Events planned already for next year of One Story

Dowagiac’s largest book club will reconvene next year with a new book, a couple of new faces, and a lot of new activities and events to offer the community.

Organizers with the One Story (Ngot Yajmown) program, which include representatives from the Pokagon Band, Southwestern Michigan College, the Dowagiac Area History Museum, the Dogwood Fine Arts Committee and the Dowagiac District Library, met on Monday morning to finalize the calendar for the 2015 iteration of the community-wide reading event.

Last month, the committee selected the award winning “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie as their focal piece, with a series of activities planned that loosely tie into the novel, the author and other elements of the story.

“The members of the committee had quite a few books to choose from this year, but this was the one that resonated with everyone,” said Kristie Bussler, the Pokagon Band’s educational resource specialist and the main coordinator for One Story. “It has a very broad appeal.”

Part of this breadth is due to the novel’s combination of text and illustrations created by Ellen Forney. The book tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up the Spokane Indian reservation. While dealing with serious issues such as growing up with disability, the story is rife with the humor that readers of Alexie other books have come to expect.

This is the second year that the various Dowagiac institutions have teamed up to present the program, which is based off the Big Read and other community-based reading projects. Last year, the committee selected “The Round House” by Louise Erdrich, holding various events at the college, museum and the tribe’s community center that tied into the story.

“We all came together to see how we could use the book as a launch pad,” Bussler said. “We each used our unique resources and talents, and this program is what grew out of that.”

Drawing between 15 to 100 people to each of the events, participation exceeded Bussler’s expectations, she said.

“It was an exciting first year for something that we want to see continue for years to come,” she said.

Joining the other partners this time around is Dowagiac Union Schools. With the chosen novel aimed at the young adult audience, organizers are hoping to draw in more middle and high school students into the fold this year.

Around 10 events are scheduled to take place from January through May next year, beginning with a screening of the film “Smoke Signals,” which was written by Alexie, at 6 p.m. on Jan. 29, at the Southwestern Michigan College student recreation center.

The full calendar of events is expected to be finalized by early January, and will be posted on the One Story website, at onestoryread.com. People interested in learning more are encouraged to contact Bussler at the Pokagon Department of Education, at (269) 462-4220.