Representatives from libraries in Berks, Dauphin, Lebanon, Lancaster, Perry and York Counties are pleased to announce the selection of Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein as the 2017 One Book, One Community selection.  The selection was made by the public vote.

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein is the unforgettable story of Rose Justice, a young pilot with the Air Transport Auxiliary during the Second World War, is forged from heart-wrenching courage, resolve, and the slim, bright chance of survival. Wein, author of the critically-acclaimed and best-selling Code Name Verity, has ties to Central Pennsylvania.

This year, more than eighty public libraries in Berks, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry and York counties, five Harrisburg Area Community College campus libraries, and a variety of new and returning community partners are collaborating to focus on this year’s title.  Reading will begin on January 2, 2017 with free book discussions and related events at libraries, colleges and partner book stores held throughout the winter and early spring.

As part of the One Book, One Community campaign —now in its 13^th year— organizers continued with the public voting process.  They have been pleased with the steady increase in community involvement, which is a clear indication that the public prefers having input for the title they would like to read and discuss. The public was asked to help choose a book from a narrowed-down list of titles that they would like to read and discuss with the community.

The public vote took place during the entire month of August 2016. There were five titles chosen by the Book Selection Committee on this year’s voting ballot. In addition to Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein, the following titles were also on the ballot:  A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman; Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks; Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard; and Midnight in Siberia: A Train Journey into the Heart of Russia by David Green.

Campaign organizers encourage residents of the six-county region to read the book during January in preparation to attend free programs and discussions that will be held at public libraries during February, which is designated as both Library Lovers’ Month and Book Lovers’ Month. Plans for a “Readers’ Celebration” are underway.  This event honors the readers in our regional community for their participation in the campaign!  Check the One Book website: www.oboc.org for more information.

Libraries in the six counties will stock copies of the book that can be borrowed free of charge in January 2017.  Program schedules for book discussion groups, expert lectures and other innovative activities will be published in the February 2017 issue of ShowcaseNow! Magazine and will be available at all participating public libraries and throughout the community.  Books will also be available for purchase at local Giant Food Stores, Weis Markets, and Wegmans stores as well as Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Books-A-Million and at local booksellers.

This information may also be accessed online at www.oboc.org. Nearly all the programming is free of charge.

About the Book

Rose Under Fire is a must read novel regardless of your genre preference!  Rose Justice is an eighteen-year-old pilot who hails from Central Pennsylvania.  She volunteers to serve in the Air Transport Auxiliary during World War II.  In a brave attempt to ram a “flying bomb” mid-air, her plane crosses into enemy territory.  Rose is captured and sent to Ravensbrück, a concentration camp.  She meets women with deeply tragic yet heroic stories struggling to survive at the camp.  They band together and protect one another from their German captors.  Elizabeth Wein does not shy away from the atrocities committed during the war as she tells an endearing story of friendship, loyalty and self-sacrifice.

About the Author

Elizabeth has been writing since she was a child living in Jamaica with her parents.  When her parents separated, Elizabeth and her younger brother and sister ended up back in the USA living with their mother Carol Flocken in Harrisburg, PA, where Carol’s parents were. When Carol died in a car accident in 1978, Carol’s parents took the children in and raised them. In the years immediately following her mother’s death, books were Elizabeth’s lifeline, particularly fantasy. Inspired by JRR Tolkien, Alan Garner and Ursula K LeGuin.   Elizabeth went to Yale University, spent a work-study year back in England, and then spent seven years getting a PhD in Folklore at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where she held a Javits Fellowship. While in Philadelphia she learned to ring church bells in the English style known as “change ringing”, and in 1991 she met her future husband there at a bell ringers’ dinner-dance. Tim is English, and in 1995 Elizabeth moved to England with him, and then to Scotland in 2000.  It was Tim’s enthusiasm for small planes that inspired Elizabeth to learn to fly.

Achieving her private pilot’s license inspired Elizabeth to take her more recent novels in a new direction.  Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire are set in World War II and focus on the role of female pilots during the war. Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire received widespread critical acclaim, with Code Name Verity becoming a New York Times Bestseller in young adult fiction.  Most of Elizabeth’s flying has been in eastern Scotland, where she has now lived for over fifteen years. She wrote all but one of her novels since moving to Scotland. Elizabeth also writes short stories. She and Tim have two children.

To find out more details about the interesting life of Elizabeth Wein, visit: http://www.elizabethwein.com/biography

To learn about how the books on the Public Vote Ballot are selected, visit www.oboc.org

“We were thrilled to learn that Elizabeth Wein’s book was chosen given her ties to Central Pennsylvania.  She is a superb storyteller who through the voice of Rose Justice was able to integrate her own skills as a pilot with her flair for research of the World War II period.  Readers will remember Rose and the indomitable group of women who shape the story long after the last page is read.” said Mary Ann Heltshe-Steinhauer, community relations manager for the Library System of Lancaster County.

Major sponsors of One Book, One Community are WGAL TV 8, Isaac’s Restaurant and Deli, ShowcaseNow, The Fowler Family Foundation, Hudson News Company, and Giant Food Stores.  Additionally, Library Trustees and Friends Groups from the region’s public libraries have contributed to this initiative.  Glatfelter provided copies of this year’s book for outreach purposes throughout the six counties.

For more information an updates about the Campaign, go to: www.oboc.org

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