Teen Book Discussion: 1919 by Dr. Eve L. Ewing

Grades 6-12

Come discuss Dr. Ewing's captivating book of poetry about the Chicago Race Riots of 1919. This book is available on Hoopla to read immediately! Feel free to attend even if you haven't read it.

Ewing is a sociologist of education whose research is focuses on racism, social inequality, and urban policy, and the impact of these forces on American public schools and the lives of young people. 

The Chicago Race Riot of 1919, the most intense of the riots that comprised the "Red Summer" of violence across the nation's cities, is an event that has shaped the last century but is widely unknown. In 1919, award-winning poet Eve L. Ewing explores the story of this event--which lasted eight days and resulted in thirty-eight deaths and almost 500 injuries--through poems recounting the stories of everyday people trying to survive and thrive in the city. Ewing uses speculative and Afrofuturist lenses to recast history, and illuminates the thin line between the past and the present.

Feel free to attend this discussion even if you haven't read this book. Our discussion will encompass other works of literature, other historical events, and personal experience. Everybody has something to contribute!

To check out a physical copy of this book, visit http://cat.aurorapubliclibrary.org/polaris/search/title.aspx?ctx=1.1033.0.0.4&pos=3&cn=854704

For a digital copy, visit http://cat.aurorapubliclibrary.org/polaris/search/title.aspx?ctx=1.1033.0.0.4&pos=2&cn=784147

Make sure you also attend the Fireside Chat with Dr. Ewing on March 1! https://www.aurorapubliclibrary.org/event/4828267

Email teens@aurorapubliclibrary.org to receive an invite to the Discord channel.

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