Solidarity Stories Book Club: Woodworking by Emily St. James

Solidarity Stories is a community book group hosted in partnership between the Office of Human Rights, the Mt. Rainier branch library, and Mixt Food Hall. Running on the third Tuesday of each month from 6:30-7:30, the book group is a wonderful opportunity to meet new people and engage in conversation about different books, diverse themes, and takeaways that deepen our connection to one another.

For June, in honor of Pride Month, we are reading Emily St. James' debut novel, "Woodworking." Join us in the loft at Mixt Food Hall (3809 Rhode Island Ave., Brentwood, MD 20722)!

"An unforgettable and heartwarming book-club debut following a trans high school teacher from a small town in South Dakota who befriends the only other trans woman she knows: one of her students. Erica Skyberg is thirty-five years old, recently divorced—and trans. Not that she’s told anyone yet. Mitchell, South Dakota, isn’t exactly bursting with other trans women. Instead, she keeps to herself, teaching by day and directing community theater by night. That is, until Abigail Hawkes enters her orbit. Abigail is seventeen, Mitchell High’s resident political dissident and Only Trans Girl. It’s a role she plays faultlessly, albeit a little reluctantly. She’s also annoyed by the idea of spending her senior year secretly guiding her English teacher through her transition. But Abigail remembers the uncertainty—and loneliness—that comes with it. Besides, Erica isn’t the only one struggling to shed the weight of others’ expectations. As their unlikely friendship evolves, it comes under the scrutiny of their community. And soon, both women—and those closest to them—are forced to ask: Who are we if we choose to hide ourselves? What happens once we disappear into the woodwork? A story about the awkwardness of growing up and the greatest love story of all, that between us and our friends, Woodworking is a tonic for the moment and a celebration of womanhood in all its multifaceted joy.