BRATTLEBORO — Local author Ann Braden will discuss her book The Benefits of Being an Octopus on Monday, Sept. 16, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., in the Main Reading Room at Brooks Memorial Library as part of the “Let's Read 2019” community reading initiative.
The Benefits of Being an Octopus, published in the fall of 2018, is the powerful story of a young girl finding her courage and voice in the face of poverty, bullying, and a challenging home life.
It was an NPR Best Book of the Year for 2018, a Junior Library Guild Selection, a 2019 Global Read Aloud Contender, a 2019-2020 Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award Nominee, and was included on Bank Street Best Children's Books of 2019.
This free event is open to the public and is appropriate for children in fourth-grade and up, as well as adults.
Additional events, including staged readings and book club discussion groups, will be held in September and October at local libraries, the Brattleboro Boys & Girls Club, and area schools.
Signed copies of books are available to be borrowed and returned at the school libraries in all schools in the Windham Southeast School District and at Brooks Memorial Library, Guilford Free Library, Lydia Taft Pratt Library, Putney Public Library, Vernon Free Library, and the Boys and Girls Club of Brattleboro.
“Let's Read 2019” was launched by Windham Southeast's Wellness Committee and is a joint effort by local schools, public libraries, government agencies, and local nonprofits, to encourage discussions of important topics through books.
All members of the communities of Brattleboro, Dummerston, Guilford, Putney, and Vernon between the ages of 9 and 109 are encouraged to participate.
“Let's Read 2019” is made possible with support from the Vermont Humanities Council, the Windham Foundation, and the Brooks Memorial Library, and is sponsored by WSESU, Food Connects, and Brattleboro Area Prevention Coalition.