Book announced for Greenwich Reads Together 2024 event

Greenwich Reads Together is a community-wide reading experience where the whole of Greenwich explores a book.

July 11, 2024, 3:49 p.m. EDT | Updated July 11, 2024, 4:03 p.m. EDT

GREENWICH, CT — The Greenwich Library recently announced the book for its Greenwich Reads Together (GRT) event this summer.

The book is called “James” by Percival Everett. The novel was an instant New York Times bestseller and is an action-packed reinterpretation of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” told from the perspective of the enslaved Jim.

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“When enslaved Jim hears that he is to be sold to a man in New Orleans and will be forever separated from his wife and daughter, he decides to hide out on nearby Jackson Island until he can come up with a plan,” the book’s description on Amazon reads. “Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his abusive father, who has recently returned to town. As all readers of American literature know, this begins the perilous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi toward the elusive and all too often unreliable promise of the free states and beyond.”

Greenwich Reads Together is a community-wide reading experience where the whole of Greenwich explores a book.

The event culminates in an author visit in the fall. Everett, a distinguished professor of English at USC, will speak at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, October 16, in the Berkley Theater at Greenwich Library.

Registration begins in September, according to the library, and the event will also be live-streamed on the library’s YouTube channel. A recording will be available after the event for registered users only.

This year’s title was chosen by the GRT Selection Committee chaired by Peterson Business Librarian Siobhan Schugmann.

To be selected, the book must demonstrate literary quality, reflect universal issues and provoke thought-provoking discussions, the Greenwich Library said in a press release.

The book selected must be suitable for engaging public programs and have broad appeal to a broad demographic. It must also be currently available in print and in large quantities and in multiple formats, including e-book, audiobook, and large print.

Previous GRT selections include “Solito” (2023); “Olga Dies Dreaming” (2022); “Deacon King Kong” (2021); “Just Mercy” and “Mountains Beyond Mountains” (2020); “Fahrenheit 451” (2019); “Code Girls” (2018); “News of the World” (2017); “Station Eleven” (2016); “Americanah” (2015); “The Boys in the Boat” (2014); “When the Emperor Was Divine” (2013); “Zeitoun” (2012); and “The Book Thief” (2011).

For more information about James, books for younger readers, interviews with the author, reviews, discussion guides, and more, click here.