Today is World Book Night and I was an official Book Giver! World Book night began in the UK and migrated to the US last year. It always falls on April 23, the UNESCO International Day of the Book, and WilliamShakespeare's birthday. It was also chosen in honor of Miguel de Cervantes, who died on April 23. In a certain region of Spain, that day is celebrated by giving a book and a flower to a special someone. 30 books are selected by a panel of librarians. Booksellers and authors waive their royalties and publishers donate all the copies special editions of the selected books. In mid autumn, potential book givers apply to personally hand out 20 copies, with the targeted audience being light readers or non-readers. It is an amazing project--giving away books to share the love of reading.
I first read about World Book Night on Facebook, learning more about it from their website. When I discovered one of the books available for distributing was Vanessa Diffenbaugh's The Language of Flowers, I knew exactly who I wanted to give it to. Diffenbaugh's book begins with the emancipation of 18 year old Victoria who has spent her entire life in the foster care system. The book is about her life of loss and her struggle to grow beyond her painful past. It is a book that doesn't sugar coat the life of disenfranchised kids or the system designed to protect and guide them. Despite the rawness and roughness of Victoria's life, there is ultimately hope and redemption in this story...an inspirational story for the great group of young women who live at Stormbreak, a group home for girls here in my hometown.
Tonight, we gathered around the familiar dining room table, chattering and chatting about books, stories, life, reading, writing, and the language of flowers in this book. We read the first chapter together....
Since 20 copies is about 10 too many for Stormbreak, I thought perhaps another good delivery spot would be the local women's shelter, only a few houses away.
They were happy to get them too, and I was so very happy and so very honored to give them.
No comments:
Post a Comment