No Need to Read Alone

One book shared by communities large and small enriches literary experience

by Claire Rogers

Children were armed with pointed questions for Cynthia Kadohata, author of Weedflower. Kadohata had just finished her presentation on her life as a writer, and judging from the keen questions, the young fans sounded like they had some experience with writing.

“How do you deal with writer’s block?”

Kadohata said she goes back to her sources, some of whom she had already interviewed 20 times, for a fresh perspective.

“What age were you when you realized you wanted to become a writer?”

She was just going into college, about 18, when she knew she wanted to write.

“Do you have any tips for writers?”

“Yes,” said Kadohata. “Be persistent.”

“What do you do when you write yourself into a hole?”

The question came from a student writer seemingly seasoned beyond her tender years. First Kadohata praised her trusted editor and said she turns the manuscript over for the editor to review.

“Is it hard to write a book?”

“Yes.”

The award-winning author had much to share with her eager young audience. Her newest book is Cracker! The Best Dog in Vietnam, and her first children’s book, Kira-Kira, won the Newbery Medal.

Weedflower is the 2007 selection for the children’s ONEBOOKAZ for Kids program, administered by the Arizona State Library. Children all over Arizona are reading the story of a developing friendship between a Japanese-American girl and a Navajo boy, forced together in a World War II internment camp in Arizona.

Kadohata was inspired to write Weedflower to share the upheaval thousands of Japanese-Americans endured when they were relocated to inland camps because they were perceived as a security risk. Though her own father was uprooted, he didn’t talk much about his life in the camp, and Kadohata used many other sources for her book.

The Pima County Public Library planned the author’s book-signing event, which included Japanese dancing, drumming, and hands-on origami—all served up with rice crackers and green tea.

The setting for Kadohata’s book was the internment camp at Poston, near Parker, Arizona. As part of her tour around the state, the author made a special presentation to the Parker Unified School District’s fourth- through eighth-grade classes.

Developed in 2002, The ONEBOOKAZ program is modeled after the Washington Center for the Book’s “If All of Seattle Read the Same Book” program, which started in 1998. The initial goals of ONEBOOKAZ were to celebrate literature; to foster a sense of community through a shared experience; to bring people together through events; and to nurture partnerships between libraries, museums, schools, the media, vendors, and the public. Now, the program is adding one more goal.

In preparation for the countdown to Arizona’s Centennial in 2012, ONEBOOKAZ will focus on the state’s heritage.

“This year we are eager to get Arizonans geared up for the state centennial in 2012. From now until 2012, all the ONEBOOKS for adults and kids will center on Arizona topics and themes,” said Sarah Weber, ONEBOOKAZ coordinator. “This added Arizona focus is an increased buy-in from the citizens of our state because these books will be about their home and topics that they hopefully can relate to or learn more about.”

For example, in choosing Weedflower, Weber pointed out, “Cynthia Kadohata is a Newbery award-winning author and is already very well known, but to have her book set mostly in Arizona and also talk about a sensitive topic in American history that is not acknowledged often enough really embodied what ONEBOOKAZ is all about.”

“Many people don’t know that Arizona was home to several internment camps. They also don’t know that those camps were placed on Native American reservations. Her book offers a wonderful literary experience but also gives a lesson in Arizona history,” Weber said.“It’s a way to help people learn about and better relate to the place they call home.”

The adult ONEBOOKAZ chosen for 2007 is Going Back to Bisbee by Richard Shelton. This lyrical look at southern Arizona is as much about geography as it is a personal memoir. Shelton is a longtime resident of southern Arizona and an English professor at the University of Arizona.

This year, ONEBOOKAZ Arizonans will have the opportunity to vote online for the final selection. The committee selected four nominees in November for the public to cast two votes: one for fiction and one for nonfiction.

The events in April and May include a kickoff book festival, author presentations and book signings, media interviews, workshops, and book discussion groups.

Seattle Reads

Now named Seattle Reads, Washington Center for the Book’s Seattle “one book” program has also expanded since its beginning in 1998. The cofounder and program manager of “If All of Seattle Read the Same Book,” Christine Higashi of the Seattle Public Library, said the idea is constantly improving.

“Over the past nine years, Seattle Reads has evolved from a library literary program to a series involving other art forms, such as film, theater, an original musical, and a historical exhibit, and one that reaches out to Seattle’s cultural/ethnic communities.”

Since the inception of the program in Seattle by Higashi and Book Lust author Nancy Pearl, who is generally credited with conceiving the one book concept, other jurisdictions have adopted the concept and adapted it to fit indigenous interests. The Seattle Reads goal is to celebrate diversity, and this year’s choice is The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri.

To reflect diversity, Seattle Reads has taken a progressive approach to capturing the interests of a broad band of the community.

“We’ve done our materials bilingually and offered books in both English and Spanish. We’ve incorporated family programs for children and encouraged children’s librarians to devote one or more monthly story times to a children’s work that is related to the Seattle Reads title,” said Higashi. She added that a community advisory group is developed each year, specific to the featured work, which helps to engage new communities, provide speakers, and host other related events.

“The Seattle Public Library has identified as a priority serving Seattle’s immigrant and refugee communities with programs and services,” said Higashi. “Thus, my guess is that we will continue to focus on works by authors of diverse cultures and ethnicities,” she said when asked about the future of the program.

The Big Read

The Big Read is a similar “one book” program sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. A survey by the NEA found that, among other trends, literary reading is declining among all age groups and the steepest decline is in the youngest age groups. The Big Read was launched in 2006 in response.

The inaugural phase of the program included four classic book choices for communities to select: The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald; Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury; Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston; and To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee.

During the first half of 2006, 10 communities took part in the pilot program through grants from the NEA. The second round, which concluded in June, had more than 70 communities selecting one of 12 American classics. Communities are eligible to participate in the second half of 2007 as well.

Those communities receiving a grant also receive reader guides, teacher guides, audio commentaries, and pro-motion materials. A website provides further tracking and implementation assistance.

As more supplementary guide materials are developed, more classics will be added to the selection each year.

The future

As competition for readers’ attention increases, literary reading will survive with the help of creative pro-fessionals who integrate multidimensional experiences into their “one book” programs. Higashi looks forward to the likelihood that supporting programs and events will change and grow organically, and will cross arts disciplines where appropriate. “That has been most exciting,” said Higashi.

Claire Rogers is a freelance writer based in Tucson, Arizona.

How to organize a community one book program

With input from several successful community one book programs, the American Library Association’s Public Programs Office has developed a comprehensive CD how-to kit for people organizing community reading programs. Highly recommended by Higashi and others, it contains a compendium of resources for getting started. Order it from the ALA store or search Google for “ALA One Book resources.”

How to choose “one book”

Some questions excerpted from HarperCollins community reading event planner:

Does the book raise universal social issues that are relevant to the community?

Is the book’s content appropriate for adults and young adults?

Is the author available to participate in events?

Are other adaptations of the book available, such as film, theater, or audio book, to lend a multimedia dimension to the series?

Is the book widely available in the library system and local bookstores?

Are translations of the book available if your community is multilingual?

“One Book” books

These books have been selected by 10 communities or more for a “one book” reading program, according to The Center for the Book at the Library of Congress:

Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich

Peace Like a River by Leif Enger

A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Plainsong by Kent Haruf

Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Pay It Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Giver by Lois Lowry