October 12 – Celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month
READ
Did you know October is LGBTQ+ History Month? Our physical and digital display features books new to our library collection either by queer authors of color or prominently feature people of color within the greater gay rights movement. You will find memoirs, an illustrated history, and even short stories and poetry.
Each week, the CSW Library will highlight one new title to our collection in our BOOK OF THE WEEK feature to help you choose (or not choose) your next read.
DON'T ASK ME WHERE I'M FROM BY JENNIFER DE LEON
QUICK TAKE
Half Salvordorian and half Guatemalan, 15 year old Liliana has to adjust to attending a new, almost all white high school in suburban Westburg. Trying to fit in, she disguises her LatinX Boston life, becoming Lili and learning to be more white, while all the time worried about her father’s prolonged absence. Where is he and why hasn’t he come back? This is a witty coming of age novel about class, race, identity and immigration.
GOOD TO KNOW
WHERE TO CHECK IT OUT
This title is available for check out in our physical collection, as well as available digitally through SORA in ebook format and audiobook.
Jennifer De Leon is an author, editor, speaker, and creative writing professor who lives outside of Boston. She is the editor of Wise Latinas: Writers on Higher Education, the 2015–2016 Writer-in-Residence at the Boston Public Library, and a 2016–2017 City of Boston Artist-in-Residence. She is also the second recipient of the We Need Diverse Books grant. Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From is her debut novel.
She will be a featured speaker at October's Boston Book Fest, all happening for free and virtually. Join YA: Speaks the Truth on Friday, October 16 3 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. Be sure to register for the event ahead of time. All you need is an email address to hold your spot.
LISTEN
Discussions of our community read, Real American by Julie Lythcott-Haims, have centered around a range of topics from identity, racism and anti-racism to the value of memoir. In a very timely Boston Book Festival audio session, Memoir: Race and Identity, three authors who represent a wide variety of experiences and perspectives address these topics and more. In this pre-recorded session, you’ll hear echoes of Lythcott-Haims’s thoughts on respectability politics, the experience of growing up as a person of mixed race, and the question “Where are you from?” as well as views on representation, policing, and the need to build trust across communities. While we’re waiting for Lythcott-Haims’s virtual visit to CSW in November, it’s a perfect time to listen and consider other perspectives on the topics of race and identity in America.
CSW—a gender-inclusive day and boarding school for grades 9-12—is a national leader in progressive education. We live out our values of inquiry-based learning, student agency, and embracing diverse perspectives in every aspect of our student experience. Young people come to CSW to learn how to learn and then put what they learn into action—essential skills they carry into their futures as doers, makers, innovators, leaders, and exceptional humans who do meaningful work in the world.