BOOK CLUB Texts
Do have a group of friends that would like to read and talk about the same book?
Check out one of our book club titles from the library.
Check out one of our book club titles from the library.
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
240pp HL770L 6 copies available
Issues: Prejudice & Racism, African American
Rashad isn’t doing anything wrong when a moment of confusion escalates into a police beating. Quinn, Rashad’s classmate sees what is happening, but does nothing to stop it… he knows the cop. Told from alternating perspectives, the reader begins to understand how challenges can test everything we believe in.
240pp HL770L 6 copies available
Issues: Prejudice & Racism, African American
Rashad isn’t doing anything wrong when a moment of confusion escalates into a police beating. Quinn, Rashad’s classmate sees what is happening, but does nothing to stop it… he knows the cop. Told from alternating perspectives, the reader begins to understand how challenges can test everything we believe in.
A Corner of the Universe by Ann M. Martin
189pp 750L 4 copies available
Issues: Disabilities & Disabled Persons, Family
Hattie, a shy girl in a small town, finds her predictable life turned upside down when the uncle she has never known about moves in. She immediately embraces her excitable uncle while the rest of her family has a hard time dealing with his schizophrenia and autism.
189pp 750L 4 copies available
Issues: Disabilities & Disabled Persons, Family
Hattie, a shy girl in a small town, finds her predictable life turned upside down when the uncle she has never known about moves in. She immediately embraces her excitable uncle while the rest of her family has a hard time dealing with his schizophrenia and autism.
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
332pp 850L 3 copies available
Issues: Cancer, Death & Dying, Relationships, Family
Cancer has been such a huge part of teenage Hazel’s day-to-day experience, that she’s not sure if she knows how to enjoy life- until she meets Augustus Waters. Now Hazel has the chance to live life for the first time in a long time, but how long will it last?
332pp 850L 3 copies available
Issues: Cancer, Death & Dying, Relationships, Family
Cancer has been such a huge part of teenage Hazel’s day-to-day experience, that she’s not sure if she knows how to enjoy life- until she meets Augustus Waters. Now Hazel has the chance to live life for the first time in a long time, but how long will it last?
Getting the Girl by Markus Zusack
272pp 620L 5 copies available
Issues: Siblings, Relationships
Cameron is not like his brothers, he's not a soccer star or a girl magnet- so life gets really complicated when he falls for his brother's girlfriend. But what girl would want to date a loser like him? Cam will only know if he tries- and that changes everything.
272pp 620L 5 copies available
Issues: Siblings, Relationships
Cameron is not like his brothers, he's not a soccer star or a girl magnet- so life gets really complicated when he falls for his brother's girlfriend. But what girl would want to date a loser like him? Cam will only know if he tries- and that changes everything.
Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
320pp 840L 5 copies available
Issues: Immigration, Chinese Americans, Family
Kimberly and her mother emigrate from Hong Kong to find a better life in Brooklyn, NY. Saddled with the debt of their emigration expenses, Kimberly’s mother must toil long, hot hours in her sister’s sweat shop. Paid by the piece, the compounding debt hangs over their futures. Kimberly knows her only hope is to do well in school, but how can she when nobody understands her?
320pp 840L 5 copies available
Issues: Immigration, Chinese Americans, Family
Kimberly and her mother emigrate from Hong Kong to find a better life in Brooklyn, NY. Saddled with the debt of their emigration expenses, Kimberly’s mother must toil long, hot hours in her sister’s sweat shop. Paid by the piece, the compounding debt hangs over their futures. Kimberly knows her only hope is to do well in school, but how can she when nobody understands her?
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
128pp 870L 2 copies available
Issues: Cultural differences, Hispanic Americans
Told in a series of vignettes – sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous – it is the story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become.*
128pp 870L 2 copies available
Issues: Cultural differences, Hispanic Americans
Told in a series of vignettes – sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous – it is the story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become.*
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
208pp 830L 5 copies available
Issues: Death & Dying, Relationships, Family
Life changes in the blink of an eye, and now seventeen-year-old Mia has to decide if life is still worth living. Memories flood her mind as she struggles with the choice of trying to return to the life she once knew- though nothing will be the same… or just letting go.
208pp 830L 5 copies available
Issues: Death & Dying, Relationships, Family
Life changes in the blink of an eye, and now seventeen-year-old Mia has to decide if life is still worth living. Memories flood her mind as she struggles with the choice of trying to return to the life she once knew- though nothing will be the same… or just letting go.
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
304pp 1210L 5 copies available
Issues: Children of Immigrants, Family, Alienation, Indian Americans
Gogol, the son of Indian immigrants, struggles with assimilating into the American culture he was born into while trying to understand his Indian heritage through his parents' eyes. The importance of family, culture, and tradition underscores the immigrant's struggle in the late 20th century.
304pp 1210L 5 copies available
Issues: Children of Immigrants, Family, Alienation, Indian Americans
Gogol, the son of Indian immigrants, struggles with assimilating into the American culture he was born into while trying to understand his Indian heritage through his parents' eyes. The importance of family, culture, and tradition underscores the immigrant's struggle in the late 20th century.
Purple Hibiscus: a novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
307pp 920L 4 copies available
Issues: Family, Political Turmoil, Nigeria
Kambili and her brother Jaja lead a privileged life in Nigeria, but as the country begins to fall apart under a military coup, Kambili and Jaja are sent to their aunt where they discover a life beyond the confines of their father's authority.*
307pp 920L 4 copies available
Issues: Family, Political Turmoil, Nigeria
Kambili and her brother Jaja lead a privileged life in Nigeria, but as the country begins to fall apart under a military coup, Kambili and Jaja are sent to their aunt where they discover a life beyond the confines of their father's authority.*
Stealing Buddha's Dinner: A Memoir by Bich Minh Nguyen (nonfiction)
272pp 5 copies available
Issues: Assimilation, Family, Asian American, Hispanic Americans
As a Vietnamese refugee during the fall of Saigon, Nguyen has a hunger for all things American as she struggles with her cultural identity in her new home, “exotic” Grand Rapids, Michigan. Filled with humor and longing, Nguyen’s coming of age memoir is a bittersweet tale of realizing that what you want to be may not be better than what you already are.
272pp 5 copies available
Issues: Assimilation, Family, Asian American, Hispanic Americans
As a Vietnamese refugee during the fall of Saigon, Nguyen has a hunger for all things American as she struggles with her cultural identity in her new home, “exotic” Grand Rapids, Michigan. Filled with humor and longing, Nguyen’s coming of age memoir is a bittersweet tale of realizing that what you want to be may not be better than what you already are.
There are no children here : the story of two boys growing up in the other America by Alex Kotlowitz (nonfiction)
336pp 970L 3 copies available
Issues: Poverty & Crime, African Americans
This is the moving and powerful account of two remarkable boys struggling to survive in Chicago's Henry Horner Homes, a public housing complex dilapidated by crime and neglect.*
336pp 970L 3 copies available
Issues: Poverty & Crime, African Americans
This is the moving and powerful account of two remarkable boys struggling to survive in Chicago's Henry Horner Homes, a public housing complex dilapidated by crime and neglect.*
Trying hard to hear you by Sandra Scoppettone
264pp 2 copies available
Issues: Homosexuality
In this heartbreaking tale of love and prejudice, one single summer changes the lives of an entire community. "Two of us were going to suffer like we never had before, and none of us would be the same again."*
264pp 2 copies available
Issues: Homosexuality
In this heartbreaking tale of love and prejudice, one single summer changes the lives of an entire community. "Two of us were going to suffer like we never had before, and none of us would be the same again."*
Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson
272pp HL680L 4 copies available
Issues: Peer Pressure, Bullying, Family, Depression
Tyler did hard labor over the summer to make up for the stupid mistake he made last year. Now a high school senior, he realizes that he has a chance with the sister of his worst enemy. Things start out bad and then just get worse. Tyler struggles to find his place in a world that is quick to judge, and begins to wonder if he belongs there at all.
272pp HL680L 4 copies available
Issues: Peer Pressure, Bullying, Family, Depression
Tyler did hard labor over the summer to make up for the stupid mistake he made last year. Now a high school senior, he realizes that he has a chance with the sister of his worst enemy. Things start out bad and then just get worse. Tyler struggles to find his place in a world that is quick to judge, and begins to wonder if he belongs there at all.
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
288pp 730L 6 copies available
Issues: Eating Disorders, Death & Dying
Competing in a game to see who can be thinner than the other, Cassie “loses” and Lia is left behind. Racked with guilt for not having the ability to save her, Lia is haunted by the memories of her best friend. Trying to hold on to hope, she struggles on the path to recovery.
*Synopsis from Amazon
288pp 730L 6 copies available
Issues: Eating Disorders, Death & Dying
Competing in a game to see who can be thinner than the other, Cassie “loses” and Lia is left behind. Racked with guilt for not having the ability to save her, Lia is haunted by the memories of her best friend. Trying to hold on to hope, she struggles on the path to recovery.
*Synopsis from Amazon