Book Club Roundup

In Carolina book-club news: According to the Charlotte Observer, the Mecklenburg Citizens for Public Education is inviting Charlotte residents to take part in a book-club discussion of “Whatever It Takes” this month. And in Beaufort, South Carolina, the Friends of the Beaufort County Library have chosen the book for tomorrow’s lunch-time discussion at the Sea Island Presbyterian Church.

Virginia Beach Public Library

“Whatever It Takes” is a staff pick at the Virginia Beach Public Library, and it got a nice review on the library’s VBPL Recommends blog:

Paul Tough capably chronicles some of the stories of those who serve and are served by the HCZ. In introducing the reader to parents, staff workers and children, he demonstrates that reality is as powerful as fiction. When we meet teen parents like Victor and Cheryl (and their baby Victor, Jr.) we discover gripping drama, nail-biting suspense, engaging warmth, and sobering tragedy as the family attends Baby College, HCZ’s enormously popular and carefully designed entrance program.

Good nonfiction provides a flexible read. Whatever It Takes delivers a rewarding experience, whether it is read as a biography of a present-day educational crusader, a treatise on the clash between traditional and charter school models for public education, a blueprint for effective early learning programs, or a touching account of human challenge and triumph in urban America.

City Thinks in Springfield

“Whatever It Takes” is the “program focus” for the 2009 City Thinks program, in Springfield, Mass., presented by the Springfield Public Forum and the Springfield City Library. According to an article in the Springfield Republican,

It’s akin to being part of a giant book club with lots of fun activities attached.

The assignment? Read New York Times Magazine editor Paul Tough’s book, “Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America,” in conjunction with Canada’s Springfield Public Forum appearance on Nov. 4 at 7:30 p.m. at Springfield Symphony Hall.

Tough will also make an appearance here on Oct. 15 as part of “The City Thinks 2009: Education, Poverty and Hope for the City.“

His free lecture will begin at 7 p.m. in the Griswold Theater of American International College in Springfield; a reception will precede the event at 6:15.

The lecture is part of the forum’s collaboration with the Springfield City Library and other area institutions to engage a wider public through book discussion groups and a series of related events including an art and essay contest on “urban education and poverty“ for students in grades six through 12.

Soho reading: wine, cheese and librarians

A reminder: I’m reading at McNally Jackson Bookstore on Prince Street tonight (Wednesday) at 7 p.m. — an evening sponsored by the Desk Set.

McNally Jackson

On Wednesday, October 29, at 7 p.m., I’ll be at McNally Jackson bookstore, at 52 Prince St. in New York, reading from Whatever It Takes and talking about the Harlem Children’s Zone with Sharon Jarvis, Senior Reference Librarian at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The evening is hosted by The Desk Set, a group of young librarians and archivists described in the New York Times as “a hipper crowd of shushers.”