Acadia Reads 2017
The Acadia Reads initiative encourages the Acadia community to share their love of books by reading Mona Awad’s 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl and participating in programming surrounding the book.
How did we decide whose story to tell? The Campus Community voted for the book that Acadia Reads from a shortlist. The closing date for voting was April 20th, 2017 at midnight.
The Shortlist
The Handmaid's Tale
It is the world of the near future, and Offred is a Handmaid in the home of the Commander and his wife. She is allowed out once a day to the food market, she is not permitted to read, and she is hoping the Commander makes her pregnant, because she is only valued if her ovaries are viable.
13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl
Acadia Reads 2017 Winner!
Growing up in the suburban hell of Misery Saga (a.k.a. Mississauga), Lizzie has never liked the way she looks—even though her best friend Mel says she’s the pretty one.
The Rest is Silence
In the backwoods of Nova Scotia, a man has decided to slowly simplify his life and withdraw his presence from the world. He builds a cabin, plants a garden.
Author: Scott Fotheringham
Birdie
A big, beautiful Cree woman with a dark secret in her past, Bernice (”Birdie”) has left her home in northern Alberta to travel to Gibsons, B.C. She is on something of a vision quest, looking for family, for home, for understanding.
Indian Horse
Saul Indian Horse has hit bottom. His last binge almost killed him, and now he’s a reluctant resident in a treatment centre for alcoholics, surrounded by people he’s sure will never understand him.
Author: Richard Wagamese
Selection Criteria
The committee produced a long-list of eighteen titles. These books were read and voted on to produce a short-list of five titles.
- The book must be capable of generating discussion and an exchange of ideas.
- The book must be appealing to students with a focus on first-year undergraduates.
Selection Committee
- Jeff Hennessy - Dean of Arts, Interim
- Brianna Jarvin - ASU Vice-President Academic 2016-17
- Abu Kamara - Coordinator Accessible Learning Services
- Maggie Nielsen - Librarian in Faculty of Pure and Applied Science
- Anthony Pash - Librarian in Professional Studies & Faculty of Theology
- Erin Patterson - Librarian in Faculty of Arts
- Ann Smith (Chair) - University Librarian, Acting
- Britanie Wentzell - Librarian in Faculty of Arts & Faculty of Professional Studies
- Peter Williams - Professor of Physics
Contest Winner
The winner of both the Amazon gift-card and a book from the short-list is Jennifer Oakley. Jennifer is graduating this year with a degree in Biology and has chosen Birdie by Tracey Lindberg.