Join us as we discuss this year's Meet the Author title\, A Most Beautiful Thing by Arshay Cooper. \;
\nIn this deeply personal book\, the author describes his life growing up in t he 1990&rsquo\;s on Chicago&rsquo\;s West Side. In a neighborhood mostly k nown through stereotypes and bleak statistics\, he lived in a one-bedroom apartment with his three siblings and single mother\, a recovering drug ad dict. As a teenager\, Mr. Cooper attended Manley High School\, where less than 50 percent of the senior class graduated and only 10 percent matricul ated to college. \; \; As he witnessed murders and dead bodies on the streets and saw a world filled with drug dealers and gang rivalry\, he felt &ldquo\;like God existed everywhere but here.&rdquo\; Mr. Cooper&rsq uo\;s life was forever altered\, however\, when a Chicago-based coach bega n recruiting Manley students for a new rowing team. With great skepticism\ , Mr. Cooper and a handful of classmates\, some from rival gangs\, joined the team. Together\, they rewrote their futures and transformed the sport by becoming the first all-Black high school crew team in the country.
\ nCopies of the book are available at the library and ebook versions ava ilable for checkout through Digital Library o f Illinois or the Libby app on your device. \;
\nRegistratio n will close two hours before the program begins and registrants will rece ive a link to join shortly thereafter.
\nPlease email community@wilm ettelibrary.info with any questions about how to access the program via Zo om.
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