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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 26, 2008
Contact:
Austin Public Library
(512) 974-7528
Fax: (512) 974-7442
Call or email for photo's of today's announcement.
7th Annual Mayor's Book Club to Keep Austin Reading Launches with a Memoir of a Boy Soldier
Austin, Texas (February 26, 2008)-The seventh annual selection of the "Mayor's Book Club" was announced today by Mayor Will Wynn at a press conference at City Hall in downtown Austin. The book selected by the mayor for the "Keep Austin Reading" campaign is A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, by Ishmael Beah. The book is an incredible account of Sierra Leone's civil war and the story of a child soldier. Beah was born in Sierra Leone in 1980 and at the age of 12 the war had infiltrated his home town. Beah's work stands out due to his unique role: child soldier turned memoirist turned children's rights advocate. The reader is powerfully reminded that the author is not merely reporting horrors, but describing the horrors that he survived. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier is an important—and needed—contribution to the discussion of war and child exploitation. Encapsulating hardship, toil, and eventual success, Beah combines the dire with the motivating. He survived, graduated from Oberlin College, and has funneled his horrific experience into a passionate advocacy for children throughout the world. "As the world's attention shifts towards alleviating issues within the African continent, the selection of A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier posits Austin in a local dialogue extending globally," says Mayor Will Wynn. It's our hope that the book will appeal to high school and college students because of the writer's young voice. This book is a powerful first book by Beah, and is a New York Times bestseller. The book can be checked out at all Austin Public Library locations and purchased at local bookstores.
The Library, in conjunction with the Mayor's office and the University of Texas Humanities Institute, launches its annual citywide reading campaign to develop a community experience through reading and discussion of a shared book. We invite all of Austin to read the book in March and then join together in special events and programs in April 2008. At the culmination of the reading campaign, we will host the award winning author in a special event on April 25, 2008 at City Hall.
Partners of the citywide reading program are the City of Austin, the University of Texas Humanities Institute and area bookstores. For additional information about the Mayor's Book Club call (512) 974-7400 or visit www.cityofaustin.org/library.
Book discussions and special events are scheduled in April 2008. Click HERE for more information.
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