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October 1 - October 3, 2025
Ronnie was absolutely certain that the world would be a much better place if more folks stepped out of the boxes they’d come packed in and opened their minds to the mysteries of the universe.
“The Nazis were monsters to kill little girls.” “I know that’s what people say,” Mr. Stempel told her. “But most of them weren’t. They were just ordinary people. That’s what makes them so terrifying. Monsters you can fight. But when the people who come for you in the night are your neighbors and coworkers and classmates . . . When you never know who’s sick and who’s not . . .” He shrugged. “Sick?” “Hate is a disease, Dawn.”
When you have everything, the only luxury left is taking things away from others.
How do you improve yourself without challenging your mind? How do you leave a better world for your children?
Her daddy had been a man of God. He’d even handled a snake or two in his youth, but he’d never censored his children’s reading material. As far as he was concerned, if your faith was shaken by foul words or sex scenes, then you must not have had very much to begin with.
There is no need to make magic. There is magic all around us. We need only to recognize it and make use of what is already there.
“Yeah, well, don’t give her too much credit. She didn’t invent it. Using fear to control people is about as old as time.”
When she was a child, she’d been taught things were simple. The War of Northern Aggression had been a barbaric invasion—an attack on the Southern way of life. Before everything went wrong, all the rich families who’d settled the land had been lifted up by God himself, who’d blessed them with good brains, excellent breeding, and a Puritan work ethic. The Black folks who’d toiled in their homes and on their farms—first for free, then for next to nothing—were every one of them lucky to be there. They were all so happy they danced and sang in the fields. Meanwhile, the poor whites who drank and
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“The first thing you need to do, Beverly, is keep learning. There are people in this town who are stuck. There are some that insist on going backward. You want to make up for what your ancestor did? Learn everything you can and do your best to lead the way forward.”
“I’m very good at finding people who are just as frustrated as I am. Folks whose fortunes have fallen and those who worry their circumstances will be reduced. I know how to talk to them. I know how to rally them to the cause. You know how I do it?” Now they were getting somewhere. “How?” “By saying the things they’ve been afraid to say and doing the things they’ve been afraid to do.
White people were convinced that real dangers, like death caps, dirty books, witches, and Satanists, needed to be hunted down and rooted out. Which is exactly what their forefathers had done to Mara’s people.
What matters is never letting people tell you what to think. Don’t let them convince you that one way is right and another way wrong. Gather as much knowledge as you can, because information is power. And choosing how to use it is freedom. The more you know, the freer you will be.”
“We have computers here,” Mara told her. “You can use them all you like and your husband will never find out what you’re researching. That’s why libraries exist—to make sure people always have access to the information they need. Every day, we help people find answers to questions that they’re terrified to ask.”
“When people like Lula hide all the books about rape, who do you suppose they’re really protecting?” Mara demanded. “Do you want to go back to the days when we never talked about rape? When women like Darlene kept their mouths shut and the men who assaulted them went on to be mayor?”
“You know what I think, Melody? I think you’re scared that your children are going to open a book and discover the truth. They’ll realize that the Holocaust happened and that slavery was worse than they ever imagined. They’ll find out that both men and women like sex and that gay and trans folks are just regular people. These seem to be the things you’re trying so hard to hide from them. Why is that?”
“When they’re adults, they can make any decisions they like. Until then, we’re their parents and it’s our decision what they check out at the library.” “But you have no right whatsoever to make those decisions for other people’s children,” Mara pointed out. “And that’s what you’ve done by taking books off the shelves. You’re denying your neighbors their freedom to raise their kids as they see fit.”
“Once Jesus arrived on the scene, all those Old Testament laws no longer applied. The New Testament tells us we’re supposed to follow Christ, not the old ways. And as far as I know, Jesus never said a damn thing about gay folks or barbecue. But he sure did talk a lot about love.”
Isaac knew what those people saw when he walked down the street. They saw a future that scared them—a future where everyone had a chance (just a chance!) to be their best selves. If you were smart and worked hard, you might rise to the top. You could love who you wanted and dress as you liked. It was hard to argue with any of that in a country that proclaimed everyone to be free. So they had to turn ordinary people into villains. Black folks were criminals, their news channels shouted. Gay men debauched. Feminists were man-haters. Drag queens were groomers. Democrats were pedophiles. And all
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They had to do whatever it took to keep future generations from living lives more fulfilling than their own.
This glorious antebellum South they yearned for never featured any of the ugly realities of the past—body odor, hookworm, rape, cesspools, death, disease, and whippings, not to mention the unrelenting poverty of the folks called white trash. Anyone who tried to open their eyes was ignored or vilified. They made heroes of sadists like Augustus Wainwright. They went around waving a flag they claimed was all about heritage. The flag for which their poor ancestors had fought and died, while the rich slaveholders who’d started the war were exempted from service by Jefferson Davis himself.
The Lost Cause is a movement that gained traction in the late nineteenth century that attempted to recast the Confederacy as something predicated on family, honor and heritage rather than what it was, a traitorous effort to extend and expand the bondage of Black people.
It called into question everything we’ve been taught. Not just about the men who founded this country, but also about who has the right to claim America’s heritage and history. We’ve been told that some people built this country, and the rest of us should just be grateful to live here.
“Nobody’s saying they’re personally responsible. But what’s wrong with feeling bad? Isn’t that what makes us all try to do better? You worried the next generation might want to improve things around here? Who knows—maybe they’ll make sure all people are treated equally and allowed to pursue happiness with those they love. Lord have mercy, wouldn’t that be awful? Heaven forbid!”
“Y’all want to know how to tell if you’ve been a good parent?” Moxie asked the crowd. “It’s real easy. If you have a family that loves each other and children who want to spend time with you, then you’ve been a good parent.”
“I think of every bouquet as a little story,” Betsy told her, “and stories are the most powerful things in this world. They can mend broken hearts, bring back good memories, and make people fall in love.” “Or convince them to do the right thing,” Nahla added. Betsy Wright shot Nahla a look. “Sometimes. But the trick is getting to know people well enough to tell their stories. You can’t just assume you know what they’re like. You have to pay attention. You got to watch and listen.”
But that’s the thing about jokes, Beverly realized. The fact that they’re funny doesn’t make them any less serious. Lindsay’s little prank had started a chain reaction. The books she’d put in that library had opened eyes, granted courage, and exposed terrible crimes. That’s why they were dangerous—why so many people had wanted to hide them. Lindsay had known all along what they could do.