Help Pick Kansas State University's 2018 Common Book
K-State Book Network (KSBN) is an all university reading program that selects a common book for the academic year and coordinates classroom and campus activities to correspond with the reading.
The selection committee, comprised of students, staff, administrators, and faculty, has spent the last six months reading books and has narrowed the list down to three finalists: The Hate U Give, In Order to Live, and The Handmaid's Tale. We would like your help selecting the 2018 university common book.
Below are the three finalists that have been chosen for consideration.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
The Hate U Give follows a 16-year-old girl named Starr, who grew up in a poverty-stricken neighborhood and now attends a suburban prep school. After she witnesses a police officer shot her unarmed best friend, she tries to speak her truth as her existence in two very different worlds becomes a challenge. (EBONY)
You can find a copy of this book at K-State Libraries, as well as your local public library and bookstore.
In Order to Live by Yeonmi Park
In In Order to Live, Park shines a light not just into the darkest corners of life in North Korea, describing the deprivation and deception she endured and which millions of North Korean people continue to endure to this day, but also onto her own most painful and difficult memories. She tells with bravery and dignity for the first time the story of how she and her mother were betrayed and sold into sexual slavery in China and forced to suffer terrible psychological and physical hardship before they finally made their way to Seoul, South Korea—and to freedom. (Amazon.com)
You can find a copy of this book at K-State Libraries, as well as your local public library and bookstore.
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Set in the near future, it describes life in what was once the United States and is now called the Republic of Gilead, a monotheocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to, and going beyond, the repressive intolerance of the original Puritans. The regime takes the Book of Genesis absolutely at its word, with bizarre consequences for the women and men in its population. (Amazon.com )
You can find a copy of this book at K-State Libraries, as well as your local public library and bookstore.