One Book, One Community officially kicked off its 2008 program this week and I couldn’t be more excited for the things to come later this month and next month as part of the seventh year of this incredibly valuable and successful program.

Since the first program in 2002, representatives from the City of East Lansing and Michigan State University have worked hard to bring to light thought-provoking subject matter and real-world issues with the One Book program. They have united the diverse stakeholders of our university community to read the same book and then discuss it in a variety of settings each fall. From Jeannette Walls’ chilling memoir, “The Glass Castle,” to Khaled Hosseini’s National Bestseller, “The Kite Runner,” to James McBride’s unforgettable tribute to his mother in “The Color of Water,” the One Book committee has hand picked a full lineup of sensational titles.

This year the One Book committee hit another ball out of the park with their selection of “They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan,” co-authored by Benjamin Ajak, Benson Deng and Alephonsion Deng. This book of hardship, perseverance and the power to overcome, brings light to a real-life story of three young boys who escaped their homeland during a devastating civil war and trekked 1,000 miles through the rugged wilderness of Africa in search of freedom. These boys, now young men, have found their freedom in America and have brought the story of the 27,000 Lost Boys of Sudan right into our living rooms.

It was exciting to be one of many community members and students to welcome one of the co-authors of this year’s book, Benjamin Ajak, to our community for the official kickoff of the 2008 OBOC program this August. At the kickoff, Ajak, his mentor Judy Bernstein and a group of local Lost Boys recounted their experiences in Africa and spoke of what it took to become assimilated to American life with a captivated East Lansing-MSU audience. As one of many in the community who read this book and attended the kickoff, I found myself inspired by the Lost Boys’ story and motivated to do my part in providing aid to those still fighting the fight in Africa.

I commend the One Book committee for another excellent pick this year and encourage community members to pick up a copy of this book if they have not already. I also urge everyone to attend the events still to come as part of the 2008 program. A full schedule can be viewed at www.onebook.msu.edu.