Vote for the book you want the whole college to read…
q	1906, by James Dalessandro In this well-researched historical novel, fictional and historical characters tell the story of the days around the great San Francisco earthquake that occurred on April 18, 1906. The novel vividly describes the earthquake and fire, the corrupt political figures, the drugs, brothels, and shanghaiing in the “Barbary Coast”, the incredible architecture of Nob Hill, the magnificent Palace Hotel, and Enrico Caruso singing “Carmen” in the S.F Opera House the night before the earthquake. And, of course, there is a love story. One critic wrote, “James Dalessandro's 1906 is a bold, sweeping novel inspired by one of the biggest epic disasters in American history, the great San Francisco earthquake and fire. It's a richly textured, engrossing, and extraordinary tale.” This year marks the 100-year anniversary of this tragedy, which will be commemorated with many exhibits and activities around the Bay. To learn more, visit www.1906earthquake.com/index2.html.
q	The Green Age of Asher Witherow, by M. Allen Cunningham The 26-year-old author, a College Park grad and former DVC student, has written an accomplished debut novel about a young boy’s coming-of-age during the mid-1800s in the coal-mining town of Nortonville, nestled in the shadows of Mount Diablo. Rich in local history, the novel vividly describes the Diablo Valley in the 19th century, a place “where the future seems filled with promise but where a day's labor [in the Black Diamond Mines] is bone breaking and dangerous.” This beautifully written and well-researched novel is about triumph of the spirit over incredible hardship, nature versus industrial progress, spirituality, old world superstition, personal redemption, moral identity, and the power of memory and place. Critics describe it as, “...a mix of wild supposition and real-life facts...part legend, part horror story, part Pacific Rim myth, part fact and part metaphor” and “a book with enormous narrative drive, memorable characters and relentless drama.” To learn more, visit www.mallencunningham.com.
q	Into the Forest, by Jean Hegland Two sisters living with their parents in a remote area in the Northern California redwoods have big plans for their lives. Eva, eighteen, is practicing to audition for the San Francisco ballet, and Nell, seventeen, is working to get into Harvard. But the outside world suddenly plunges into crisis; power outages, gasoline and food shortages, and violence escalate. As technological civilization collapses around them, Eva and Nell must also deal with the loss of their parents. A formerly comfortable life becomes a day-to-day struggle to survive without modern technology and conveniences. Set in the near future, this post-apocalyptic coming-of-age novel follows Eva and Nell’s amazing journey of survival and discovery and underscores the strength of the human spirit. One critic wrote: “A work of extraordinary power, insight and lyricism, Into the Forest is both an urgent warning and a passionate celebration of life and love.” To learn more, visit www.randomhouse.com/boldtype/0997/hegland
q	West of Kabul, East of New York, by Tamim Ansary One email message grew into this powerful memoir filled with grace and insight. On September 12, 2001, Tamim Ansary, a San Francisco resident, sent an anguished email to twenty friends discussing the attack on the World Trade Center. That message spread, touched millions of people around the world, and prompted the writing of this memoir. Ansary, the son of an Afghan father and an American mother, describes a life lived in two very different cultures--Islamic Afghanistan and the secular west. It is a chronicle of Ansary’s childhood spent with his clan in Afghanistan; his family’s arrival in the U.S. in the 1960s; and his harrowing yet revelatory journey through the Islamic world in 1980. A moving story, West of Kabul, East of New York is “one man’s effort to reconcile two great civilizations and … find some point in the imagination where they might meet." To learn more, visit www.mirtamimansary.com/writing/index

One College One Book

The One College One Book task force has thoughtfully reviewed all of the wonderful nominations that were submitted and are pleased to present the following four books:

1906, by James Dalessandro

The Green Age of Asher Witherow, by M. Allen Cunningham

Into the Forest, by Jean Hegland

West of Kabul, East of New York, by Tamim Ansary

To vote for the book you want the whole college to read, review the four descriptions and decide which book you think would be the most interesting.

Copies of the four selections are on reserve for your review in the DVC Library.

In fall 2006, students, faculty, and staff of Diablo Valley College are invited to join in reading the book chosen by this all-campus vote.

Throughout the fall semester, the college will host a series of events such as a visit from the author, discussion groups, films, exhibits, concerts, contests, readings, and live performances, all relating to the book we are reading.

Why? It will be fun!

Ballot boxes will be located in the Library, Info Center and Student Union Lobby.

Ballots will be collected before spring break, on April 14 and the book will be announced after classes resume.