One Book One Nebraska
Launched each January, this dynamic program
cultivates a culture of reading and discussion in our state by bringing
our diverse state together around one great book by a Nebraska author.
History
The notion of one book/one city (state, county, church, etc.) was the brainchild of the now famous Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl. The idea of city-wide reading programs started in Seattle in 1998 with the program “If All Seattle Read the Same Book” initiated by the Washington Center for the Book, located at the Seattle Public Library. The Library of Congress’ Center for the Book reports that “One Book” programs have been introduced across the USA and around the world. The Nebraska Center for the Book, Nebraska Arts Council, Nebraska Library Commission, Nebraska Library Association, and Humanities Nebraska (formerly Nebraska Humanities Council) spearheaded the One Book One Nebraska initiative, and it was inaugurated in 2005.
Philosophy
Reading great literature provokes us to think about ourselves, our environment and our relationships. Talking about great literature with friends, families and neighbors often adds richness and depth to the experience of reading.
The Nebraska Center for the Book believes One Book One Nebraska demonstrates how books and reading connect people across time and place. Each year, Nebraska communities come together through literature in community-wide reading programs to explore a classic work by one of Nebraska’s best-loved authors.
Selecting a work by a Nebraska author celebrates the state’s literary heritage.
Nominate a book
The Nebraska Center for the Book invites recommendations for One Book One Nebraska book selection. The Center for the Book will consider books written by a Nebraska author (living or dead/with current or former residence in the state), or that have a Nebraska theme or setting. Books should have a broad appeal to readers across Nebraska and lend well to group book discussion. Books may be fiction, non-fiction, biography, memoir, or poetry. They must be in print and readily available. The Center for the Book strongly suggests that anyone who nominates a text should have read it.
To nominate a book for 2014 One Book One Nebraska, send an e-mail giving the title of the book, the author, and your reasons for nominating it, as well as your own contact information, by June 15, 2013. Recommendations may also be sent via the U.S. Postal Service to the Nebraska Center for the Book; One Book One Nebraska; c/o Nebraska Library Commission Reference Services; 1200 N Street, Ste. 120; Lincoln, NE 68508-2023.
2013
O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
Willa Cather's O Pioneers! is the story of the Bergsons, a family of Swedish pioneers that settles on the American prairie. While Alexandra, the family matriarch, turns the family farm into a financial success, her brother Emil struggles. A novel surprisingly ahead of its time, this work touches on a wide range of enduring themes—love, marriage, temptation, and isolation.
Learn more about the book.
Go to the 2013 One Book One Nebraska Website.
2012
"I Am a Man": Chief Standing Bear's Journey for Justice by Joe Starita
In 1877, Chief Standing Bear's Ponca Indian tribe was forcibly removed from their Nebraska homeland and marched to what was then known as Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), in what became the tribe's own Trail of Tears. "I Am a Man" chronicles what happened when Standing Bear set off on a six-hundred-mile walk to return the body of his only son to their traditional burial ground. Joe Starita's well-researched and insightful account reads like historical fiction as his careful characterizations and vivid descriptions bring this piece of American history brilliantly to life. — St. Martin's Press
Learn more about the book.
Go to the 2012 One Book One Nebraska Website.
2011
Local Wonders: Seasons in the Bohemian Alps by Ted Kooser
Ted Kooser describes with exquisite detail and humor the place he calls home in the rolling hills of southeastern Nebraska—an area known as the Bohemian Alps. Nothing is too big or too small for his attention. Memories of his grandmother’s cooking are juxtaposed with reflections about the old-fashioned outhouse on his property. When casting his eye on social progress, Kooser reminds us that the closing of local schools, thoughtless county weed control, and irresponsible housing development destroy more than just the view. — University of Nebraska Press Book Jacket
Learn more about the book.
Go to the 2011 One Book One Nebraska Website.
2010
The Home Place by Wright Morris
Wright Morris is regarded as one of America’s most gifted novelists and photographers. Internationally recognized, he received the National Book and the American Book awards. The Home Place is an account in first-person narrative and photographs of the one-day visit by Clyde Muncy to “the home place” at Lone Tree, Nebraska. This “photo-text” has been called “as near to a new fiction form as you could get.” — University of Nebraska Press Book Jacket
Learn more about the book and the selection process, and access resources.
Go to the 2010 One Book One Nebraska Website.
2009
A Lantern in Her Hand by Bess Streeter Aldrich
First published in 1928, A Lantern in Her Hand has outlasted literary fashions to touch generations of readers. In this classic story of a pioneer woman, Bess Streeter Aldrich modeled protagonist Abbie Deal on her own mother, who in 1854 had traveled by covered wagon to the Midwest.
Learn more about the book and the selection process, and access resources.
2008
Restoring the Burnt Child by William Kloefkorn
By turns charming and resolute, funny and moving, Restoring the Burnt Child powerfully brings to life the lost, unforgettable world of a boy, and a poet, coming of age in midcentury middle America.
Learn more about the book and the selection process, and access resources.
2007
Crazy Horse by Mari Sandoz
Published in 1942, Crazy Horse is one of the best-known books written by Sandoz. More than a description of the life of an individual, Crazy Horse is an in-depth look at the culture and spirituality of the Oglala Sioux.
Learn more about the book and the selection process, and access resources.
2006
One False Move by Alex Kava
By selecting One False Move, Nebraska readers experienced a living author’s work and a contemporary novel set in metropolitan and rural Nebraska.
Learn more about the book and the selection process, and access resources.
2005
My Ántonia by Willa Cather
The Cather Foundation helped to initiate the first One Book One Nebraska to highlight and promote the 50th anniversary of the Willa Cather Foundation. My Ántonia details the history of homesteading and the making of community in Nebraska; however, it transcends Nebraska to become a story of the making of communities all across America.
Learn more about the book and the selection process, access resources, read up on the featured artist, and more.
Related Links
- One Book One Nebraska Official Website
- One Book One Nebraska Start Page — An introduction to the selections for each year