Next book in the statewide book club? A collection of essays on race

A collection of essays by Minnesota writers of color is the second book in the new statewide book discussion club "One Book, One Minnesota."

"A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota," edited by Minneapolis poet Sun Yung Shin, contains essays by 16 Minnesota writers who provide perspective on what it is like to live as a Native person or a person of color here.

Beth Burns, president of the Friends of the St. Paul Public Library, noted in an e-mail the importance of that book at this particular time.

The death of a black man, George Floyd, while in police custody, has prompted "a reckoning that we must confront institutional and systemic racism — and that means all of us," she said. "Reading this book in community offers some Minnesotans the opportunity to see their experiences broadly shared and others a chance to educate themselves — and to discover ways to act on their convictions."

The digital edition of the book, which was published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press in 2016, will be available free on Ebooks Minnesota's website until Aug. 23.

Physical copies of the book area available at public libraries and also are for sale at local bookstores.

Authors in the book include Taiyon J. Coleman, Heid E. Erdrich, Venessa Fuentes, Shannon Gibney, David Lawrence Grant, Carolyn Holbrook, IBé, Andrea Jenkins, Robert Farid Karimi, JaeRan Kim, Sherry Quan Lee, David Mura, Bao Phi, Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria, Diane Wilson, and Kao Kalia Yang.

All Minnesotans will be invited to participate in a statewide virtual discussion with Sun Yung Shin in August.

"One Book, One Minnesota" began in April as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as a way to unite people across the state through books and common conversation.

More information can be found on the website for the Friends of the St. Paul Public Library. □