Downtown Springfield Association

Welcome to your new favorite book club! Join the Downtown Springfield Association and the Springfield-Greene County Library District every second Thursday of the month at 6 p.m. for the Downtown Book Club.

April 2024 Pick:

Where You See Yourself by Claire Forrest

Description

By the time Effie Galanos starts her senior year, it feels like she’s already been thinking about college applications for an eternity—after all, finding a college that will be the perfect fit and be accessible enough for Effie to navigate in her wheelchair presents a ton of considerations that her friends don’t have to worry about. What Effie hasn’t told anyone is that she already knows exactly what school she has her heart set on: a college in NYC with a major in Mass Media & Society that will set her up perfectly for her dream job in digital media. She’s never been to New York, but paging through the brochure, she can picture the person she’ll be there, far from the Minneapolis neighborhood where she’s lived her entire life. When she finds out that Wilder (her longtime crush) is applying there too, it seems like one more sign from the universe that it’s the right place for her. But it turns out that the universe is full of surprises. As Effie navigates her way through a year of admissions visits, senior class traditions, internal and external ableism, and a lot of firsts–and lasts–she starts to learn that sometimes growing up means being open to a world of possibilities you never even dreamed of. And maybe being more than just friends with Wilder is one of those dreams…

Content Warnings:

  • Ableism
  • Institutional Discrimination and Ableism
  • Dysphoria
  • Bullying
  • Medical Content

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One Read 2024

March’s book Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt is the Springfield-Greene County Library’s One Read. All of the library’s book discussion groups will be reading Remarkably Bright Creatures with us and there will be events related to the book throughout the month, including an author event with Shelby Van Pelt!


Previous Reads

Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

One Two Three by Laurie Frankel

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London

The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson

Homegoing by Yaa Gysai

The Bad Muslim Discount by Syed M. Masood

Queerly Beloved by Susie Dumond

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton

The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xóchitl González

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

How to Excavate a Heart by Jake Maia Arlow

Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Need a copy of this month’s book?

Visit the Park Central Branch of the Springfield-Greene County Library District to grab a copy! Put your request in now, because it may take about a week to get your copy.