Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti Reads is a community initiative to promote reading and civic dialogue through the shared experience of reading and discussing a common book.

In 2010, the program will encourage readers of all ages to explore the theme of Michigan.

An eleven-member selection team, composed of community members, educators, students and librarians from the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area chose the book:

The Living Great Lakes: Searching for the Heart of the Inland Seas, winner of the “Best Book of 2003” by the Outdoor Writers Association of America, chronicles author Jerry Dennis’ travels as a crew member on the tall-masted schooner Malabar on a four-week trip through the waters of Lakes Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior. The author, a resident of Traverse City, Michigan, reminisces on a lifetime spent near the lakes and interweaves his personal journey with stories from the biologists, fishermen and sailors that he met during his travels. This title has been praised as “passionate, poetic, and meticulously researched. Its voice beckons like a trusted friend: look, discover, enjoy… this is history at its best and adventure richly described. A magical book, hugely enjoyable and entertaining” (Doug Stanton, author of In Harm’s Way). Click here for copies available at the Ann Arbor District Library. Click here for copies available at the Ypsilanti District Library. What did you think of this book? Tell us!

Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age, by Kevin Boyle, chronicles the ordeal of Dr. Ossian Sweet, who moves with his young family to a previously all-white Detroit neighborhood in the steamy summer of 1925. When the local block association incites a mob to drive Sweet back to the ghetto, he gathers people to defend his new home with a deadly arsenal. The resulting shooting death of a white man leads to a sensational murder trial, featuring the legendary Clarence Darrow, fresh from the Scopes Monkey trial, defending Sweet, his family and their associates. Written with a “novelist’s flair” Arc of Justice “grips right up to the stunning jaw-dropper of an ending” (Publishers Weekly). It is a National Book Award winner, New York Times Notable Book, and was cited as one of 2004’s Best Books by the Boston Globe, National Public Radio, Detroit Free Press, The Seattle Times and Salon.com.

What did you think of this book? Tell us!

A selection committee of community leaders, librarians, students and educators in the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area will meet in mid-October to choose one of three books as the focus for this year. Which book should be chosen? We appreciate your comments and opinions.

The three book finalists are available in alternative formats for those who are unable to read or use printed materials due to a physical disability (blindness, macular degeneration, paralysis, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, dyslexia, etc.). Please contact the Library of Michigan Services for the Blind and Physically Handicapped at 1-800-992-9012.

Click on the titles below for more information about the books and authors, and to add your comments.

The three books under consideration are:

Timothy Ferris, Seeing In The Dark: How Amateur Astronomers Are Discovering The Wonders Of The Universe. New York: Simon & Schuster, c2002.

Homer Hickam, Rocket Boys: A Memoir. New York: Delacorte Press, 1998.

Dava Sobel, The Planets. New York: Viking, 2005.

Life Is So Good, by George Dawson and Richard Glaubman, c. 2000

Publishers Weekly
A 101-year-old retired laborer who enrolled in a literacy class near his Dallas, Tex., home at the age of 98, George Dawson now reads and writes on a third-grade level. From Dawson's eloquent words, co-writer Glaubman, a Seattle elementary school teacher, has fashioned two engrossing stories. First is the inspiring saga of how someone who was the grandson of a slave managed to navigate the brutally segregated small Texas town of Marshall, where Dawson was born, without losing his integrity or enjoyment of life. Although he worked from an early age and was never able to attend school, Dawson credits his strong family, especially his father, for giving him the skills to survive. His father told him to work hard, to do no wrong and always to avoid trouble with white people--advice that was brutally underscored the day he and his father witnessed a white mob lynching a black neighbor. The other theme running through these recollections is the institutionalized racism of the American South. Hardened to the entrenched discrimination that excluded him from good jobs and "white" restaurants and rest rooms, Dawson protested just once, when a woman for whom he was doing yard work expected him to eat with her dogs. Despite the harsh conditions of his life, he considers himself fortunate to have enjoyed food, housing, friends and family (he has outlived four wives and fathered seven children). This is an astonishing and unforgettable memoir.

Library Journal
Dawson, a black manual laborer who learned to read at age 98, has written a memoir that stands apart from other end-of-the-century texts and from the history generally recorded in textbooks--but is essential to an accurate understanding of this century. The product of a collaboration between Dawson and high school history teacher Glaubman, the book juxtaposes significant events of the century with Dawson's personal experiences. Although he endured hardship, Dawson's positive philosophy sustained him to a ripe old age. Written in a simple, conversational style, this volume will be valuable for general readers and in college classes. A welcome addition to any academic or public library.

Reader reviews on Amazon

Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads 2010 Youth Reading List

MICHIGAN

Grades K - 5

• Appleford, Annie
M is for Mitten: A Michigan Alphabet Book

• Barker, Charles Ferguson
Under Michigan: The Story of Michigan's Rocks and Fossils

• de Angeli, Marguerite
Copper-Toed Boots

• van Frankenhuyzen, Robbyn Smith
Kelly of Hazel Ridge

• Polacco, Patricia
Mrs. Mack

• Rand, Jonathan
Michigan Chillers: Great Lakes Ghost Ship
(and other Michigan Chillers)

• Wargin, Kathy-Jo
The Legend of Sleeping Bear

• Wargin, Kathy-Jo
Look & See Michigan with Me

• Whelan, Gloria
Mackinac Bridge: The Story of the Five-Mile Poem

• Whelan, Gloria
Next Spring An Oriole

Grades 6 - 8

• Bellairs, John
The House with a Clock in its Walls

• Blos, Joan
Brothers of the Heart

• Curtis, Christopher Paul
The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963

• Frost, Helen
Crossing Stones

• Giff, Patricia Reilly
Willow Run

• Jones, Patrick
Cheated

• Schatzer, Jeffery L.
Fires in the Wilderness

• Slote, Alfred
Finding Buck McHenry

• Swanson, Julie A.
Going for the Record

• Trottier, Maxine
Sister to the Wolf