In Good Company

Way back in 1998, Seattle Public Library got the one city, one book concept rolling with their first Seattle Reads selection. Now we've found out that that estimable community reading program has tapped Chris Cleave's Little Bee for their 2011 selection, and we're thrilled that they've done so. Little Bee, as most of you know, was the Santa Monica Citywide Reads 2010 selection and it was a tremendous success for us, and Chris Cleave was a dream to work with. So, to Seattle, we say: Good selection!

And to Chris Cleave we send our heartiest congratulations.

For more on Seattle's program, visit: http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=audience_current_seattlereads

And for Santa Monica Citywide Reads, stay tuned here or visit: http://www.smpl.org/cwr/

Hardcover vs. Paperback: Which Image Do You Prefer?

Which Image Do You Prefer?

Our Citywide Reads pick for 2010, Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s Wench, will soon be released in paperback (we’ll be giving out copies of the paperback starting in late January). The paperback cover, pictured at right, is obviously quite different from the hardcover jacket image, shown at left. Which do you prefer, and why? For those of you who have read the book, which do you think better symbolizes what the book is about? Please leave comments below.

Meet Dolen Perkins-Valdez, our Citywide Reads Author for 2011

If you’d like to get an early start with Santa Monica Citywide Reads this year, take a look at author Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s website http://www.dolenperkinsvaldez.com/. You’ll find images of the Tawawa House resort, a brief biography of the author, a link to an NPR interview with Lynn Neary on NPR's Tell Me More, and plenty more to explore.

Be Part of Santa Monica Citywide Reads 2011

Interested in talking about books? The Library is currently seeking volunteer discussion leaders for the Santa Monica Citywide Reads featured novel Wench, by Dolen Perkins-Valdez. Wench is the story of four slave mistresses in pre-Civil War America.

Volunteers must commit to leading at least one ninety-minute book discussion group, held at various venues throughout Santa Monica, between mid-February and mid-March 2011. Volunteers must also attend one of two discussion leader training sessions, scheduled at the Main Library on Thursday, January 13 at 7:00 pm and Saturday, January 15 at 1:30 pm.

To volunteer and get more details, send an e-mail to libraryprograms@smgov.net or call/leave a message with Library Volunteer Services at 310-458-8646. For more information on Santa Monica Citywide Reads, visit www.smpl.org/cwr.

The Santa Monica Citywide Reads selection for 2011 is...

WENCH by Dolen Perkins-Valdez.

WENCH follows the stories of four slave mistresses – Lizzie, Reenie, Sweet and Mawu – over the course of three summers in pre-Civil War America. Taken by their masters on holiday to Tawawa House, a summer resort in Ohio, the women encounter free blacks and whispers of the abolitionist movement and are forced to consider their lives, their positions back home, and their hopes and dreams for the future. Dolen Perkins-Valdez was inspired to write the novel when she came across a footnote about Tawawa House, a real resort, while researching her own doctoral thesis on slave literature. Wench was borne out of the author’s musings on why, when presented with the possibility of escaping into free land, some slaves would run, while others would choose to stay with their masters.

We're certain that WENCH should be a provocative and discussion-worthy book, and we're looking forward to reading it with all of you.

Santa Monica Citywide Reads 2011 will take place from February 14 through March 12, 2011, and will feature free public book discussion groups led by volunteer facilitators and held in libraries, bookstores, coffeehouses, and other venues throughout the city. Related special events, including an author talk with Dolen Perkins-Valdez, are also being planned. Stay tuned here or visit our website at http://www.smpl.org/cwr to keep up with the schedule as it develops.

Catch the Buzz, Live on TV

Tune in to Santa Monica's CityTV tonight at 7:00pm, for a one-hour, live discussion of our Citywide Reads book, Little Bee by Chris Cleave. This will be the fourth year of bringing the discussion to you live, in your own living room. The program will be hosted by one of our veteran book discussion leaders, Beverly Gray, with guests Max Diamond and Mary Menzel. This year, we'll also be welcoming Barry Kibrick, producer and host of Southern California’s premiere interview program “Between the Lines,” for a special appearance to provide his perspective.

The program will be aired on Santa Monica's CityTV, channel 16. For the first time ever, the program will also be carried live on LA36, cable channel 36 in the City of Los Angeles. If you'd like to participate in the book discussion, please call in with your questions during the 7:00-8:00 p.m. hour at 310-458-4950.

Oh, What a Day!!!

Wow, was it ever a good day today at the Santa Monica Public Library! This afternoon, we welcomed author Chris Cleave to the Main Library's Martin Luther King, Jr. Auditorium, along with more than 150 readers, a pair of talented actresses, and it all added up to a spectacular Citywide Reads event.

Just prior to Chris' appearance, we put on a brief, but very moving staged reading of excerpts from Little Bee, which we called "The Voices of Little Bee." Actress Petal d'Avril Walker gave voice to Little Bee and actress and veteran audiobook reader Rosalyn Landor gave voice to Sarah. The result was fifteen minutes of theater that we think left author Chris Cleave, as well as the audience, both mesmerized and moved. The photo below features Petal, Rosalyn, Library Board President Edward Edwards (who scripted and directed this performance), and Chris Cleave. And we really want to thank Petal, Rosalyn and Edward for all their hard work in putting this unique and very special reading together.

Immediately following the staged reading, we welcomed Chris to the stage to discuss his book and we have a pretty strong feeling that audience members fell head over heels for this charming, gregarious and talented author.

Chris told three stories that inspired his decision to write Little Bee. While in high school, Chris was deeply affected when his school's principal shared a video with students of four young East Berliners risking life and limb to escape to the West. Video of that escape can be seen on Youtube in this German television video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUkimskFJ0w. Chris came away from that screening viewing those asylum seekers as heroes. However, by the time was 22, the world appeared to have changed. That summer, Chris was assigned as a day laborer to work at a newly-opened immigration detention center called Campsfield House near his U.K. home, and spent 3 days learning the stories of the refugees he met there from countries like Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Jamaica. At the time, he was struck by the fact that these asylum seekers were detained in prison-like conditions for indefinite terms, and treated as if they were criminals, when all they had done was flee horrific situations in their home countries. Finally, in 2005, he learned the story of Angolan asylum seeker Manuel Bravo. Bravo's story is a difficult one to hear, but there's a chilling account of it on Britain's Independent newspaper website, which you can reach via this link: http://bit.ly/cN1ai4. Finally prodded by Bravo's tale, Chris began interviewing refugees, doing independent research, and then spent roughly two years writing Little Bee. His intent was to take an unwieldy issue such as immigration and asylum and turn it into an intimate, accessible story that might challenge readers to think about the larger issue. As he pointed out to audience members, Little Bee is not his attempt to offer answers to such a challenging problem, but rather to start a debate.

For anyone who missed Chris' appearance with us, we're very sorry you did. But we definitely welcome you to join in on any one of our five remaining book discussions, or watch us on CityTV (Channel 16 in Santa Monica, and Channel 36 in Los Angeles) this coming Wednesday, February 24 at 7pm as we conduct a live, call-in discussion of the book. We also have a couple more related special events yet to come, including The Art of Storytelling on Saturday, March 6 at 2pm, in which veteran storyteller and artist Michael D. McCarty celebrates Little Bee's claim that even a sad story can be proof "that this storyteller is alive!"

For dates, times and venues for everything we still have in store, check out our resource guide, posted here: http://www.smpl.org/cwr/LITTLE%20BEE.pdf.