Reading with the IRRC
Join us in exploring and understanding the world through the stories of newcomers!
2025 Community Read Book Reveal: The Immigrant Advantage & In Our Garden
Has your family or community passed down customs around thrift, resilience, mutual care, or shared responsibility? Are there stories or practices—spoken or unspoken—that have helped you navigate challenges, support others, or thrive through uncertainty? Have traditions traveled across generations that position you to answer this question:
"What’s the smartest habit you’ve got that others could learn from?"
If that question intrigues you, we invite you to join the IRRC’s 2025 Summer Community Read
featuring: The Immigrant Advantage by Claudia
Kolker and/or In Our Garden by Pat Zietlow Miller.
These powerful books—one narrative nonfiction for teens and adults, the other a beautifully illustrated children’s book—celebrate the strengths and wisdom that communities bring with them and nurture. They highlight how traditions enrich lives, strengthen neighborhoods, and create new possibilities.
We encourage everyone in our community to read these books this summer—on your own, with family, in classrooms, or with book clubs—and join us in reflection, dialogue, and connection. Whether you’re new to Greater Lansing or your roots run deep here, your voice matters.
Join Us!
This summer, the Immigrant and Refugee Resource Collaborative (IRRC) invites you to read and share two inspiring books - on your own, with a friend, in a book club, at work, in places of worship, or with your family and neighbors.
Teen & Adult Pick:
The Immigrant Advantage: What We Can Learn from Newcomers to America about Health, Happiness, and Hope by Claudia Kolker
Children’s Pick:
In Our Garden by Pat Zietlow Miller: A heartwarming story of belonging, growth, and kindness.
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REQUEST YOUR
Includes discussion questions, welcoming tips, classroom resources, and more.
2024 Book Club look back
During our Summer 2024 Community Read we enjoyed When Stars are Scattered, by Omar Mohamed and Victoria Jamieson. Click here to explore highlights!
Reading Throughout the year: Global Voices Book Circle
The IRRC Book Circle meets throughout the year to explore stories of refugees and immigrants. Through shared reading and discussion, we highlight the small and significant acts of welcome that transform lives, deepen empathy, and inspire action in both arriving and receiving communities.