Book Announced for Door County Reads 2024

This year’s book selection for Door County Reads 2024 is Braiding Sweetgrass For Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants, by Robin Wall Kimmerer, adapted by Monique Gray Smith and illustrated by Nicole Neidhardt. 

Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults highlights how acknowledging and celebrating our reciprocal relationship with the earth results in a wider, more complete understanding of our place and purpose.

This condensed and illustrated version allows for a wider audience to join in on events from Jan. 20-Feb. 20.

Door County Reads is in its 16th season of bringing the community together to read and discuss one book.

“We will have five weeks of events this year including theater performances, book discussions, writing workshops and expert lectures,” said Maggie Behme, community relations for Door County Library. “As in the past few years, free books will be available at all eight of our Door County Library locations starting Nov. 24.” 

For those who pick up copies, the Door County Library suggests you keep the copy, share it with a friend or family member, or return it to your local library branch to share it with others.

Nearly 600 free copies are provided by the Friends of Door County Libraries. Books available to schools, reaching a total of over 500 copies, were provided by Nicolet Federated Library System. There are also copies of the book available through the library’s catalog at Infosoup.org, as well as on Hoopla and Libby apps in eAudiobook and eBook along with the original version of the book as an eAudiobook, eBook, and Spanish eAudiobook. (El titulo es disponible en español como un audiolibro.)

As a botanist, Kimmerer is trained to use the tools of science to ask questions of nature. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces plants and animals as our oldest teachers. Kimmerer brings these lenses of knowledge together to show that when we listen to the languages of others, we can understand the generosity of the earth and learn to give our own gifts in return. 

In the book, Kimmerer writes, “I could hand you a braid of sweetgrass as thick and shining as the braid that hung down my grandmother’s back. But it is not mine to give, nor yours to take. Wiingaashk belongs to herself. I offer, in her place, a braid of stories meant to heal our relationships with the world.”

Everyone is invited to attend a variety of Door County Reads events around the county sponsored primarily by the Door County Library Foundation and the Wisconsin Humanities Grant. It begins with a kickoff at the Egg Harbor Library/Donald and Carol Kress Pavilion on Saturday, Jan. 20 from 1-3 pm. The author talk with Kimmerer will be held at Crossroads of Big Creek on Thursday, Feb. 1 with a video presentation at 6 pm and a virtual interview at 7 pm, moderated by Stephanie Dodge.

Pick up your free copy starting Nov. 24 at any of the eight Door County Library locations. For a full list of events visit doorcountylibrary.org/doorcountyreads.