NORRIS DIVISION – Round 1

MATCHUP #1

Book title: Ohio: A Novel

Book author(s)/editor(s): Stephen Markley

Paperback price: $17

512 pages

Other formats available:

• Audible audiobook: Yes
• CD audiobook: Yes
• Kindle: Yes

Used as common read elsewhere?

Unknown

Why do you think the LSSU Campus should read this book? How will it build community? start conversations? encourage social engagement? empower critical thinking?

It is an incredible pre-history telling of the present era, dealing with the rural effects of the great recession, opioids, and the current crises of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. All this is depicted in one chaotic summer night.

What kinds of campus programs do you imagine could be offered if this book was chosen as the LSSU Campus Read?

Speaking on the rural impact the Great Recession and how our community has been affected by the opioid crises.

Anything else you would like to add to support choosing this book as the next LSSU Campus Read title?

Incredibly relevant

VERSUS

Book title: The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates

Book author(s)/editor(s): Wes Moore

Paperback price: $10

250 pages

Other formats available:

• Audible audiobook: Yes
• CD audiobook: Yes
• Kindle: Yes

Used as common read elsewhere?

Yes, 65+ colleges/universities; Guides available

Why do you think the LSSU Campus should read this book? How will it build community? start conversations? encourage social engagement? empower critical thinking?

This book tells the story of a generation of boys trying to find their way in a hostile world. If adopted the story will really point out how our life decisions can really make a difference in the direction our lives can take. That is what happened to these two men. While having similar upbringings, being similar ages, and having both dealt with difficult childhoods. At various stages of their young lives they faced similar moments of decisions, yet their choices would lead them to astonishingly different destinies. One (the author) becomes a Rhodes Scholar and the other a convicted murder serving a life sentence.

What kinds of campus programs do you imagine could be offered if this book was chosen as the LSSU Campus Read?

Again I have not read the book but feel it would be a good starting point to have students reflect or look at their own lives and how decisions they make have and will affect the rest of their lives. This may be more of a social science, psychology oriented book. However other things like criminal justice, psychology, science discussions about biology vs environment discussions may be possible. Maybe also data oriented discussions about how fair or unfair our justice system is, etc.

Anything else you would like to add to support choosing this book as the next LSSU Campus Read title?

I think the book could be inspiring and thought provoking for our students and give them, at least most of them, an new perspective on their own lives and help them become more understanding of those people not lucky enough to have the advantages and choices they have.

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MATCHUP #2

Book title: Born a Crime

Book author(s)/editor(s): Trevor Noah

Paperback price: $12

304 pages

Other formats available:

• Audible audiobook: Yes
• CD audiobook: Yes
• Kindle: Yes

Used as common read elsewhere?

Unsure, but on Penguin Common Reads page
Guides available

Why do you think the LSSU Campus should read this book? How will it build community? start conversations? encourage social engagement? empower critical thinking?

This book raises questions about race and social standing in society. It’s a memoir that takes place in South Africa but many of the author’s experiences and thoughts can be tied to life in the US. There are issues related to race, gender, and social status.

What kinds of campus programs do you imagine could be offered if this book was chosen as the LSSU Campus Read?

I see the opportunity for discussions about how people from various backgrounds experience society in different ways. There may be opportunities to expand the Palm of the Hand workshops or add talks about memoirs. We could tie in diversity and culture with the existing food fair and add talks from people who have grown up in different cultures or countries.

VERSUS

Book title: Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis

Book author(s)/editor(s): J. D. Vance

Paperback price: $10

288 pages

Other formats available:

• Audible audiobook: Yes
• CD audiobook: Yes
• Kindle: Yes

Used as common read elsewhere?

Yes (13+ colleges/universities); Teaching guide

Why do you think the LSSU Campus should read this book? How will it build community? start conversations? encourage social engagement? empower critical thinking?

As the first person in his family to go to college, Vance, who went on to graduate from Yale Law School, describes in an engaging first person narrative ,his struggle between two social worlds. While moving into a different educational and professional world from his family, Vance describes how the values of his grandmother  and his extended family in rural West Virginia, remained with him even though they often conflicted with the values to which he was exposed in the university. Vance also describes the underlying tensions in values and beliefs between differing cultures that have emerged in the form of political polarization in today’s America.

What kinds of campus programs do you imagine could be offered if this book was chosen as the LSSU Campus Read?

Lectures, discussion groups, bring the author to campus; I believe a film is being made based on the book

Anything else you would like to add to support choosing this book as the next LSSU Campus Read title?

Having recently completed research on first generation college students that reportedly comprise 60% of LSSU’s student body, Vance’s experience has a number of similarities with those described by participants in our research.