One Book of Rutherford County Picks Fiction Phenomenon The Hunger Games

In the fall of each year, the One Book of Rutherford County program challenges local residents to join together to read a chosen book. This year’s selection is The Hunger Games, an adventure novel by Suzanne Collins. One Book is a collaboration of Read To Succeed, Linebaugh Library, Barnes & Noble and Middle Tennessee State University to promote reading and literacy in Rutherford County.

This work of fiction is set in a not-so-distant future in which reality has taken a turn for the worse and reality TV has taken a turn for the deadly. The United States has collapsed; in its place, the country of Panem is divided into the Capitol and 12 oppressed districts. Each year, a boy and girl from each district are selected by lottery to go to the Capitol and participate in The Hunger Games as a reminder of the Capitol’s control. The televised games are required viewing throughout the country as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors in a fight to the death. In District 12, formerly Appalachia, 16-year-old Katniss volunteers to compete when her younger sister’s name is called. As she and her male counterpart, Peeta, are whisked to the Capitol, they soon realize how difficult it will be, whether as friends or foes, to fight for their lives and their humanity.

“The Hunger Games grabs you from the first page and doesn't let you go,” said Read To Succeed Executive Director Lisa Mitchell. “It appeals to teens and adults and provides a great opportunity for families to discuss all the issues raised.” This year’s selection is unique to One Book’s five year history, Mitchell added, in how it appeals to readers of all ages (12 and up) and both genders. The book, first in a trilogy, was on the New York Time’s bestseller list for over two years.

One Book co-chair Laura Beth Jackson said, “The Hunger Games speaks in a refreshingly original voice for our time. While being a wonderful fantasy novel, it also addresses very relevant issues of poverty, injustice, family relationships, and culture, and challenges us to examine what we believe and value. I'm thrilled about this choice for One Book and believe our community is in for a wonderful read.”

Mitchell expressed gratitude to this year's One Book committee, also co-chaired by Kory Wells, for their many months of reading and discussion to make this selection. The committee continues to work on plans to promote the selection, provide public forums for discussion through the winter, and perhaps have an event related to The Hunger Games movie, which is due out in March 2012.

Interested Rutherford County readers, businesses and organizations can learn more about getting involved by joining the One Book Rutherford Facebook page or visiting the One Book Rutherford Blog at http://onebookcommunityread.blogspot.com

What Is One Book of Rutherford County?

One Book is a collaborative project of Read To Succeed, Barnes & Noble, Linebaugh Library System, and MTSU, created to challenge readers in Rutherford County to join in reading the same book. The objectives of One Book are to encourage reading among adults, to demonstrate to our children the importance of reading, to unify our community through a shared experience and to highlight an issue of importance by means of a book’s theme or subject matter.

How Can I Get Involved?

There are a number of ways every person and business in Rutherford County can be involved in the One Book experience.

Individuals: Read the book and encourage your friends and family to read it too. Take part in a neighborhood discussion of the book or participate in one of the events organized by One Book. A calendar of those events will be available on the One Book Rutherford Facebook page at facebook.com/OneBookRutherford or the One Book Rutherford Blog at onebookcommunityread.blogspot.com. If you’re part of a book club, consider having your group read the One Book selection between now and the end of April. If you’ve already read the book, encourage those around you to share in the experience. You can also help by volunteering to join the One Book committee or making a donation at readtosucceed.org.

Companies: Companies and workplaces can encourage employees and customers to take the One Book challenge and read. They can also help further the One Book cause by becoming a sponsor of the project. For more information on One Book corporate sponsorship, contact Lisa Mitchell, Read To Succeed Executive Director at 738-READ.


For More on One Book and Our 2010-11 Selection – The Hunger Games:

Visit:

The One Book Rutherford Facebook page

The One Book Rutherford Blog


Read To Succeed
PO Box 12161
Murfreesboro, TN 37129
(615) 738-READ

Executive Director Lisa Mitchell
Email: lisamitchell@readtosucceed.org
www.readtosucceed.org

Read To Succeed, the community literacy collaborative in Rutherford County, will promote reading, with an emphasis on family literacy. This non-profit initiative supports literacy programs and fosters awareness of the importance of reading.

Murfreesboro pastor: Major Pettigrew will "grip your imagination"

Murfreesboro pastor Mike Smith shares his thoughts - and advice - on reading this year's One Book selection:

Do not start reading Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand at night, unless you are prepared to sit up until you finish the book! Helen Simonson’s characters, plot, settings and—above all—dialogue grip your imagination. Before you realize what is happening, you start to care for Major Ernest Pettigrew (retired), Mrs. Jasmina Ali, and the other inhabitants of Edgecombe St. Mary.

The novel may be read in one of two ways. First, and most important, read it as a refined love story. The budding relationship between Major Pettigrew and Mrs. Ali is at the heart of the novel, but several other love stories play out as well. Each rings true. In fact, you will recognize others (and perhaps yourself) in one or more of the stories. As it turns out, love is not simple, even in a small English village. Love, in fact, takes root, grows, and lives or dies in a challenging environment featuring family histories, religion, careers, compromise, courage and passion.

Second, the novel may be read as a commentary on aging, family, prejudice, religion, ambition, the conflict between preservation and development, and the never-ending difficulty of bridging cultures even when there is the will to try. Don’t panic. Such commentary never intrudes, but instead emerges naturally in the conversations and actions of Major Pettigrew and those around him.

On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 representing the highest possible praise, I award Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand a 4.5 (after all, we must reserve some space exclusively for the classics!).

Dr. Michael A. Smith serves as Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church, Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He also is a historian, writer, editor and teacher and would like someday to achieve respectability as a golfer. Dr. Smith is married to Grace Smith, who teaches ESL in the Rutherford County School System. They have two children and one grandchild.

Murfreesboro book reviewer "so pleased" Major Pettigrew chosen

Murfreesboro resident Diane Scearce shares her thoughts on Major Pettigrew's Last Stand:

I was so pleased to see Major Pettigrew's Last Stand chosen as One Book of Rutherford County's "One Book!" As an avid reader who loves to share recommendations with others (and receive them), I reviewed Major Pettigrew on my blogspot, Cats and a Book. It was also featured in my column as Nashville's Book Examiner. I applaud the One Book committee on this wonderful selection!

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand is a lovely book. Charming and funny, Helen Simonson’s first novel is a gem.

Major Pettigrew is of one of the older families in Sussex, England, the sort of quintessential British military man characterized by loyalty to one’s country, character, and politeness above all else. He is stung by his only son’s banking career and attachment to an equally ambitious and far too casual American woman (she called him “Ernest” when first meeting him, instead of his preferred “Major”). He is a widower, and the sudden loss of his only brother, Bertie, brings to mind an array of emotions, some of which he hadn’t expected, particularly with regard to the bequest of a hunting gun which matched his own. Complicating his life was Mrs. Ali, a widowed Pakistani shopkeeper who aroused in him an unexpected but not unwelcome passion.

Simonson does a remarkable job illustrating the messiness of culture, religion, and generation in this complex love story. Her writing is lyrical and wonderfully descriptive, so that the reader can smell the compost as the Major’s neighbor hides between her compost heap and hedge to spy on surveyors on her neighbor’s property, or feel the dampness of the air in the Colonel’s hunting cabin, or see the gaudy imitation flowers at the club dance. The narrative is funny and bittersweet, with the Major's dry humor and the situations that are nearly slapstick but entirely plausible. He describes the waitresses at the club as having "sullen charms" and "culled from the pool of unmotivated young women being spat out by the local school, (who) specialized in a mood of suppressed rage." And when offering commentary on his son's love life, the Major opines, "The human race is all the same when it comes to romantic relations. A startling absence of impulse control combined with complete myopia."

The author is an engaging story-teller, allowing the plot to develop to several points of crescendo, but also providing a pleasing resolution, so that the reader isn’t left to develop her or his own conclusions and suppose what might have occurred. Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand raises many issues suitable for book club discussions and there are analogies to be made from the Major’s father’s grand endeavors and Major Pettigrew’s own, so that this book can be read for pure enjoyment, for the study of writing techniques, and for exploring larger topics of religion, culture, and generation differences in the world today.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand is one of my favorite reads of 2010. It was published this year by Random House.

About guest blogger Diane Scearce:

Diane Scearce has been a book-lover since toddler-hood, learned to read before starting school, and read War and Peace at age 13. Diane's love of reading and sharing recommendations with friends inspired her to review books she has recently read in catsandabook.blogspot.com. Diane is also an executive coach (www.pointofthecompass.net) a wife, and mom to two teenagers and five cats. She holds a bachelor's degree in government from The College of William and Mary, and a Juris Doctor degree from Wake Forest University.