Quarantining can be a pretty lonely exercise, but the Gopher State has come up with an idea to alleviate boredom that’s pure Minnesota nice.
The Friends of the St. Paul Public Library have launched a statewide book club, called One Book/One Minnesota, to bring Minnesotans together via literature, the Star Tribune reports. The inaugural pick is Because of Winn-Dixie, the 2000 novel by the Minneapolis-based children’s author Kate DiCamillo.
Kim Horton, the senior director of communications for the Friends of the St. Paul Public Library, hopes that the book club will continue beyond the quarantine.
“If this works and goes well, maybe this will be the start of an ongoing program,” Horton said.
Because of Winn-Dixie follows a 10-year-old girl in Florida who finds a stray dog in a supermarket that ends up changing her life. A reviewer for Kirkus called the novel “a well-crafted tale of community and fellowship, of sweetness, sorrow, and hope.”
The novel was adapted into a 2005 movie starring Jeff Daniels, Cicely Tyson, and Dave Matthews.
Minnesotans interested in joining the book club will be able to find copies of the book at independent bookstores and public libraries across the state, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports. A virtual discussion about the book with DiCamillo will take place in May.
Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
