Library Director Rachel Davis was TML’s Children’s Librarian for 27 years. Join her at this monthly book group for adults, featuring outstanding literature for children. The same qualities that make an excellent book for adults are also true for books written for children– complex, beautifully written stories that speak to the universality of human experience. The only difference is that children’s literature is firmly grounded in the immediacy of the experience of childhood.  We were all children once–come explore childhood again as Rachel leads a monthly discussion on some of her favorite books. All books can be requested through Minerva, the library’s online catalog.

This month’s book selection is The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner. 

About The Serpent King

Named to ten BEST OF THE YEAR lists and selected as a William C. Morris Award Winner, The Serpent King is the critically acclaimed, much-beloved story of three teens who find themselves–and each other–while on the cusp of graduating from high school with hopes of leaving their small-town behind.

Dill isn’t the most popular kid at his rural Tennessee high school. After his father fell from grace in a public scandal that reverberated throughout their small town, Dill became a target. Fortunately, his two fellow misfits and best friends, Travis and Lydia, have his back.

But as they begin their senior year, Dill feels the coils of his future tightening around him. His only escapes are music and his secret feelings for Lydia–neither of which he is brave enough to share. Graduation feels more like an ending to Dill than a beginning. But even before then, he must cope with another ending–one that will rock his life to the core.
 
Debut novelist Jeff Zentner provides an unblinking and at times comic view of the hard realities of growing up in the Bible belt, and an intimate look at the struggles to find one’s true self in the wreckage of the past.

Reserve your copy of The Serpent King by clicking here. 

Please register by filling out the form below and we’ll send you a link to join the meeting.