Vol. 36, No. 1
March 2006

ONEBOOK ARIZONA

If it’s April, it must be time for OneBookAZ.  Each year Arizonans are challenged to read the book chosen for the OneBookAZ program and then discuss it, listen to readings, attend author events and celebrate reading in Arizona.  This year’s OneBookAZ selection is An Unfinished Life by Mark Spragg.  It is the story of a young woman who escapes the last of a long string of abusive boyfriends and has nowhere to go with her daughter but to the ranch of her estranged father-in-law, who still blames her for the death of his son eleven years before.  Set in Wyoming, An Unfinished Life powerfully explores friendship and redemption and is a book you will not soon forget.  It is available as AZC 2760, so call your reader advisor to order a copy and also check with your local public library for discussion groups or events in your area.

Everything on a Waffle (RC 53669) by Polly Horvath is the OneBookAZ for Kids book this year.  When her parents are lost at sea off the coast of Canada, Primrose is cared for by her footloose uncle and many of the local folks, including Miss Bowser, who runs a restaurant where everything is served on a waffle.  Although intended for grades 4-7, this book is fun for all ages.

OneBookAZ is celebrating its fifth year as part of Arizona’s literary landscape.  Previous OneBookAZ selections are Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver (RC32451); Plainsong by Ken Haruf (RC49056); Life of Pi by Yann Martel (RC54950); and from last year, a pair of books that cover the same topic in non-fiction and fiction – Sunk Without a Sound by Brad Dimock (RC57394) and Grand Ambition by Lisa Michaels (AZC2687).  We hope you join your fellow Arizonans in enjoying this year’s OneBookAZ novels and perhaps try some of the prior years’ books as well.

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