CALENDAR OF EVENTS OF EVENTS CALENDAR FEBRUARY 2 — MARCH 30, 2016 2 — MARCH 30, FEBRUARY EIGHT INSPIRED WEEKS OF DISCUSSIONS, PERFORMANCES, AND FILMS 2016 FEATURED TITLES FEATURED 2016 WELCOME 2016 FEATURED TITLES pg 2 WELCOME FROM THE CHAIR pg 3 YOUTH COMPANION BOOKS pg 4 ADDITIONAL READING SUGGESTIONS pg 5 DISCUSSION GROUPS AND QUESTIONS pg 6-7 FILM SCREENINGS pg 8-9 GENERAL EVENTS pg 10 EVENTS FOR CHILDREN, TEENS, AND FAMILIES pg 21 COMMUNITY PARTNERS pg 27 SPONSORS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS pg 30 The centerpiece of 2016 One Book, One Philadelphia is author Charles Frazier’s historical novel Cold Mountain. Set at the end of the Civil War, Cold Mountain tells the heartrending story of Inman, a wounded Confederate soldier who walks away from the horrors of war to return home to his beloved, Ada. Cold Mountain BY CHARLES FRAZIER His perilous journey through the war-ravaged landscape of North Carolina Cold Mountain made publishing history when it topped the interweaves with Ada’s struggles to maintain her father’s farm as she awaits New York Times bestseller list for 61 weeks and sold 3 million Inman’s return. A compelling love story beats at the heart of Cold Mountain, copies. A richly detailed American epic, it is the story of a Civil propelling the action and keeping readers anxiously turning pages. War soldier journeying through a divided country to return Critics have praised Cold Mountain for its lyrical language, its reverential to the woman he loves, while she struggles to maintain her descriptions of the Southern landscape, and its powerful storytelling that dramatizes father’s farm and make sense of a new and troubling world. the utter devastation of war. Winner of the National Book Award, Cold Mountain Born in Asheville, North Carolina, Dr. Charles Frazier is the has been recognized as a great work of literature—an American odyssey. author of Cold Mountain, Thirteen Moons, and Nightwoods. His novel Cold Mountain won the 1997 National Book Award and For our 14th year, One Book, One Philadelphia will once again present a rich is based on stories passed down from Frazier’s father about his variety of events to supplement and enhance the reading experience. With great-great-uncle William Pinkney Inman, a Civil War soldier. Cold Mountain at its core, our 2016 program will be supplemented by two adult Cold Mountain has been adapted into a feature film as well as companion books and one opera: The Civil War, by Geoffrey Ward with Ric an original opera by Jennifer Higdon and Gene Scheer. Charles Burns and Ken Burns, will provide historical context; Twelve Years a Slave, a Frazier lives with his wife, Katherine, and they have an adult memoir by Solomon Northup, will shed light on the horrific reality of slavery; daughter, Annie. and Jennifer Higdon and Gene Scheer’s opera Cold Mountain, premiering in Philadelphia during One Book’s February kickoff, will offer a gorgeous musical expression inspired by Charles Frazier’s masterpiece. The Civil War BY GEOFFREY WARD WITH RIC BURNS AND KEN BURNS Once again, One Book, One Philadelphia will celebrate and embrace the rich diversity and common humanity of everyone who lives in our community, this Written to accompany the acclaimed PBS documentary, year focusing on our country’s common heritage, the American Civil War: The Civil War gives breadth of knowledge to events its causes, its aftermath, and its roots in slavery. One Book is proud that our precipitating the war, decisive battles and those who fought reading selections will generate original writing, music, and art as well as them, and emancipation. With essays by the foremost thoughtful inquiry, reflection, and conversation. We are thrilled that Charles historians of the era, it is a comprehensive view of America’s Frazier will impact Philadelphia both through his masterful writing and his most transformative conflict. Geoffrey Ward is an editor, many personal appearances. a historian, and the winner of seven Emmy Awards. Ken Burns’ documentaries have been nominated for two As we begin our 14th year, One Book, One Philadelphia thanks the many Academy Awards and have won four Emmy Awards. thousands of donors, volunteers, community partners, library personnel, Ric Burns is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker. and readers in Philadelphia who from our inception have provided generous support, encouragement, and enthusiastic participation in our region-wide book club, enabling our program to thrive and become a favorite tradition. A special Twelve Years a Slave BY SOLOMON NORTHUP thank you to the many institutions and individuals who have given their time, Brought to life as an Academy Award-winning film, Twelve expertise, and creativity to develop programs that add depth and breadth to our Years a Slave is the narrative of Solomon Northup, a free shared reading and programming experience. We look forward to a long future in black man living in New York who was kidnapped and sold which everyone in Philadelphia will be reading, growing, and learning together. into slavery. Northup describes his journey from being a freeman to being enslaved, and his return to freedom and family. A farmer and musician, Northup was born in 1808 in Minerva, New York. After his return from slavery in 1853, he Marie Field lectured on abolitionist circuits. 2 Chair, One Book, One Philadelphia 3 YOUTH COMPANION BOOKS COMPANION YOUTH ADDITIONAL READING SUGGESTIONS Sounder BY WILLIAM H. ARMSTRONG FICTION This Newbery Medal-winning novel tells the story of poor The Price of a Child BY LORENE CARY Southern sharecroppers and their dog, Sounder. When a father Ginnie Pryor is a cook, mistress, and enslaved servant to a Virginia planter. She must resort to desperate measures to feed his children, he escapes to Philadelphia in 1855, but while she constructs a new life for herself, she is faces dangerous consequences. Faithful Sounder protects the haunted by the child she left behind. This novel, which was the inaugural One Book, family in his absence, as the oldest son embarks on an odyssey One Philadelphia featured selection, examines the true costs of slavery and freedom. to redeem his father’s sacrifice. Sounder was drawn from the stories told by Charles Jones, a black schoolteacher who worked The Good Lord Bird BY JAMES MCBRIDE for author William H. Armstrong’s father. Of Sounder, in which In 1857, young Henry Shackleford passes as a girl to escape from slavery and is taken the human characters are not given names, Armstrong wrote, under the wing of John Brown, the famous abolitionist. Over the next two years, Henry, “With names they would represent one family. Without names nicknamed Little Onion, watches history unfold and witnesses the raid on Harper’s they become universal—representing all people who suffer Ferry, West Virginia, which became a catalyst for the Civil War. Skillfully blending fact privation and injustice, but through love, self-respect, devotion, and fiction, The Good Lord Bird is the National Book Award-winning novel by James and desire for improvement, make it in the world.” Armstrong McBride, the 2004 One Book, One Philadelphia featured author. died in 1999 at the age of 87. NONFICTION Show Way BY JACQUELINE WOODSON Emilie Davis’s Civil War: The Diaries A seven-year-old enslaved girl, torn from her family, has just of a Free Black Woman in Philadelphia, 1863–1865 fabric and needles to take with her. She grows up, learns to EDITED BY JUDITH GIESBERG sew, and creates Show Ways—beautiful quilts with codes A free African American woman living in Philadelphia during the Civil War, Emilie Davis that are maps of the Underground Railroad. Her daughter worked as a seamstress, was an active member of her school and church, and wrote and the generations of daughters thereafter live through in her diary almost daily. Her writings show both her involvement in a vibrant black slavery and freedom, Reconstruction, and the Civil Rights community and her reactions to historical events as they unfolded. era, passing along their knowledge and their love. Jacqueline Woodson is the author of more than 30 books for children Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era BY JAMES MCPHERSON and young adults. Her works have received numerous A Pulitzer Prize-winning, comprehensive one-volume history of the Civil War by one awards, including the Coretta Scott King Award, a Caldecott of its most notable scholars, Battle Cry of Freedom covers events and policies that Honor, and a Newbery Honor Medal. She won the National led to this pivotal conflict and those that shaped the war’s outcome. Publishers Book Award in 2014 for her novel Brown Girl Dreaming. Weekly hails this text as one that “vivifies, with palpable immediacy, scholarly acumen and interpretive skill, events foreshadowing the conflict, the war itself and its basic issue: slavery.” FOR TEENS AND CHILDREN Lincoln: A Photobiography BY RUSSELL FREEDMAN With compelling photographs and accessible text, Lincoln: A Photobiography shares a comprehensive view of Abraham Lincoln’s life and offers an enlightening glimpse of the Civil War, events leading up to it, important battles, and the issue of slavery, as ENHANCE YOUR READING EXPERIENCE BY well as everyday life during this time period. VISITING THE ONLINE ONE BOOK RESOURCE GUIDE AT FREELIBRARY.ORG/ONEBOOK. Pink and Say BY PATRICIA POLACCO THERE YOU’LL FIND ADDITIONAL BOOK Beloved children’s book author Patricia Polacco based this book on a story passed AND FILM SUGGESTIONS, DISCUSSION down through her family for generations. Two boys, one black and one white, QUESTIONS FOR THE COMPANION abandon the Civil War battlefield but are forced to make a difficult decision. Pink and SELECTIONS, AND MORE! Say is the story of friendship, family, and courage.