War Comes Home: Read-a-Thon

War Comes Home is an initiative sponsored by Cal Humanities focused on the veteran experience, aiming to increase public understanding and empathy for those who have served, as well as to spark a public conversation on how best we can support the process of reincorporating our veterans into the fabric of civilian life.

To anchor the read, on the recommendation of an advisory group of librarians, scholars, book professionals, journalists, and veterans advocates, we have selected Karl Marlantes' What It Is Like to Go to War. Marlantes is a Vietnam veteran, a Rhodes Scholar, and the author of the New York Times best-selling novel Matterhorn. His newest book has received much reader and critical acclaim since publication in 2011, and has frequently been cited by veterans as the work that best expresses their experience. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, it “ought to be mandatory reading by potential infantry recruits and by residents of any nation that sends its kids—Marlantes’s word—into combat.”

The Tulare County Library will have several events in conjunction with this program. The events include collecting of oral histories from local veterans, book discussions of Marlantes’ book and a talk by the Author, an expert panel about veterans’ issues, a fun day for military personnel and veterans and their families, a film series and job searching computer classes for veterans.

Read-a-Thon

The teens at the Visalia Branch Library are holding a Read-a-Thon to raise money for FookLink. The event will take place on November. The teens will be reading "Something Like Normal" by Trish Doller:

When Travis returns home from Afghanistan, his parents are splitting up, his brother has stolen his girlfriend and car, and he has nightmares of his best friend getting killed but when he runs into Harper, a girl who has despised him since middle school, life actually starts looking up.

The teens will read together from 9:30-12:30 and 1:30-4:30pm. The teens will strive to read the book in the six hour time frame. Teens will be asking community members to sponsor them by asking for a donation per hour their read or a flat donation.

Please contact Faythe at 559-713-2706 if you are interested in participating or sponsoring a reader.