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One book. One month. One goal.
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 OneBookAZ is an exciting program hosted by libraries and other partners across the state. The driving force behind this project is its goal to bring communities together through literature and reading. It encourages communities across the State of Arizona to read the same book and participate in discussion and programs centered on that book during the month of April. There are plans to have a similar program every year with a different book.
The title selected for 2004, the third year of the program is,
Life of Pi by Yann Martel. Life of Pi is a daring, redemptive tale of adventure and survival where the most unusual Pi manages to survive on a lifeboat with a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. When the sixteen-year-old Pi, his family, and a ship-load of animals bound for North American homes sets off from India, the ship sinks. The son of a zookeeper with an encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior, as well as a practicing Hindu, Muslim and Catholic, Pi uses his cunning, his knowledge and fear to co-exist with Richard Parker for 227 days at sea.
A national bestseller in hardcover and in paperback (May, 2003)
Life of Pi continues to fascinate and absorb readers. In addition to winning the 2002 Man Booker Prize,
Life of Pi has also been chosen as a "New York Times Notable Book of 2002," a "Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2002," a "Los Angeles Times Best Fiction Books of 2002"and "Amazon.com's #1 Book of the Year. |
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image reprinted with permission from Harcourt Brace Inc. |
What is a community-wide reading program?
“People can go for days at a time not talking to anyone outside their family. There are precious few opportunities for people with different ethnic backgrounds, economic levels or ages to sit down together and discuss ideas that are important to them. This project provides that
opportunity.”
Nancy Pearl, Director, Washington Center for the Book
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