One Book One Valley (OBOV) is back for the 11th year, encouraging all residents to read the same book at the same time to create a Community Book Club.
On Monday, Dec. 13 at the Riverwalk at Edwards, there was something buzzing at the Bookworm. The café area was packed with people of all ages, and at 5 p.m., many readers shuffled next door to the Bookworm’s new private programming space to hear the announcement of this year’s title for the One Book One Valley program.
“TALLGRASS” BY SANDRA DALLAS
An essential American novel from Sandra Dallas, an unparalleled writer of our history, and our deepest emotions…
During World War II, a family finds life turned upside down when the government opens a Japanese internment camp in their small Colorado town. After a young girl is murdered, all eyes (and suspicions) turn to the newcomers, the interlopers, the strangers.
This is Tallgrass as Rennie Stroud has never seen it before. She has just turned thirteen and, until this time, life has pretty much been what her father told her it should be: predictable and fair. But now the winds of change are coming and, with them, a shift in her perspective. And Rennie will discover secrets that can destroy even the most sacred things.
Part thriller, part historical novel, Tallgrass is a riveting exploration of the darkest—and best—parts of the human heart
Sandra Dallas
New York Times best-selling author SANDRA DALLAS, the author of 16 adult novels, four young reader novels, and 10 nonfiction books, was dubbed “a quintessential American voice” by Jane Smiley, in Vogue Magazine. Sandra’s novels with their themes of loyalty, friendship, and human dignity have been translated into a dozen foreign languages and have been optioned for films.
A journalism graduate of the University of Denver, Sandra began her writing career as a reporter with Business Week. A staff member for twenty-five years (and the magazine’s first female bureau chief,) she covered the Rocky Mountain region, writing about everything from penny-stock scandals to hard-rock mining, western energy development to contemporary polygamy. Many of her experiences have been incorporated into her novels.
She is a three-time winner of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum’s Wrangler Award for Sacred Paint, The Quilt Walk and Hardscrabble and has won the Western Writers of American Spur Award four times, for The Chili Queen, Tallgrass, The Last Midwife, and Someplace to Call Home. The audio version of Tallgrass won two Audio Publishers Assn. Audie Awards. Prayers for Sale was given the Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award for Historical Fiction. She is the recipient of the 2014 Eleanor Gheres Award from the Denver Public Library and the 2014 Frank Waters Award from the Pikes Peak Library District.
Sandra lives in Denver and Georgetown, Colorado, with her husband, Bob. She is the mother of two daughters, Dana, a lawyer in New Orleans, and Povy, a photographer in Golden, Colorado.
Juvenile Title
“Red Berries, White Clouds, Blue Sky” by Sandra Dallas
Adding a junior title this year will attract the youngest members of the community. With the same themes as the original title, it will give a lot to talk about among family members, friends and the community.
Tomi Itano, 12, is a second-generation Japanese American who lives in California with her family on their strawberry farm. Although her parents came from Japan and her grandparents still live there, Tomi considers herself an American. She doesn’t speak Japanese and has never been to Japan.
But everything changed after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941. “No Japs Allowed” signs hang in store windows and Tomi’s family is ostracized. Things get worse. Suspected as a spy, Tomi’s father is taken away. The rest of the Itano family is sent to an internment camp in Colorado. Many other Japanese American families face a similar fate.
Tomi becomes bitter, wondering how her country could treat her and her family like the enemy. What does she need to do to prove she is an honorable American? Sandra Dallas shines a light on a dark period of American history in this story of a young Japanese American girl caught up in the prejudices and suspicions of World War II.
2022 Programing
One Book One Valley Virtual Movie Night – “Children of the Camps: the Documentary”
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 26 | 5:00 P.M.
Hosted by Vail Public Library
Join us via zoom: 88224020175
Children of the Camps is a one-hour documentary that portrays the poignant stories of six Japanese Americans who were interned as children in US concentration camps during W.W.II. The film captures a three-day intensive group experience, during which the participants are guided by Dr. Satsuki Ina through a process that enables them to speak honestly about their experiences and the continuing impact of internment on their lives today.
You can access the documentary on Kanopy with a Vail Library card.
Japanese Windsocks Art – Kids Take and Makes
From Feb. 14-28
Hosted by Vail Public Library
We will pack a bag of supplies needed, which you can pick up from the library so you can do the craft at home.
Most appropriate for elementary-aged kids.
Stop by Vail Public Library (while supplies last) for your kit and create your very own Japanese Windsock.
The Story of Amache – Virtual Presentation
Wednesday, Mar. 2 | 5:30 p.m.
Via Zoom
The Amache Story program shares how people created a livable community behind barbed wire by blending a short presentation and discussion with a group of survivors.
Today, survivors and descendants work to preserve and share this important part of our history. Since 2008, Denver University Amache Research Project has worked with the Amache community and town of Granada to conduct on-site archaeological research. A panel of Amacheans will support a DU Amache Project presenter to share the history of the site and current research.
Join us!
Zoom ID: 837 2858 1073
Parent & Child Book Discussion
WEDNESDAY, MAR. 16 | 6:00 P.M.
AT THE BOOKWORM IN EDWARDS
Hosted by Vail Public Library and The Bookworm
Parents and teens, and parents and middle-grade children, will read a combination of “Tallgrass” and “Red Berries, White Clouds, Blue Sky”.
RSVP TO:
Contact Cricket at cpylman@vailgov.com or Ali at events@bookwormofedwards.com
“What We Are Fighting For” – Eleanor Roosevelt -During World War II – Performance, presented by Susan Marie Frontczak
WEDNESDAY, MAR. 23 | 5:30 P.M. AT VAIL PUBLIC LIBRARY
War is a controversial topic. The stakes are particularly high if you have been working for world peace for over twenty years and your husband is the president of the United States while your country is embroiled in the
largest war the planet has ever known. How does one stay true to one’s ideals in the midst of war’s mayhem? How can we build the world we want while surrounded by tumult?
It is December 1942. Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt has just returned from England where she visited with soldiers, generals, royalty, and the working people. Find out
how the First Lady feels about the individual’s role in a world torn by war, hardship, and uncertainty.
The program includes a monologue in character, followed first by a “conversation with Mrs. Roosevelt” and then a Q&A with the scholar/ presenter, Susan Marie Frontczak.
All attendees are required a face-covering through the full event.
Finale Author Event
THURSDAY, APR. 7 | 5:00 P.M. AT CMC-EDWARDS
Meet Sandra Dallas, Author of the 2022 selected OBOV title “Tallgrass”.
Join the discussion at Colorado Mountain College’s Edwards Campus. This event will consist of a Meet ‘n Greet with the author, a Book Talk including Q&A, and an opportunity to purchase copies of Sandra’s books and have them autographed.
Free event, limited seating.
RSVP to Lori at LBarnes@vailgov.com
Local School Programs
High school students will be reading “Tallgrass” in their English classes.
Middle school students will be reading “Red Berries, White Clouds, Blue Sky” in their Humanities classes.
Both English classes will be reading and discussing “Tallgrass”.
CMC Edwards will be doing a book discussion on “Tallgrass” with college staff.
For more information, please email at Libinfo@vailgov.com