ALOUD @ Los Angeles Public Library

One of the world's leading forest ecologists shares from her first book to bring us deeper into her intimate world of trees. In Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest, Suzanne Simard traces her journey from growing up in a logging community in the rainforests of British Columbia to her incredible work as a pioneer on the frontier of plant communication and intelligence. Illuminating how trees are not simply the source of timber or pulp, but are a complicated, interdependent circle of life, Simard brings a greater humanity to understanding trees and their connections to one another and to other living things. Her work has influenced filmmakers (the Tree of Souls of James Cameron's Avatar) and authors (Richard Powers’ Pulitzer Prize–winning novel The Overstory) and her TED talks have been viewed by more than 10 million people worldwide. Simard will be in conversation with The New Yorker’s Jia Tolentino, who has investigated many stories of cultural reckoning from youth vaping to sexual assault. As our world finally begins to turn its attention to the harsh reality of climate change, please join ALOUD for a profound look at how the inseparable bonds between living things enable our survival.

The award-winning author Vendela Vida’s latest work, We Run the Tides, is a suspenseful and poignant story of female friendship, betrayal, and a mysterious disappearance set in the changing landscape of San Francisco. One day, while two teenage best friends are walking to school, they witness a horrible act—or do they? In Vida’s masterful portrait, the pre-tech boom San Francisco finds its mirror in the changing lives of the teenage girls at the center of this story of innocence lost, the pain of too much freedom, and the struggle to find one's authentic self. Vida, who lives in the Bay Area and is a founding board member of 826 Valencia, the San Francisco writing center for youth, is the author of six books, including Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name and The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty. Join us for a conversation with Vida and  Autumn de Wilde, as they discuss this enigmatic coming-of-age story in all its beauty and confusion. 

The Library Foundation welcomes the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Boys in the Boat for a conversation about his latest masterful work. Daniel James Brown’s new World War II saga, Facing the Mountain, follows a special Japanese-American Army unit that overcame brutal odds in Europe. Brown’s unforgettable chronicle is a culmination of his extensive interviews with the families of the protagonists as well as deep archival research. This kaleidoscopic story uncovers the journey of four Japanese-American families and their sons, who volunteered for 442nd Regimental Combat Team and were deployed to France, Germany, and Italy, where they were asked to do the near impossible. Brown is the author of The Indifferent Stars Above and Under a Flaming Sky, which was a finalist for the B&N Discover Great New Writers Award. He was also awarded the ALA’s Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction for The Boys in the Boat. Please join us for an inspiring story of patriotism and courage as Brown illuminates this overlooked history of America at war.

Over the last half-century, the American short has changed dramatically. In a new anthology, the best and most representative contemporary authors are celebrated for their thrilling range of voice, form, and talent. Selected by John Freeman, the editor of his own literary annual of new writing and executive editor at Alfred A. Knopf, this collection brings forward some astonishing work to be regarded in a new light. With rarely anthologized science fiction, horror, and fantasy writers such as Ursula K. LeGuin, Ken Liu, and Stephen King, next to some of the often-taught geniuses of the form—Grace Paley, Toni Cade Bambara, Sandra Cisneros, and Denis Johnson, this wide-reaching collection also includes generally overlooked tales by Dorothy Allison, Charles Johnson, and Toni Morrison. Freeman will share this exciting new treasure trove with ALOUD, as a few of the authors join him for a special reading and conversation.

“Ian is magic. His story is difficult and heartbreaking, but he takes us places we need to go to understand why we must do better,” writes Bryan Stevenson in the forward of Ian Manuel’s new memoir. At fourteen Manuel was sentenced to life without parole for a non-homicide crime. The United States is the only country in the world that sentences thirteen- and fourteen-year-old offenders, mostly youth of color, to life in prison without parole, regardless of the scientifically proven singularities of the developing adolescent brain. My Time Will Come captures the fullness of Manuel’s humanity, as he powerfully testifies about growing up homeless in Central Park Village in Tampa, Florida—a neighborhood riddled with poverty, gang violence, and drug abuse—and of his efforts to rise above his circumstances, only to find himself, partly through his own actions, imprisoned for two-thirds of his life. Manuel shares how he endured the savagery of the United States prison system through his dedication to writing poetry and through the hope from others advocating for his freedom. Through this transcendent story of redemption, join us for a personal look at how we can address our judicial system and bring about “just mercy.”

In a highly anticipated sequel to the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Sympathizer, Viet Thanh Nguyen returns with an exhilarating spy thriller that takes on the global aftermath of the Vietnam War. The Committed follows the Sympathizer, the conflicted double agent, as he seeks refuge in Paris in the 1980s. Both charmed and disturbed by the gritty Paris underworld, the Sympathizer struggles to assimilate into a dominant culture. Nguyen, who was born in Vietnam and raised in America, has long been devoted to exploring Vietnamese American history in his acclaimed work. He is the author of the short story collection The Refugees, the nonfiction book Nothing Ever Dies, and is the editor of an anthology of refugee writing, The Displaced. A recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim and MacArthur foundations, Nguyen is a professor of English, American studies, and comparative literature at the University of Southern California. The Library Foundation welcomes Nguyen for a discussion of his fierce, funny, and visionary new novel.

As our fractured country moves forward after a year of social unrest and political division—how can we work towards inclusion, equity, and real change in our society? In celebration of Zero Discrimination Day, ALOUD is proud to welcome leading activists and academics for a discussion of the intersectional issues of gender, race, and disability rights. We’ll be joined by Jasmine Harris, Professor of Law and Martin Luther King, Jr. Hall Research Scholar at the University of California—Davis. An expert in disability law, antidiscrimination law, and evidence, Harris has published widely in law reviews as well as the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and more. Also joining the conversation, Ruth Colker is a leading scholar in the areas of Constitutional Law and Disability Discrimination. A Distinguished University Professor and Heck Faust Memorial Chair in Constitutional Law at Ohio State, Colker is the author of 16 books and more than 50 articles in law journals. With other special guests to be announced, longtime ALOUD favorite, Michele Bratcher Goodwin, will moderate the panel. Goodwin is a Chancellor’s Professor at the University of California, Irvine and Director of the Center for Biotechnology & Global Health Policy. ALOUD welcomes everyone to come together for this powerful discussion about how we can break barriers and overcome biases against communities that have been historically marginalized, overlooked, and misunderstood.

In her forties, with two children, a spouse, a dog, a mortgage, and a full-time job as a tenured law professor at Georgetown University, Rosa Brooks decided to become a cop. Despite the extreme personal and professional risks, the liberal academic and journalist served as a reserve police officer between 2016-2020 with the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department in order to better understand the usually closed world of policing. In her new book Tangled Up in Blue, Brooks chronicles her experiences of what it’s like inside the "blue wall of silence." From street shootings and domestic violence calls to the behind-the-scenes police work during Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential inauguration, Brooks presents a revelatory firsthand account of patrolling the poorest, most crime-ridden neighborhoods of the nation’s capital. With more and more news of police violence and the outrage of Americans protesting against the corruption and racial disparities in the criminal justice system, Brooks illuminates the complexities of a broken system beyond the headlines. Join us for an immersive conversation as Brooks takes ALOUD audiences through a tour of duty to find a better way to protect our society. 

In a final call to action from a dearly missed champion of democracy, Elijah Cummings’ new posthumously published memoir offers an inspiring lesson of how we can do better in this country. Born and raised in Baltimore, Cummings was the first of his family to attend college. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa and then law school, he began his career of public service in the Maryland House of Delegates. He became the first African-American in Maryland history to be named Speaker Pro Tem before being sworn in as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996, where Congressman Cummings proudly represented Maryland’s 7th District until his passing in 2019. Known for his poise, intellect, and influence, Cummings was one of the most respected figures in contemporary politics, serving the people of Baltimore and illustrating the importance of working with—and for—the underdog. Yet in his final years of life, Cummings recognized that democracy was the underdog. We’re Better Than This draws from Cummings’s own life to show the formative moments that prepared him for the disturbing first years of the Trump presidency and spurred him to hold the administration accountable for their actions. Sharing his legacy with ALOUD, the late Congressman’s widow, Dr. Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, is a social entrepreneur, speaker, writer, strategist, and a former chair of the Maryland Democratic Party who is on a mission to drive society toward inclusion. She’ll be joined in conversation with the coauthor of the book, James Dale, as they reflect on Cummings’ urgent message for preserving our democracy as our country moves forward with a new administration.

The first step towards change, writes journalist and activist Paola Ramos, is for us to recognize who we are. In an empowering new work of reportage, Ramos embarks on a cross-country journey to find the communities of people defining the controversial term, "Latinx." Many voices—Afrolatino, Indigenous, Muslim, queer, and undocumented, living in large cities and small towns—have been chronically overlooked in how the diverse population of almost sixty million Latinos in the U.S. has been represented. In her debut book, Finding Latinx, Ramos calls to expand our understanding of what it means to be Latino and what it means to be American. A host and correspondent for VICE and VICE News, as well as a contributor to Telemundo News and MSNBC, Ramos was the deputy director of Hispanic media for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and she also served in President Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign. She’ll be joined in a dynamic conversation with LA Times Audience Engagement Editor Fidel Martinez, who currently writes for their new Latinx Files newsletter. Shining a light on the evolving Latinx community, we’ll hear stories from individuals across the United States who are redefining their identities, pushing boundaries, and awakening politically in powerful and surprising ways.