Susie Anderson
Staff writer
A summer in Chautauqua might include biking, swimming or playing in the park. But for CLSC Young Readers, the summer provides an extraordinary opportunity to travel through time, circumnavigate the globe and embark on new adventures.
The CLSC Young Readers Program will kick off at 12:15 p.m. today on the porch of the Literary Arts Center at Alumni Hall.
The Week One Young Readers selection is King: A Life (Young Adult Edition), by Jonathan Eig. In the same week, Eig will discuss the original Pulitzer Prize-winning biography in the “adult” Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle program at 3:30 p.m. Thursday in the Hall of Philosophy.
Stephine Hunt, managing director of literary arts, said that she is thrilled by the selection of the young adult edition of King: A Life since it connects multiple generations in a single reading experience.
“If there was a way for us to have a young readers version of every CLSC book,” Hunt said, “I would love for that to be the case.”
National Book Award-winning authors Yohuru Williams and Michael G. Long helped compact Eig’s nearly 600-page biography into a less intimidating selection for young readers, without losing the book’s integrity as a portrait of a man who shaped history.
“It’s not a safer version of the book,” Eig said. “We still see (King’s) flaws, we still see his affairs. We still see his struggles with mental health.”
Eig said that he hopes young readers realize that behind the holiday, monuments and memorialization, King was human.
“He failed over and over again,” Eig said, “and that’s ok. If you haven’t failed at anything big in your life, you probably haven’t tried anything big.”
Eig also said he felt the importance of including King’s complexities in a young adult adaptation, particularly King’s struggles with mental health. Additionally, Eig hoped to convey the extent of King’s radicalism.
“We do a great job of teaching ‘I Have A Dream,’ and that’s fine for kindergarten through third grade or so, but after that, we should remind kids just that King was dangerous. … The white power structure was scared of King,” Eig said, “and that’s because he was insisting on profound change and things he was calling for are things we’re still talking about and struggling with today.”
For budding bookworms ages 4 and up, who might not be ready for a chapter book, the early readers selection for Week One is A Race Around the World: The True Story of Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland, by Caroline Starr Rose.
The book follows two writers on the same mission in 1889. After reading Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days, reporter Nelly Bly is determined to circumnavigate the globe in less time. The same day, Bly boards a ship on the Atlantic Ocean, another writer by the name of Elizabeth Bisland hops on a westbound train with the same goal in mind. While only one woman can win the race, both embark on journeys that set records and change their lives.
“We’ve had many books (on the CLSC Young Readers list) on Nellie Bly before,” Hunt said, “but few of our readers know that she was part of a circumnavigation expedition with Elizabeth Bisland.”
Hunt said she looks forward to celebrating the achievements of both women in her discussion of the book.
“I love that this book offers a little glimpse of the history of two incredible women going in opposite directions, trying to beat a record in healthy competition,” she said.
Rose, the book’s author, will visit Chautauqua in Week Six as a faculty member for the Writers’ Center. While neither she or Eig will be present today, Hunt will lead the discussion of the young adult edition of King: A Life and A Race Around the World.
She will discuss how both books fit into the theme of “Transformation: The Forces Shaping Our Tomorrow” and the CLSC vertical theme “Growth.” The discussion will also explore the differences between King: A Life and the young adult edition of the biography.
Following the book discussion, Play CHQ will host an event on the lawn of Alumni Hall, weather permitting, for Young Readers to play and learn with their peers.
