Join us as we discuss this year's Meet the Author title\, A Most Beautiful Thing by Arshay Cooper. \;\n
In this deeply personal book\, the author describes his life growin g up in the 1990&rsquo\;s on Chicago&rsquo\;s West Side. In a neighborhood mostly known through stereotypes and bleak statistics\, he lived in a one -bedroom apartment with his three siblings and single mother\, a recoverin g drug addict. As a teenager\, Mr. Cooper attended Manley High School\, wh ere less than 50 percent of the senior class graduated and only 10 percent matriculated to college. \; \; As he witnessed murders and dead b odies on the streets and saw a world filled with drug dealers and gang riv alry\, he felt &ldquo\;like God existed everywhere but here.&rdquo\; Mr. C ooper&rsquo\;s life was forever altered\, however\, when a Chicago-based c oach began recruiting Manley students for a new rowing team. With great sk epticism\, Mr. Cooper and a handful of classmates\, some from rival gangs\ , joined the team. Together\, they rewrote their futures and transformed t he sport by becoming the first all-Black high school crew team in the coun try.
\nCopies of the book are available at the library and ebook ver sions available for checkout through Digital Library of Illinois or the Libby app on your device. \;\n
Registration will close two hours before the program begins and reg istrants will receive a link to join shortly thereafter.
\nPlease em ail community@wilmettelibrary.info with any questions about how to access the program via Zoom.
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