About this Event
Welcome, reader, to the YA/Teen Book Club! Busboys & Poets would like to invite you to join us for an exploration of new and classic young adult books through a variety of themes. The book club will be guided by questions crafted by our bookseller, as well as any points the participants want to raise. Show up for good food, good books, and good friends! Plus, the more frequently you show up, the more goodies (in the form of discounts) you can collect!
Participants can pick any of three books that fit the August theme of Pirates and Privateers. Join us for epic adventures on the high seas filled with mermaids and sirens, spirits and magic, and of course PIRATES! All of the books this month have audiobook equivalents. You can pick them up at Busboys and Poets Books in person, or click the title to be taken to our Bookshop.org page for online ordering. The books are:
- : (audiobook) Little Mermaid meets African Folklore in this tale about a mermaid who’s job is to help those souls lost to the sea to the afterlife – right up until she decides to save one instead. Follow Simi in her dangerous journey to make amends and protect the boy she saved.
- : (audiobook) Xiang, tired of her simple small-town life, finds herself making a series of rash decisions that lead her to a treasure map, a ship of misfit pirates, and a young pirate her age named Anh. As she, Anh, and the crew search for the hidden treasure, Xiang learns more about her past and begins to explore her future.
- by Maggie Tokuda-Hall: (audiobook) Flora is posing as Florian on a cutthroat pirate crew. Evelyn is on the way to an arranged marriage on a pirate vessel posing as a passenger ship until it reaches open waters. Together, the two discover a mermaid trapped in the hold of the ship and begin to plan a way to free it – and themselves
Now, you might be asking: How does everybody reading different books for one book club work?
Each of the three books are specifically chosen to not only fit the theme, but to converse with one another within that theme. Through our bookseller’s questions, the book club will explore what these books have in common, discover what they interpret differently, and what new and interesting takes they have- plus, participants get to hear about even more books and authors!
This club will discuss spoilers for the books that participants didn’t read- so please be careful if you’ve been saving one specific title for later! This club is specifically for teenagers age 13-18, with the exception of our bookstore staff moderators. We’ll be meeting once a month on Sunday afternoons at the Busboys and Poets Takoma location (235 Carroll Street NW).
Dee (they/them) is a bookseller by night and a TTRPG Facilitator by day. They have a Masters’ of Education, which they have proceeded to squander on reading books and playing games. Dee particularly likes fantasy and sci-fi books, and the gayer the better. They have a very cute dog, who unfortunately is not allowed to join any book clubs because he eats the books.
Kenny (he/him) also moderates this book club- bio forthcoming. Kevin, his dog, hid the first draft.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Busboys and Poets - Takoma, 235 Carroll Ave NW, Washington, United States
USD 0.00