About The Book Club:

Welcome to The Poder Circle Book Club—a quarterly, themed book club that aims to spark and facilitate important discussion around our shared experiences, our unique stories, and the issues that affect our comunidad. As Poderistas, we want to show the world that libros by Latinas matter—that our words have Poder. As people, we come from a long tradition of storytellers whose words have sparked movements. We honor that tradition by uplifting Latina voices, deepening our understanding of the Latinx experience, facilitating discussion, and inspiring action through words with impact. 

 

What To Expect:

There is no cost to join, all you have to do is subscribe to The Poder Circle Book Club list! Once signed up, you’ll receive:

  • bi-monthly Poder Circle Book Club emails
  • Exclusive Poder Circle Book Club content
  • Invitations to private events including virtual discussions with authors & the Poder Circle community
  • Quarterly discussion guides
  • Plus surprise appearances, giveaways y más

The theme of The Poder Circle Book Club is:

The Power of Escape

This quarter, the Poder Circle Book Club is all about The Power of Escape. Escape can mean a lot of things. A getaway. A break from expectations. A chance to start over. But escape isn’t always simple. It can set us free, or it can leave us more tangled than before.

Escape can look like chasing reinvention, stepping away from loss, or carving out space to dream when the world feels heavy. It’s about what we carry with us when we leave, what we discover in the pause, and how we come back changed.

Join us as we explore stories that ask why we yearn to escape and what we find when we do. One page at a time, we’ll reflect on the freedom, the risks, and the possibilities that come with stepping away.

The Featured Selection

As we explore the theme of The Power of Escape, we can’t think of a better book to read together than:

About The Grand Paloma Hotel

The Grand Paloma Resort is a lush paradise in the Dominican Republic where the guests enjoy incredible luxury, and the staff is always eager to please—that is, until they are pushed to the brink.

Laura is a local Dominican woman who, through sheer hard work, has risen through the ranks to become manager at the Grand Paloma Resort. Her idea to pair a “platinum” guest with their own resort employee to attend to their every whim has been wildly successful, and she’s just weeks away from a promotion that could blaze a path for her off the resort and toward a life of opportunity. If only her younger sister, Elena—who she’s looked after since the death of their mother—could get with the program.

Elena has tried to live up to her sister’s expectations, but to escape the drudgery of waiting on rich tourists, she’s become increasingly dependent on pills and partying. As a babysitter at the resort, she’s at the beck and call of guests who are indulging their worst impulses and need someone else to watch their kids while they do so. Now, after an accident, a child left in her charge is believed dead, and Elena knows she’ll be held responsible.

When Elena runs into the child’s father at a nearby beachfront watering hole, he offers her an obscene amount of money for private time with two young local girls. Elena pockets the cash to fund her escape and prays she’s gotten the girls out of harm’s way. But then the girls are reported missing.

Set over the course of seven days, The Grand Paloma Resort offers an unforgettable story of class, family, and community, building to an intense climax in which the true costs of luxury are laid bare, redeemed only by true acts of love.

“With compelling characters and a narrative that steals your breath from the first page, Natera offers an unforgettable, unexpected story that will upend readers assumptions about power, pleasure and moral salvation.” — Xochitl Gonzalez, Pulitzer Prize Finalist & New York Times bestselling author of Olga Dies Dreaming & Anita de Monte Laughs Last
About the author Cleyvis Natera Cleyvis Natera is the author of Neruda on the Park. She was born in the Dominican Republic, migrated to the United States at ten years old, and grew up in New York City. She holds a BA from Skidmore College and a MFA from New York University. Her writing has won awards and fellowships from the International Latino Book Awards, PEN America, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, The Kenyon Review’s Writers Workshops, the Vermont Studio Center, the Hermitage Artist Retreat, Rowland Writers Retreat, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She is currently a Fulbright Specialist. She lives with her husband and two young children in Montclair, New Jersey. The Grand Paloma Resort is her second novel. Learn More
“Fast-paced and richly rendered, this is a narrative that unflinchingly reveals the most intimate desires—altruistic and otherwise— of some of the Dominican Republic’s most vulnerable workers, the tourists who visit the resorts to fulfill their every fantasy, and the multitude of everyday people found somewhere in between." — Elizabeth Acevedo, National Book Award Winner and New York Times Bestselling Author of The Poet X

Accessibility

We understand that times are tough for many and joining a book club is sometimes not within your budget. Poderistas wants to ensure we can make The Poder Circle Book Club accessible to amigas who have a financial need. To honor this, we have reserved a limited amount of books that are available on a first-come, first-served basis for those who have a need. Please email hola@poderistas.com with the email subject ‘Book Club Accessibility’ to request a copy. In your email, please include your name, mailing information, and the book you’re interested in.

Deep Dive

After reading our featured book, keep exploring the Poder Circle quarterly theme of The Power of Escape with a curated selection of works created by Latinas coming soon!