May 19, 2009

Great Michigan Read 2009-2010 Announced

Stealing Buddha’s Dinner by Bich Minh Nguyen was selected for the second Great Michigan Read. The announcement was made by Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm who proclaimed May 19 as “The Great Michigan Read Day.” The announcement was made at the Cascade Meijer store and broadcast over the Internet. Meijer and the National Endowment for the Humanities are leading sponsors of the The Great Michigan Read.

With a statewide focus on a single book, the Michigan Humanities Council’s Great Michigan Read encourages Michiganians to learn more about their state, their history, and their society. The Council’s free supporting programming will focus on three themes: immigration stories, cultural understanding, and contemporary history.

Stealing Buddha’s Dinner is a memoir chronicling author Bich Minh Nguyen’s migration from Vietnam in 1975 and her coming of age in Grand Rapids in the 1980s. Along the way, she struggles to construct her own cultural identity from a menagerie of uniquely American influences.

The book was selected by a group of nearly 50 librarians, teachers, students, professors, authors and others from all over the state. More than 75 Michigan-related titles were considered for the program. Representatives from communities across the state were invited to participate in the selection process.

[via Grand Rapids Public Library blog]

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