Sent to you by john taube via Google Reader:
The choices narrowed Tuesday for the 2010 One Maryland, One Book community reading program, as a half-dozen contenders were eliminated, including Michael Lewis' "The Blind Side." The four books on the short list share common themes of immigration and assimilation, and should meet OMOB's goal of sparking group discussions on the issue of community. Interestingly, most of the short list mirrors the comments on Read Street. As we move ahead, let me know which of the four you'd recommend. I've read -- and enjoyed -- the Alvarez book, and plan to read the others before making my recommendation to the Maryland Humanities Council in two weeks. Here's the list:
"Outcasts United" by Warren St. John. How a soccer team of immigrant kids came together.
"How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez. The tale of four sometimes warring, sometimes loving sisters who came to America from the Dominican Republic.
"The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears" by Dinaw Mengestu. An African immigrant struggles in a gentrifying neighborhood in Washington, D.C.
"Tortilla Curtain" by T.C. Boyle. The relationship between wealthy suburbanites and illegal immigrants in southern California.
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