Thank you to everyone for your support of the One Book One Community 2008 Program!
**Please take a minute to complete the One Book One Community 2008 Program Survey! **
OBOC 2008 Program
They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky
By Benson Deng, Alephonsion Deng, and
Benjamin Ajak with Judy A. Bernstein
"[T]he soft plainness of the young writers' voices, combined with
their moral insight, throws the surreal danger and strife into sharp
relief. They speak for the Sudanese who cannot, to attest that
'although people always hoped and prayed for peace, peace
never came."
- San Diego Union Tribune
"Although the experiences themselves deliver an indictment, the
account is remarkably without condemnation or self-pity, and the
boys exhibit an underlying innocence and purity."
- Los Angeles Times
About the Program
The annual One Book, One Community (OBOC) program, co-sponsored by the City of East Lansing and Michigan State University, encourages the city-university community to read the same book and come together to discuss it in a variety of settings. The book is also an assigned reading for all incoming MSU freshmen.
OBOC Events
The
OBOC program offers a number of events centered around the themes of the book.
Upcoming Events:
East Lansing High School Welcomes Benjamin Ajak
Thursday, September 18; (time tbd)
Benjamin Ajak will meet with East Lansing High School students in an all-school assembly.
East Lansing High School auditorium, 509 Burcham Dr.
*Event is limited to ELHS students.
Book Talk with Benjamin Ajak and Judy A. Bernstein
Thursday, September 18; 7-8:30 p.m.
Community book discussion with the authors
(Pre-registration required. Call 517-351-2420)
East Lansing Hannah Community Center, 819 Abbot Road
Reading of Works from Writing Workshop
Tuesday, September 23; 7:45 p.m.
Residential College of Arts and Humanities Theater
Snyder-Phillips Hall,
MSU Campus (Public is Welcome)
Click the links below to access the curriculum guide for They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky:
Coming up in OBOC
Writing Workshop:
They Poured Fire On Us From The Sky is the story of three young boys forced to flee their village and their country because of a devastating civil war. The book is their narrative of their journey to safety, a memoir of their escape from Sudan and a testament to the tenacity of the human spirit in overcoming insurmountable obstacles and unbearable grief. What, we might ask ourselves, do we have in common with these boys? We, too, are all on a journey. It may not appear as dramatic as that of Odysseus or of The Lost Boys, but we all travel many road through perilous country in our lifetimes. There are the physical journeys we make, the ones that uproot us from home and family and take us to places far away, and the psychological ones that allow us to escape from fear and grief into realms of peace and understanding. There are the spiritual journeys we make from landscapes of doubt and uncertainty to spaces of belief and even passion. And there are the quests of self-discovery that surprise us with unexpected forks in the road, unlikely traveling companions, and unpredictable destinations. In this workshop we will write about those highways we have traveled, keeping in mind the journeys of Alepho, Benjamin, and Benson and discovering in our stories what, after all, resonates with theirs.
Tuesday, September 2, Tuesday, September 9 & Tuesday, September 16;
4:00 – 6:00 p.m. or 7:00–9:00 p.m.; Reading of Works, Tuesday, September 23, 7:45 p.m.
Register for this session beginning on August 4 by calling 351-2420.
East Lansing Public Library, 950Abbott Rd., Community Room;
Reading on September 23rd, Theater, Residential College of Arts and Humanities, MSU Campus. The reading is open to the public
OBOC Resources
www.theypouredfire.com
Discussion Questions
download 2008 OBOC flyer