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Well-Read Black Girl's Glory Edim sits down with National Book Award finalist Ibi Zoboi and author and podcaster Jennifer Baker to talk about their new YA novels Nigeria Jones and Forgive Me Not.
Join the newest and hottest book club in town! Glory Edim is excited to bring her legendary book club to the DC Public Library, introducing a cohort of diverse writers to future generations.
For the August meeting of the Well-Read Black Girl at DC Public Library Book Club, Glory sits down with National Book Award finalist Ibi Zoboi and author and podcaster Jennifer Baker to talk about their novels Nigeria Jones and Forgive Me Not (to be released on Aug. 15.) Perfect for teen, young adult book lovers and educators, the authors will dive into their process of writing for YA, exploring difficult and impactful themes like death and revolution and creating space for the voices of young black women protagonists in the genre.
Ibi Zoboi holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her novel American Street was a National Book Award finalist and a New York Times Notable Book. She is also the author of Pride and My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich, a New York Times bestseller. She is the editor of the anthology Black Enough. Born in Haiti and raised in New York City, she now lives in New Jersey with her husband and their three children. You can find her online at www.ibizoboi.net.
Warrior Princess. That’s what Nigeria Jones’s father calls her. He has raised her as part of the Movement, a Black separatist group based in Philadelphia. Nigeria is homeschooled and vegan and participates in traditional rituals to connect her and other kids from the group to their ancestors. But when her mother—the perfect matriarch of their Movement—disappears, Nigeria’s world is upended. She finds herself taking care of her baby brother and stepping into a role she doesn’t want.Nigeria’s mother had secrets. She wished for a different life for her children, which includes sending her daughter to a private Quaker school outside of their strict group. Despite her father’s disapproval, Nigeria attends the school with her cousin, Kamau, and Sage, who used to be a friend. There, she begins to flourish and expand her universe.
As Nigeria searches for her mother, she starts to uncover a shocking truth. One that will lead her to question everything she thought she knew about her life and her family.
From award-winning author, Ibi Zoboi comes a powerful story about discovering who you are in the world—and fighting for that person—by having the courage to be your own revolution.
Jennifer Baker is a publishing professional of 20 years, the creator/host of the Minorities in Publishing podcast, and faculty member of the MFA program in creative nonfiction at Bay Path University as well as a writing consultant at Baruch College. In 2019, she was named Publishers Weekly Superstar for her contributions to inclusion and representation in publishing. Jennifer is also the editor of the BIPOC-short story anthology Everyday People: The Color of Life (Atria Books, 2018) and the author of the forthcoming novel Forgive Me Not (Nancy Paulsen Books, 2023).
All it takes is one night for fifteen-year-old Violetta Chen-Samuels’ life to go off the rails. After a date gone wrong, Violetta steps into the driver’s seat of her parents’ minivan and her little sister jumps in too. A night of bad decisions results in a horrible accident. All because of her.
Charged and detained under the juvenile justice system, Violetta’s fate lies in the hands of those she’s wronged—her family. With their forgiveness, she could return home. But without it? Well...
Denied their forgiveness, Violetta is left with two options, neither good—remain in juvenile detention for an uncertain sentence or participate in rehabilitation via the Trials, potentially regaining her freedom and what she wants most of all: her family’s love. Violetta would do almost anything to prove her remorse, but as she’s forced to confront not only her family’s grief and her own, she will have to decide if their forgiveness is ultimately more important than forgiving herself. Forgive Me Not is a searing indictment of the juvenile justice system and a portrait of a family attempting to reconnect after being torn apart by loss and grief.
Well-Read Black Girl at DC Public Library is generously supported by the DC Public Library Foundation.
AGE GROUP: | Adults |
EVENT TYPE: | Discover Summer | Book Club | Author Talk |
