The story of American orphan trains is relatively unknown to the general public, yet shaped the lives of thousands of riders and the people they lived with. By merging history into fiction Christina Baker Kline has reached a whole new audience that enjoys learning while their imaginations are delighted. Which is why Orphan Train is often the most wait-listed book at libraries and has been a book club favorite across the country.
We recently chatted with Sulin Jones, senior librarian at the Mono County Free Library, about their community reads program. Mono County Community Reads recently hosted Luis Carlos Montalvan, author of Until Tuesday, in 2013, and will host David Carle, author of Traveling the 38th Parallel: A Water Line Around the World, in April.
Books In Common: Would you tell us a bit about your program? For instance, how long has the Mono County Free Library been hosting a Community Reads event, how did it get started, and how have you seen it change since your involvement with it?
Sulin Jones: Mono County library first hosted a community read in 2008, when we received a grant to participate in the NEA’s Big Read.
To commemorate the ten-year anniversary of its publication, Soho Press will release a new edition of How Evan Broke His Head, by Garth Stein, the author of New York Times Bestselling and beloved contemporary classic, The Art of Racing in the Rain. The new edition, which will hit shelves on March 18th, will include a never-before-released conversation between Garth and his editor, Bryan Devendorf, drummer of The National.
For many readers, news that their favorite book will be adapted to film can be thrilling. Films bring the words to life, create new worlds and transform beloved characters into living, breathing flesh and blood. Films make us see these books in new ways, especially when artistic license is taken in condensing and enlivening long books into neat, two-hour packages.
And yet… how often have we heard friends lament, or complain ourselves: the book was better! Sure, films are great, but they don’t offer the same inclusion of the book. Watching a film, the viewer is merely an observer, and doesn’t feel everything the character feels, as you would when reading the book. There are no limits, no restrictions, no computer-generated-images trying to suspend your disbelief.
We recently sat down with New York Times bestselling author, Christina Baker Kline. Her novel Orphan Train is about a young Irish immigrant who, as a child, is sent away from New York on a train that regularly transported unwanted and abandoned children from the East Coast to the farmlands of the Midwest. Moving between contemporary Maine and Depression-era Minnesota, Orphan Train is a powerful tale of upheaval and resilience. The novel (which is the authors fifth work of fiction) was selected as a Target book club pick, has held steady on 5 national bestseller lists, and has just gone to print for the fifth time!
Like many of our clients, Kristie Lowry, Library Outreach Coordinator the West Kentucky University Libraries and coordinator for the Southern Kentucky Book Fest, wears more than one hat! She shared some of her experiences in arranging events for a book festival, community reads program, and library author events.
BIC: Any idea about how many literary events / festivals you’ve done over the years?
KL: Counting the 2014 Southern Kentucky Book Fest that I’m currently planning, I’ve worked on six book festivals, six community reading projects, six used book sales, and countless other author visits. I also help with the administrative aspect of two literary awards-the Kentucky Literary Award and the Evelyn Thurman Young Readers Book Award.
