INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Humanities is seeking organizations across the state to host a Community Read of Jean Thompson’s The Year We Left Home.
The New York Times bestseller and National Book Award finalist is the 2020 selection for the One State/One Story statewide read presented by Indiana Humanities in partnership with the Indiana Center for the Book and the Indiana State Library.
Organizations interested in becoming a Community Read host should review the online program guide and apply by Nov. 8 at www.indianahumanities.org/programs/one-state-one-story-the-year-we-left-home.
Selected hosts will receive $750, copies of the book and swag for designing and implementing a series of three or more programs about Thompson’s novel, which explores urban and rural themes and raises conversations about our relationships to home.
Beginning in Iowa in 1973, the book follows the Erickson family through the many changes affecting American life at the end of the twentieth century. From city rooftops to country farms, college campuses to small-town main streets, the characters in Thompson’s novel search for fulfillment and happiness in an ever-changing, often alienating country. The story asks readers to consider why we choose or are forced to leave home and when we decide to return.
Visit www.indianahumanities.org to sign up for Indiana Humanities monthly e-newsletter for updates on all the upcoming One State/One Story programming.