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Sometimes you never know where you’ll find yourself. As children, Emma Merrill and Sophia Mason promised to never lose touch, but their paths eventually diverged. Emma has struggled with depression. Sophie became an artist. Now, they’ve reconnected and Sophie invites Emma away to a small artists’ colony in south Texas, a beautiful landscape where wildflowers bloom. For Sophie and Emma, it’s the perfect place for reflection and to finally reconnect. It’s a place for forging new friendships, repairing old ones, and moving on. Read Hummingbird Lane by Carolyn Brown.
Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed. I wrote this newsletter late last week, the theme being a buddy read with young readers to help facilitate difficult conversations about both history and current events. Then I turned on the news this week to see reports of yet another school shooting and the tragic, senseless, devastating death of young Daunte Wright. What else is there to say at this point? This has to stop.
I say all that to clarify that I do not think the solution to gun violence and police brutality is a cute book club convo. That might be obvious, but the timing is such that I felt I should take a moment to say that.
Okay. To the club. Or not. Do what you need to do to take care of yourself.
Bring the Youth In for This One
For over a year now (and before then too), I’ve thought a lot about the challenge facing parents and guardians having to talk to their kids about … whew, pick a topic. Racism? Sexism? Xenophobia? Homophobia? Transphobia? Police violence? The erasure of BIPOCs? My heart goes out to all of you trying to talk to kids about this stuff while protecting their hearts and spirits in addition to their bodies. So I thought I would suggest doing a buddy read with the young reader(s) in your life: you can read the adult version of the book and have your book club buddy/buddies read the Young Readers edition of said title (or you can both read the Young Readers edition for consistency) and use the book as a springboard for those big talks.
A note on my title selection: there are so many more books I wanted to include in this list! I left off ones that already feel pretty popular (Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly), and books whose adult versions are probs a little long for most book clubs (A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn). I hope the titles I’ve chosen will spark some healthy conversations about these topics, some of which might be uncomfortable but of vital importance. And if there’s a different topic you’re looking to address, check to see if there’s a book about it with an adaptation for young readers available. There are a lot more of those these days than there used to be.
The Compton Cowboys: The New Generation of Cowboys in America’s Urban Heartland by Walter Thompson-Hernandez
I love telling people about this book and watching them go all “huh?” on me. The Compton Cowboys are a group of 10 Black riders on a small ranch in Compton, California, one of the very last in an area that’s been home to African-American horse riders for decades. Yeah, decades! The story starts with The Compton Jr Posse, a project founded by Mayisha Akbar in 1988 to offer local youth an alternative to street life. Today’s Cowboys are a group of Black men and women defying stereotypes in a community built on “camaraderie, respite from violence, healing from trauma, and recovery from incarceration.” This is just so cool. Find the young reader’s edition here.
The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande
Reyna Grande is an award-winning author of several middle grade books and adult nonfiction. This is her memoir, a chronicle of her family’s migration to the US from a small town in the Mexican state of Guerrero. In search of a better life for their family, Reyna’s parents leave her and her siblings with their grandmother for years to go establish themselves in the states before eventually sending for the children. Both that awful period of waiting—during which the grandmother cares very little for Reyna and her siblings, spending the money their father sends for them on a cousin whom she clearly favors—and the harrowing journey across the border leave their mark on Reyna (and how could they not). Grande shares this very personal story and the resulting trauma in a plea for folks to think more critically about the issue of immigration. Find the young reader’s edition here.
An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
sings while doings Rockette kicks 🎶The history you’ve been taught in school about indigenous people is a lie (is a lie!) A big ol’ lie! 🎶 That’s just a lil’ diddy I made up, an In the Club exclusive (you’re welcome) to introduce this book, the first history of the United States told from the perspective of indigenous peoples. It spans more than four hundred years and radically reframes US history. Spoiler alert: Columbus didn’t discover sh*t and our history ain’t pretty. Find the young reader’s edition here.
Suggestion Section
at Mental Floss: 9 Engaging Book Clubs You Can Participate In Online (minor LOL at including Reese’s book club as if people don’t know about it, but that’s okay!)
at Book Trip: April Book Club Recs: Secrets, Truths and the Past Reimagined
Thanks for hanging with me today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with your burning book club questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the Audiobooks newsletter and catch me once a month on the All the Books podcast.
Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa