For its citywide Read Brave book club this year, the St. Paul Public Library chose Romina Garber’s young adult novel Lobizona, about an undocumented Argentinian teen who is hiding from immigration enforcement. SPPL director Maureen Hartman spoke with PW about Read Brave and will present a leadership strategy session at PLA on April 2.
How does Read Brave differ from other one book, one city programs?
The difference in St. Paul is that we always choose a YA novel, we give out more than 5,000 copies to community members, and we partner very closely with our school district. When the author comes here, they visit classrooms and do a public event with the mayor and myself.
Why did you decide to focus on YA?
Read Brave started as a partnership with the schools, to support teens and reading. We also want to encourage intergenerational conversations about important topics between adults and young people in our community.
Read Brave selected Lobizona last summer. Did you have any idea that immigration would be the huge issue that it’s become in Minnesota?
We were made aware in early 2025 that immigration was a topic of interest to the Trump administration, and we knew last summer that there were concerns around immigration. That’s why we selected Lobizona. Every summer, we think about what it will mean to read bravely in St. Paul in the next year, and St. Paul is a community with a lot of immigrants. It’s a topic that we have to keep talking about. This book provides a brave way for us to engage in that conversation.
What do you want this year’s participants to take away from reading and discussing Lobizona?
The library is a place of stories. It’s a place where reading a book, especially fiction, can be both a mirror and a window. It can be a mirror for folks who have similar experiences to the characters in the book, and it also can be a window into the worlds of other people. This particular book is showcasing the story of an undocumented immigrant. My hope for Lobizona is that folks use the characters and their experience with the author to build community and to understand the experiences of others, including folks in our community.
