Alumni Events
Alumni Book Club
Join Parker’s alumni-only virtual book club!
For 2024–25, we are thrilled to announce that all Alumni Book Club discussions will again be co-facilitated by Upper School English teacher Mike Mahany and Educational Technology Integration Specialist Sarah Beebe! As in the past, Book Club participants are encouraged to log on early to socialize with their fellow alumni before discussion of the book begins.
Parker’s Alumni Book Club was started by alumna Maggi Steib ’84, Upper School English teacher Mike Mahany and former faculty member Bonnie Seebold in 2020. To date, we have read and discussed 18 books together and have had participants spanning more than 70 years of Parker alumni—from the class of 1950 to the class of 2021! You can check out past years’ reading lists below.
For 2024–25, we are thrilled to announce that all Alumni Book Club discussions will again be co-facilitated by Upper School English teacher Mike Mahany and Educational Technology Integration Specialist Sarah Beebe! As in the past, Book Club participants are encouraged to log on early to socialize with their fellow alumni before discussion of the book begins.
We will be meeting via Zoom on the following dates for the 2024–25 school year:
Thursday, October 17 at 7 p.m. CT
Book: James by Percival Everett
Thursday, January 23, 2025 at 7 p.m. CT
Book: TBD
Book: TBD
Thursday, April 24, 2025 at 7 p.m. CT
Book: TBD
If you have any questions, please contact Assistant Director of Alumni Engagement and Giving Julie Alagna (jalagna@fwparker.org) or Director of Development Operations Krista Eckhardt (keckhardt@fwparker.org) in the Alumni Office or give us a call at 773.797.5520.
Previous Book Selections
2023–24 School Year
The Marriage Portrait, Maggie O'Farrell
Tom Lake, Ann Patchett
Prophet Song, Paul Lynch
Tom Lake, Ann Patchett
Prophet Song, Paul Lynch
2022–23 School Year
The Last White Man, Mohsin Hamid
Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan
Liberation Day, George Saunders
Last Summer on State Street: A Novel, Toya Wolfe
True Biz, Sara Novic
2021–22 School Year
The Matrix, Lauren Groff
The Promise, Damon Galgut
The Promise, Damon Galgut
Actress: A Novel, Anne Enright
At Night All Blood Is Black, David Diop
The Women of Troy, Pat Barker
2020–21 School Year
The Nickel Boys, Colson Whitehead
How Much of These Hills Is Gold, C Pam Zhang
Interior Chinatown, Charles Yu
Apeirogon, Colum McCann
Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro
Francis W. Parker School educates students to think and act with empathy, courage and clarity as responsible citizens and leaders in a diverse democratic society and global community.