There’s still time to register for the free grand finale of this year’s “One Book, One Ptbo”, a shared community reading experience organized by the Peterborough Public Library with partial funding support from the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough and the Friends of the Library.
Award-winning author and screenwriter Catherine Hernandez will be at the Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough at 7 p.m. on Monday (November 4) to read from from her 2023 novel The Story of Us and to participate in an on-stage question-and-answer session.
Earlier this year, Hernandez’s novel was selected from a short list of three books by community vote to be the title for the second annual One Book, One Ptbo, which featured a series of book clubs, workshops, and more over the past few months.
Narrated through the perspective of the protagonist’s baby, The Story of Us follows an overseas Filipino worker named Mary Grace Concepcion who leaves home and her husband to first be a caregiver in Hong Kong before travelling even further to Toronto. After navigating careless employers and unruly children, she then cares for Liz, an elderly transgender woman suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, and the two form a surprising and heartbreaking bond.
Hernandez is a queer woman of Filipino, Spanish, Chinese, and Indian descent who married into the Navajo Nation. Having just released her fourth novel Behind You, she is most known for her acclaimed debut novel Scarborough, which was a 2022 Canada Reads finalist and adapted into an award-winning film.
“We have had the best time this year engaging with the community to discuss themes in The Story of Us, around chosen family in the LGBTQ+ community, dementia, and domestic workers in Canada at our programs this year,” says Karen Bisschop, community development and outreach librarian at the Peterborough Public Library. “We can’t wait to sit down with Catherine to chat with her about her novel.”
Doors at the Market Hall open at 6 p.m. for the grand finale event, which begins at 7 p.m. Following a reading by Hernandez, Mauricio Interiano of the New Canadians Centre will lead a question-and-answer session with the author. Audience members are encouraged to come prepared with their questions. Following the discussion, books will be available for purchase from Take Cover Books and Hernandez will be available for a book signing.
While the grand finale event is free to attend, advance registration is required at ptbolibrary.ca/OneBook.
With this year’s One Book, One Ptbo wrapping up, the library is beginning to plan for the third annual shared community reading experience and is asking community members to submit suggestions for next year’s title. Library staff will create a short list of titles from these selections for the community to vote on next year.
With files from Megan Gallant.
