Professionally facilitated and
Grounded in Books
A Maine Humanities Book Group is a place where people can have meaningful, wide-ranging discussions—with their neighbors, coworkers and fellow community members—about the things that make us human.
These professionally facilitated groups are grounded in books and provide intentional space for listening, wondering, noticing, and following curiosities together. With no direct learning objectives, they are a place to practice talking with each other about big ideas and to find new ways of seeing each other. Taking part in a Book Group builds agency and awareness for individuals and builds (or strengthens) relationships between group members.
A Maine Humanities Book Group is made up of:
- 1-3 books (see our Book List below!)
- A trained Maine Humanities facilitator
- 10-15 participants
- 5 sessions, 90 minutes each
- Maine Humanities staff support throughout
The cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) continue to impact us deeply. To help close the deficit left by the termination of our General Operating Support grant from NEH, we are reducing Book Group programming by 50% during the 2026 fiscal year, with only 15 total programs offered. Despite this setback, we will continue to do our best to ensure that programs reach all 16 counties.
I thought we’d just read some books and talk about them—no big deal. Then things started shifting…in hearing somebody else’s story, we started sharing our own.”
—PARTICIPANT
Book List
Amazing books we think are great for discussion
- The books in a Maine Humanities Book Group serve as a reliable common starting point for discussion, not as a guide or authority on a specific issue.
- The best Book Group books are those that offer lots of perspectives on the subjective experience of being alive.
- Fiction, poetry, and memoir do this really well. They tend to complexify a topic or issue, make space for many different interpretations, and foster readers’ agency in coming to their own understanding.
- Reading more doesn’t necessarily mean deeper discussions: often one book is enough for several sessions.
You don’t have to use a book from our list, but we hope you will keep our book philosophy in mind when choosing titles for your group.
Filter by:
Type
Program
Topic
fiction
A Council of Dolls
The stories of three generations of Yanktonai Dakota women from the 19th century to the present day are told in part through the dolls they carry. Explore the effects of settler colonialism, the damage of Indian boarding schools, and the historical massacres of Indigenous people. Consider how strength, healing, and love can reverberate through generations providing hope and resiliency
picture book
Abuelita and Me
On the bus and at the grocery store, people are impatient and suspicious—sometimes they even yell. Sad, angry, and scared, the story’s young narrator decides not to leave home again…until a moment of empowerment helps her see the strength she and Abuelita share when they face the world together.
nonfiction
American Breakdown
This wide-ranging, genre-crossing literary mystery interweaves the author’s quest to understand her mystery medical condition with the story of the chronically ill 19th-century diarist Alice James—ultimately uncovering the many hidden health hazards of life in America. How we are a nation struggling—and failing—to be healthy?
fiction
Empire of Wild
Inspired by the traditional story of the Rogarou, known in Métis culture as a shapeshifter, this literary thriller follows Joan, a Métis woman, as she looks for her missing husband. After a year of searching, she meets a suspicious preacher and narrows her focus.
nonfiction
Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir
In 1947 Sun Yi, a Shanghai journalist, becomes a target after Communist victory. Years later, her daughter Rose brings her to live with her in the United States. Tessa grows up watching them struggle under the weight of unexamined trauma and mental illness. With Chinese history as the backdrop, this graphic memoir explores love, grief, exile, and identity across generations.
picture book
Fighting for YES!
Hearing “NO!” for much of her life, disability-rights activist, Judy Heumann played a significant role in the passage of Section 504 of Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Along with a personal reflection from Judy herself, this biography captures the impact and influence of one of America’s greatest activists.
young adult
Give Me a Sign
Lilah feels stuck in the middle- she doesn’t feel “deaf enough” to identify as Deaf or hearing enough to meet the world’s expectations. She becomes a summer counselor at a camp for the deaf and blind and finds community in this revelatory exploration of Deaf culture, its vastness, and its beautiful complexities.
picture book
I’m An American
Students explore the concept of Americanness as they each share bits of their family history and how their past has shaped their own personal American experience. Whether as new immigrants, or those whose family came to this country generations ago, or other scenarios, their stories show some of the broad range of cultures and values that form the history and identity of our nation.
picture book
In My Mosque
Everyone is welcome here. From grandmothers reading lines of the Qur’an and the imam telling stories of living as one, to meeting new friends and learning to help others, mosques are centers for friendship, community, and love. Celebrate the joys and traditions found in every mosque around the world.
poetry
Into the Hush
U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze’s twelfth book of poetry addresses the challenges of our nuclear age that language that ripples and stills, widens and deepens. Sze harnesses a range of innovative forms to respond to the challenges of climate change, exploring what it means to live on an endangered planet.
poetry
It Rains Diamonds on Neptune
The Telling Room’s 20th Anniversary Anthology pairs the voices of youth with those of established Maine authors. Powerful stories, poems, essays, and recipes touch on pressing topics impacting youth today, from climate change, LGBTQ+ identity, gun violence, and racism; to finding community, cultural connections, humor, and hope in unexpected places.
picture book
Lucy! How Lucille Ball Did it All
As a child, Lucy was sassy, bold, and funny. As an adult, she was a rule-breaking, chance-taking, comedy pioneer. In 1951, I Love Lucy took television by storm, and has made millions laugh ever since. Lucy! is the true story of how Lucille Ball overcame the odds to become the world’s Queen of Comedy.
young adult
Lunar New Year Love Story
Valentina struggles with the truth behind why she’s being raised by a single father and a family curse. For Jae, lion dancing is the only thing giving him peace since his dad died. Jae passes Val a paper heart at the Lunar New Year festival, eventually changing their lives.
poetry
Midden
Midden confronts the events and over one hundred years of silence that surround the history of Malaga Island. Utilizing a wide range of poetic styles, Midden delves into the vital connections between land, identity, and narrative and asks how we can heal the generations and legacies of damage.
young adult
Monster Locker
Something in the basement of sixth-grader Pablo Ortiz’s school has waited hundreds of years for its chance to open a portal into the realm of monsters. When Pablo accidentally breaks the seal and summons a vengeful Aztec goddess, his new friends and the wisdom passed down by his abuela help him take her on.
fiction
Murder on the Red River
After growing up in the broken foster care system, 19-year-old Ojibwe woman. Renee “Cash” Blackbear, is fiercely independent. When a murder rocks her Red River Valley community, she uses her visions and grit to help the sheriff unravel the truth amidst racism and oppression.
nonfiction
Polar Vortex: A Family Memoir
When she suddenly must care for her dementia-impaired mother, Denise leaves London for her hometown in Iowa. As her mother, hospitalized with the insurance running out, experiences the swirling confusion of dementia, Denise wrestles with her new role as caregiver, childhood memories and a toxic relationship with her sister.
young adult
Rez Ball
Tre is happiest when playing basketball on the Red Lake Reservation high school team. But stepping into his late brother’s shoes as a star player means that Tre can’t mess up on the court, at school, and with friends. Can he play like the hero his Ojibwe community needs him to be?
picture book
Rostam’s Picture-Day Pusteen
Being the new kid is hard. And wearing something that might seem odd to other kids is even harder. Rostam and Maman recently moved to the United States. Baba is still working in Iran. As picture day approaches, Rostam worries his classmates will think wearing his pusteen is weird.
picture book
That Flag
Best friends Bianca and Keira are inseparable at school. But Keira questions their friendship after learning more about the meaning of the Confederate flag hanging from Bianca’s front porch. Will the two friends be able to overlook their distinct understandings of the flag or will they reckon with the flag’s effect on yesterday and today?
fiction
The Berry Pickers
Every summer a Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia travels to Maine to rake blueberries. One year the youngest daughter, Ruthie, goes missing. Nearby, Norma struggles to find a sense of identity, as the origins of her birth parents remain unknown. What follows is an “exquisitely moving story of unrelenting hope, unwavering love, and the power of family – even in the face of grief and betrayal.”
fiction
The Great Transition
Wildfires, rising oceans, mass migration, and skyrocketing inequality have become the daily reality. A movement of workers, migrants, and refugees inspires the world to band together, save the planet, and rebuild a society for all. Learning this global and family history is critical as Emi courageously searches for her mother.
nonfiction
The Hidden Life of Trees: A Graphic Adaption
Along with poignant memories of the author’s life, this graphic adaptation of Peter Wohlleben’s international bestseller offers scientific insights and pearls of wisdom gained from Peter’s decades of observing forests, including how trees impact weather and climate, how they communicate with each other, and how they interact with fungal networks deep within the ground.
fiction
The Only Good Indians
Four men from the Blackfeet Nation find themselves in a desperate struggle for their lives against an entity wanting to exact revenge for their dishonorable actions during an elk hunt ten years earlier. What is the cost of breaking from culture and tradition?
fiction
The Seed Keeper
Follow a Dakhóta family’s struggle to preserve their way of life, and their sacrifices to protect what matters most. Explore the strength that women, land, and plants have shared with one another throughout generations and how they can continue to reclaim the past by reconnecting with ancient purpose.
young adult
Where You See Yourself
Finding a college that will be the perfect fit and be accessible enough for Effie to navigate in her wheelchair presents a ton of considerations that her friends don’t worry about. Through admissions visits, senior class traditions, internal and external ableism, and more, she learns that growing up can mean being open to a world of new possibilities.
young adult
Wishing Season
After her twin brother Anders dies, Lily must move through her grief and learn how to navigate a world that continues to move forward despite this loss. But she has a secret so extraordinary, so magical, no one would believe that it’s true.
young adult
Wishing Upon the Same Stars
Yasmeen, a Palestinian American girl moves to San Antonio with her family and meets her neighbor, a first-generation Israeli American. As Yasmeen begins to develop her own understandings of home, heritage, and herself, can the two girls learn there’s more that brings them together than might tear them apart and that peace begins with them?
young adult
Yusuf Azeem is Not a Hero
Yusuf Azeem has long awaited the chance to participate in the regional robotics competition. But this year is the twentieth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, an anniversary that has everyone in his Muslim community on edge. Can he hold onto his joy—and his friendships—in the face of heartache and prejudice?
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Facilitation
All groups are facilitated by a Maine Humanities trained facilitator
The heart of Maine Humanities facilitation is building a group's ability to talk and listen to each other in a way that is characterized by curiosity, generosity, and reflection. The facilitators role is not to teach or to share their own expertise on any given topic, but instead to foster meaningful, wide-ranging discussions.
We assign each Book Group a facilitator well suited to your group. For in-person groups facilitators will be within travel distance; for online groups they will be familiar with virtual meetings. Hybrid facilitation is also possible.
Our facilitators have all been through a selection and training process, and have opportunities for ongoing training and support every year. They are deeply committed to their work with Book Groups. We pay our facilitators for their work.
Gathering a Group
Book Groups are small—15 people maximum
The small group size means that the folks who attend will really have a chance to meet and talk with each other—and that hosting offers a genuine opportunity for you to both deepen existing connections and develop new relationships. For most hosts and participants, this is one of the most valuable aspects of the group. Groups work best when they are as convenient and easy as possible for the participants to attend and be part of.
Great hosts have a clear vision for why they want to host a Book Group, who they are intending to gather, and why those people would find it valuable to attend.
A Book Group can be an excellent, low-stakes chance to try out organizational partnership: co-hosting a Book Group can expand both organizations’ visions and draw together people who might not otherwise meet.
Remember that thoughtful collaboration takes time to build towards—conversations about the intent, scope, and work-sharing of a collaboration or partnership should be underway well before you apply.
Apply
Bring a Book Group to your community
Maine Humanities Book Group programs are awarded to organizations and communities all across Maine. Organizations or groups led by and/or serving communities traditionally under-resourced in the humanities are encouraged to apply.
Book Group News
Introducing Book Group
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We Met Our Mellon Match
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Help Us Reach $50,000
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We’re Pausing Two of Our Programs
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