Announcing One Book One Community 2021

Last year, as part of Action Read’s Strategic Planning goal of reaching new audiences, we launched a very special project called ‘One Book, One Community’ (OBOC) which celebrates Canadian books and writing, and builds a sense of community through the shared experience of reading.

This year, the Action Read OBOC committee has selected a wonderful book called Homes: A Refugee Story, co-written by Abu Bakr Al Rabeeah and his literacy tutor Winnie Yeung. We strongly believe our selection will resonate with the Action Read and wider community.

Homes is a short, easy to read book which explores one young man’s experience leaving Syria during the war, and coming to settle in Canada. It is an incredible story, full of rich and touching details about different cultures and families. Through it, we see that the feeling of home is not only connected to ‘place’ and ‘culture’, but also to ‘family’ and ‘community’.

Action Read has planned several online activities (on Zoom) to explore this special book. We would like to invite volunteers, learners and members of the Guelph community to participate in ONE or ALL of the following activities. These can be great for tutor-learner pairs to do together; for families; book clubs; or you can participate on your own.  Activities are as follows:

1.       Read & Discuss! Action Read has numerous copies of Homes available to borrow, or they are available for purchase at the Bookshelf (bookshelf.ca). Action Read’s own Adult Literacy Book Club has recently started reading and discussing the book together. Author Winnie Yeung has also put together a Teaching Guide, of which we have several copies.

 1. Come to our ‘Meet the Author’ Event on Tuesday October 19, 7 pm.  Hear firsthand why Winnie and Abu wrote the book and what they learned in doing so.

 2. Participate in our ‘Using Story to Build Literacy’ workshop on Wednesday November 3, 7 pm. Gain tips, strategies and ideas on how to use journaling and autobiography to build language and literacy skills, and to find one’s voice. Action Read’s ‘Coming from the Heart’ creative writing teacher, will facilitate this workshop.

 3. Participate in a Panel Discussion On ‘Supporting New Canadians in our Community’. Date is tentatively set for Thursday November 18.

Look for updates on Action Read’s blog https://actionread.blogspot.com/. To join an activity or get more information, contact us at actionread@gmail.com or 519-836-2759, and we will send you the Zoom link. We will also provide information and support on how to use Zoom if required.