SOTAREADING 2021-2024

A351 on  November 27 th  at  3:35 p.m. Tillotson will facilitate the meeting.   Award-winning author and artist Mike Curato draws on his own experiences in  Flamer , his debut graphic novel, telling a difficult story with humor, compassion, and love. "This book will save lives." ―Jarrett J. Krosoczka, author of National Book Award Finalist  Hey, Kiddo I know I’m not gay. Gay boys like other boys. I hate boys. They’re mean, and scary, and they’re always destroying something or saying something dumb or both. I hate that word. Gay. It makes me feel . . . unsafe. It's the summer between middle school and high school, and Aiden Navarro is away at camp. Everyone's going through changes―but for Aiden, the stakes feel higher. As he navigates friendships, deals with bullies, and spends time with Elias (a boy he can't stop thinking about), he finds himself on a path of self-discovery and acceptance.

  The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times Monday, October 30, 2023 3:30 #1  NEW YORK TIMES  AND  USA TODAY  BESTSELLER • In an inspiring follow-up to her acclaimed memoir  Becoming,  former First Lady Michelle Obama shares practical wisdom and powerful strategies for staying hopeful and balanced in today’s highly uncertain world.   There may be no tidy solutions or pithy answers to life’s big challenges, but Michelle Obama believes that we can all locate and lean on a set of tools to help us better navigate change and remain steady within flux. In  The Light We Carry,  she opens a frank and honest dialogue with readers, considering the questions many of us wrestle with: How do we build enduring and honest relationships? How can we discover strength and community inside our differences? What tools do we use to address feelings of self-doubt or helplessness? What do we do when it all starts to feel like too much?   Michelle Obama offers readers a series of fresh stories and ins

Monday, September 25, 3:45   A NEW YORK TIMES "TEN BEST BOOKS OF 2022" An Oprah’s Book Club Selection An Instant  New York Times  Bestseller An Instant  Wall Street Journal  Bestseller  A #1  Washington Post  Bestseller "Demon is a voice for the ages—akin to Huck Finn or Holden Caulfield—only even more resilient.” —Beth Macy, author of  Dopesick "May be the best novel of 2022. . . . Equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, this is the story of an irrepressible boy nobody wants, but readers will love.” (Ron Charles,  Washington Post ) From the acclaimed author of  The Poisonwood Bible  and  The Bean Trees,  a brilliant novel that enthralls, compels, and captures the heart as it evokes a young hero’s unforgettable journey to maturity Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia,  Demon Copperhead  is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, an

  Final May meetings and discussions, SUMMER READ---Week of May 22, 2023 SUMMER READ –  Demon Copperhead  by Barbara Kingsolver – we will discuss this in September More suggestions for next year: Flamer  by Mike Curato The Night I Spent with Aubrey Fisher  by Christopher Tantillo The Light We Carry  by Michelle Obama  

 MAY 15---DISCUSSION BANNED BOOKS This might be interesting reading for the meeting: https://pen.org/report/banned-in-the-usa-state-laws-supercharge-book-suppression-in-schools/             

Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown Monday, April 24  4-6 Moderator: John Degrandis In her latest book, Brené Brown writes, “If we want to find the way back to ourselves and one another, we need language and the grounded confidence to both tell our stories and to be stewards of the stories that we hear. This is the framework for meaningful connection.” In  Atlas of the Heart , Brown takes us on a journey through 87 of the emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human. As she maps the necessary skills and an actionable framework for meaningful connection, she gives us the language and tools to access a universe of new choices and second chances - a universe where we can share and steward the stories of our bravest and most heartbreaking moments with one another in a way that builds connection. Over the past two decades, Brown’s extensive research into the experiences that make us who we are has shaped the cultural conversation and helped define what it means to be courage

 March 27--4-6 pm Read less The  New York Times  bestselling book of essays celebrating ordinary delights in the world around us by one of America's most original and observant writers, award-winning poet Ross Gay. As Heard on NPR's  This American Life “Ross Gay’s eye lands upon wonder at every turn, bolstering my belief in the countless small miracles that surround us.” —Tracy K. Smith, Pulitzer Prize winner and U.S. Poet Laureate The winner of the NBCC Award for Poetry offers up a spirited collection of short lyrical essays, written daily over a tumultuous year, reminding us of the purpose and pleasure of praising, extolling, and celebrating ordinary wonders. In  The Book of Delights , one of today’s most original literary voices offers up a genre-defying volume of lyric essays written over one tumultuous year. The first nonfiction book from award-winning poet Ross Gay is a record of the small joys we often overlook in our busy lives. Among Gay’s funny, poetic, philosophical

FEBRUARY READ: As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow  by   Zoulfa Katouh Moderator: Jim Tillotson Monday, March 6   4:00 pm A  love letter to Syria and its people,  As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow  is a speculative novel set amid the Syrian Revolution, burning with the fires of hope, love, and possibility. Perfect for fans of  The Book Thief  and  Salt to the Sea . Salama Kassab was a pharmacy student when the cries for freedom broke out in Syria. She still had her parents and her big brother; she still had her home. She had a normal teenager’s life.    Now Salama volunteers at a hospital in Homs, helping the wounded who flood through the doors daily. Secretly, though, she is desperate to find a way out of her beloved country before her sister-in-law, Layla, gives birth. So desperate, that she has manifested a physical embodiment of her fear in the form of her imagined companion, Khawf, who haunts her every move in an effort to keep her safe.    But even with Khawf pressing her to leave, Sal

The City We Became: A Novel (The Great Cities,   Hardcover – March 24, 2020 by N. K. Jemisin Meeting: January 30, 2023 In Manhattan, a young grad student gets off the train and realizes he doesn't remember who he is, where he's from, or even his own name. But he can sense the beating heart of the city, see its history, and feel its power. In the Bronx, a Lenape gallery director discovers strange graffiti scattered throughout the city, so beautiful and powerful it's as if the paint is literally calling to her. In Brooklyn, a politician and mother finds she can hear the songs of her city, pulsing to the beat of her Louboutin heels. And they're not the only ones. Every great city has a soul. Some are ancient as myths, and others are as new and destructive as children. New York? She's got six. One of  TIME Magazine 's 100 Best Fantasy Books of all time One of  TIME Magazine 's 100 Must-Read Books of 2020 One of  Vanity Fair 's 15 Best Books of 2020 One of Am