Slavery Theme of 2012 Community Read
The Library’s annual Community Read program will begin Wednesday, April 4 at 7:00 p.m.with a program on West Africa presented by photo journalist Barry Pell. We have a very interesting program of events planned for April and May (see events listing below and at www.medfordlibrary.org).
See the Library website for program details. Copies of all three Book will be avilable by this Saturday!
The book selection for the 2012 Community Read is:
Ten Hills Farm: The Forgotten History of Slavery in the North by C.S. Manegold
Ten Hills Farm tells the story of five generations of slave owners in colonial New England. Settled in 1630 by John Winthrop, Ten Hills Farm was a six-hundred-acre estate in the area of the Royall House. Each successive owner of Ten Hills Farm, from John Winthrop to John Usher to Isaac Royall, would depend upon slavery’s profits until the 1780s, when Massachusetts abolished the practice.
We have selected two titles for children. For older readers the selection is War Comes to Willy Freeman by James Lincoln Collier. This historical novel tells the story of a free 13-year-old black girl in Connecticut who is caught up in the horror of the Revolutionary War and the danger of being returned to slavery when her patriot father is killed by the British and her mother disappears.
For our younger readers (and those who read to them!) we have chosen the picture book Zomo: A Trickster Tale from West Africa by award-winning illustrator Gerald McDermott. Zomo the Rabbit, a West African trickster, is very small in a very big world. Clever, courageous, and irrepressible, he must accomplish three impossible tasks. Is the little rabbit clever enough to do it?
Books will be available to borrow and purchase in March. Events will take place in April and May.
Wednesday, April 4 at 7:00 p.m.
West Africa: Slave Trade and Cultural Arts
A lecture by Barry Pell
Tuesday, April 17 at 11:00 a.m.
Zomo Story Walk
Thursday, April 19 at 7:00 p.m.
In Hagar’s Kitchen
A Performance by Gwendolyn
Quezaire-Presutti
Wednesday, May 2 at 10:00 a.m.
Zomo Story Time (for ages 2-5)
Friday, May 4 at 7:00 p.m.
A Taste of History
Community Read Fundraiser
at the Medford Historical Society
Saturday , May 12 at 1:00 and 2:00 p.m.
Community Read Day at the Royall House
Tuesday, May 15 at 7:00 p.m.
Traces of the Trade: A Story From the Deep North
A Documentary Screening
Special Event!
Wednesday, May 23 at 7:00 p.m.
An Evening with C.S. Manegold
Author of Ten Hills Farm
– Submitted by Barbara Kerr, Assistant Director, Medford Public Library