Brown Girls Book Club DMV

About the Book:
"Monday Charles is missing, and only Claudia seems to notice. Claudia and Monday have always been inseparable—more sisters than friends. So when Monday doesn’t turn up for the first day of school, Claudia’s worried. When she doesn’t show for the second day, or second week, Claudia knows that something is wrong. Monday wouldn’t just leave her to endure tests and bullies alone. Not after last year’s rumors and not with her grades on the line. Now Claudia needs her best—and only—friend more than ever. But Monday’s mother refuses to give Claudia a straight answer, and Monday’s sister April is even less help.

As Claudia digs deeper into her friend’s disappearance, she discovers that no one seems to remember the last time they saw Monday. How can a teenage girl just vanish without anyone noticing that she’s gone?"

Join us at the 2025 National Book Festival!

We are excited for this year's line up! This year we are reading Tiffany D. Jackson's, "Monday's Not Coming," for the book festival meet up and book signing. Session Meetup and Book Signing- Locations and Times TBA. Information will be updated as soon as the festival schedule is available. We will meet following the book signing for a quick group discussion.

About the Book: Monday Charles is missing, and only Claudia seems to notice. Claudia and Monday have always been inseparable—more sisters than friends. So when Monday doesn’t turn up for the first day of school, Claudia’s worried. When she doesn’t show for the second day, or second week, Claudia knows that something is wrong. Monday wouldn’t just leave her to endure tests and bullies alone. Not after last year’s rumors and not with her grades on the line. Now Claudia needs her best—and only—friend more than ever. But Monday’s mother refuses to give Claudia a straight answer, and Monday’s sister April is even less help?

As Claudia digs deeper into her friend’s disappearance, she discovers that no one seems to remember the last time they saw Monday. How can a teenage girl just vanish without anyone noticing that she’s gone?

About the Event:
The 2025 National Book Festival will be held in the nation’s capital at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Saturday, September 6, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. (doors open at 8:30 a.m.). This will be the festival's 25th Anniversary. The event is free and open to the public and "provides a full day of conversations with dozens of authors, poets and illustrators from a variety of genres about their latest books and book signings with each writer." Last year's festival drew over 10,000 visitors.

A selection of programs will be livestreamed online and videos of all programs will be available shortly after the Festival. There are many notable authors attending this year like Kennedy Ryan, RL Stine, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Kennedy Ryan will be discussing her follow up book to "Before I Let Go" that we read back in April. For a complete line up of authors, visit the following link: https://www.loc.gov/events/2025-national-book-festival/authors/

Never been to the festival? Please check out the FAQs for more information: https://www.loc.gov/events/2025-national-book-festival/festival-information/frequently-asked-questions/

We are using the GroupMe App for communication onsite at the event. This will allow us to connect with each other and determine which sessions others may be attending, lunch time, etc. For safety reasons, I am requesting your name and picture match your meetup profile to join our GroupMe page. Link for the app is in the comment section.

Check back often for more updates and additional information for meeting up at the event.

Join us for a rich discussion!
About the Book:
"Fifteen-year-old Kambili and her older brother Jaja lead a privileged life in Enugu, Nigeria. They live in a beautiful house, with a caring family, and attend an exclusive missionary school. They're completely shielded from the troubles of the world. Yet, as Kambili reveals in her tender-voiced account, things are less perfect than they appear. Although her Papa is generous and well respected, he is fanatically religious and tyrannical at home—a home that is silent and suffocating. As the country begins to fall apart under a military coup, Kambili and Jaja are sent to their aunt, a university professor outside the city, where they discover a life beyond the confines of their father’s authority. Books cram the shelves, curry and nutmeg permeate the air, and their cousins’ laughter rings throughout the house. When they return home, tensions within the family escalate, and Kambili must find the strength to keep her loved ones together. Purple Hibiscus is an exquisite novel about the emotional turmoil of adolescence, the powerful bonds of family, and the bright promise of freedom.

**This author is also attending the 2025 National Book Festival

Join us for a rich discussion!
**Please Note The Date Change**
About the Book:
"It’s 1999, TLC’s “No Scrubs” is topping the charts, y2k is looming on everyone’s mind, and Cora Belle has arrived at college ready to change her life. She’s determined to grow out of the shy, sheltered girl who attended an all-white prep in her all-white suburb. Cora is ready to conquer her fears and find her people, her place in the world, and herself.

What she’s totally unprepared for is Lincoln, with his dark skin, charming southern drawl, and that smile. Because how can you ever prepare yourself for the rollercoaster of first love with all its glorious, bewildering contradictions? Just when Cora thinks she’s got things figured out, a series of surprises and secrets threaten to upend everything she thought she understood about love and loyalty.

In the wake of these developments and a shocking tragedy, a new man enters Cora’s life—Aaron—further complicating everything. He’s the only one who seems to get her, and the letters she writes to him when the two are separated reveal the truth of their inescapable connection. There’s only one problem—how can she fall in love with one man when her heart belongs to another?

Twenty years later, and Cora is all grown up, or mostly, and has cloaked herself in loneliness like a warm blanket. It’s the safest choice. But then an unexpected reconnection and a chance encounter puts her right back where she started. The same two men, the same agonizing decision.

Finding herself in this position—again—will test everything Cora thought she knew about fate, love, and most importantly, herself. All The Men I’ve Loved Again is a big-hearted coming-of-age story for anyone who’s thought what if about a past love and what it would be like to have a second chance."