For months hundreds of community members throughout Washtenaw County have been reading and discussing the award-winning book $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America by Kathryn J. Edin & H. Luke Shaefer, which was selected for Washtenaw Reads in September by a panel of community judges.

Join us for an unforgettable evening as both authors discuss the themes of this unforgettable book.

After two decades of groundbreaking research on American poverty, Kathryn Edin noticed something she hadn’t seen before — households surviving on virtually no income, a level of destitution so deep as to be unthought-of in the world’s most advanced capitalist economy. Edin teamed with Luke Shaefer, an expert on surveys of the incomes of the poor, to discover that the number of American families living on $2.00 per person, per day, has skyrocketed to one and a half million American households, including about three million children.

The result of their investigative teamwork is this book, which received much critical acclaim. "$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America" won the prestigious Hillman Prize for Book Journalism by the Sidney Hillman Foundation, was short-listed for the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the Nieman Foundation and was named a New York Times Notable Book and a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice.

Kathryn J. Edin, the Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, is the coauthor of "Promises I Can’t Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood Before Marriage" and "Making Ends Meet: How Single Mothers Survive Welfare and Low-Wage Work." H. Luke Shaefer, Ph.D. is an associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work and Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, where he studies poverty and social welfare policy in the United States.. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Social Insurance, and received the 2013 Early Career Achievement Award, given by the Society for Social Work and Research.

The public program will occur from 7:00 to 8:30 pm. Doors will open at 6 pm to offer the opportunity to for the public to connect with local community agencies including Alpha House, Catholic Social Services, Food Gatherers, Ground Cover, Offender Success, Ozone House, Safe House, SOS Community Service, United Way, Washtenaw County Sheriff, and Washtenaw Health Plan staffing information tables in the lobby. Books will be for sale courtesy of Barnes & Noble and a book signing will occur in the lobby immediately following the event.

AADL staff lead a discussion of $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America by Kathryn J. Edin & H. Luke Shaefer, the book selected for Washtenaw Reads 2017.

After two decades of groundbreaking research on American poverty, Kathryn Edin noticed something she hadn’t seen before: households surviving on virtually no income, a level of destitution so deep as to be unthought-of in the world’s most advanced capitalist economy. Edin teamed with Luke Shaefer, an expert on surveys of the incomes of the poor, to discover that the number of American families living on $2.00 per person, per day, has skyrocketed to one and a half million American households, including about three million children.

The result of their investigative teamwork is this book, which received much critical acclaim. "$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America" won the prestigious Hillman Prize for Book Journalism by the Sidney Hillman Foundation, was short-listed for the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the Nieman Foundation and was named a New York Times Notable Book and a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice.

Copies of the book are available at area libraries and bookstores. For more information on Washtenaw Reads, visit the Reads website at wread.org.

AADL staff lead a discussion of $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America by Kathryn J. Edin & H. Luke Shaefer, the book selected for Washtenaw Reads 2017.

After two decades of groundbreaking research on American poverty, Kathryn Edin noticed something she hadn’t seen before: households surviving on virtually no income, a level of destitution so deep as to be unthought-of in the world’s most advanced capitalist economy. Edin teamed with Luke Shaefer, an expert on surveys of the incomes of the poor, to discover that the number of American families living on $2.00 per person, per day, has skyrocketed to one and a half million American households, including about three million children.

The result of their investigative teamwork is this book, which received much critical acclaim. "$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America" won the prestigious Hillman Prize for Book Journalism by the Sidney Hillman Foundation, was short-listed for the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the Nieman Foundation and was named a New York Times Notable Book and a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice.

Copies of the book are available at area libraries and bookstores. For more information on Washtenaw Reads, visit the Reads website at wread.org.

The award-winning novel The Book Of Unknown Americans: A Novel by Cristina Henriquez is the book selected for Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads 2016. The community is invited to read and discuss this stunning novel of hopes and dreams, guilt and love—a book that offers a resonant new definition of what it means to be American.

The author, Cristina Henriquez, will make a special appearance at Washtenaw Community College on Tuesday, February 23 to discuss “The Book Of Unknown Americans.” Doors will open at 6 PM. The event includes a book signing and books will be for sale courtesy of Nicola's Books.

Henríquez is also the author of the story collection Come Together, Fall Apart, which was a New York Times Editors’ Choice selection, and the novel The World in Half. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The American Scholar, Glimmer Train, Virginia Quarterly Review, Ploughshares, TriQuarterly, AGNI, and Oxford American, as well as in various anthologies.

The Book Of Unknown Americans centers on fifteen-year-old Maribel Rivera, who sustains a terrible injury. Her family leaves behind a comfortable life in Mexico and risks everything to come to the United States so that Maribel can have the care she needs. Once they arrive, it’s not long before Maribel attracts the attention of Mayor Toro, the son of one of their new neighbors, who sees a kindred spirit in this beautiful, damaged outsider. Their love story sets in motion events that will have profound repercussions for everyone involved.

Henríquez seamlessly interweaves the story of these star-crossed lovers, and of the Rivera and Toro families, with the testimonials of men and women who have come to the United States from all over Latin America.

Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads is coordinated by several area organizations, including the Ann Arbor District Library, the Ypsilanti District Library, Washtenaw Intermediate School District, Nicola’s Books, Barnes & Noble, Literati Bookstore, Eastern Michigan University, the University of Michigan, Washtenaw Community College, and many others.

For more information and resources related to Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads, please visit the program's website at aareads.org

Photo credit(at left): Michael Lionstar

This session is in English and will be presented in Spanish on Wednesday, January 27 from 6:30 – 8:30 pm.

Explore the rich and varied history and experiences of Latinos, who have helped shape the United States over the last five centuries when the Ann Arbor District Library presents Latino Americans: 500 Years of History. Created by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association, this six-episode series features documentary film screenings and discussions at the Downtown Library.

Dr. Jesse Hoffnung-Garskof, U-M Associate Professor of History and American Culture leads tonight’s screening and discussion. After the film, Dr. Hoffnung-Garskof will introduce the legal and political status of Puerto Rico, its inhabitants, and migrants to the mainland in the wake of the Cuban-Spanish-American War, making comparisons and drawing contrasts with the simultaneous experience of immigration from Mexico.

Tonight’s film is "Empire of Dreams (1880-1942)." Widespread immigration to the U.S. from Latin countries begins – first with a small group from Cuba, then a larger one from Mexico. Both flee chaos and violence in their home country and are attracted by opportunities in the United States. In 1898, the U.S. helps liberate Cuba and Puerto Rico from Spain but then seizes Puerto Rico as its colony. The first Puerto Rican arrivals (now U.S. citizens) establish a network in New York.

During the 1920s, immigration is encouraged with the expanding U.S. economy. Mexicans and Mexican Americans build a thriving community in Los Angeles and look forward to a bright future. But when the economic boom of that 1920s ends with the catastrophic Depression of the thirties, the pendulum swings. Immigrants encouraged to immigrate in the 20s are deported en masse in the 30s.

Puerto Ricans, also caught in the depths of the Depression, rebel against U.S. rule on the Island, and eventually gain Commonwealth status from the U.S. Government.

The Ann Arbor District Library is one of 203 sites nationwide to host this series, which has been made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association. The AADL series is also co-sponsored by Michigan Radio and the U-M Latina/o Studies Program and is part of an NEH initiative, The Common Good: The Humanities In the Public Square. For more information about this AADL series, visit aadl.org/latinoamericans.

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This session is in English and will be repeated in Spanish on Wednesday, January 20 from 6:30 – 8:30 pm.

Explore the rich and varied history and experiences of Latinos, who have helped shape the United States over the last five centuries when the Ann Arbor District Library presents Latino Americans: 500 Years of History. Created by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association, this six-episode series features documentary film screenings and discussions at the Downtown Library.

Dr. Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, Director Latina/o Studies Program, Associate Professor of American Culture leads tonight’s screening and discussion. Tonight’s film, "Foreigners in their Own Land (1565-1880)," begins one hundred years after Columbus' arrival in the Caribbean, as Spanish Conquistadors and Priests push into North America in search of gold and to spread Catholicism. With the arrival of the British in North America, the two colonial systems produce contrasting societies that come in conflict as Manifest Destiny pushes the U.S into the Mexican territories of the Southwest.

Through the Mexican American War, the U.S. takes a full half of Mexico's territory by 1848. Over seventy thousand Mexicans are caught in a strange land and many become American citizens.

As the Gold Rush floods California with settlers, complex and vital communities are overwhelmed. Mexicans and Mexican Americans are treated as second-class citizens, facing discrimination and racial violence. Resistance to this injustice appears in New Mexico as Las Gorras Blancas (The White Caps), burn Anglo ranches and cut through barbed wire to prevent Anglo encroachment.

At the same time, New Mexicans manage to transform themselves through education, managing to preserve Hispano culture in New Mexico and their standing in the midst of an era of conquest and dispossession.

The Ann Arbor District Library is one of 203 sites nationwide to host this series, which has been made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association. The AADL series is also co-sponsored by Michigan Radio and the U-M Latina/o Studies Program and is part of an NEH initiative, The Common Good: The Humanities In the Public Square. For more information about this AADL series, visit aadl.org/latinoamericans

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Join us for this opening concert for the Ann Arbor District Library’s film & discussion series "Latino Americans: 500 Years of History".

Created by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association, this six-episode series features documentary film screenings and discussions exploring the rich and varied history and experiences of Latinos, who have helped shape the United States over the last five centuries and who have become, with more than 50 million people, the country's largest minority group.

This opening concert features the music of the exciting Cuban jazz combo Tumbao Bravo. Formed in August 2003 by reedman Paul VornHagen and conguero Alberto Nacif, Tumbao Bravo is known for their authentic Cuban polyrhythms including mambos, cha chas, rhumbas, boleros, and danzones all based on the Cuban montuno.

The opening event also includes a preview/film montage of the upcoming films in the series and remarks from Dr. Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, Director of the University of Michigan, Department of American Culture, Latina/o Studies Program.

Films in the series will be screened from January – April on selected Mondays (English version) and Wednesdays (Spanish version) with discussions to follow led by University of Michigan faculty from the School of Literature, Science & Arts, Department of American Culture Latina/o Studies.

Join us for a delightful evening of music and learn more about upcoming films in the series.

The Ann Arbor District Library is one of 203 sites nationwide to host this series, which has been made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association. The AADL series is also co-sponsored by Michigan Radio and the U-M Latina/o Studies Program and is part of an NEH initiative, The Common Good: The Humanities In the Public Square. For more information about this AADL series, visit aadl.org/latinoamericans

AADL staff lead a discussion of The Book of Unknown Americans: A Novel by Cristina Henriquez, the book selected for Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads 2016.

This is a stunning novel of hopes and dreams, guilt and love—a book that offers a resonant new definition of what it means to be American. It centers on the story of a fifteen-year-old girl, Maribel, whose family must leave their life in Mexico so she can receive medical care. She falls in love with the neighbor's son, and their love has the potential to devastate everyone involved. The story includes viewpoints from both families, and immigrants from all over Latin America.

The book received much critical acclaim and was named a New York Times and Washington Post Notable Book, and was an NPR Great Read. It was also named one of the Best Books of the Year by Mother Jones, Oprah.com, School Library Journal, and BookPage.

Copies of the book are available at the Ann Arbor District Library, the Ypsilanti District Library, and area bookstores. For more information on Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads, visit the Reads website at aaypsireads.org.

Join us as author Saundra Amrhein shares life stories depicted in her book, "Green Card Stories," including the legal, social, emotional, financial, and spiritual obstacles that mirrors what immigrants continue to face across the USA.

This event is held in conjunction with Ann Arbor District Library’s film and discussion series Latino Americans: 500 Years of History.

"Green Card Stories" depicts 50 recent U.S. immigrants—each with permanent residence or citizenship—in powerfully written short narratives and compelling portraits. Each story is as old as the foundation of this nation, but also reflects the global trends and conflicts of the 21st century. Arriving from all corners of the globe, coming for work, love, to study, invest, or escape persecution, the people in this book share a steely resourcefulness and a determination to fulfill their potential in America.

Saundra Amrhein is a freelance journalist, writer, author, speaker and reporter writing articles, news and blogs about Immigration and Cuba. A former reporter at the St. Petersburg Times, she has been a journalist for more than 21 years, focusing on immigration, asylum, and refugee issues.

This session is in Spanish and will be presented in English on Monday, January 25 from 6:30 – 8:30 pm.

Explore the rich and varied history and experiences of Latinos, who have helped shape the United States over the last five centuries when the Ann Arbor District Library presents Latino Americans: 500 Years of History. Created by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association, this six-episode series features documentary film screenings and discussions at the Downtown Library.

Dr. Jesse Hoffnung-Garskof, U-M Associate Professor of History and American Culture leads tonight’s screening and discussion. After the film, Dr. Hoffnung-Garskof will introduce the legal and political status of Puerto Rico, its inhabitants, and migrants to the mainland in the wake of the Cuban-Spanish-American War, making comparisons and drawing contrasts with the simultaneous experience of immigration from Mexico.

Tonight’s film is "Empire of Dreams (1880-1942)." Widespread immigration to the U.S. from Latin countries begins – first with a small group from Cuba, then a larger one from Mexico. Both flee chaos and violence in their home country and are attracted by opportunities in the United States. In 1898, the U.S. helps liberate Cuba and Puerto Rico from Spain but then seizes Puerto Rico as its colony. The first Puerto Rican arrivals (now U.S. citizens) establish a network in New York.

During the 1920s, immigration is encouraged with the expanding U.S. economy. Mexicans and Mexican Americans build a thriving community in Los Angeles and look forward to a bright future. But when the economic boom of that 1920s ends with the catastrophic Depression of the thirties, the pendulum swings. Immigrants encouraged to immigrate in the 20s are deported en masse in the 30s.

Puerto Ricans, also caught in the depths of the Depression, rebel against U.S. rule on the Island, and eventually gain Commonwealth status from the U.S. Government.

The Ann Arbor District Library is one of 203 sites nationwide to host this series, which has been made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association. The AADL series is also co-sponsored by Michigan Radio and the U-M Latina/o Studies Program and is part of an NEH initiative, The Common Good: The Humanities In the Public Square. For more information about this AADL series, visit aadl.org/latinoamericans.

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