BWW News: Oprah's Book Club & Barnes & Noble Book Club Both Pick AMERICAN DIRT by Jeanine Cummins as March Selection

For almost a year now, Barnes and Noble has been running monthly book clubs and inviting readers across the country to share their thoughts on the current title.

The book club meets the first Tuesday of each new month, and picks a brand-new title to read for the following month. January's Book Club Selection, DEAR EDWARD by Ann Napolitano, meets on February 4th, 2020, at 7 p.m.

The company just announced that the February Selection will be the controversial AMERICAN DIRT by Jeanine Cummins, which just released this week on January 21st. The February Book Club will meet at stores nationwide on March 10th at 7 p.m. For more details, visit a store or sign up for the Barnes and Noble Book Club online to attend the March session.

The book is also Oprah Winfrey's current Book Club Selection:

ABOUT THE BOOK:

También de este lado hay sueños. On this side too, there are dreams.

Already being hailed as "a Grapes of Wrath for our times" and "a new American classic", American Dirt is a rare exploration into the inner hearts of people willing to sacrifice everything for a glimmer of hope.

If it's only a better life you seek, seek it elsewhere...This path is only for people who have no choice, no other option, only violence and misery behind you. And your journey will grow even more treacherous from here. Everything is working against you. -American Dirt

Lydia Quixano Perez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a bookstore. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable.

Even though she knows they'll never sell, Lydia stocks some of her all-time favorite books in her store. And then one day a man enters the shop to browse and comes up to the register with four books he would like to buy-two of them her favorites. Javier is erudite. He is charming. And, unbeknownst to Lydia, he is the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city. When Lydia's husband's tell-all profile of Javier is published, none of their lives will ever be the same.

Forced to flee, Lydia and eight-year-old Luca soon find themselves miles and worlds away from their comfortable middle-class existence. Instantly transformed into migrants, Lydia and Luca ride la bestia-trains that make their way north toward the United States, which is the only place Javier's reach doesn't extend. As they join the countless people trying to reach el norte, Lydia soon sees that everyone is running from something. But what exactly are they running to?

American Dirt will leave readers utterly changed when they finish reading it. It is a page-turner, it is a literary achievement, it is filled with poignancy, drama, and humanity on every page. It is one of the most important books for our times.