Category Archives: Books & Reading

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. 

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

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?

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.

• Toni Morrison on difficult narratives in an 1988 Interview with Mavis Nicholson

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

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.

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