About this Event
Watermark is thrilled to welcome Christine Platt and Catherine Wigginton Greene for their first collaborative book Rebecca Not Becky on Wednesday, January 17th at 6 pm. The book follows De'Andrea Whitman, a wife and mother, who moves to Rolling Hills, Virginia motivated by circumstances rather than choice. As she is dealing with her mother-in-law's diagnosis of Alzheimer's, her daughter starting kindergarten, and moving to a predominately white community from Atlanta where she lived her whole life, has added a lot of difficulty to adjusting to her new life. Her neighbor Rebecca Myland, chair of the Parent Diversity Committee, is determined to make De'Andrea and her family feel at home. However, once there is rising racial sentiment in Rolling Hills it forces these two women to come together for a common cause. Both authors will be here to discuss this wonderful book and do a book signing. If you are interested, RSVP ! We hope to see you there.
About The Book:
In the vein of Such a Fun Age, a whip-smart, compulsively readable novel about two upper-class stay-at-home mothers—one white, one Black—living in a "perfect" suburb that explores motherhood, friendship, and the true meaning of sisterhood amidst the backdrop of America’s all-too-familiar racial reckoning.
De’Andrea Whitman, her husband Malik, and their five-year-old daughter, Nina, are new to the upper-crust white suburb of Rolling Hills, Virginia—a move motivated by circumstance rather than choice. De’Andrea is heartbroken to leave her comfortable life in the Black oasis of Atlanta, and between her mother-in-law’s Alzheimer's diagnosis, her daughter starting kindergarten, and the overwhelming whiteness of Rolling Hills, she finds herself struggling to adjust to her new community. To ease the transition, her therapist proposes a challenge: make a white girlfriend.
When Rebecca Myland learns about her new neighbors, the Whitmans, she's thrilled. As chair of the Parent Diversity Committee at her daughters’ school, she’s championed racial diversity in the community—and what could be better than a brand-new Black family? It’s serendipitous when her daughter, Isabella, and Nina become best friends on the first day of kindergarten. Now, Rebecca can put everything she’s learned about antiracism into practice—especially those oh-so-informative social media posts. And finally, the Parent Diversity Committee will have some… well, diversity.
Following her therapist’s suggestion, De’Andrea reluctantly joins Rebecca’s committee. The painfully earnest white woman is so overly eager it makes De’Andrea wonder if Rebecca’s therapist told her to make a Black friend! But when Rolling Hill’s rising racial sentiments bring the two women together in common cause, they find it isn’t the only thing they have in common.
About the Authors:
Christine Platt writes literature for children and adults that centers African diasporic experiences—past, present, and future. She holds Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees in African and African American studies as well as a juris doctorate in general law. She currently serves as Executive Director for Baldwin For The Arts.
Catherine Wigginton Greene is a writer and filmmaker whose storytelling focuses on strengthening human connection and understanding. Her feature documentary I’m Not Racist . . . Am I? continues to be used throughout the US as a teaching tool for starting racial dialogue. A graduate of Coe College and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, Catherine is currently pursuing her doctorate from The George Washington University’s Graduate School of Education and Human Development.
Platt and Wigginton-Greene both live in Washington, DC.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Watermark Books & Café, 4701 East Douglas Avenue, Wichita, United States
USD 0.00