West Oakland Book Club X Oakland Public Library

This book club meetup is all about good conversation and community. Whether you’ve read every page or just started the book, bring your thoughts, questions, and vibes.

This month, the West Oakland Book Club dives into Model Home by Rivers Solomon.
Named a Best Horror Book of the Year by The New York Times Book Review
Named a Best Book of the Year by Reactor and the Chicago Public Library

Welcome to Rivers Solomon’s dark and wondrous Model Home, a new kind of haunted-house novel.

The three Maxwell siblings keep their distance from the gated enclave outside Dallas where they grew up. When their family moved there, they were the only Black family in the neighborhood. Right away, bad things, scary things—strange, unexplainable, violent—began to happen in their house.

As adults, the siblings all escaped the horrors of home, leaving their parents alone back in Texas. But when news of their parents’ death arrives, Ezri is forced to return to the house with their sisters, Eve and Emanuelle, to reckon with their family’s past and present. Their parents did not die a “natural” death... but was it supernatural?

**About West Oakland Library**

The West Oakland Branch of the Oakland Public Library, established in 1977, serves as a vital resource and gathering place for the West Oakland community. Situated at 1801 Adeline Street, the branch offers a diverse collection of materials, including books, DVDs, CDs, magazines, and newspapers for patrons of all ages. Notably, it houses a dedicated African American collection, reflecting the rich cultural heritage of the neighborhood, as well as smaller collections in Arabic and Spanish, catering to the area's linguistic diversity. The library also features graphic novel collections suitable for all age groups, supporting a wide range of reading interests.

Beyond its collections, the West Oakland Branch provides various amenities to support community engagement and learning. Facilities include accessible bathrooms, computers, copiers, fax machines, meeting rooms, parking, printing services, scanners, and study rooms. The branch hosts a variety of events and programs, such as family storytimes and tenants' rights clinics, fostering a sense of community and providing valuable resources to residents. As part of the Oakland Public Library system, the West Oakland Branch exemplifies a commitment to serving the educational and cultural needs of its patrons.

**About Oakland Public Library**

The Oakland Public Library is a part of the City of Oakland in California and has been in existence since 1878. They have:

• a Main Library
• Seventeen branch libraries
• The Second Start Adult Literacy Program
• The Tool Lending Library
• The African-American Museum and Library at Oakland (AAMLO).
• The Oakland History Center

They offer a range of additional services for residents of Oakland and California. They get support from the lively Friends of the Library group and the Library Advisory Commission. They also have local Library Friends groups around the city. More at: https://oaklandlibrary.org/

**About Sistah Scifi**

Started in 2019 by Isis Asare, Sistah Scifi is the first Black-owned bookstore focused on science fiction and fantasy in the United States, as validated by the American Booksellers Association, and has a community of nearly 60K points of contact with engaged readers across the country. The bookstore has been featured in The Seattle Times, KQED, Oprah Magazine, Buzzfeed, USA Today, KTVU, The New York Times, South Seattle Emerald and many more.

Sistah Scifi's mission is to double the number of Black and Indigenous Speculative Fiction authors on the New York Times bestseller list by 2030. Read more here.

Check out Sistah Scifi's bookshop.org page

**About Rivers Solomon**

Rivers Solomon is half woman, half boy, part beast, and a refugee of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. Fae writes about feral creatures on the cusp. Born in the so-called United States, fae currently lives on an isle off the Eurasian continent. Read more here.

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Host or Publisher Sistah Scifi