TACOMA, WASH.—Tacoma Public Library, the City of Tacoma’s Mayor Victoria Woodards, and Tacoma Reads 2021 lead sponsor the Tacoma Urban League are pleased to announce a full lineup of community events, programs, art exhibits, and virtual author visits with Isabel Wilkerson, Lisa Moore Ramée, and illustrator Rafael López.
“This is the first season of Tacoma Reads in which all three of our selected titles will be represented with author or illustrator visits,” stated Library Director Kate Larsen. “Each year, Tacoma Reads programming continues to grow in range and scope.”
Tacoma Reads is a city-wide reading program that seeks to unite the community in dialogue around contemporary themes through reading a common text. Each cycle of Tacoma Reads has a theme; in 2021, the series draws attention to race, social justice, and healing.
“This year, Tacoma Reads includes three titles that will engage readers of all ages to explore race, social justice, and healing,” stated Mayor Victoria Woodards. “I am thrilled that we will present a wide range of book discussions, art exhibits, artist talks, workshops, and other programs for our community to actively engage in and explore these themes.”
Tacoma Reads 2021 Title Selections:
Adult Title: “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” by Isabel Wilkerson
In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings.
Isabel Wilkerson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Humanities Medal, is the author of the critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller The Warmth of Other Suns. Her debut work won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction and was named to Time’s 10 Best Nonfiction Books of the 2010s and The New York Times’s list of the Best Nonfiction of All Time. She has taught at Princeton, Emory, and Boston Universities and has lectured at more than two hundred other colleges and universities across the United States and in Europe and Asia.
Check out, download, or listen to “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” through Tacoma Public Library.
Teens/Young Adult Title: “A Good Kind of Trouble” by Lisa Moore Ramée
After attending a powerful protest, Shayla starts wearing an armband to school to support the Black Lives Matter movement, but when the school gives her an ultimatum, she is forced to choose between her education and her identity.
Check out, download, or listen to “A Good Kind of Trouble” through Tacoma Public Library.
Kids and Families Title: “The Day You Begin” by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by Rafael López
National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson and two-time Pura Belpré Illustrator Award winner Rafael López have teamed up to create a poignant, yet heartening book about finding courage to connect, even when you feel scared and alone.
Check out “The Day You Begin” through Tacoma Public Library.
Author and Illustrator Visits
Families are invited to attend a virtual visit with Rafael López, illustrator of Tacoma Reads 2021 selected title “The Day You Begin” by Jacqueline Woodson, on Saturday, Oct. 30 at 11 a.m. Registration is now open.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson, author of the Tacoma Reads 2021 adult title selection, New York Times bestseller “Caste: The Origins of our Discontents,” will speak with City of Tacoma Mayor Woodards in an online engagement on Saturday, Nov. 13 at 3 p.m.. Registration opens on a first-come, first-served basis on Friday, Oct 1.
Tacoma Poet Laureate Lydia Valentine will host a virtual dialogue with Lisa Moore Ramée, author of teen title selection “A Good Kind of Trouble,” on Saturday, Nov. 20 at 3 p.m.. Registration opens on a first-come, first-served basis on Friday, Oct 1.
Tacoma Reads 2021 Full Schedule of Programs:
Sept. 21–Nov. 19: Carletta Carrington Wilson’s book of the bound Exhibit — Moore Library
Sept. 22: Tacoma Urban League President and CEO and Washington State Senator T’wina Nobles reads “The Day You Begin” — Virtual
Friday, Oct. 1–31: Día de los Muertos Community Ofrendas — Fern Hill, Moore, and Mottet Libraries
Friday, Oct. 6: The Day You Begin Program Kit — All Libraries
Saturday, Oct. 16: Artist Talk with Carletta Carrington Wilson — Virtual
Saturday, Oct. 23: Intro to Book Arts with Puget Sound Book Artists — University of Puget Sound Collins Memorial Library Makerspace
Tuesday, Oct. 26: Books on Tap: “Caste: The Origins of our Discontents” by Isabel Wilkerson — Virtual
Wednesday, Oct. 27: “A Good Kind of Trouble” Book Discussion — Virtual
Saturday, Oct. 30: Illustrator Visit with Rafael López — Virtual
Friday, Nov. 5: “Caste: The Origins of our Discontents” Book Discussion — Virtual
Wednesday, Nov. 10: An Evening with Poet, Speaker, and Educator Christian Paige — Virtual
Saturday, Nov. 13: A Conversation with Isabel Wilkerson, Hosted by Mayor Woodards — Virtual
Friday, Nov. 19: A Good Kind of Trouble: Civic Engagement for Teens and Young Adults — Virtual
Saturday, Nov. 20: A Conversation with Lisa Moore Ramée, Hosted by Tacoma Poet Laureate Lydia K. Valentine — Virtual
Learn more about Tacoma Reads titles, programs, and events by visiting tacomalibrary.org/tacomareads.
About Tacoma Public Library: Tacoma Public Library’s mission is to empower its community by bringing people together to discover, connect, create, learn, and thrive. Learn more at tacomalibrary.org.
– Tacoma Public Library
