Community invited to read ‘James’ together
Posted September 8, 2025
One Book One Community – The Plymouth Chapter has selected “James” by Percival Everett for the 10th Community Book Read!
In this retelling of Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn,” Huck has faked his own death to escape his violent father. Meanwhile, a slave named Jim has run away after overhearing that he is about to be sold and separated from his wife and daughter forever.
Thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond. Brimming with the electrifying humor and lacerating observations that have made Mr. Everett a literary icon, this brilliant and tender novel radically illuminates Jim’s agency, intelligence, and compassion as never before.
“James” has garnered many awards and other recognitions, among them:
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
- National Book Award for Fiction
- Kirkus Prize for Fiction winner
- Audie Award for Literary Fiction & Classics
- Audie Award for Fiction Narrator finalist
- National Book Critics Circle Award finalist
- Booker Prize finalist
- PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction finalist
- Foyles Book of the Year shortlist
- Orwell Prize shortlist
- Aspen Words Literary Prize finalist
- Best Book of the Year according to The New York Times Book Review, Los Angeles Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Economist, TIME
How to obtain a copy
- Plymouth Public Library has limited reserved copies available for checkout with your library card.
- Community Ed & Rec has six copies that can be borrowed & returned; enter Door 18 at Plymouth High School.
- Books and More has copies available for purchase at 214 E. Mill St.
Community Book Read events
These events are free and open to the public; no registration needed. Reading the book is encouraged, but not required.
Book Lovers Social Hour Kickoff Party
Do you love books? Do you love talking about and sharing books? Want to meet other people in the community and get reading and book club ideas? This event is for you! Bring your favorite book recommendations to share. Light snacks will be served.
- 5:30pm Tuesday Sept. 16 at Plymouth Arts Center
Movie Showings: “The Adventures of Huck Finn”
The unforgettable saga of a mischievous youngster and a runaway slave on a wild expedition to freedom. As the pair take the ride of their lives down the treacherous Mississippi River, they run into an entertaining assortment of off-beat characters and face one challenging adventure after another. (PG, 108 minutes)
- 2pm Friday Sept. 19 at Plymouth Public Library
- 6pm Wednesday Oct. 15 in the Plymouth High School Auditorium
Book Discussions
Join a discussion of “James” with others who are reading the book.
- 3pm Monday Sept. 22 at Generations
- 10am Thursday Oct. 2 at Plymouth Public Library
- 2pm and 6pm Tuesday Oct. 21 at Books and More
About the community book read
The annual One Book One Community – The Plymouth Chapter book read is sponsored by Plymouth School District Community Education & Recreation, Plymouth Public Library, Generations, and Books and More.
The overall objective is to select a book annually as a community joint reading venture, in the spirit of newspaper columnist Mary McGrory’s observation that “the city that opens the same book closes it in greater harmony.”
Previous Community Book Read selections
• “Go Set a Watchman” by Harper Lee in 2015
• “The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics” by Daniel James Brown in 2016
• “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” by Jamie Ford in 2017
• “The Things They Carried” by Tim O'Brien in 2018
• “How To Make a Life: A Tibetan Refugee Family and the Midwestern Woman They Adopted” by Madeline Uraneck in 2019
• “She Rode a Yellow Stallion” by local author Warren Reed in 2021
• “My Happiness Counts” by local author Charm Joy Der for kids, “Starfish” by Lisa Fipps for young adults, and “Little Fires Everywhere” Celeste Ng for adults in 2022
• “Delete the Adjective: A Soldier's Adventures in Ranger School” by Plymouth native Lisa Jaster in 2023
• “Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt in 2024
Learn more:
• Visit the One Book One Community – the Plymouth Chapter website at plymouthbookread.weebly.com.
• Follow One Book One Community – the Plymouth Chapter on Facebook at facebook.com/OneBookPlymouthWI.
“James” by Percival Everett, which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, retells “Huckleberry Finn” from the perspective of the slave Jim.