2023
Education for Mission
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek - Novel - Kim Michele Richardson
Inspired by the true, blue-skinned people of Kentucky and the dedicated Kentucky Pack Horse library service of the 1930s, this best-selling historical novel follows packhorse librarian Cussy Mary Carter and her quest to bring books to Troublesome Creek. The last of her kind, her skin a shade of blue unlike most anyone else, Cussy has to confront prejudice as old as Appalachia’s and suspicion as deep as the holler to bring the joy of books to the hill folks. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is a story of raw courage, fierce strength, and one woman’s belief that books can carry us anywhere—even back home. |
"I Am a Man" - Chief Standing Bear's Journey for Justice - Joe Starita
In 1877, Chief Standing Bear’s Ponca Indian tribe was forcibly removed from their Nebraska homeland and marched to Indian Territoryy (now Oklahoma), in what became the tribe’s own Trail of Tears. “I Am a Man” chronicles what happened when Standing Bear set off on a 600-mile walk to return the body of his only son to their traditional burial ground. Along the way, it examines the complex relationship between the United States government and the small, peaceful tribe and the legal consequences of land swaps and broken treaties, while never losing sight of the heartbreaking journey the Ponca endured. It also explores fundamental issues of citizenship, constitutional protection, cultural identity, and democracy—issues that continue to resonate loudly today. |
Pachinko - Novel - Min Jin Lee
Among New York Times Top Ten Books of the Year and National Book Award finalist, this novel details the four generations of an immigrant family as they fight to control their destiny in 20th-century Japan. When teenaged Sunja discovers she is pregnant—and her lover is married—she accepts an offer of marriage from a gentle, sickly minister passing through Korea on his way to Japan. But her decision sets off a dramatic saga that echoes through the generations. From bustling street markets to the halls of Japan’s finest universities to the pachinko parlors of the criminal underworld, Lee’s complex and passionate characters survive and thrive against the indifferent arc of history. |
Leadership Development
Ida B. the Queen : The Extraordinary Life and Legacy of Ida B. Wells - Michelle Duster
Journalist. Suffragist. Antilynching crusader. In 1862, Ida B. Wells was born enslaved in Holly Springs, Mississippi. In 2020, she was awarded a Pulitzer Prize. Ida B. the Queen tells the awe-inspiring story of a pioneering woman who was often overlooked and underestimated —a woman who refused to exit a train car meant for white passengers; a woman who brought to light the horrors of lynching in America; and a woman who cofounded the NAACP. Written by Wells’ great-granddaughter Michelle Duster, it is a unique visual celebration of Wells’ life, and of the Black experience. |
On the Come Up - Novel - Angie Thomas
In this follow up to The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas dives into the story of 16-year-old Bri, who wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time—or at least win her first battle. As the daughter of an underground hip-hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri’s got massive shoes to fill. But it’s hard to get your come up when you’re labeled a hoodlum and your fridge is empty after your mom loses her job. Bri pours her anger and frustration into her first song, which goes viral for all the wrong reasons, and soon finds herself at the center of a controversy. But with an eviction notice looming, Bri doesn’t just want to make it—she has to. |
Nurturing for Community
Firekeeper's Daughter - Novel - Angeline Boulley
Angeline Boulley’s debut novel is a groundbreaking YA thriller about a Native teen who must root out the corruption in her community. When family tragedy strikes, 18-year-old Daunis Fontaine puts her future on hold to look after her mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother’s hockey team. Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, she senses the dashing hockey star is hiding something. Everything comes to light when Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, thrusting her into an FBI investigation of a lethal new drug. Daunis agrees to go undercover, drawing on her knowledge of chemistry and Ojibwe traditional medicine to track down the source. But the search for truth is more complicated than Daunis imagined, exposing secrets and old scars. |
The Prodigal Prophet: Jonah and the Mystery of God's Mercy - Timothy Keller
The story of Jonah is one of the most well-known but most misunderstood parables in the Bible. In The Prodigal Prophet, pastor and New York Times bestselling author Timothy Keller reveals the hidden depths within the book of Jonah. Keller makes the case that Jonah was one of the worst prophets in the entire Bible. And yet there are unmistakably clear connections between Jonah, the prodigal son, and Jesus. Keller provides an answer to the extraordinary conclusion of this biblical parable—and shares the powerful Christian message at the heart of Jonah’s story. |
Social Action
The Four Winds - Novel - Kristin Hannah
Bestselling author Kristin Hannah delivers a powerful epic about love, heroism and hope during the Great Depression, when millions were out of work and even the land seemed to have turned against them. Centered on Elsa Wolcott, married to a Great Plains farmer whose land is ravaged by dust storms and drought, each day has become a desperate battle against nature and a fight to keep her children alive. Elsa must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or leave it behind and go west in search of a better life for her family. The Four Winds is a rich, sweeping novel that stunningly brings to life the Great Depression and the people who lived through it―the harsh realities that divided us as a nation and the enduring battle between the haves and have-nots. |
The New American - Novel - Micheline Aharonian Marcum
Inspired in part by interviews with Central American refugees, and told in lyrical prose, Micheline Aharonian Marcom weaves a heart-pounding and heartbreaking tale of one young man who risks so much to go home. One day, Emilio learns a shocking secret: he is undocumented. His parents, who emigrated from Guatemala to California, had never told him. When the young Guatemalan American college student gets into a car accident he is soon deported to Guatemala. Determined to get back to California, the only home he has ever known, Emilio makes an epic journey across thousands of miles and eventually the Sonoran Desert and the U.S.-Mexico border, meeting thieves and corrupt law enforcement but also kind strangers and new friends. |
Spiritual Growth
Daughter of Cana (Jerusalem Road, Book 1) - Angela Hunt
Thomas and Tasmin, twin siblings hired to oversee a wedding feast in Cana, worry when the host runs out of wine—until a guest tells Tasmin to have the servants fill the pitchers by the gate with water from the cistern. Reluctantly, she obeys and is amazed when rainwater turns into the finest wine ever tasted in Cana. When Thomas impulsively decides to follow the teacher from Nazareth, he and Tasmin argue. Tasmin can’t accept losing her brother to some magician-prophet. She decides to follow the Nazarene’s group, do whatever she must to mend the fractured relationship with her brother, and bring him home. |