A selection of books read by Faribault County Reads, including the following, from left to right: Where They Last Saw Her by Marcie R. Rendon, 2025; The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, 2016; The End of the Wild by Nicole Helget, 2021; The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore, 2022; Carolina Moonset by Matt Goldman, 2023; and The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal, 2024.

Faribault County Reads is back for another year, and this year’s novel is bound to be a real page-turner for every book lover. Marcie Rendon’s Where They Last Saw Her is now available to pick up from your local library, and several events are scheduled for the month of April for readers to discuss the book, learn more about the history and sociopolitical issues discussed by the author, and chat with the author herself.

Marcie Rendon is an accomplished Indigenous author, playwright, poet, and freelance writer based out of Minneapolis. A registered member of the White Earth Nation, she is a community arts activist and a speaker for colleges and community groups on Native issues, leadership, and writing.

Perhaps best known for her murder-thriller Cash Blackbear series, Rendon has also released several children’s books (both fiction and nonfiction), a collection of original poetry, and has contributed several short stories and poems to other authors’ collections. The first book in the Cash Blackbear series, Murder on the Red River, was the winner of the 2018 Pinckley Women’s Debut Crime Novel award and was a finalist for the Western Writers of America Spur Award that same year.

Rendon is also head of Raving Native Theater and has collaborated with several other artists on performance art, theater productions, and even lyrics. Her best-known work in the performance medium is FREE Frybread Telethon, a collaborative performance work with music written by Mohican composer Brent Michael Davids.

Rendon was recognized as a 50 over 50 Change-maker by MN AARP and POLLEN in 2018. She was awarded with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by Adler University in December 2020, and became the first Native American woman to recieve the McKnight Foundation’s Distinguished Artist Award, also in 2020.

For readers unsure whether Where They Last Saw Her is right for them, here is a brief synopsis of the book, as quoted from the author’s website:

“Quill has lived on the Red Pine reservation in Minnesota her whole life. She knows what happens to women who look like her. As she trains for the Boston Marathon early one morning out in the woods, she hears a scream. When she returns to search the area, all she finds are tire tracks and a single beaded earring.

When she hears a second woman has been stolen, she is determined to do something about it – starting with investigating the group of men working the pipeline construction just north of their homes.

As Quill closes in on the truth about the missing women, someone else disappears. In her quest to find justice for the women of the reservation, she is confronted with the hard truths of their home and the people who purport to serve them.

As Quill puts everything on the line to make a difference, Where They Last Saw Her asks searing questions about bystander culture, the reverberations of even one act of crime, and the long-lasting trauma of being considered invisible.”

The Faribault County Reads program has been ongoing since the spring of 2015, though it hasn’t always been so widespread. Originally known as Blue Earth Area Reads, the initial version of the program was a three-way effort between the libraries of Blue Earth, Elmore, and Winnebago, but expanded to include all of Faribault County in 2023.

“This is definitely a group effort,” director Heidi Schutt of Blue Earth Community Library says. “This program wouldn’t be as big as it is today without the support of our sister libraries.”

“The Elmore Public Library is excited to join with the other Faribault County libraries in this program,” director Amy Garvick of Elmore Public Library added. “Being a part of the Faribault County Reads program offers new and exciting reads, programs, and events to everyone, regardless of whether they have a library card or not. We hope it encourages people to stop into their local libraries and see what else is available.”

The Faribault County Reads program has explored several books over its years, including both fiction and nonfiction, starting with Orphan Train by Christina Baker-Kline back in 2015. Last year’s choice, The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal, proved to be a particularly popular choice, garnering a large readership across the county and fostering lots of conversation at the various discussion events.

“When we read Wonder by R.J. Palacio in 2018, we had a lot of involvement from the students at the Blue Earth Area schools,” Schutt explained. “The students did a ‘Daily Word of Kindness’ for a whole month in the schools, we had Wonder T-shirts that some of the students purchased, it was very heartwarming.”

When it comes to the process of selecting a book for the program to read, there are several factors that come into discussion. Typically, libraries are looking for books that will go over well with the public, but those don’t always foster the kinds of discussion that the program is looking for within the community. Booking authors that aren’t local to come and visit some of the libraries can also be an issue, so books by Minnesota authors tend to be a running theme. The program also likes to be able to plan other activities around the books that they choose, such as film viewings or a trivia night.

“Speaking for myself, I like to keep a running list of books that I’ve read to bring into discussion with the other librarians that I think might be a good fit for the program,” Schutt says. “We host discussions in the fall and start whittling down the list until we find a book we all agree upon for the program.”

“We also want people to visit all of the libraries in Faribault County and see what they have to offer,” director Nicole Krienke of Muir Library in Winnebago added. “That’s why we try to hold different events at each of the libraries.”

While it’s still much too early to start thinking about books for next year, Schutt shared that she might want to bring another children’s book, like Wonder, into consideration for future years to read.

“I think adults forget that they’re still allowed to read children’s books sometimes,” Schutt admitted. “But they can be an excellent way to foster discussion and talk about issues that don’t come up as often in adult literature. Reading Wonder had a huge impact on our community outside of the program, and I’d love to be able to do something like that again.”

Several events have already been planned for April in anticipation of author Marcie Rendon’s visit to the Blue Earth and Muir libraries on April 22. Discussion nights are planned at the Blue Earth, Wells, and Muir libraries, and there will be film screenings of the short film Voices Unheard by Native Hope followed by discussion sessions held at the Blue Earth, Elmore, and Muir libraries.

“I have found that this event brings people together to share different views and ideas, and fosters a lot of great discussion,” Krienke says. “It helps show people that the Faribault County libraries work together when planning these community events.”

“Faribault County Reads is a celebration of collaboration and community, uniting all of the libraries in Faribault County with the common goal of fostering a love of reading and encouraging meaningful dialogue,” coordinator Betsy Bushlack of Wells Public Library added. “We aim to build connections and inspire curiosity across our community.”

For more information on these upcoming events, stop by your local library and pick up an information pamphlet (and a copy of Where They Last Saw Her) for more details and the April event dates.