On Monday evening, February 2, the week of events planned around our island community reading Sonia Nazario’s Enrique’s Journey began with a film and panel discussion in the Nantucket Whaling Museum.
Events continue tonight with an evening of Global Poetry and Music at 5:30 pm in the African Meeting House, 29 York Street. The rest of the weeks events are:
Wednesday, Feb. 4 – Sat., Feb. 7, from 10 am to 5 pm:
Exhibition: “Think Global, Act Local”
Artists’ Association of Nantucket Johnson Gallery at 19 Washington Street
Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 5:30 pm: a book discussion of “Enrique’s Journey” in the Nantucket Atheneum Great Hall, 1 India Street, facilitated by Molly Anderson and Jeremiah Splaine.
Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 7 pm: an Interfaith Council Panel Discussion: “Beyond Boundaries – Faith and Immigration” in the Nantucket Atheneum Great Hall, 1 India Street. The discussion will be moderated by G. Thomas Ryan, Cape Cod Council of Churches.
Thursday, Feb. 5 at 4:30 pm: a bilingual book discussion: “Enrique’s Journey” at the Cyrus Pierce School, 10 Surfside Road. Child care will be provided, and the discussion will be facilitated by Jerimiah Splaine Jacqueline Echeverria and Kathryn Kennedy Norton.
Friday, Feb. 6 at 12 noon: a live Skype Chat with Author Sonia Nazario will be held in the Dreamland Theater, 17 South Water Street. Bring your lunch!
Friday, Feb. 6 at 7 pm: International Film: “The Good Lie” will be shown in the Nantucket Atheneum Great Hall, 1 India Street.
Saturday, Feb. 7 from 2 – 4 pm: Artists’ Association Demonstrations and Family Workshop will be held in the Nantucket Atheneum Learning Lab, 1 India Street.
Saturday, Feb. 7 at 7 pm: The Film: “Under The Same Moon” will be shown in the Nantucket Dreamland Theater, 17 South Water Street.
Sun., Feb. 8 5 – 7 pm
On Sunday, this week-long celebration of journeys, both literary and real, will end with an evening of global music, dance, light bites, and shared stories of personal journeys held in the Nantucket Historical Association’s Whaling Museum at 13 Broad Street.
The 2015 selection for the 2015 One Book One Island (OBOI) event was Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario. Based on the Los Angeles Times newspaper series that won two Pulitzer Prizes, this astonishing story puts a human face on the ongoing debate about immigration reform in the United States. Now a beloved classic, this page-turner about the power of family is a popular text in classrooms and a touchstone for communities across the country to engage in meaningful discussions about this essential American subject.
Enrique’s Journey recounts the unforgettable quest of a Honduran boy looking for his mother, eleven years after she is forced to leave her starving family to find work in the United States. Braving unimaginable peril, often clinging to the sides and tops of freight trains, Enrique travels through hostile worlds full of thugs, bandits, and corrupt cops. But he pushes forward, relying on his wit, courage, hope, and the kindness of strangers.
As Isabel Allende writes: “This is a twenty-first-century Odyssey. If you are going to read only one nonfiction book this year, it has to be this one.” Now updated with a new Epilogue and Afterword, photos of Enrique and his family, an author interview and more, this is a classic of contemporary America.
One Book One Island started in 2007 as a collaborative effort by nonprofits during the off-season to provide our island community with social, intellectual, and community-building events during the quiet months. Sometimes the book chosen is a classic; sometimes it’s a book that will encourage meaty discussion.
Books previously featured in One Book One Island include: The Kite Runner, The Old Man and the Sea, American Chica, Coal Black Horse, The Postmistress, The Maltese Falcon, The Red Garden, and To Kill a Mockingbird.
