SOTAREADING 2021-2027

 Monday, 1/29/2024 The Night I Spent with Aubrey Fisher  by Christopher M. Tantillo. Moderated by Erica Smith A boy determined to die. A girl determined to save his life. After the death of his little brother, Grayson's guilt spirals his life into chaos; it's all his fault. He wants to rewind that night back. To erase the pain he's caused. So he's decided; in twenty-four hours, he'll kill himself. Then mysterious and reckless Aubrey shows up with a proposition: a "literally insane" all-night adventure that will show him the beauty in the mundane. Grayson doesn't know why the foster girl with the piercings, crimson locks, and fishnet leggings is helping, especially when he finds out she harbors dark secrets of her own. Yet as they spend his last night learning to let go of pain, Grayson may have a new choice to make. But can he ever really be happy again? Told in a heartfelt yet poignant style interspersed with quirky humor,  The Night I Spent with Aubr...

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 mu...

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 fat...

  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 b...