225BatonRouge.com

What would it be like if Baton Rouge read a book? Well, we found out last summer when the One Book/One Community project kicked off with the inaugural read, Life On the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black by Gregory Howard Williams. The book inspired an outpouring of participation and dialog among residents about race, family and education.

This summer organizers and sponsors hope to generate the same kind of buzz with a book that hits a little closer to home—Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City, by Jed Horne (pictured), the metro editor for the Times-Picayune in New Orleans.

How many of us housed family members or friends during the storm? How many moved to Baton Rouge after the storm destroyed life in New Orleans? Baton Rouge is now the largest city in the state and is tied tighter to New Orleans since the storm.

In Breach of Faith, Horne recounts dozens of individual stories about terrible loss, missed opportunities and unparalleled faith. “Yes, he’s a journalist, but he has such a lovely narrative style,” says Mary Stein, assistant director for the East Baton Rouge Parish Library.

Horne will address the community “town hall” style at the Cox Communications Center for Student Athletes on the LSU campus Aug. 23.

Until then, copies of the book will be available at all branches of the parish library and at bookstores throughout the city so residents can start reading.

“This August will be the second anniversary of the storm, and since then we’ve had time to heal and gain some perspective,” says Michelle Spielman, a member of the One Book steering committee. “This is an opportunity to revisit the issue and perhaps walk away with a better understanding of what happened.”

So get reading—we’ve got plenty to talk about.

readonebook.org