In February, Salem’s largest book club will tackle wide-ranging topics including identity, financial management and the pros, cons and family stories of at-home DNA testing kits. They’re all relevant to next year’s Salem Reads pick, “Why Didn’t You Tell Me?” a memoir by Carmen Rita Wong. In it the personal finance expert, who is Dominican and Chinese, shares her experience being raised in a vibrant multicultural community in New York before a major cultural shift in moving to Connecticut when her mom marries a white man.Hosted by the Salem Public Library and its foundation, Salem Reads invites the community to read or listen to the same book then participate in related events sharing ideas, stories and art. The book is chosen after a committee selects finalists, and the community votes on what they most want to read.  Sonja Somerville, the library’s programming and outreach supervisor, said Rita Wong’s book offered a bounty of themes to explore next year. The events, starting in February, include a virtual talk with the author who will take questions from the audience. Somerville said the book was “absolutely riveting” and deals with the topic of complicated family relationships. In the book, Rita Wong discovers that her mom had lied about aspects of where she came from.  The title, “Why Didn’t You Tell Me?” is because the author’s mother dies before she can share the full story. “So (Rita Wong) has to, as an adult, go on a new journey to understand who she is because her parenthood is not what it appears,” Somerville said.Somerville said the library’s committee enjoyed the challenge of coming up with a good mix of community events to explore the book’s themes.“You have to go back through the plan and say, ‘Is any of this fun?’ The truth is, a lot of these themes are really serious and they lead down really serious paths. So we deliberately look for ways to explore some of these themes in a way that’s a little bit lighter,” Somerville said.On the more serious side, they’ll have an expert come talk about DNA testing, and the conversations around what happens with genetic information put into a database. For a lighter event, they’ll ask readers to share their personal experiences using the kits.“We’re looking to collect stories about the wild things that they’ve learned from 23andMe, and make that into sort of a performance piece,” she said.  There will be a curated art installation in the Salem Public Library’s main branch in February, in partnership with the Salem Art Association. Artists have until Nov. 15 to submit a proposal for art pieces that interpret the book in their own style. Selected artists will be given a supply budget around $150 to $200.They’re also planning to host a writing contest on the topic of “exploring identity” and the top stories will be published in Press Play Salem.  Rita Wong is a financial expert, has written for the New York Times and for years contributed expertise to cable news including MSNBC, CNN and CBS This Morning. Somerville said the library also plans to explore topics of financial literacy with the events.Every year, the library invites the chosen author to come speak. Authors haven’t been able to come out the past few years, but Somerville said that Rita Wong was very excited to be a part of it next year.“She is not able to travel here, but we are going to have her on a Zoom call,” Somerville said. It will be available to the public, and timed on a Friday so that local high school students can tune in.Somerville said it will start with pre-planned questions to get the conversation going before turning it over to questions from the community.Next year’s events aren’t set on the calendar yet, but Somerville recommends finishing the book by Feb. 1 to participate in everything.There will be a book giveaway on Wednesday, Dec. 4, which will be first come-first serve. There will be 300 copies available for people to take home for free when the library opens at 10 a.m. There will be English and Spanish copies.Somerville said both the English and Spanish audiobooks, available on cloudLibrary using a library card, are well-made. There are also ebook copies available through the Libby app. Salem Reads alternates between fiction and non-fiction, and Somerville said the community seems to get excited about memoirs. The 2023 pick was “Born a Crime” by comedian Trevor Noah.“We’re curious people. We like to look a little bit into somebody else’s life and understand the intricacies of what they’ve gone through, because that sometimes can help us interpret the world as we’re experiencing it,” Somerville said. Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-575-1251. A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. The post Salem Reads 2025 pick looks at family secrets through memoir appeared first on Salem Reporter.