Here at the POP Project, the coming of spring means more volunteer opportunities, more books given out, and at least one more exciting thing: World Book Night! The new tradition allows community members to distribute books to people in need, a mission we certainly stand behind.
The POP Project is excited to have been chosen to participate for our third year in a row! Our book this year is “Zora and Me,” a children’s book that takes on themes well beyond its years. The book follows a fictionalized young Zora Neale Hurston, the Harlem Renaissance author, and her childhood friend as they prod at the mystery befalling Hurston’s real hometown of Eatonville, Florida. The girls struggle with the transition from childhood innocence to the complexity of the adult world during the Jim Crow era, and provide young readers with a set of heroines unfortunately all too uncommon in books of its kind.
There is still much to be done to line up a proper distribution point for the date, but we have a solid plan of action and look forward to finding new homes for 20 copies of this exceptional book. Stay tuned here and on our Facebook page for updates as we prepare for the big day, and for photos of our journey on World Book Night itself.
POP’s Annual Participation
In 2012, the POP Project was excited to participate in the inaugural World Book Night USA by handing out copies of “The History of Love” in downtown Asheville. Last year, in 2013, we were passionate about seeing a great children’s classic, “The Phantom Tollbooth,” make it into the hands of local children. We can’t wait to see what happens during our third annual day of participation!
Held annually on April 23, World Book Night is a celebration of reading and books. The purpose of World Book Night is to spread the joy and love of reading to adults and children who don’t read often or who have a low access to books, and tens of thousands of people have been participating every year. Scheduled to coincide with UNESCO’s World Book Day, April 23 is significant among book lovers for being the anniversary of Cervantes’ death, as well as Shakespeare’s birth and death.
For more information about World Book Night, visit their website at http://www.us.worldbooknight.org.
