Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


The Neighborhood Library Association has announced the selection of its 14th annual Community Reads book - “Chevy in the Hole” by Kelsey Ronan. An event in November will feature Ronan.

In the opening pages of the book, August “Gus” Molloy has just overdosed in a bathroom stall of the Detroit farm-to-table restaurant where he works. Shortly after, he packs it in and returns home to his family in Flint. This latest slip and recommitment to sobriety doesn’t feel too terribly different from the others, until Gus meets Monae, an urban farmer trying to coax a tenuous rebirth from the city’s damaged land. Through her eyes, he sees what might be possible in a city everyone else seems to have forgotten or, worse, given up on. But as they begin dreaming up an oasis together, even the most essential resources can’t be counted on.

Woven throughout their story are the stories of their families—Gus’s white and Monae’s Black—members of which have had their own triumphs and devastating setbacks trying to survive and thrive in Flint. A novel about the things that change over time and the things that don’t, “Chevy in the Hole” is said to remind again and again what people need from one another and from the city they call home.

Author Kelsey Ronan grew up in Flint, Michigan. Her work has appeared in Lit Hub, Michigan Quarterly Review, The Kenyon Review and elsewhere. She lives in Detroit and teaches for InsideOut Literary Arts. Chevy in the Hole is her first novel.

Novi Public Library Director Julie Farkas said “This year’s choice should lend itself to timely, thought-provoking discussions. Librarians from our seven participating libraries meet to discuss many book choices in order to select one that will appeal to our diverse audiences, and we believe that we have made an excellent choice with Chevy in the Hole.”

Participating libraries are Commerce Township Community Library, Lyon Township Public Library, Northville District Library, Novi Public Library, Salem-South Lyon District Library, Walled Lake City Library, and Wixom Public Library.

The event on November 19th is open to the public and free of charge. Registration information is available in the provided link.