CASA Volunteer Book Club

Welcome to the CASA Book Club!

Join us for our in-person book club meeting at 1751 Jackson St. We'll be discussing our latest read. Whether you're a bookworm or just looking to socialize, this is the perfect event for you. Come ready to share your thoughts. Don't miss out on this opportunity to connect with others and dive into a thought-provoking book together. See you there!

Can't make it in person? We'd still love to connect over the book! Join the meeting via Zoom:

Expectations of Participants

1. RSVP. Let your club (and especially the meeting host) know if you’ll be able to make it to the meeting and be sure to update your RSVP if your availability changes.
2. ARRIVE ON TIME. Don’t keep your club hanging!
3. READ THE BOOK! If you haven’t finished the book but decide to attend your book club meeting anyway, be prepared to hear spoilers. Life happens, and sometimes we don’t get to do as much reading as we’d like, but it’s not cool to keep everyone else from talking about the ending of the book just because you didn’t finish.
4. COME PREPARED. Spend some time before the meeting thinking about the book and provided discussion questions.
5. SPEAK UP. Contribute to the discussion! Book clubs work best when everyone participates.
6. LISTEN TO OTHERS. Your fellow book club participants want to hear your opinion — but they also want to hear everyone else’s. Don’t interrupt or dominate the discussion.
7. BE HONEST. Most of us join a book club because we want a richer reading experience through discussion. That can only happen when we share what we really thought or felt about a book. It’s completely fine to dislike — or even hate — a book that someone else loves. Having different tastes in books is part of what makes book clubs fun.
8. BE RESPECTFUL. You can disagree with someone, but always do so respectfully. Ask questions. Avoid personal attacks. And keep an open mind.
9. HAVE FUN! Why are we book clubbing if we’re not having fun? Don’t worry so much about the book club rules and expectations that you’re not enjoying book club.

An award-winning scholar exposes the foundational racism of the child welfare system and calls for radical change. Many believe the child welfare system protects children from abuse. But as Torn Apart uncovers, this system is designed to punish Black families. Drawing on decades of research, legal scholar and sociologist Dorothy Roberts reveals that the child welfare system is better understood as a “family policing system” that collaborates with law enforcement and prisons to oppress Black communities. Child protection investigations ensnare a majority of Black children, putting their families under intense state surveillance and regulation. Black children are disproportionately likely to be torn from their families and placed in foster care, driving many to juvenile detention and imprisonment. The only way to stop the destruction caused by family policing, Torn Apart argues, is to abolish the child welfare system and liberate Black communities.

Host or Publisher Abbie Chenevert