Nina LaCour's Great Migration novel, Meet Me in the Garden

Nina LaCour at Local Economy in Oakland

On Tuesday, August 18, Nina LaCour comes to Local Economy in Oakland for a 6:00 pm reading and conversation around Meet Me in the Garden, her new novel about a New Orleans Creole family making its way to the West Coast during the Great Migration.

LaCour is well known for her young adult and children’s books, but this one looks closely at family memory, movement, and the mid century West. She drew from her own family story and archives, which gives the book a grounded, personal feel.

There is also a nice East Bay thread here. LaCour once worked at Diesel on College Ave, the shop that came before East Bay Booksellers. So this event has a bit of local book world history tucked inside it.

Local Economy should be a good fit for this kind of evening. Expect a warm Oakland room, a crowd that likes books, and a conversation that will likely move between fiction, family records, New Orleans, California, and what we carry with us when we move.

The event runs until 7:30 pm, which leaves time afterward to grab a bite nearby or keep talking about the book on the sidewalk, as Oakland readers tend to do.

Nina LaCour is best known as a YA and children’s author, but in this novel, Meet Me in the Garden, she dives deep into the Great Migration, telling the story of a New Orleans Creole family’s move to the West Coast. She drew on her own family’s story and archives to recreate the mid-century world of the book. It’s already being hailed as a “masterpiece” and drawing lots of buzz.
LaCour has a special connection to East Bay Booksellers, too, as she used to work at Diesel, EBB’s predecessor on College Ave.