Future+books+for+OBOH

__The Color of Water__ by James McBride James McBride is a black man and the son of an amazing white women. James' mother was born in Poland, the daughter of a rabbi. As a young girl, she moved to the southern part of the United States where her family struggled to survive. James' mother later fled the South, moved to Harlem, married a black man, founded a Baptist Church, and put twelve children through college.

This story covers issues of race, religion, identifty, family and strongly emphasizes the value of an education.

Information about James McBride can be found at [|www.jamesmcbride.com]. Contact informaiton includes who to contact for interviews, publicity, personal appearances, lectures and concerts. I first learned of this book through Dr. Ender. I believe he has some connection to James McBride or heard him in person - not sure but believe that James McBride regularly makes personal appearances.

[|Scratch Beginnings] by Adam Shepard (submitted by student Peter Facklis, November 2011)

Suggested titles from Jacque Mott (Sustainability theme) Dirt by William Bryant Logan (also a movie) Dumping in Dixie by Robert Bullard A Return to Common Sense by John Ikerd Hunting for Hope by Sanderson Ecological Ethics by P. Curry Stuff: The Secret Life of Everyday Things by Alan Durning Crow Planet by Lyanda Haupt Surburban Wild by Peter Friederici

//**The Book Thief**// by Marcus Zusak From Amazon.com: It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery...

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.


 * This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.**


 * If we are looking for a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the titles below are what we must choose from:**

//In the Time of the Butterflies// by Julia Alvarez //Bless Me, Ultima// by Rudolfo Anaya //Fahrenheit 451// by Ray Bradbury //My Ántonia// by Willa Cather //Love Medicine// by Louise Erdrich //The Great Gatsby// by F. Scott Fitzgerald //A Lesson Before Dying// by Ernest J. Gaines //The Maltese Falcon// by Dashiell Hammett //A Farewell to Arms// by Ernest Hemingway //Sun, Stone, and Shadows: 20 Great Mexican Short Stories// edited by Jorge F. Hernández //Their Eyes Were Watching God// by Zora Neale Hurston //Washington Square// by Henry James //To Kill a Mockingbird// by Harper Lee //A Wizard of Earthsea// by Ursula K. LeGuin //The Call of the Wild// by Jack London //The Thief and the Dogs// by Naguib Mahfouz //The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter// by Carson McCullers //The Things They Carried// by Tim O’Brien //The Shawl// by Cynthia Ozick The Stories and Poetry of Edgar Allan Poe //Housekeeping// by Marilynne Robinson //The Grapes of Wrath// by John Steinbeck //The Joy Luck Club// by Amy Tan //The Death of Ivan Ilyich// by Leo Tolstoy //The Adventures of Tom Sawyer// by Mark Twain //The Age of Innocence// by Edith Wharton //The Bridge of San Luis Rey// and //Our Town// by Thornton Wilder* //Old School// by Tobias Wolff

Note from Richard Middleton-Kaplan (November 14, 2011): If we choose Louise Erdrich's __Love Medicine__ from this list, we have the advantage of having a nationally recognized Erdrich expert on our faculty. Seema Kurup of the English Department is currently at work on a book about Erdrich for The University of South Carolina Press's prestigious, highly respected "Understanding Contemporary American Literature" series of books. Seema may also be able to advise us about Erdrich's availability for a campus appearance.

I recommend Aleksandar Hemon's __The Lazarus Project__ (2008). This was hailed as a work of genius and the flowering of a major new literary talent, and was a finalist (like __The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart__) for the National Book Critics Circle Award. It was also a National Book Award Finalist, a __New York Times__ Notable Book of the Year for 2008, and was named Best Novel of the Year by __New York Magazine__. Hemon has published three other works of fiction, one of which also became a finalist for The National Book Critics Circle Award. His awards include a Guggenheim and MacArthur Foundation "Genius Grant."

Okay, enough with the national credentials already. Now for the local angle: Hemon lives here in Chicago. He is originally from Sarajevo, came to Chicago for a visit in the early 1990s, and was here when the mass atrocities of ethnic cleansing erupted in his homeland. He ended up staying here and then settling, and now lives in Chicago with his wife and daughter. He writes about the Eastern European immigrant experience, with a focus on immigrant communities in Chicago. __The Lazarus Project__ covers the immigrant experience in Chicago over a century, from 1908 to 2008. For a summary of the novel's local angle, go to: []#

There are opportunities here for connection with the Chicago Historical Society and for topics ranging from Chicago political corruption to how welcoming Chicago has or has not been to newcomers. I have no idea what Hemon's speaking fee is, but I am encouraged by the fact that he lives locally and that his Web site makes it very easy to contact his publicist. For a look, go to

[|http://www.aleksandarhemon.com/#] and then click on "Contact."

One reason I like this is a choice is that it gives us a way of directly involving Harper College's substantial Eastern European immigrant population. We could also set up events that appeal to our community. As you all know far better than I, since the 1990s the northwest suburbs have been, and continue to be, a leading port of entry for new immigrants from Eastern Europe. According to the most recent figures I could find, from Rob Paral and Michael Norkewicz, //The Metro Chicago Immigration Fact Book// (Institute for Metropolitan Affairs) (Chicago: Roosevelt University, June 2003): //* Mount Prospect, Arlington Heights, and Palatine stand out as ports of entry for new immigrants, especially those from Eastern Europe.//

//* “Suburban Chicago has experienced dramatic growth among immigrants. In 2000 the population reached an all-time high of 788,000 persons, a number that surpassed the foreign-born population of Chicago for the first time. The suburban immigrant population grew by 377,000 persons in the 1990s, an increase of 91.9 percent.// //* “Polish immigration, a feature of the area for one hundred years, was further stimulated by diversity visas awarded to European nations// //in the early 1990s.”//


 * Top 25 Immigrant Population Centers in Metro Chicago: 2000

1. Chicago city 628,903 6. Elgin city 22,258 7. Mount Prospect village 15,159 9. Schaumburg village 14,262 10. Palatine village 14,249 14. Hoffman Estates village 11,651 19. Arlington Heights village 10,546 * As of 2000, t//here were 374,721 people born in Europe and the former USSR in the greater Chicago area. Many reside in the area served by Harper College.//

* Immigrants by Country of Origin:
__Europe:__
 * Mount Prospect ranks 5th among top ten municipalities.
 * Arlington Heights ranks 7th.

__Former Soviet Union:__
 * Arlington Heights ranks 9th.

__Bosnia-Herzegovina:__
 * Mount Prospect ranks 5th.
 * Hoffman Estates ranks 10th.

__Poland:__
 * Mount Prospect ranks 7th.

__Romania:__
 * Arlington Heights ranks 7th.
 * Mount Prospect ranks 8th.

__Russia:__
 * Elk Grove Village ranks 9th.

__Ukraine:__
 * Mount Prospect ranks 8th.
 * Elk Grove Village ranks 9th.

__Yugoslavia:__
 * Mount Prospect ranks 3rd (and ranks 4th for all territories of former Yugoslavia).

Posted by: Richard Middleton-Kaplan, November 14, 2011.

_

Another suggestion: Dinaw Mengetsu, __How to Read the Air__. This was named one of the 100 Notable Books of 2010 by __The New York Times Book Review__. There's a local angle here as well. Here's the plot summary from the back cover blurb:

"One September afternoon, Yosef and Mariam, young Ethiopian immigrants, set off on the road from their new home in Peoria, Illinois, in search of their new identity as an American couple. Thirty years later, their son, Jonas, desperate to make sense of the generational and cultural ties that have forged him, sets out to retrace his parents' trip. In a stunning display of imagination, Jonas weaves together a family history that takes him from the war-torn Ethiopia of his parents' youth to a brighter version of his life in America today, a story--real or invented--that holds the possibility of redemption."

If getting the author to appear on campus is essential, however, we should note that according to the back cover blurb, Mengetsu lives in Paris.

Posted by: Richard Middleton-Kaplan, November 30, 2011.

This is a collection of short pieces first published in book form in 1922 that Ben Hecht--future Hollywood screenwriter and co-author of the stage play, "The Front Page--originally wrote as columns for the //Chicago Daily News//. The pieces are typically 3-4 pages long and are filled with characters, events, and places that are instantly recognizable. The people in these sketches come from all walks of life; many of them are immigrants, and there are frequent references to Chicago geography. Ben Hecht captures moments in people's lives that are funny, breath-taking, and frequently heart-rending, as in his tale of a child's death and a mother's grief in "Mrs. Sardotopolis' Evening Off."
 * I recommend //A thousand and one afternoons in Chicago// by Ben Hecht **

A collection of short pieces such as this is easily accessible and readable by all audiences. It covers a wide range of themes, including:


 * The immigrant experience
 * Race relations
 * Social classes
 * The urban environment
 * Life and death
 * Assimilation
 * Crime and punishment

Ben Hecht is long deceased. One speaker I would suggest is Rick Kogan, a writer and reporter for the //Chicago Tribune//. His father, Herman Kogan, was a contemporary of Hecht's as well as a fellow Chicago journalist who wrote several books dealing with the history of Chicago from the time when both were active in that world (the 1910s-1920s). Rick Kogan is knowledgeable about the Chicago neighborhoods and immigrant groups that are featured in this book.

Possible programs could include seminars about Chicago literature and history. Perhaps we could sponsor a tour of the Chicago History Museum and/or neighborhoods figuring in Hecht's book. The book itself is available at Google Books online at [|http://books.google.com/books?id=O0MLAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA10&dq=1001+nights+hecht#v=onepage&q&f=false]; it has also been republished by the University of Chicago Press in 2009.

Posted by Jim Edstrom, December 6, 2011 ___ I recommend //Trans-Sister Radio// by Chris Bohjalian

Four people in a small Vermont village are about to have their lives inexorably intertwined by the uncertainties of love. . . and the apparent absolutes of gender.

Schoolteacher Allison Banks, the long-divorced mother of a teenager on the cusp of college, has at last fallen in love. The object of her desire? Dana Stevens, a professor at the nearby university and her instructor for a summer film and literature course. Her daughter, Carly, watches with pleasure her mother's newfound happiness, but her ex-husband, Will, the president of Vermont Public Radio, is jealous. Still secretly in love with his ex-wife, he finds himself increasingly unsettled by the prospect of Allison's attachment to another man.

Yet Dana is unlike anyone Allison has ever been with: attentive, gentle, kind -- and an exceptionally ardent lover. Moreover, it's clear that Dana cares just as deeply for Allison. The only stumbling block? Dana has known always that in actuality he is a woman -- genitalia, plumbing, and perceptions be damned -- and he will soon be having a sex change operation.

Themes
 * transgender
 * fluidity of sexual orientation
 * stereotypes about gender, sexual orientation, transgendered
 * feminine roles- how we learn then
 * family values
 * Community
 * Acceptance
 * gender reassignment surgery

Posted by Pardess Mitchell, March 8, 2012