Annual Riverside Reads Program Selects Boys of Riverside as Focus of 2025 Event

For the last ten years the Riverside City Library has hosted a community collaborative reading event, Riverside Reads. The book selected each year aims to engage the community though that they participate in the discussions, workshops, and seminars curated by the Library.

This year's book, The Boys of Riverside, by Thomas Fuller, has a particularly local bent. It is the Story of the California School for the Deaf Riverside boys football team and their incredible run of success over the last few years. Like the football team, The book has been tremendously successful, and the story has gained national attention. It was even awarded Book of the Year 2024 by Amazon.

Erin Christmas, Director of the Riverside Library System, shared a bit about the impact of the book and why it makes sense as this year’s Riverside Reads selection. “The Boys of Riverside is a timely story about a local football team and school in our community. We knew this book would be locally, but it's even more exciting to see how popular it's become nationwide.”

The book is now available to pick up for free (while supplies last) at your local library branch. There will be a kickoff event at the La Sierra Senior Center on Saturday, March 15. Author Thomas Fuller and members of the CSDR Football team will be present and available to discuss the book and answer questions.

Throughout the rest of March and April several other events will occur at local library branches that encourage community engagement and discussion about the book. This serves as an opportunity for community engagement, with each other, but specifically to increase awareness of Riverside’s Deaf community, one of the largest in the nation.

A full calendar of Riverside Reads activities and more information about the book and the program can be found on the Riverside Reads website.