Westwood Public Library
Westwood, Massachusetts

One Book, One Town 2025

Westwood Public Library is inviting the community to come together to read the same book and explore its major themes with discussions and interactive programs and an author visit! It's also, to put it simply, a really fun and social way to get the most out of a book. Let's read together! 

Our first One Book One Town will be Little Fires Everywhere and culminate in an in-person author visit from Celeste Ng!  One Book One Town promotes literacy, fosters community and provides common ground for intergenerational, cross-cultural and civic-minded educational discussions. This initiative is funded by the 21st Century Fund and we are so thankful for their generous contribution to special events, collections, technology, and more.

That's right! Bestselling author Celeste Ng is coming to Westwood! Join us at the Pine Hill School in Westwood for a conversation with Celeste, led by Director of Reader Services Kristy Pasquariello will interview the author about her work. 

Please register for this program as space is limited. All individuals attending must register individually. REGISTRATION OPENS MARCH 1st at 8PM.

Masks are encouraged and will be readily available for participants. 

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng is available for checkout at the library and can be instantly downloaded as an ebook using the Libby App. 

Writers of all genres are invited to submit writing inspired by themes from Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. This competition is open to teen and adult writers and will be judged by a panel of Westwood librarians. Two winners will be selected: one teen and one adult. Winners will receive a writers’ gift bundle and have their work displayed and promoted at the Westwood Public Library. 

A central theme of Celeste Ng’s 2017 novel, Little Fires Everywhere, is taking artistic action and speaking out about things that matter to you. As a part of One Book One Town 2025, we are inviting writers in our community to share their voices and submit writing that responds to one or more themes from the book, Little Fires Everywhere. Writing can either be a direct response to the novel, or an interpretation of one of the novel’s core themes:

Themes:

Order and disruption
Suburbs and small towns
The power of art
Fire and regeneration
Division and inequity 
Image and identity 
Family and belonging

Writing formats: 

Poetry 
Fiction 
Nonfiction/Essays 
Prose/Hybrid

Please keep submissions under 3,000 words, or six double-spaced pages.

Send submissions as a PDF format to jhorwitz@minlib.net with a brief biographical statement in the body of the email.

Please specify whether you are a teen (13-18) or an adult. Submissions will open February 1, 2025 and close March 14, 2025

Did you read Little Fires Everywhere and simply can't wait to talk about it with someone?

Join our Community Discussions on Tuesday, March 4, 10am at the Islington Branch and Thursday, March 13, 7pm at the Main Library 

Join us for our One Book One Town: Westwood Reads Together celebration through art!  Come listen to Massachusetts artist, Rebecca McGee Tuck, talk about Art to Activism.  Be transformed as you listen in on how art can be transformative throughout the human experience!  Rebecca is an artist and sculptor, and her work has been featured in exhibits across the Northeast including: Cape Cod Art Museum, Fitchburg Art Museum, and Boston Sculptors Gallery.  

Rebecca's art is intended to be a beacon of hope, demonstrating the transformative power of art and advocating for positive change!  Come be inspired during this artist talk on Monday, March 3 at 7:00 PM.  Please register in advance.

Join us for a screening of and discussion about the 1997 documentary, Shaker Heights: The Struggle for Integration, chronicling a moment of reckoning with inequity in the town where Little Fires Everywhere takes place. 


"Shaker Heights, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, is noted for its affluence, the quality of its public schools, and its success at racial integration. But an article in the local high school newspaper reporting wide racial disparity in the student test scores challenged the community's assumption of racial equality. The documentary examines the ideals and the realities of a community where black and white families have lived side by side for nearly 40 years."