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La Plata Book Discussion

Oct. Book Discussion: What's Mine and Yours by Naima Coster

In October, we will discuss "What's Mine and Yours" by Naima Coster. Recommended for ages 18+. This month's event is part of the One Maryland One Book Program series.

This book discussion group is for those who love reading books that cover a wide variety of genres and themes. Participants can suggest titles and then vote on the books that will be read. Come join the fun! This program starts at 6:30 with 15 minutes of socializing, and the book discussion portion will start at 6:45. 

In November, we will be reading Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - register here.
In December, we will be reading Sooley by John Grisham - register here.

This meeting will be hosted using Google Meets. Registrants will receive an email with the meeting link 1 hour before the program begins.

This event is part of the One Maryland One Book Program series. One Maryland One Book is a program of Maryland Humanities.

What is One Maryland One Book? 

When we read a great book, we can’t wait to share the experience and talk about it with others. That’s one of the joys of reading!

In that spirit, Maryland Humanities created One Maryland One Book (OMOB) to bring together diverse people in communities across the state through the shared experience of reading the same book. We invite you to participate in book-centered discussions and related programs at public libraries, high schools, colleges, museums, bookstores, and community and senior centers around the state.

OMOB programs, including an author tour, take place each year in the fall. This year’s author tour event will be held on Tuesday, October 4, 2022 at 11 AM at the College of Southern Maryland Fine Arts Theatre. 

OMOB FAQ Page 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Naima Coster is the New York Times bestselling author of two novels and a recipient of the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 honor. Her most recent novel, What’s Mine and Yours, was a Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club pick, a Book of the Month Club pick, and was named a best book of the year by Kirkus, Amazon, Esquire, Marie Claire, Ms. Magazine, The Millions, and Refinery29.

Naima’s first novel, Halsey Street, was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize for Fiction and a semifinalist for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. Published in 2018, it was named a must-read book of the year by People, Essence, BitchMedia, Well-Read Black Girl, The Skimm, and the Brooklyn Public Library.

Naima’s stories and essays have appeared in the New York Times, Elle, Time, Kweli, The Cut, The Sunday Times, Catapult, The Paris Review Daily, among other publications, and in numerous anthologies. She is a graduate of Yale University, Fordham University, and the Columbia University School of the Arts, where she earned her MFA. She has taught writing for over a decade in community settings, youth programs, and universities. She currently teaches in the low-residency MFA program at Antioch University in L.A. She is a 2022 mentor for the Periplus Collective.

Naima is at work on her third novel about early motherhood, class mobility, and the lifelong friendship between two women. She lives in Brooklyn with her family.

ABOUT THE BOOK - "From the author of Halsey Street, a sweeping novel of legacy, identity, the American family—and the ways that race affects even our most intimate relationships."

A community in the Piedmont of North Carolina rises in outrage as a county initiative draws students from the largely Black east side of town into predominantly white high schools on the west. For two students, Gee and Noelle, the integration sets off a chain of events that will tie their two families together in unexpected ways over the span of the next twenty years.

On one side of the integration debate is Jade, Gee’s steely, ambitious mother. In the aftermath of a harrowing loss, she is determined to give her son the tools he’ll need to survive in America as a sensitive, anxious, young Black man. On the other side is Noelle’s headstrong mother, Lacey May, a white woman who refuses to see her half-Latina daughters as anything but white. She strives to protect them as she couldn’t protect herself from the influence of their charming but unreliable father, Robbie.

When Gee and Noelle join the school play meant to bridge the divide between new and old students, their paths collide, and their two seemingly disconnected families begin to form deeply knotted, messy ties that will shape the trajectory of their adult lives. And their mothers—each determined to see her child inherit a better life—will make choices that will haunt them for decades to come.

As love is built and lost, and the past never too far behind, What’s Mine and Yours is an expansive, vibrant tapestry that moves between the years, from the foothills of North Carolina, to Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Paris. It explores the unique organism that is every family: what breaks them apart and how they come back together.

Where to get your book:
Check out or place a hold from our catalog.
Download the free e-book from Maryland Humanities.
Readers Guide (PDF)  Teachers Guide (PDF)

Other CCPL One Maryland One Book Programs:  

One Maryland One Book DIY Book Discussion Kits - 9/15-11/15, 2022

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