One Book Northland
One Book Northland 2024 Book Choice:
Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century
2024 marks the 23rd year the One Book project has brought Northland communities together to celebrate reading. The One Book Northland committee is pleased to announce the selected title is Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century edited by Alice Wong.
Alice Wong created the Disability Visibility Project in 2014 to bring awareness to the over 61 million people who live with disability in the United States. The aim of the project was to collect people’s oral stories in order to preserve their experience living in a world designed for non-disabled people. In 2020, Wong gathered collected stories into the anthology Disability Visibility: First Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century. In it, she includes congressional testimonies, blog posts, eulogies, and more. Disability Visibility is an incredibly important piece of history, relevant to people of all ages and backgrounds, regardless of disability status. The One Book Northland committee is extremely excited to share it with the community in the hope of starting meaningful conversation around disability and how it affects our lives, whether we identify as disabled or not.
Throughout the month of April, participating organizations will host unique events that highlight Disability Visibility and foster connection within our Northland communities. On Saturday, April 27 from 12:00 to 4:30 p.m., the Duluth Public Library is set to host a Visibility Fair at the Main Library (520 W. Superior St.) in partnership with the following organizations: Access North, CHOICE Unlimited, City of Duluth Commission on Disabilities, Disability HUB, Duluth Aging Support, Lighthouse Center for Vital Living, Make the Connection, MidMinnesota Legal Aid-Minnesota Disability Law Center, STRIDE, and The Arc Northland. Learn more about how these organizations serve, empower, and advocate for disabled Northlanders and contribute to the day’s community art project. That day, local musician and disability culture advocate Gaelynn Lea will share a presentation at 1:00 p.m., which will then open up to a community book discussion.
Look for a complete program guide the first week of April at any of these locations: Duluth Public Library, Cloquet Public Library, Superior Public Library, Two Harbors Public Library, UMD Kathryn A. Martin Library, Bookstore at Fitger’s, Barnes & Noble, and Zenith Bookstore.
The One Book Northland committee includes representatives from the community, Duluth Public Library, Cloquet Public Library, Superior Public Library, Two Harbors Public Library, University of Minnesota Duluth, the College of St. Scholastica, UW Superior’s Jim Dan Hill Library, Fond Du Lac Tribal Community College, Superior Save the Kids, Barnes & Noble, Bookstore at Fitger’s, and Zenith Bookstore.
Save the date:
Saturday, April 27 • Main Library • 520 W Superior St.
Disability Visibility Fair 12-4pm
Keynote by Gaelynn Lea 1-2pm
Community Book Discussion 2-3
Previous One Book Northland titles
2023 | The Wolf's Trail: An Ojibwe Story, Told by Wolves by Dr. Thomas Peacock |
2022 | Gichigami Hearts: Stories and Histories from Misaabekong by Linda Legarde Grover |
2021 | The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead |
2020 | Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson |
2019 | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling |
2018 | The Wind and the Drum by Katharine Johnson |
2017 | Locally Laid: How We Built a Plucky, Industry-Changing Egg Farm - From Scratch by Lucie Amundsen |
2016: | The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown |
2015: | The Dance Boots by Linda LeGarde Grover |
2014: | The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway |
2013: | Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland |
2012: | The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot |
2011: | Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford |
2010: | Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver |
2009 | Population 485 by Michael Perry |
2008: | Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson |
2007: | The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan |
2006: | The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald |
2005: | Frankenstein by Mary Shelley |
2004: | The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain |
2003: | Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom |
2002: | To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee |