Chicago Public Library (CPL) announced that Bedrock Faith by Chicago author Eric Charles May is the 2021 One Book, One Chicago selection. One Book, One Chicago is a free citywide literary program that connects Chicagoans and their communities around a singular chosen text. From September through December 2021, CPL will explore the book and many programs through this season’s central theme “Neighborhoods: Our City’s Bedrock.” Initiated in 2001, One Book, One Chicago celebrates its 20th anniversary this year with this Chicago neighborhood story. Bedrock Faith—May’s 2014 debut novel—starts with Gerald “Stew Pot” Reeves’s return to his close-knit, Black, and middle-class community on Chicago’s South Side after fourteen years in prison. The Parkland community is hesitant to accept him apart from his widowed and retired next-door neighbor, Mrs. Motley, who lends him a Bible as a welcoming gesture. Beneath escalating conflicts between community members lies the heart of the story: how people come together to create a community, develop deep connections, and provide a communal system of support, forgiveness, and understanding. For complete program information and events, visit onebookonechicago.org.