COUNTY OF SLO PUBLIC LIBRARIES
+ CUESTA COLLEGE 
Book of the Year 2023
 
We Share Stories
A countywide literary event in partnership with Cuesta College, the Book of the Year program encourages community members to read together and engage in discussion and programming.  
 
It’s our mission to connect our community to creativity, culture, and knowledge–and we’re doing that through stories. We believe that connecting readers to timely books and current issues can inspire important discussions and can help bring a community together. 
 
 
 
THE STORY: ALL MY RAGE
 
All My Rage is the 2022 winner of the
National Book Award for Young People's Literature
 
Lahore, Pakistan. Then.
Misbah is a dreamer and storyteller, newly married to Toufiq in an arranged match. After their young life is shaken by tragedy, they come to the United States and open the Clouds’ Rest Inn Motel, hoping for a new start.
 
Juniper, California. Now.
Salahudin and Noor are more than best friends; they are family. Growing up as outcasts in the small desert town of Juniper, California, they understand each other the way no one else does. Until The Fight, which destroys their bond with the swift fury of a star exploding.  
 
Now, Sal scrambles to run the family motel as his mother Misbah’s health fails and his grieving father loses himself to alcoholism. Noor, meanwhile, walks a harrowing tightrope: working at her wrathful uncle’s liquor store while hiding the fact that she’s applying to college so she can escape him—and Juniper—forever.
 
When Sal’s attempts to save the motel spiral out of control, he and Noor must ask themselves what friendship is worth—and what it takes to defeat the monsters in their pasts and the ones in their midst. (PenguinRandomHouse.com)
 
 
THE AUTHOR
 
Sabaa Tahir is the New York Times-bestselling author of An Ember In the Ashes, A Torch Against the Night, and A Reaper at the Gates, a series of wildly popular fantasy novels that have captured the attention of readers of all ages. Through her fiction, Tahir’s novels raise questions about freedom, morality, and what it means to be human. Before writing full-time, Tahir was an editor at The Washington Post; she is a frequent speaker at book festivals, schools, universities, and libraries.
 
Tahir grew up in California’s Mojave Desert at her family’s eighteen-room motel, where she spent her time devouring fantasy novels, raiding her brother’s comic book stash, and playing guitar badly. She currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family. (PenguinRandomHouse.com)
 
 
 
PROGRAMS & EVENTS
 
 
An Evening with Sabaa Tahir
2022 National Book Award winner

THURS, APRIL 27 | 5:00-7:00
Cuesta College Performing Arts Center
$15 general | Free for students
 
Hear Sabaa's story in a live presentation hosted by Cuesta College and County of SLO Public Libraries. Webcast link available with ticket.
 
**Tickets go on sale FEBRUARY 1, 2023,   at tickets.cuesta.edu **
 
 
 
All My Rage 
Book Discussions
Join the discussion by reserving or downloading a copy of All My Rage or reserve a kit for your own book group. Each kit has 10 copies. 
THURS, FEB 16 | 5:30 
Los Osos Library
 
WED, MAR 1 | Time TBA
Morro Bay Library
FRI, MAR 10 | Noon
Cayucos Library
 
SAT, MAR 18 | 10:00
Atascadero Library
 
 
THURS, MAR 23 | 3:30 
Shell Beach Library
 
SAT, APRIL 1 | 9:00
FRI, APRIL 21 | 10:00
Arroyo Grande Library
 
Mental Health Awareness Interactive Exhibits
In collaboration with County of SLO Behavioral Health Department
 
March and April dates and locations to be announced.
 
 
 
 
 
 
The History and Art of Henna
For Teens and Adults
 
SAT, MAR 11 | 2:00
Nipomo Library
 
TUES, MAR 28 | 3:00
Oceano Library
 
FRI, APR 7 | 2:30
Cambria Library
 
 
Stress Relief Yoga
Arroyo Grande Library | Outdoor Yoga
SAT, APRIL 22 | 10:30-11 am
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Grab & Go De-Stress Kits

MARCH | Journaling for Adults & Teens
MARCH | Coloring for Kids: Animals of Pakistan 
Arroyo Grande Library
Nipomo Library
Oceano Library
Shell Beach Library
 
APRIL | Calm Kits 
SLO Library
 
 
Express Yourself: Doodle Days
 
SATURDAYS IN APRIL
San Luis Obispo Library
 
Share what's on your mind on our interactive chalk walls and journals.

Visit our events calendar at SLOLibrary.org or sign up for email notification for the latest Book of the Year program information.
 
 
COMMUNITY STORIES
 
 
Learn about local diversity and local support networks
with these community agencies and partners.

 
Cuesta College Library Book of the Year Events
 
Restorative Partners
 
County of SLO Behavioral Health Department
 
 
 
MORE STORIES