Heartland is the 2020 One Book Choice
Sarah Smarsh author event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 virus. Updates will be posted when announced. Please stay home and stay healthy.
October 16, 2019 — Representatives from libraries today announced the selection of Heartland by Sarah Smarsh as the 2020 One Book, One Community: Our Region Reads! selection.
The public was asked to help choose a book from a narrowed-down list that they would like to read and discuss with the community. The public vote took place during the entire month of August 2019. There were five titles chosen by the Book Selection Committee on this year’s voting ballot: Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, Dread Nation by Justina Ireland,
Heartland: a Memoir of working Hard and Being Broke In the Richest Country on Earth by Sarah Smarsh, Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, and VOX by Christina Dalcher.
This year’s OBOC regional campaign represents collaboration between 40 libraries in four counties: Cumberland, Dauphin, Perry and York and their community partners. Many individual libraries participate in surrounding Central PA counties. Everyone is welcome to read and discuss the book. Reading Group Guide and related materials will be listed online beginning in January 2020.
Reading campaign organizers encourage residents to read the book during January in preparation to attend free programs and discussions that will be held at public libraries beginning in February, which is designated as both Library Lovers’ Month and Book Lovers’ Month.
Participating libraries will stock copies of the book that can be borrowed free of charge beginning in January 2019. Books will also be available for purchase at area Giant Food Stores and at local booksellers. Program schedules for book discussion groups, author lectures and other innovative activities will be available at all participating public libraries and throughout the community. This information may be accessed online. Nearly all the programming is free of charge. Details will be announced on the One Book website: www.oboc.org.
About the Book Heartland: a Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke In the Richest Country on Earth by Sarah Smarsh
People usually think of the heartland of the United States as a bounty of agriculture and a place where comfort abounds. This memoir traces the life of Sarah among the life of the working poor. Intergenerational poverty and life choices affect the lives of this Kansas farm family.
"Smart, nuanced and atmospheric ... Heartland deepens our understanding of the crushing ways in which class shapes possibility in this country. It's an unsentimental tribute to the working-class people Smarsh knows — the farmers, office clerks, trash collectors, waitresses — whose labor is often invisible or disdained."
—NPR Books
October 16, 2019 — Representatives from libraries today announced the selection of Heartland by Sarah Smarsh as the 2020 One Book, One Community: Our Region Reads! selection.
The public was asked to help choose a book from a narrowed-down list that they would like to read and discuss with the community. The public vote took place during the entire month of August 2019. There were five titles chosen by the Book Selection Committee on this year’s voting ballot: Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, Dread Nation by Justina Ireland,
Heartland: a Memoir of working Hard and Being Broke In the Richest Country on Earth by Sarah Smarsh, Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, and VOX by Christina Dalcher.
This year’s OBOC regional campaign represents collaboration between 40 libraries in four counties: Cumberland, Dauphin, Perry and York and their community partners. Many individual libraries participate in surrounding Central PA counties. Everyone is welcome to read and discuss the book. Reading Group Guide and related materials will be listed online beginning in January 2020.
Reading campaign organizers encourage residents to read the book during January in preparation to attend free programs and discussions that will be held at public libraries beginning in February, which is designated as both Library Lovers’ Month and Book Lovers’ Month.
Participating libraries will stock copies of the book that can be borrowed free of charge beginning in January 2019. Books will also be available for purchase at area Giant Food Stores and at local booksellers. Program schedules for book discussion groups, author lectures and other innovative activities will be available at all participating public libraries and throughout the community. This information may be accessed online. Nearly all the programming is free of charge. Details will be announced on the One Book website: www.oboc.org.
About the Book Heartland: a Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke In the Richest Country on Earth by Sarah Smarsh
People usually think of the heartland of the United States as a bounty of agriculture and a place where comfort abounds. This memoir traces the life of Sarah among the life of the working poor. Intergenerational poverty and life choices affect the lives of this Kansas farm family.
"Smart, nuanced and atmospheric ... Heartland deepens our understanding of the crushing ways in which class shapes possibility in this country. It's an unsentimental tribute to the working-class people Smarsh knows — the farmers, office clerks, trash collectors, waitresses — whose labor is often invisible or disdained."
—NPR Books