WOW Book Club - May 2013: Outcasts United

We'll be reading a true story in "Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, An American Town" by Warren St. John.

Here's a book summary:

The extraordinary tale of a refugee youth soccer team and the transformation of a small American town.

Clarkston, Georgia, was a typical Southern town until it was designated a refugee settlement center in the 1990s, becoming the first American home for scores of families in flight from the world’s war zones—from Liberia and Sudan to Iraq and Afghanistan. Suddenly Clarkston’s streets were filled with women wearing the hijab, the smells of cumin and curry, and kids of all colors playing soccer in any open space they could find. The town also became home to Luma Mufleh, an American-educated Jordanian woman who founded a youth soccer team to unify Clarkston’s refugee children and keep them off the streets. These kids named themselves the Fugees.

Outcasts United follows a pivotal season in the life of the Fugees and their charismatic coach. Warren St. John documents the lives of a diverse group of young people as they miraculously coalesce into a band of brothers, while also drawing a fascinating portrait of a fading American town struggling to accommodate its new arrivals. 

Please join the discussion on Sunday May 26 at 2pm at the Sacreds Grounds Coffee House in the NOPA neighborhood.

Next Book to Read:

June 2013 - Don't be Afraid, Gringo by Elvia Alvarado (Medea Benjamin - translator) - Honduras

WOW Book Club: An American Radical

We're coming back to the US this month to look into a personal memoir of a US political prisoner, Susan Rosenberg in the book An American Radical: A Political Prisoner in my own Country.

Here's a Book Summary:

On a November night in 1984, Susan Rosenberg sat in the passenger seat of a U-Haul as it swerved along the New Jersey Turnpike. At the wheel was a fellow political activist. In the back were 740 pounds of dynamite and assorted guns.

Raised on New York City's Upper West Side, Rosenberg had been politically active since high school, involved in the black liberation movement and protesting repressive U.S. policies around the world and here at home. At 29, she was on the FBI's Most Wanted list. While unloading the U-Haul at a storage facility, Rosenberg was arrested and sentenced to an unprecedented 58 years for possession of weapons and explosives.

Rosenberg served 16 years in some of the worst maximum-security prisons in the United States before being pardoned by President Clinton as he left office in 2001. Now, in a story that is both a powerful memoir and a profound indictment of the U.S. prison system, Rosenberg recounts her journey from the impassioned idealism of the 1960s to life as a political prisoner in her own country, subjected to dehumanizing treatment, yet touched by moments of grace and solidarity. 

We'll be meeting in SOMA neighborhood on Sunday April 28 at 2pm at the Sightglass Coffee Bar.

Next Books to read:

May 2013: Outcasts United by Warren St. John

June 2013: Don't be afraid Gringo by Elvia Alvarado

WOW Book Club March 2013: Equal of the Sun

From colonial Rhodesia, we travel further into the past towards Iran in 1576, where we'll be discussing the book "Equal of the Sun" by Anita Amirrezvani.

Here's a Book Summary:

Legendary women—from Anne Boleyn to Queen Elizabeth I to Mary, Queen of Scots—changed the course of history in the royal courts of 16th-century England. But few people know of the powerful women in the Muslim world, who formed alliances, served as key advisers to rulers, lobbied for power on behalf of their sons, and ruled in their own right. 

In Equal of the Sun, Anita Amirrezvani’s gorgeously crafted tale of power, loyalty, and love in the royal court of Iran, she brings one such woman to life, Princess Pari Khan Khanoom Safavi. Iran in 1576 is a place of wealth and dazzling beauty. But when the Shah dies without having named an heir, the court is thrown into tumult. Princess Pari, the Shah’s daughter, knows more about the inner workings of the state than almost anyone, but the princess’s maneuvers to instill order after her father’s sudden death incite resentment and dissent. 

Based loosely on the life of Princess Pari Khan Khanoom, Equal of the Sun is a riveting story of political intrigue and a moving portrait of the unlikely bond between a princess and a eunuch.

Come join us on Sunday March 24th at 2pm, at the Red Victorian Peace Center at 1665 Haight Street to discuss this book! At 3pm, there will be an event at the BookSmith featuring the author Anita Amirezvanni who's promoting her latest book!

Next Read:

April 2013: An American Radical by Susan Rosenberg (US)

May 2013: Outcasts United by Warren St. John (US)

June 2013: Don't be afraid Gringo by Elvia Alvarado (Honduras)

WOW Book Club: February 2013

Join us for a book discussion set in Zimbabwe, formerly called Rhodesia in Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Damgarembga.

Here's a Book Summary:

This stunning first novel, set in colonial Rhodesia during the 1960s, centers on the coming of age of a teenage girl, Tambu, and her relationship with her British-educated cousin Nyasha. Tambu, who yearns to be free of the constraints of her rural village, especially the circumscribed lives of the women, thinks her dreams have come true when her wealthy uncle offers to sponsor her education. But she soon learns that the education she receives at his mission school comes with a price. 

At the school she meets the worldly and rebellious Nyasha, who is chafing under her father's authority. Raised in England, Nyasha is so much a stranger among her own people that she can no longer speak her native language. Tambu can only watch as her cousin, caught between two cultures, pays the full cost of alienation.

We'll be meeting in the Fisherman's Wharf neighborhood at Black Point Cafe on February 17 at 2pm.

Next Books to Read:

March: Equal of the Sun - Anita Amirrezvanni (Iran)

April: An American Radical - Susan Rosenberg (US)

May: Outcasts United - Warren St. John (US)

June: Don't be afraid Gringo - Elvia Alvarado (Honduras)

Jan 13, 2013: The Reeducation of Cherry Truong

Happy New Year 2013!

Let's start the year discussing the book "The Reeducation of Cherry Troung" by Aimee Phan - a novel based in the US and Vietnam.

Here's a Book Summary:

Cherry Truong’s older brother has been exiled to live with distant relatives in Vietnam. As Cherry journeys from Los Angeles to her family’s homeland to bring him back, she embarks on a quest to uncover the mysteries and lies in her family’s past—hidden loves, desperate choices, and lives torn apart by the march of war and currents of history.

Spanning three generations, The Reeducation of Cherry Truong tells the sweeping stories of the Truong and Vos families, their escape from Vietnam during the war, the forces that separated them, and the ties that bind them over three continents. Aimee Phan’s debut novel introduces readers to a fiercely defiant family who still yearn for reconciliation and redemption in each other’s hearts.

We'll be meeting at Cafe Sophie in the Castro neighbourhood on Sunday December 13 @ 2pm!

Books to read in 2013:

Feb 2013 - Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe)

Mar 2013 - Equal of the Sun - Anita Amirrezvanni (Iran)

Apr 2013 - Am American Radical - Susan Rosenberg

Dec 9, 2012 - Last Book Club Discussion: Travels in West Africa

From the 1950s to the late 1800s, we now travel to the UK and follow the diary of Mary Henrietta Kingsley as she writes about her "Travels in West Africa."

Here's a book summary:

Until 1893, Mary Kingsley led a secluded life in Victorian England. But at age 30, defying every convention of womanhood of the time, she left England for West Africa to collect botanical specimens for a book left unfinished by her father at his death.

Traveling through western and equatorial Africa and becoming the first European to enter some parts of Gabon, Kingsley' s story--as an explorer and as a woman--would become an enduring tale of adventure, ranking 18th on "Adventure magazine' s list of the top 100 adventure books.

You can read this book online for FREE - please copy and paste the following link:

https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=Zb8OAAAAYAAJ&rdid=book-Zb8OAAAAYAAJ&rdot=1

Join us in the SOMA neighbourhood on Sunday December 9, 2012 and discuss our final book of 2012!

Next Books:

Jan 2013 - The reeducation of Cherry Truong by Aimee Phan (Vietnam)

Feb 2013 - Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe)

Mar 2013 - Equal of the Sun - Anita Amirrezvanni (Iran)

Apr 2013 - Am American Radical - Susan Rosenberg

Next 5 Books for WOW Book Club (Dec 2012 - April 2013)

For our wonderful readers who would love to have time to read books in advance, we have selected the next five books for WOW Book Club:

Dec 2012 - Travels in West Africa by Mary Henrietta Kingsley

Originally published in 1895, and never out of print, "Travels in West Africa is Kingsley' s account of her dauntless travels, unaccompanied but for African guides, into Africa' s most dangerous jungles, where the tribes were reputed to be ferocious and cannibalistic.

 

Jan 2013 - The reeducation of Cherry Truong by Aimee Phan (Vietnam)

A young woman journeys back to Vietnam to uncover family secrets. Cherry Truong’s older brother has been exiled to live with distant relatives in Vietnam. As Cherry journeys from Los Angeles to her family’s homeland to bring him back, she embarks on a quest to uncover the mysteries and lies in her family’s past—hidden loves, desperate choices, and lives torn apart by the march of war and currents of history.

 

Feb 2013 - Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe)

Set in colonial Rhodesia during the 1960s, this book centers on the coming of age of a teenage girl, Tambu, and her relationship with her British-educated cousin Nyasha. Tambu, who yearns to be free of the constraints of her rural village, especially the circumscribed lives of the women, thinks her dreams have come true when her wealthy uncle offers to sponsor her education. But she soon learns that the education she receives at his mission school comes with a price.

Mar 2014 - Equal of the Sun - Anita Amirrezvanni (Iran)

In Equal of the Sun, Anita Amirrezvani’s gorgeously crafted tale of power, loyalty, and love in the royal court of Iran, she brings one such woman to life, Princess Pari Khan Khanoom Safavi. Iran in 1576 is a place of wealth and dazzling beauty. But when the Shah dies without having named an heir, the court is thrown into tumult. Princess Pari, the Shah’s daughter and protégé, knows more about the inner workings of the state than almost anyone, but the princess’s maneuvers to instill order after her father’s sudden death incite resentment and dissent.
 

Apr 2014 - An American Radical: A Political Prisoner in my own country - Susan Rosenberg

More than just a powerful memoir, "An American Radical" is also a powerful indictment of the U.S. prison system, in which Rosenberg recounts her journey from the impassioned idealism of the 1960s to life as a political prisoner in her own country.

Happy Reading!

Please post a comment if you have other recommendations for this book club.