Author Archives: cmdifonso

Kindred, by Octavia E. Butler Dana, a modern Black woman, is celebrating her 26th birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California and transported to the antebellum South. Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, is drowning, and Dana has been summoned to save him. Dana isContinue reading “APRIL 2026 BOOK DISCUSSION”

The First Ladies, by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray The daughter of formerly enslaved parents, Mary McLeod Bethune refuses to back down as white supremacists attempt to thwart her work. She marches on as an activist and an educator, and as her reputation grows she becomes a celebrity, revered by titans of business andContinue reading “MAY 2026 BOOK DISCUSSION”

Tell the Wolves I’m Home, by Carol Rifka Brunt 1987. There’s only one person who has ever truly understood fourteen-year-old June Elbus, and that’s her uncle, the renowned painter Finn Weiss. Shy at school and distant from her older sister, June can only be herself in Finn’s company; he is her godfather, confidant, and bestContinue reading “JUNE 2026 BOOK DISCUSSION”

The World Played Chess, by Robert Dugoni In 1979, Vincent Bianco has just graduated high school. His only desire: collect a little beer money and enjoy his final summer before college. So he lands a job as a laborer on a construction crew. Working alongside two Vietnam vets, one suffering from PTSD, Vincent gets theContinue reading “JULY 2026 BOOK DISCUSSION”