Community Read Author Jack Gantos Appearing in Chelsea

The Manchester District Library is excited to announce that Jack Gantos, the author of the 2015 5H Community Read book Hole in My Life, will be appearing at a special free community event on Saturday, October 17, at 11 am at the Washington Street Education Center Auditorium in Chelsea, located at 500 Washington Street, Chelsea, MI 48118.

Residents of the 5 Healthy towns of Manchester, Chelsea, Dexter, Grass Lake, and Stockbridge, as well as the general public, are invited to hear Gantos speak at this event about his experiences as described in the book. Refreshments of cider and donuts will be provided. While copies of Hole in My Life are being distributed for free throughout the 5 Healthy Towns for this year’s read, it and Gantos’s new book, The Trouble in Me, will be available for sale onsite, and there will be an opportunity to have books signed by the author.

The goal of the 5H Community Read is to bring the 5 Healthy Towns together in a dialogue on the importance of wellness and staying active while exploring the magic of reading. The Read is supported by a grant from the Chelsea-Area Wellness Foundation. Each year’s Community Read focuses on one of the Foundation’s four health initiatives. This year’s initiative, explored through Gantos’s book, is “Avoiding Unhealthy Substances”.

The book recounts a summer of the author’s life when, as an aspiring writer looking for money and adventure, he helped sail a yacht loaded with hashish from the Virgin Islands to New York City, where he and his partners sold the drug until caught by federal agents. His story contains an important and inspiring message of not letting your mistakes define you or keep you from your goals. Hole in My Life won both the Michael L. Printz and Robert F. Sibert honors.

To get a free copy of Hole in My Life, you can stop by the Manchester District Library or go to 5Hcommunityreads.wordpress.com to find other locations as well as more information about the program. Participants are invited to share their free copy with others in the community after reading.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.