2008 Woodie Awards
Committee selects book for summer reading program
Roger Sauerhaft
Issue date: 4/17/07 Section: Campus
Incoming first-year students will soon be reading about civil war, transnationalism and the personal story of one former refugee in Africa, through the summer reading program book selection, What is the What.
After sifting through possible summer reading books since fall, the summer reading program committee and the Office of Liberal Education have selected the novel written by University of California-Berkeley professor and author Dave Eggers.
This partly fictionalized work is the story of Valentino Achak Deng, a young man who was displaced from his family in southern Sudan during the country's civil war.
Both Eggers and Deng will be speaking at Miami University's 2007 convocation Aug. 17.
The work is semi-fictionalized in that it is a composite memoir, taking into account Deng's story and other similar stories, according to committee member and English professor Cynthia Lewiecki-Wilson.
Deng's story is set in 1990s Sudan, when the country was plagued by a civil war.
Deng's joined a generation full of "Lost Boys" in refugee camps throughout Africa. He eventually finds his way to America in pursuit of an education. In America however, he still struggles to find community and safety, as he is held captive and beaten people who break into his apartment while living in Atlanta. After years of hard work, he gains acceptance to Allegheny College, where he is currently a sophomore.
Yet outside of the personal story of Deng, Lewiecki-Wilson hopes that the larger issues of globalization and awareness will resonate with students.
"The major theme (of the book) is the knowledge of what's going on in the world, the civil unrests," Lewiecki-Wilson said.
She added that the book was a good choice because it is interesting and engrossing.
"It keeps you on the edge and makes you want to keep reading," Lewiecki-Wilson said.
She explained that even though the book doesn't focus on the current conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan, it should still capture students' interests who are interested in that conflict.
After sifting through possible summer reading books since fall, the summer reading program committee and the Office of Liberal Education have selected the novel written by University of California-Berkeley professor and author Dave Eggers.
This partly fictionalized work is the story of Valentino Achak Deng, a young man who was displaced from his family in southern Sudan during the country's civil war.
Both Eggers and Deng will be speaking at Miami University's 2007 convocation Aug. 17.
The work is semi-fictionalized in that it is a composite memoir, taking into account Deng's story and other similar stories, according to committee member and English professor Cynthia Lewiecki-Wilson.
Deng's story is set in 1990s Sudan, when the country was plagued by a civil war.
Deng's joined a generation full of "Lost Boys" in refugee camps throughout Africa. He eventually finds his way to America in pursuit of an education. In America however, he still struggles to find community and safety, as he is held captive and beaten people who break into his apartment while living in Atlanta. After years of hard work, he gains acceptance to Allegheny College, where he is currently a sophomore.
Yet outside of the personal story of Deng, Lewiecki-Wilson hopes that the larger issues of globalization and awareness will resonate with students.
"The major theme (of the book) is the knowledge of what's going on in the world, the civil unrests," Lewiecki-Wilson said.
She added that the book was a good choice because it is interesting and engrossing.
"It keeps you on the edge and makes you want to keep reading," Lewiecki-Wilson said.
She explained that even though the book doesn't focus on the current conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan, it should still capture students' interests who are interested in that conflict.
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