World Book Night 2012!

World Book Night is an annual celebration designed to spread a love of reading and books in the U.S., the U.K., and Ireland on April 23, 2012. Tens of thousands of people will go into their communities to spread the joy and love of reading by giving out free World Book Night paperbacks. For more information about World Book Night, please go to www.worldbooknight.org.


This year I applied to receive books to give away for World Book Night. I was so thrilled to be accepted. There were 30 different books to choose from. I chose my top three and was assigned The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie to give away. I really love this book. I think male and female readers would enjoy it but there are definitely some boy discussions in this book that would especially appeal to the males. I learned a lot about life on a reservation. It made me really sad at times but also had me laughing out loud. I listened to the audiobook and Sherman Alexie himself read it. It was hysterical. You can read my review from Banned Books Week to read more about why I love this book.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Winner of the 2007 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature

 “At once humorous and stirring, Alexie's novel follows Junior, a resident of the Spokane reservation who transfers out of the reservation's school -- and into a nearby rich, all-white farm school -- in order to nurture his desire to become a cartoonist. Junior encounters resistance there, a backlash at home, and numerous family problems -- all the while relaying his thoughts and feelings via amusing descriptions and drawings.”  -Barnes & Noble

I gave the books to students at the high school that I work at. I have seven schools and one of those happens to be a high school this year. My student, Nathan, is a freshman there. I have worked with Nathan since he was in 7th grade and have watched his reading preferences change. I think he'll like this one. I delivered my books to his English teacher on Friday. I wrote a letter to the students explaining World Book Night and then stuck some bookmarks from Gae Polisner's The Pull of Gravity and trading cards from Vordak The Incomprehensible: Rule the School by Vordak the Incomprehensible in each book. 

I kind of feel like a book angel because I didn't actually hand the books to the kids myself. The English teacher I worked with was very thankful to be able to give the book so her students. She thought about which students she thought would appreciate the book and for whom the book might make a difference in their day or their year or their life. It was fun to hear about some of the students she thought would enjoy getting the book. 

Isn't this such a great event!? I think it is so cool that this is possible. It's great for older readers to get some love and get some free books. Love it! Thank you World Book Night and all of its sponsors for making this happen. I'm glad to be a part of it.