September A Good Yarn Book Club: These Heathens

Join a group of craft-curious makers who get together and unwind via making: knitting, needlepoint, collage. You name it. Listen to the month’s book while you craft at home & then bring your WIP or FO to show off while we discuss the book!

To join the club subscribe via the Old Town Books page on Libro.fm You will get your first audiobook free! RSVP for our IRL meetups here then get crafting (and listening.)

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This month we are listening to These Heathens by Mia Mckenzie.

About the Book:

From the “razor-sharp and outrageously funny” (Taylor Jenkins Reid) mind of Mia McKenzie comes a vibrant novel exploring how one weekend can change your whole life.Dear Lord, please forgive me for the sins I’ve committed. And for the one I’m still planning to commit tomorrow. Amen.

Where do you get an abortion in 1960 Georgia, especially if your small town’s midwife goes to the same church as your parents? For seventeen-year-old Doris Steele, the answer is Atlanta, where her favorite teacher, Mrs. Lucas, calls upon her brash, wealthy childhood best friend, Sylvia, for help. While waiting to hear from the doctor who has agreed to do the procedure, Doris spends the weekend scandalized by, but drawn to, the people who move in and out of Sylvia’s orbit: celebrities whom Doris has seen in the pages of Jet and Ebony, civil rights leaders such as Coretta Scott King and Diane Nash, women who dance close together, boys who flirt too hard and talk too much, atheists! And even more shocking? Mrs. Lucas seems right at home.

From the guests at a queer kickback to the student activists at a SNCC conference, Doris suddenly finds herself surrounded by so many people who seem to know exactly who or what they want. Doris knows she doesn’t want a baby, but what does she want? Will this trip help her find out?These Heathens is a funny, poignant story about Black women’s obligations and ambitions, what we owe to ourselves, and the transformative power of leaving your bubble, even for just one chaotic weekend.

Host or Publisher Old Town Books