Communal Read

John Steinbeck wasn’t available in 2008 when Door Countians first participated in The Big Read program sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. Neither were Willa Cather or Mark Twain, authors whose books were featured in subsequent years.

But on Thursday, Feb. 5, the public is invited to meet William Kent Krueger, the author of the 2015 Door County Reads selection Ordinary Grace, at a 7 pm reading and reception at Crossroads at Big Creek, 2041 Michigan St., across the highway from the YMCA.

Ordinary Grace is a New York Times best seller and the recipient of seven literary awards, including the 2014 DILYS Award for independent mysteries and the Edgar Award as the best novel of 2014.

It is the coming-of-age story of Frank Drum, preoccupied with the usual concerns of a 13-year-old boy. But when an unexpected tragedy strikes his family – which includes his Methodist minister father, his passionate, artistic mother, a Juilliard-bound older sister and a kid brother – Frank finds himself thrust into an adult world full of secrets, lies, adultery and betrayal, suddenly called upon to demonstrate maturity and gumption beyond his years.

The story is told from Frank’s perspective 40 years after that fateful summer of 1961. It is a moving account of a boy standing at the door of young manhood, trying to understand a world that seems to be falling apart around him. The publisher describes Ordinary Grace as “an unforgettable novel about discovering the terrible price of wisdom and the enduring grace of God.”

The committee that selected Ordinary Grace for the 2015 Door County Reads describes it as “one of those very rare books that readers wish would never end. It is a memorable experience to read it for the first time, and it is a book that can be read again with increased insight.”

Becca Berger, Door County Library director, says, “I have not talked with anyone who has read the book who did not love it. We hope the community is going to enjoy it with us.”

Krueger’s website says that he was raised in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon and briefly attended Stanford University before being kicked out for radical activities. After that, he logged timber, worked construction, tried his hand at freelance journalism, and eventually ended up researching child development at the University of Minnesota. He lives in St. Paul with his wife of 40 years, an attorney.

Ordinary Grace is Krueger’s first standalone novel. He is also the author of a series of 13 popular mysteries featuring Cork O’Connor, an Irish-Ojibwe former sheriff in the north woods of Minnesota.

Courtesy of the Friends of Door County Libraries, 500 free copies of Ordinary Grace are being distributed through all the county library branches. Large print, regular print and CD-audio versions are also available via the library’s online catalog, InfoSoup.org. Those who would like to listen to the book at a computer or digital device can download free audio copies from OneClick Digital: InfoSoup.OneClickDigital.com.

Alan Kopischke, then development director of Peninsula Players, obtained grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), to make Door County a part of the national Big Read program from 2008-2010. The initial impetus was to give the Players a winter presence in the county.

When the NEA’s funding was cut, the county libraries, which had always been a partner in the project, were asked to carry it forward. The Big Read became Door County Reads. Costs for the next two years were picked up by the Door County Community Foundation Arts Fund. Since then, funding has been provided by the Door County Library Foundation.

The free copies of the featured book distributed in the community each year are provided by Friends of the Door County Library. Berger notes with pride that “there aren’t many communities that give away books! That is one of the things that makes Door County unique.

“Each year since 2008 has attracted hundreds of participants, and each year we get excited,” Berger says. “It is fun for us at the libraries, and the community seems to respond. I have tremendous gratitude to Kopischke for getting our county started on this and his continued involvement.”