One Book One Island is a collaborative project of community partners and sponsors on Nantucket that seeks to promote reading, and community by encouraging the entire population of Nantucket to read, discuss, and reflect on the same book. We hope to instill the importance of life-long learning for youth and adults and to provide opportunities for fun and enlightening activities for our winter community.
This year’s selection, The Yellow House by Sarah Broom, was chosen for its relatability and accessibility to readers of all ages and backgrounds. Broom’s memoir, published in 2019, tells the story of her family—their history, their lives, and their home in the city of New Orleans. Themes of race and discrimination, home and identity, run through the book and make this a timely, relevant, and essential read for 2021.
While the reading level for The Yellow House is grades 7 and older, young adult readers will find similar themes in The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros and in Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson.
One Book One Island events will include programs for readers of all ages and in multiple languages involving arts and crafts, informational speakers, book discussions, a scavenger hunt, music, and cuisine.
Starting Monday, January 18, we encourage anyone to stop by one of the following locations during regular operating hours to pick up a free copy of The Yellow House. We also ask that readers pass their book on to someone new to One Book One Island when finished reading.
- Nantucket Atheneum vestibule
- Nantucket Historical Association administrative building (next to main entrance)
- Nantucket Bookworks
- Mitchell’s Book Corner
- Nantucket Community Music Center side porch
- Nantucket Elementary School in NCS Office
- Annye’s Whole Foods
- The Inquirer & Mirror
- The Nantucket Chamber of Commerce
- Saltmarsh Center drive-through
Now in its 15th year, One Book One Island is a community reading project with a mission to connect Nantucket readers through the written word. Because of the generosity of donors, the One Book One Island committee distributes 500 free copies of the book in January and offers ten days of free programs in March. Learn more via the Nantucket Atheneum’s website page.
The Nantucket Atheneum’s mission is to serve the Nantucket community as the island’s public library by providing free and equal access to library materials, cultural and educational programming, and by creating safe and accessible spaces for connection and learning.