Calling all readers and aspiring readers! Join us in building your library and chatting about books with peers. Lo'Mas Lit Book Club is a reading group, a book club, a discussion zone, quarantine-era hangout time for youth ages 13–25, alternating Fridays at 5pm throughout the Fall/Winter 20–2021 season; specific dates and books are:
OCTOBER 2020
Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez
Meeting dates: October 2, October 16
NOVEMBER 2020
David Tung Can't Have a Girlfriend Until He Gets Into an Ivy League College by Ed Lin
Meeting dates: November 6, November 20
DECEMBER 2020
Long Way Down: The Graphic Novel by Jason Reynolds, illustrated by Danica Novgorodoff
Meeting dates: December 4, December 18
JANUARY 2021
Sanctuary by Paola Mendoza & Abby Sher
Meeting dates: January 8, January 22
REGISTRATION:
Registration is open to readers ages 13–25. Register here for the book club by Wednesday, September 23.
BOOK CLUB FACILITATION:
- Book club sessions will be led by Rachel Gorman and Marilyn Ramirez, uptown writers, activists, and teachers at Gregorio Luperón High School and George Washington High School, respectively.
- Some book club sessions will also be led by you and your fellow peers!
- The book club will be held in English.
OBTAINING BOOKS:
- Club members who are ages 13–20—and who live in upper Manhattan or the Bronx—will receive book club picks for FREE. On the registration form, you will be able to select whether you would like to pick up the books from Word Up OR have the books shipped.
- We kindly ask that non-local participants, or those aged 21 and over, please purchase copies online from www.wordupbooks.com or from your local independent bookstore. After you register, we will provide a discount code you can use on our website.
- If funding is a barrier to participation, email us at uptownreads@wordupbooks.com and we will work with you on this.
ATTENDANCE:
So that we can have great discussions about the books, bringing all our different perspectives to the group, attendance is very important! After registration closes, we will send the first book to eligible participants, but receiving books for later months depends on your attendance. Attend the first October meeting (10/2) in order to receive the November book; attend the first November meeting (11/6) in order to receive the December book; attend the first December meeting (12/4) in order to receive the January book. Additionally, attendees who show up to both discussion sessions for a particular book will be entered into a draw to win a bonus book specific to that month.
BONUS BOOKS:
If you attend at least seven of the Lo’Mas Lit meetings and/or author events, we will send you a bundle of bonus books after the book club season ends!
PUBLIC EVENTS:
In addition to the book club, there will be some events during which the featured book club authors will be in conversation with other authors. The public at large is welcome to attend, and book club members are strongly encouraged to join! Registration for each public author event is separate from book club registration.
- FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 @ 6pm: Yamile Saied Méndez (Furia) in conversation with Jaquira Díaz (Ordinary Girls). Register here.
- FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30 @ 6pm: Ed LIn (David Tong Can't Have a Girlfriend Until He Gets Into an Ivy League College) in conversation with Lilliam Rivera (Never Look Back). Registration coming soon.
Lo'Mas Lit Book Club is presented collaboratively by Word Up Community Bookshop and co-curator Angie Cruz, with support from the Literary Arts Emergency Fund.
PAST SESSIONS
