Henrietta Lacks Remains a Standout on FYE® Circuit with ONU Adoption

Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio will be using The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks for their 2013 Summer Reading Program.  All incoming freshmen are required to read the book prior to arriving on campus, and will participate in small group discussions during Fall Orientation and Convocation.  Students will be given prepared questions to guide their reading.

Chasing Chaos: A Decade of Social Activism

We are thrilled to present the debut of JESSICA ALEXANDER, who has spent the last ten years traveling the globe as a humanitarian aid worker. Her eye-opening memoir, CHASING CHAOS: My Decade In and Out of Humanitarian Aid (Broadway Books; On Sale October 15, 2013), sheds light on this all-consuming, extraordinary line of work, which most people know little about.

Disillusioned with her marketing job after college, Alexander dove into the humanitarian aid community, hoping to find a sense of purpose that the corporate world could not offer. She arrived in Rwanda in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide as an eager intern, ready to contribute, but unsure of what to expect. The world that Alexander encountered in the field was dramatically different than anything she could have imagined. It was messy, chaotic, and difficult—but she was hooked. This honest and compelling memoir introduces readers to the realities of life as an aid worker.

Sonia Nazario Speaks, the UN Listens: The Author of Enrique’s Journey Discusses Global Migration

Pulitzer Prize-winning Sonia Nazario, author of Enrique’s Journey, recently addressed the United Nations about how to better manage global migration as part of its Panel Discussion on International Migration and Development.

While the UN emphasized how migration spurs positive development both in countries that receive and in those that send migrants, Nazario’s focus was different. Instead, she focused on how too many migrants, especially women, feel forced to leave their homelands and children to go abroad in order to survive, and how child-mother separations produce devastating consequences for families and society. She urged developed countries to focus on creating jobs in specific migrant-sending countries so more migrants can stay home—where most would rather be.