at informed and substantive comfort for end-of-life care, they not only experience less suffering but they live longer. Dr. Gawande argues for giving the patient a “reason to live”, even if they know it’s their last days. Interventions simple as a garden or a pet can evoke powerful changes in how we exit our lives fulfilled. 

“Our ultimate goal, after all, is not a good death but a good life to the very end.”

Atul Gawande 

With The Americans with Disabilities Act, turning 34 this year, we must reconcile that how we care for our aging/ end-of-life population is a disability issue at its core. One of Being Mortal’s biggest talking points focuses on the loss of independence that comes with nursing homes and hospice care. Residents lose what little control over their schedule that they had when put into these systems. In a quality of life assessment by The Down Syndrome Educational Trust, people with Down Syndrome or other intellectual disabilities, aged 45 and above, “expressed a desire to be allowed to go to bed when they wanted to”. Our care homes are consistently taking away the agency of the elderly and disabled. There’s a saying that everyone will eventually become disabled, it’s not a matter of if, but when. And with 71.5 million baby boomers reaching 65 by 2030 [X], we will need more robust services to care for a larger aging population than we have ever had. Are we ready for that? And are these 71.5 million people and their families prepared for the difficult decision of end-of-life care? 

Being Mortal may not seem like the most chipper choice for a Book Club Group but with our rapidly aging population, there is a lot to be gained from community insights on how we want to be treated at our most vulnerable and in turn it will expand our understanding of each other.

If you’re interested in requesting Being Mortal for your book club, you can find the Request Form here. There are 17 copies, 2 Audio CDs, and 1 Large Print available. (A librarian must request items) Gawande, Atul. Being Mortal. Picador. 2017

Posted in Books & Reading | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Book Club Spotlight – Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

Cover for Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling. The Title stands out against desert sand and a field of cacti

I hope everyone is as excited about the Summer Reading Program at their local library as I am! (I don’t want to brag, but I just received the Little Reader badge) This year’s theme is “Adventure Begins at Your Library”, and who knows better about Adventure than the spunky protagonists of middle-grade novels? Author Dusti Bowling is quickly becoming an icon in the middle-grade literature world, with her award-winning novels The Canyons Edge and Across the Desert flying off the shelves. After Bowling’s cousin experienced medical trauma and possible limb amputation, she wanted to read as much about limb differences as she could, but the books just weren’t there! Thus, Aven Green and the novel Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus were born.

Aven Green’s life is turned upside down when her family moves from Kansas to a failing western theme park in Arizona. Being the “new kid” is hard on any middle schooler, but Aven dreads the inevitable stares and questions when her classmates realize she doesn’t have arms. Don’t let her lack of arms fool you- Aven can do just about anything a regular kid can do, with some sass thrown in for good measure. Alongside the unwavering support of her adoptive parents and her new friends Connor and Zion, Aven is determined to get through the school year without dying from embarrassment in the lunch room when she has to eat with her feet. And if a new school wasn’t enough, there’s a mystery to solve! Something is afoot at Stagecoach Pass, and Aven Green is determined to get to the bottom of it, even if it means rooting out the mysterious owner, Joe Cavanaugh!

“I’m not sure I want to get involved with murders and dead lizards and stuff. I don’t know if my parents would like it”

Dusti Bowling

The hilarious and energetic Aven Green is a storyteller, athlete, musician, and detective in the charming Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus. A story about overcoming your fears, embracing differences, and getting through middle school with some great friends, Bowling pays close attention to illustrating how everyone has something they’re insecure about, even if it’s not as obvious as missing both your arms. Full of lighthearted radical acceptance, Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus may not be the end-all-be-all for perfect representation. Still, it is an incredible jumping-off point for students and adults alike looking to explore how those different from them experience life. And while Bowling doesn’t have a limb difference, she encourages the perspective of people who do, specifically the armless women, Barbie Thomas, and Tisha UnArmed, who helped with her manuscript!

This Disability Pride Month, lets celebrate the increasing visibility of disabled people. The rise of tools like social media has helped spread awareness and promote acceptance in the community! One of my favorite creators, actress Ren Willow, makes comedy videos about her life with a limb difference with realness and lightheartedness. Influencer Briel Adams-Wheatley, who, without arms or legs, shows off her skills as a makeup artist and fashion icon. While everyone’s abilities are different, these content creators and writers like Bowling are helping to reduce the stigma around people with limb differences and disabilities. 

Your readers might also be interested in the sequel Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus. Or her prequel illustrated chapter books: Aven Green!

If you’re interested in requesting Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus for your book club, you can find the Request Form here. There are 22 copies available. (A librarian must request items)

Bowling, Dusti. Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus. Scholastic. 2017

Posted in Books & Reading | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Book Club Spotlight – Funny Boy

Cover for Funny boy by Shyam Selvadurai. A Young Sri Lankan Boy in a bridal veil looks pensively over a background of burning palm trees.

June 28th will be the 54th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. Although we have come so far in equal rights for the LGBTQ+ community, it’s important to remember our history and those who came before us as we celebrate Pride Month. Funny Boy by Shyam Selvadurai is a historical fiction novel taking place in Colombo, Sri Lanka when the Tamil diaspora was the target of racism and violence leading to the Black July pogroms and the Sri Lankan Civil War (1983 to 2009). Funny Boy is a work of courage in the face of anti-LGBTQ+ laws in Sri Lanka, that author Selvadurai faced before he emigrated to Canada to escape persecution. His novel portrays love and humanity in a time of violence, and was awarded the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Men’s Fiction and the Books in Canada First Novel Award.

In the politically strife 70s and 80s Sri Lanka, a young boy must come to himself in his queerness as political and ethnic tensions threaten him and his affluent Tamil family. Though he is not aware of it himself, Arjie’s supposed homosexuality labels him as “funny” when he shows his feminine side and dreams often about the romance of true love. When he meets soon-to-be bride Radha Aunty, Arjie’s perception of love shifts as she falls for a Sinhalese man and their relationship threatens the family. As he matures, Arjie also falls for a Sinhalese boy and has to look past the shame to find himself as the ambivalent world violently crashes around them.

“For how could loving Shehan be bad? Yet if my parents or anybody else discovered this love, I would be in terrible trouble”

Shyam Selvadurai

This coming-of-age novel reminds us that the personal is political, and even in these war-torn and horrifying situations, queer people and love still exist and persevere. Like recent spotlight, Pachinko, Funny Boy follows international history and how it affects everyday people. Book Groups can discuss and learn Sri Lankan history and the story of human perseverance in the face of deadly circumstances, as well as the many themes and critiques of racism, class, gender discrimination, patriarchal structures, and, of course, homophobia. Selvadurai has had a lasting impact as a post-colonial author, with not only Funny Boy having both radio drama and movie adaptations but also having a species of spider named after him by Sri Lankan researchers (Brignolia shyami) which he expressed gratitude for the recognition from his homeland and for his work for reconciliation.

For more information on the history of Sri Lanka, the Civil War, and Tamil persecution:

To see more of our LGBT+ & Queer book club titles, visit the link here.

If you’re interested in requesting Funny Boy for your book club, you can find the Request Form here. There are 10 copies available. (A librarian must request items)

Selvadurai, Shyam. Funny Boy. McClelland and Stewart. 1994

Posted in Books & Reading | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Book Club Spotlight – The Rim of the Prairie

Cover for The Rim of the Prairie. A photo of the Nebraska Prairie, with the large open sky taking up the majority of the cover.

Today, as we prepare for another Nebraska summer, we will be reading a classic of Nebraska literature, Rim of the Prairie by Bess Streeter Aldrich. Born in Iowa, Aldrich moved to Elmwood, Nebraska, with her husband and child in her late 20s.  Aldrich’s writing became a full-time job when her husband passed away in 1925, shortly after sending in the manuscript for what would become her first full-length novel, The Rim of the Prairie. Though not a native Nebraskan, Aldrich fully embraced the state as her own. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Nebraska and inducted posthumously into the Nebraska Hall of Fame in 1973. Her book A Lantern in Her Hand was the 2009 One Book One Nebraska.

Small and midwestern is Maple City when young banker Warner Field retreats to a lonely cabin on the Moore property for a vacation focused on his once great love for writing. While there, he happens upon artifacts of a young girl who once used the cabin. Small journal entries, a china doll, and an old photograph lead him to believe the owner of these items is long passed on. He finds fascination in her lush descriptions of the prairie all around him, her poetic styling and love for her surroundings touch him deeply. Through the journals, he learns of an mysterious tragedy, the girl’s entries abruptly stopping on her 18th birthday as she prepares to run away. Only a day before he departs from the cabin,  22-year-old Nancy Moore steps off the train and arrives home in Maple City for the first time in 4 years after her disappearance.

“There was something about the lunch that was gayer than usual. An atmosphere of fun pervaded it, a sense of exhilaration was upon every one. Nancy Moore seemed in some inexplicable way to be responsible for it. There was something infectious about her approval of life”

Bess Streeter Aldrich

This unassuming Nebraskan mystery romance contains a portrait of rural life during the turn of the century. Maple City and its inhabitants coexist in their own peculiar but charming and folksy ways with their own secrets kept close to their chests. In The Rim of the Prairie, Aldrich weaves her thoughts on life, her love for her husband, and the day-to-day foils and perseverance of prairie life. Appropriate for Book Groups of all ages, readers can enjoy the lush descriptions of the prairie in contrast with the bustling small town trying to stretch its wings into the modern day, and the mystery of the brown shawl. Encouraged to read by my mother, (Happy late Mother’s Day!) The Rim of the Prairie was one of the first books I read that took place in Nebraska. It gave me the words to shape my cultural identity and knowledge of our greater social landscape. As Aldrich said herself,  “I tried to do my bit in helping preserve a little of the spirit of these pioneers in fiction”.   

If you’re interested in requesting The Rim of the Prairie for your book club, you can find the Request Form here. There are 10 copies available. (A librarian must request items)

Aldrich, Bess Streeter. The Rim of the Prairie. University of Nebraska Press. 1966

Posted in Books & Reading | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Book Club Spotlight – Pachinko

Cover for Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. A silhouette of a Korean women in a traditional Hanbok poses, facing down. In her skirt is the depiction of a woman, wearing a hankbok, with two young boys  looking out at a rocky coast line with a red sun in the background.

Pachinko by Asian-American Author Min Jin Lee is an epic historical novel that was a labor of love that spanned decades of work and research. Focusing on the imperial rule of Japan, Pachinko follows the diaspora of Koreans in Japan who faced racism and discrimination in both work and society. A National Book Award Finalist, the novel and Lee were awarded the Manhae Grand Prize for Literature, one of Korea’s highest honors in literature. The branching story of Pachinko revolves around the character of Sunja, who, as events transpire, is the perpetual foreigner in life. Not only is she literally a foreigner in Japan, but as a woman, impoverished widower, and carrying the shame of her firstborn’s father, she will always be on the outside of a society puppeteered by men above her station.  

On a small inlet outside Busan, Korea, Sunja is the young, mild-mannered, but steadfast daughter of a small lodging house owner. Living a fairly isolated life outside of the bustling town, Sunja encounters a much older man who gains her confidence and impregnates her. Believing he intends to marry her, Sunja is devastated to learn he is already married as her world crashes in on her. Before her due date, a sickly Protestant Minister offers to marry her out of the kindness of his heart to help support her and the soon-to-be-born child, Noa. Together the couple moved to Japan and had another son, Mozasu. As foreigners in Japan, the family experiences the daily hardship of poverty, World War II, and second-class citizenship as Koreans. Spanning 1910 to 1989, Pachinko follows the family as it grows and branches off in this sweeping epic of what it takes to love despite odds that will always be against them.  

“Living every day in the presence of those who refuse to acknowledge your humanity takes great courage”

– Min Jin Lee

Even though about 1 in every 7 Japanese adults play the game pachinko, the work is associated with ethnic Koreans. After the war’s devastation, Koreans in Japan had a hard time getting job opportunities, and the shady business welcomed them with open arms. And like many, Mozasu and Noa’s best option was through Pachinko, their lives, like the ball bearings on an uncontrollable path of fate. Lee’s Pachinko encourages and helps the reader discover a portion of history that adult Book Club groups can approach with an eye for themes of marginalization and forever ostracization as world events are woven around these minor players. Lee, who aimed to write “compelling stories of individuals who struggled to face historical catastrophes,” asks what choices are there when you are functionally powerless.

To see more of our Asian American  & Pacific Islander Voices book club titles for AAPI month, visit here 

If you’re interested in requesting Pachinko for your book club, you can find the Request Form here. There are 6 copies available. (A librarian must request items)

Lee, Min Jin. Pachinko. Grand Central Publishing. 2017.

Posted in Books & Reading | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Book Club Spotlight- Dracula

Welcome to the 50th Book Club Spotlight! This project is a labor of love and curiosity, and I hope it has provided a solid resource for readers these past 2 years. 🙂 

cover for Dracula by Dram Stoker.

I know what you’re thinking- here at The Book Club Spotlight, we pride ourselves on always being on theme. So why, in spring, are we talking about Dracula? While spooky stories never go out of season, now is the best time to start your reading journey into the world of Dracula. Published in 1897 by Bram Stoker, the epistolary novel is composed of diary entries, letters, newspaper clippings, and transcripts. According to these, the chronological period of Dracula takes place from the beginning of May until early November, meaning one can easily read along day by day and experience the story in real time! So, I invite you to “come freely. Go safely; and leave something of the happiness you bring”.

On the 3rd of May, Jonathan Harker, a solicitor from Exeter, is well on his way to visit a client in Transylvania. This will be the most important deal of his short career, and he is eagerly awaiting the meeting. Little does he know that his client has something more in mind than a simple real estate agreement. As time passes and Jonathan doesn’t return from his trip, his fiancée, the savvy Mina, notices her dear friend Lucy Westenra is beginning to act strange. She experiences bouts of sleepwalking and anemia while large bats stalk the premises. Enlisting the help of Lucy’s own fiancé Arthur Holmwood, psychiatrist for the insane Dr. Seward, Texan cowboy Quincy Morris, and renowned physician Abraham Van Helsing, Mina must go to the ends of the earth and humanity to save those she loves from the fabled Vampire Count Dracula. 

It is a delight reading the origin of such an iconic figure. As the story progresses, the characters learn in real time what we, as an audience already know. What a vampire is, how to ward them off, and of course, that the Count is one himself. Stoker’s Dracula is many things- For a modern audience, it’s an allegory for xenophobia and how fear and distrust can lead to ultimate ends. For Stoker’s generation, the foreigners were the enemy that we must distrust for our safety. But as we read it through a modern lens, we can discuss the difference in moralities, racism, ableism, sexism, and the blatant misunderstanding of blood transfusion. Book Groups, teenaged and up, can enjoy and experience this classic work of fiction.   

If you or your group are interested in reading Dracula in its “true order” of events, I recommend reading through Dracula Daily.  Having its first run in 2020, Dracula Daily emails each chapter of the novel as it happens in real-time. The project has been likened to an online book club, as every year, readers on social media join together to discuss the latest events in the novel, and the experience has improved my own reading and analysis skills. Dracula Daily has even published its own physical version of the novel, with the story in chronological order, including snippets, jokes, and even drawings from book club members as they read along with you. There is much to learn from Dracula each year as we sit down to hear from our good friend Jonathan Harker.   

If you’re interested in requesting Dracula for your book club, you can find the Request Form here. There are 11 copies available. (A librarian must request items)

Stoker, Bram. Dracula. Norton. 1987.

Posted in Books & Reading | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Book Club Spotlight- The Man Who Loved Books Too Much

Cover of The Man Who Loved Books Too Much. A silhouette of a man against a full bookshelf

Obviously this week, National Library Week, is the best week of the year! Celebrations include Right to Read Day, National Library Workers Day, National Library Outreach Day, and Take Action for Libraries Day. While we all know the importance of the library ecosystem, former San Francisco Library Laureate, Allison Hoover Bartlett, shares the story of what happens when greed and personal gain take over and infiltrate the book market. In her book, The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession, Bartlett follows the trail of notorious book thief John Charles Gilkey and peeks into the psyche of those who collect rare books, and what happens when that collecting becomes a compulsion.

Allison Bartlett entered into the world of book thieves by way of coincidence. A friend had come into possession of a stolen rare book after his brother’s passing, and Allison was drawn to its mysterious pages. As she felt this pull towards the illicit book, she began researching the history of book thievery, asking: “What makes someone cross the line from admirer to thief?”. It’s not long until two names come to her attention: Ken Sanders, a rare book dealer whose obsession with catching book thieves, leads Allison to the main focus of her story, John Charles Gilkey. For John, his (stolen) book collection is not about the contents of the books themselves, but merely the status it affords him. Growing up, he dreamed of being like the upper-crust gentlemen who honed grand libraries and garnered admiration. John takes to fraud and theft to achieve this dream, growing bolder and more self-assured as his collection grows. And his curation list? The Modern Library’s List of 100 Best Novels. Follow along with the strained and strange relationship between booksellers and the titular book thief. Where each believes the other is the true criminal. 

“It wasn’t merely a love of books that compelled him, but also what owning them would say about him. It’s a normal ambition—that our choice of music or cars or shoes reflects well on us—taken to the extreme.”

Allison Hoover Bartlett

Part True Crime, part history of book collecting and fervor, The Man Who Loved Books Too Much is about trying to understand the psyche of these collectors and those who experience book-collecting mania, or Bibliomania. According to Bartlett, in rare book collections, the physical properties of the books, the memories associated with the title, or the historical importance of that edition are often more valuable than the actual contents within them. Book Club Groups will love the low-stakes True Crime aspect and exploring what in the mind can drive us to place such value on having personal library collections.  

As Bartlett finds herself more entrenched in the rare book collection space, she notes that it largely consists of rich white men. While their hobbies are viewed as intellectual, there has been a trend of treating young female celebrities and models who carry around the latest literary fiction novel (“Literary It Girls”) as lesser and shallow attempts at intellectualism. But what is their real difference? Rare book collecting and John Gilkey’s obsession with the status symbol he associated with the books he stole can bring to light a much-needed discussion about the value we place on our favorite pastime, classism and maybe even a hidden misogynistic agenda.

Further Resources:

If you’re interested in requesting The Man Who Loved Books Too Much for your book club, you can find the Request Form here. There are 5 copies available. (A librarian must request items)

Bartlett, Allison Hoover. The Man Who Loved Books Too Much. Riverhead Books. 2009

Posted in Books & Reading | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Book Club Spotlight – The Daughter of Time

Cover for The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. On a stark red background a portrait of Richard III peaks out from a decorated frame with a mild and uncertain frame.

With the British Royal Family gossip mill recently abuzz, and as the sun sets on Women’s History Month, now is the perfect opportunity to visit Josephine Tey’s 1951 novel The Daughter of Time, and take a step back to the 15th century to investigate the murderous reputation of Richard III. Holding the top spot in the British Crime Writers’ Association’s list of Top 100 Crime Novels of All TimeThe Daughter of Time is quite the influential novel, leading in part to the discovery of Richard III’s burial site in 2012. Like Nebraska’s own Mignon G. Eberhart, Tey wrote during what is called the “Golden Age of Crime Fiction”, and her novels continue to surprise and delight readers.

Hospitalized from his latest case, Inspector Alan Grant is at a loss for entertainment. Having counted the ceiling tiles and studied the comings and goings of his nurses, he is growing restless. It’s not until a friend suggests he attempt to solve a cold case from his hospital bed does inspiration strike. Examining a portrait of the late King Richard III, Grant (a fan of physiognomy) doesn’t see the ruthless uncle who would kill his two young nephews. He sees a gentle man, lost to time. With the help of a young American researcher, Grant races across histories written by second hands with ulterior motives. And as the pair work to challenge myths and legends to clear Richard’s name, they can’t help but wonder, what could be gained by besmirching an usurped King?

“The truth of anything at all doesn’t lie in someone’s account of it. It lies in all the small facts of the time. An advertisement in a paper, the sale of a house, the price of a ring.”

Josephine Tey

Chock full of wit and political intrigue, The Daughter of Time is a history lesson like no other. Our copies at the Commission include a 2013 introduction by the late author Robert Barnard whose overview of Josephine Tey (real name Elizabeth Mackintosh) includes her writing style, spot in history, and acknowledgments of prejudices characteristic of her time which are unfortunately present in the text. Book Club groups will enjoy exploring the very real mystery of Richard III and the unknown fate of the two Princes in the Tower against the safe and removed backdrop of Grant’s hospital bed. And the delightful repartee between characters cannot be understated, from puns to inquiring over the ownership of who gets to die in the Thames- Tey is truly a master of the genre.

If you’re interested in requesting The Daughter of Time for your book club, you can find the Request Form here. There are 7 copies available. (A librarian must request items)

Tey, Josephine. The Daughter of Time. Simon and Schuster. 1951

Posted in Books & Reading | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Book Club Spotlight – A Beautiful Poison

Cover for A Beautiful Poison by Lydia Kang. A triangular vile covered in yellow jewels against an art deco styled background

Happy Women’s History Month! This month we’ll be featuring incredible women authors, and today’s Book Club Spotlight is written by none other than the brilliant Lydia Kang, MD. Author of numerous Adult, Young Adult, Non-Fiction, and Star Wars novels, Kang, an internal medicine physician in Omaha, combines her passion for medicine and literature in her award-winning historical/medical mysteries. Her debut novel, A Beautiful Poison, takes place in New York City, where she studied medicine at Columbia University and the New York University School of Medicine. 

In the upper echelon of 1918 New York City, everyone has secrets. In a society stuck between the Gilded Age and the Jazz Age, Americans are gripped by war, and the looming influenza outbreak, while Allene is chasing after her past. A past where she, Jasper, and Birdie were together. And finally, when they are all together again, Florence Waxworth gets herself poisoned in the middle of Allene’s engagement party! As the murdered bodies continue to fall around them, their hot-headed group is the only one who can solve the mystery. Torn apart by their whims and desires, the trio must face the influenza, a killer, and each other, in order to make it out alive. 

“It was a fresh new day, served with a glorious sunrise and of course Florence’s untimely death to solve.”

Lydia Kang

For mature teens or adult book club groups looking for fast-paced mysteries to keep you on your toes, and mixed with the incredible setting, A Beautiful Poison is a joy to experience and try to solve alongside the characters. As a former resident and student, Kang’s heart shows when describing New York City and specifically Bellevue Hospital, which features heavily in the novel and includes the real pioneers of forensic medicine as integral figures in solving the medical mystery. The characters of Allene, Jasper, and Birdie are complicated and compelling, as they try to mend a friendship and deep love that may be too far gone.

Related Readings:

Radium Girls by Kate Moore

The Poisoner’s Handbook by Deborah Blum

If you’re interested in requesting A Beautiful Poison for your book club, you can find the Request Form here. There are 3 copies available. (A librarian must request items)

Kang, Lydia. A Beautiful Poison. Lake Union Publishing. 2017

Posted in Books & Reading | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Club Spotlight – Hector’s Bliss

A unique aspect of our Book Club Collection here at the Commission is our focus on Nebraska authors, settings, and stories, housing the hidden gems of Nebraska literature and history! Today’s pick for the Book Club Spotlight, in particular, focuses on a relatively unknown part of Nebraska’s Black History. While we know the story of white pioneers and homesteaders, there was also the incredible journey of formerly enslaved people who became landowners, farmers, and a community in the Sandhills. Hector’s Bliss: Black Homesteaders at Goose Lake, Nebraska, by Dennis Vossberg, is a historical fiction novel based on the incredible history of Black Homesteaders, who, under false pretenses, persevered in the harsh farmland until drought and the Dust Bowl overcame the whole region.

In the late 1800s, at the height of legalized racial segregation, just south of O’Neil, Nebraska, there was the short-lived story of Bliss, and the Black community members who called it home. During the economic downturn caused by the end of the Civil War, the newly freed people were looking for a reliable place to land. As newly married Hector and Julia Dixon were floundering in a small mining town, land promoters arrived, falsely promising flourishing farmland and untapped coal veins awaited them in the far reaches of the Nebraska Sandhills. The Dixons and 13 other families unknowingly move to the desert-like plains to start anew. Besought by harsh conditions, poverty, and rural isolation, their community works hard to create a solid foundation for the future despite the conditions. As one of the more educated residents, Hector Dixon finds himself wearing many hats in Bliss, as a farmer, the integrated school’s teacher, the justice of the peace, and eventually a milk road delivery man, all to support his growing and tenacious family. Striving to find a balance between the life his children dream of and the one he has worked so hard to build.

He took a lingering gaze over the peaceful countryside, thinking of how transient were the human inhabitants of this land, and how triumphantly enduring was the land itself

Dennis Vossberg

Hector’s Bliss is a moving historical fiction crafted with love and respect for the subjects, and Book Club Groups will find value in learning about this little-known Nebraska history. They may even be encouraged to learn more. Covered in the Nebraska Public Media story, “Looking for Bliss,” the story of the Dixons and Bliss is virtually unknown. Hector’s Bliss brings to light Black history that has been erased from cultural memory, revealing a more full and beautiful world. We won’t really ever know how the Black Homesteaders were treated by their white compatriots as those details have been lost to time. So, while prejudice and racism are addressed, Vossberg chooses to focus the limited peril on the indomitable human spirit and the life these people worked to build after slavery. 

If you’re interested in requesting Hector’s Bliss for your book club, you can find the Request Form here. There are 4 copies available. (A librarian must request items)

Vossberg, Dennis. Hector’s Bliss. Morris Publishing. 2006

Posted in Books & Reading | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Club Spotlight – When Stars are Scattered

Cover for When Stars are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed. Two young Somali boys walk together, shoeless, through a encampment. They are smiling hopefully up at the night sky.

Happy Black History Month from Book Club Spotlight! The theme for 2024 is “African Americans and the Arts,” which honors the incredible contributions of African Americans to culture, music, art, and literature. And what better combination of art and literature is there than graphic novels? So, to wrap up our mini-series, we will follow young Somali refugees displaced by civil war. Where the Stars are Scattered, by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed, is based on the childhood of Mohamed, who grew up in Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee camp. The list of honors for this book is massive, including being a National Book Award Finalist, the School Library Journal Best Book of 2020, and a 2021-22 Golden Sower Chapter Book Nominee.

Omar and his brother Hassan have been in the Dadaab refugee camp for seven years! Without their parents, the boys live on their own, watched over by an aging foster mother, Fatuma. Having the responsibility of caring for himself and his nonverbal brother, everyday Omar must clean the floorless tent they sleep on, hide any valuables from thieves, and wait. Wait for water, wait for food, wait for his mother to find them, wait for the war to end, and wait to leave the refugee camp. When Omar gets a chance to attend school, he is far behind other children his age, and soon, the pressure of school and chores begins to make him angry and resentful. As he grows and becomes continually frustrated with his situation, he sees how everyone else is stuck just like him—especially the girls, who, like Omar, are burdened with too many responsibilities. With encouragement from his friends and community, Omar grows more confident in his abilities and in Hassan and starts dreaming about a future outside the camp. And one day, Omar’s and Hassan’s names are called for an interview with the UN for a chance to finally leave Dadaab, an exciting and terrifying possibility. 

“It was nice talking like this. Pretending we were normal kids, with normal futures to look forward too”

– Victoria Jamieson & Omar Mohamed

Written for middle grades and up, all will be deeply moved by reading this graphic novel. With wars waging worldwide, it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed and powerless, and listening to stories of those going through these tough times matters. When Stars are Scattered is an excellent representation of the day-to-day life in refugee camps. Maybe your Book Club Group wants to learn more about what life is like for refugees, or your students have questions about what is happening to displaced children like them. Since moving to America, Mohamed has dedicated his life to serving his community back in Dadaab and improving the living conditions of refugees, especially young girls through his nonprofit foundation, Refugee Strong.

“Please take away from the reading of this book an understanding that you should never give up hope. In the camp, we were given courage by our faith to always be patient and to never lose hope. Things may seem impossible, but if you keep working hard and believe in yourself, you can overcome anything in your path. I hope my story will inspire you to always persevere.” 

Omar Mohamed

If you’re interested in requesting When Stars are Scattered for your book club, you can find the Request Form here. There are 10 copies available. (A librarian must request items)

To see more of our Black Voices book club titles, visit here.

Jamieson, Victoria & Mohamed, Omar. When Stars are Scattered. Penguin Random House. 2020

Posted in Books & Reading | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Book Club Spotlight – Survivors of the Holocaust

Cover for Survivors of the Holocaust

In observance of Holocaust Remembrance Day, today’s Book Club Spotlight, Survivors of the Holocaust: True Stories of Six Extraordinary Children, is a graphic novel that commemorates the Jewish children who were displaced by World War Two. This book will be read in conjunction with next month’s spotlight, When Stars are Scattered, which follows two Somali brothers as they are growing up in a Kenyan refugee camp. While these children all survived, it’s important to remember those who are still being displaced or, worse, by war and apartheid. Survivors of the Holocaust is adapted from a six-part animated interview series, Children of the Holocaust, which won the VLA Graphic Novel Diversity Award for Youth Honor. It was edited by Kath Shackleton and illustrated by Zane Whittingham. 

The graphic novel begins with a foreword by Lilian Black, who was the Chair of the Holocaust Survivors’ Friendship Association. She introduces us to the six storytellers, Heinz, Trude, Ruth, Martin, Suzanne, and Arek, who were all children at the beginning of World War II and were impacted by the Holocaust and its systemic persecution of Jewish people. Split into individual sections, we begin by meeting each child shortly before war breaks out during Hitler’s rise to power. Some are forced to flee with their families, siblings, or all alone. Others are stuck in Germany and manage to survive their time in concentration camps. Their stories are told through evocative and mildly disturbing illustrations that work to bring the sense of terror that Hilter’s reign imposed on their young lives. Sections following the main stories include short paragraphs about each of the children as they grew up outside of the war, a timeline of events, a helpful glossary of terms, and further online resources.

“It is not easy for them to tell their stories. They agreed to because they want people to know what can happen when people are subjected to discrimination and persecution for being seen as “different”. Their dearest wish is that no one should suffer as they did and that people who never again stand by when injustice is taking place.”

Survivors of the holocaust – Foreword: Lilian Black

Appropriate for ages ten and above, Survivors of the Holocaust presents a solid reference point for young readers who are just learning about the Holocaust. As written by The Jewish Book Council: “These accounts rep­re­sent a good cross-sec­tion of expe­ri­ence, since plu­ral­i­ty of expe­ri­ence is vital in pre­sent­ing the Holo­caust to young read­ers. The illus­tra­tions make the iden­ti­ties of the vic­tims and per­pe­tra­tors clear and the maps used as back­grounds pro­vide geo­graph­ic ground­ing for bor­der cross­ings. Ren­der­ings of pho­tographs and pri­ma­ry doc­u­ments add anoth­er lay­er of under­stand­ing”. However, there are minor inconsistencies that often occur through retellings. From classrooms to adult reading groups, Survivors of the Holocaust presents a multifaceted approach to our continuing Holocaust education and commitment to victims of displacement.

As with many of our Book Club Kits, discussion questions and an Educator’s Guide are available to help teachers and Book Club Group leaders through discussion resources and additional information. 

Other Resources: 

If you’re interested in requesting Survivors of the Holocaust  for your book club, you can find the Request Form here. There are 10 copies available. (A librarian must request items)

Shackleton, Kath. Survivors of the Holocaust. Sourcebooks Explore. 2019.

Posted in Books & Reading | Tagged , , | Leave a comment