One Book, One Community of Monroe County 2016

All the Light We Cannot See“Time is a slippery thing: lose hold of it once, and its string might sail out of your hands forever.”
– Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See

The One Book, One Community of Monroe County Committee has chosen 2015 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr as this year’s featured book selection.

All the Light We Cannot See transports readers to World War II Europe. Through detailed and engaging storytelling, readers enter the world of Marie Laure, who lives in Paris with her father.  

Blind since the age of 6, young Marie faces extreme challenges when the Germans occupy Paris in June of 1940.   She and her father must flee the city and relocate on the Brittany coast.  

In another world, a young German boy named Werner grows up enthralled by the voices of the radio. He learns to master the building and fixing of radios, a talent that takes him into the brutal military of the Nazis.  He becomes a specialized tracker of the Resistance. 

Doerr’s story illuminates the world of both young protagonists and shows us how, against all odds, people can survive and maintain their humanity.

The New York Times Book Review called All the Light We Cannot See a “vastly entertaining feat of storytelling.”  

Doerr, is a critically acclaimed author, born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio.  In addition to All the Light We Cannot See, he is the author of short story collections, The Shell Collector, and Memory Wall, the memoir, Four Seasons in Rome, and About Grace.  He has received numerous literary recognitions including four O. Henry prizes and the Andrew Carnegie Medal of Excellence in Fiction.    

OBOC Logo Although, One Book, One Community of Monroe County will not be able to bring in the author this year, some great programs are being planned to complement the book choice, including guest speaker Teresa Irish, author of A Thousand Letters Home, which is based on her father’s World War II correspondence.  All events are free to the community.  Community members can meet Teresa Irish on March 23, 2016 at a community talk and book signing at the Monroe County Community College La-Z-Boy Center.

The One Book, One Community of Monroe County companion reads selected for elementary/middle school readers are Anne Frank:  Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank and Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. The teen reader selections are The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and The Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow. The picture book selections are Dreaming Up by Christy Haleand The Black Book of Colors by Menena Cottin and Rosana Faria. 

There will be a series of community events planned around the themes in All the Light We Cannot See.  The full slate of One Book, One Community of Monroe County events runs from March 14 to April 9, 2016.  All events are free to the community.  Watch the Monroe News newspaper and this website for more details about the books selected and to follow the various events as they develop. 

The Foundation at Monroe County Community College
Monroe County Community College
Monroe County Library System
Monroe Publishing Company - Monroe News

BAM!
The Foundation at Monroe County Community College
Leski Insurance Agency, LLC
Monroe County Library System 
Siena Heights University

The Agora
Altrusa International
Diversity Committee of Monroe County Community College
Friends of One Book, One Community
Monroe County Historical Museum
United Way of Monroe County

Airport Community Schools
Monroe High School
Saint Mary Catholic Central High School

Michael W. Barton
Jeffrey and Teresa Beamsley
Nancy Bellaire
Joseph and Peggy Bellino
Mary J. Bullard
H. Douglas Chaffin and Diane M. Chaffin
Donna Cherba
Lori Jo Couch
Liz Cunningham
James DeVries
Robert Delker
Timothy J. Dillon
Penny Dorcey 
Brian Egen
Amy Eisenman
Bonnie Finzel-Doster
Friends of Maybee Library
Amanda Gipson
Globe Dental Lab
Grace Lutheran Church Basketball League
Mary Kay Hamilton
Beverly Hammerstrom
James and Susan Heisler
Jadin Howton
Ida Branch Library
James Jacobs
Joseph Janssen
John and Cheryl Johnston
Glori Jonkman
Annette and Gary Kiebler
Terri Kovach
Suzanne Krueger
Linda Lauer
Phillip LaVoy
William and Michelle LaVoy
Robert and Elizabeth Leski
Laura Loveland
Vincent and Joanna Maltese
William McCloskey
William and Floreine Mentel
Michael Mieden
Kenneth and Susan Miller
Richard Montcalm
Carrie Nartker
Wilma Nartker
Dr. Patrick S. Nedry and Carol A. Nedry in memory of Michael v. Nedry
Carole Nolan
Ann Orwin
John and Marilyn Raymond
David Reiman
Arthur Robertson
Stephanie Rubley 
Charles and Joanna Sabo
Patricia L.  Schooley
Eric and Heather Slough
Marcia A. Spence
Mary A. Steinhauser
Lloyd and Mary Strevel
Bonnie Thompson
Douglas and Martha Thompson
Jessica Thompson
Lela Wadlin and Roger Olson
Karen Younglove
Tammy Yount

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One Book, One Community of Monroe County

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