Book News - Nov 2025

‘THE HOUSE ON RONDO’ book released
Author Debra J. Stone celebrates the publication of her new middle grade novel, “The House on Rondo.” Rooted in the lived histories of Minnesota’s Black communities, “The House on Rondo” offers a deeply personal window into the destruction of a thriving neighborhood through the eyes of a young Black girl coming of age during an era of national civil rights protests. As Zenobia joins forces with her neighbor, the unforgettable former cowgirl Mrs. Ruby Pearl, to fight against the demolition of her grandparents’ home to make way for the new interstate highway, readers witness not just the heartbreak of displacement but also the power of community, protest, and memory.

FORMER HAMLINE PROFESSOR’S NEW BOOK
James Francisco Bonilla has released his new memoir, “An Eye for an I: Growing Up with Blindness, Bigotry, and Family Mental Illness.” Bonilla is a New York–born Puerto Rican writer and retired professor of Hamline University in St. Paul. He has written and presented on diversity, cultural competence, and leadership, especially on how to diversify environmental organizations.