Join us on Thursday, November 18th at 5:30 pm for our next book club! We will be discussing the highly reviewed, American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins. Please read ahead and come prepared with questions, or feel free to email questions to us at ClassicElementsJohnstown@gmail.com and we’ll compile a list.
We will be charging a $5 fee to attend - with which we’ll provide snacks and coffee. And by charging a fee, we can better account for those who want to attend. We will meet every other month in our event space. Copies are available for purchase at the shop for 10% off the list price for those attending the Classic Elements Book Club, or you can order online at https://bookshop.org/shop/classicelements.
You can register at the shop or by phone 814-254-4312.
About the Book:
Lydia Quixano Pérez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a bookstore. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable.
Even though she knows they’ll never sell, Lydia stocks some of her all-time favorite books in her store. And then one day a man enters the shop to browse and comes up to the register with a few books he would like to buy—two of them her favorites. Javier is erudite. He is charming. And, unbeknownst to Lydia, he is the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city. When Lydia’s husband’s tell-all profile of Javier is published, none of their lives will ever be the same.
Forced to flee, Lydia and eight-year-old Luca soon find themselves miles and worlds away from their comfortable middle-class existence. Instantly transformed into migrants, Lydia and Luca ride la bestia—trains that make their way north toward the United States, which is the only place Javier’s reach doesn’t extend. As they join the countless people trying to reach el norte, Lydia soon sees that everyone is running from something. But what exactly are they running to?