Attention Book Lovers: Thorns and Tropes Community Prom Coming June 6
By Brooklyn Cady
Escapism is the pursuit of knowledge or personal growth. There are many things someone might search for in a book. For three local women sitting in Somewhere in Time Bookstore in Webb City, Missouri, they found community, a platform and a prom.
“It started in 2023 with me and Morgan (Evans) and one other girl. She decided to leave, and that’s okay,” said Kayla Burton, co-founder and administrator of the online book club. “It (the book club) started as Shelf Indulgence and as we grew and evolved into more of a community base, it became the Spine Society. When we opened it up outside of the original group, it went from three followers to six and now we have 300.”
Even as they were just starting out, the clear purpose of the group was creating a sense of community.
“It was just a group of book girlies that wanted to read and discuss books,” said Hailey Kester, one of the club’s admins.
“We kind of invited more of our closer personal friends that we knew, just to branch out that way. As we got bigger, we saw more interest within the community and we just decided with everything you see on social media, it’s always something negative, so we’re trying to push more positive,” said Hailey.
The benefit of diversity in a community of readers is the ability to explore, to learn and to indulge in something new.
“We have a wide variety of readers,” said Hailey. “We have Laura, who reads religious books and more PG, and we have some admins and other readers who read the very not-PG books. We have a few members who only read Sci-Fi. Morgan has a good variety, but Kayla and I have been trying to branch out into different things. I’ve been trying to get into the fantasy and that kind of stuff because I have not read any of those and have not been able to get into the ones I have.”
The point of creating a digital community of readers was to give people the chance to enjoy their hobby with others online. Over time, admin and followers began to find ways to immerse themselves and connect with others in person as well.
“My favorite event would probably be the Valentine’s Murder Mystery event we did and Christmas,” said Hailey. “The Christmas party was really fun. The Murder Mystery dinner everybody got into character. The only specific role I picked was for the victim. One question was how dramatic did I want her to be, so it was very cool to see everyone in character. Everybody dressed so nice. It was very interactive and fun.”
The next big event the group has been preparing for is the upcoming community prom, Thorns and Tropes, which will take place June 6, 2026, at 5:30 p.m.
“We’re going to have tattoos. Maple Leaf City Tattoo is going to come up with theme-specific Thorns and Tropes flash sheets for us and they are going to have their entire shop there,” said Kayla. “Social Sip is also going to be there.”
While The Social Sip Mobile Bartending will be serving alcohol, the prom will still be a family-friendly event.
”There are going to be other refreshments as well, and we wanted to make it kid friendly because it is community-based and a lot of the community has kids. We want to make sure that people can’t go because they can’t find a babysitter. Reading is for everybody and fun events are for everybody,” said Hailey.
Because this is a family-friendly event, there are several activities the group has prepared to make sure the kids who attend will have fun.
“Dancing. I’m going to have light sticks, glow sticks, there’s going to be a photo booth because we do have a girl on the prom committee who owns a photo booth,” said Kayla.
Family-friendly may not usually be the first words that come to mind when thinking about prom, but dresses and corsages certainly do. With that said, what does one wear to a book club prom? Elf ears or an evening gown?
“Honestly, whatever they feel like they vibe with the event; if they want to dress like a fairy, dress like a fairy. If they want to wear a big, beautiful ballgown, wear a big beautiful ballgown,” said Hailey.
So, it’s fair to say the answer is both: the elf ears and the evening gown.
“I didn’t go to prom,” said Kayla. “So, I’m going to take this opportunity and I want everyone to take this opportunity to show up and show out.”
This event is truly a gift for a community of readers from a community of readers. While the ladies from Spine Society have been working hard to make Thorns and Tropes a reality, they are able to do so with the support of their sponsors–Somewhere in Time Bookshop in Webb City, BookTok at Always Buying Books on North Main in Joplin, Missouri, and The Book Guy on 15th Street in Joplin.
“Those are the only sponsors we have at the moment, so the rest is fully funded by our raffles and different events with the cover fees and from our pockets.” said Hailey
While there are many local events like prom in the works, the group has stayed true to their roots by keeping things online so everyone can enjoy together.
“One of the things we want to do is to go live and have people come read with us so we can keep an open discussion while we’re reading,” said Kayla. “We’re learning to use TikTok so that we can branch out there because that’s the best way to be discovered right now. Our Discord server helps for those who aren’t big into Facebook. So, we have a few different platforms.”
Whether or not you read with them, the ladies from Spine Society just hope you read.
“Every story is different and you’re transported into that world the author made, and that’s pretty cool. It just gives you an escape,” said Morgan.
Thorns and Tropes:
June 6, 2026, 5:30-9 p.m. at Adeline Acres, 27725 Locust Rd., Carl Junction, Missouri
Adults 18+: $30; ages 6-17: $10
Occasional sales for the tickets; for those following Spine Line (What umbrella’s the Spine Society–Their Etsy shop) they’re on sale there and on the book club. Members do get special sales and early privilege.
