Camp Nine Chosen for Statewide Reading Event

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Camp Nine by Vivienne Schiffer

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Camp Nine, by Vivienne Schiffer, a 2011 novel published by the University of Arkansas Press, is the 2013 selection for “If All Arkansas Read the Same Book, ” the statewide reading program established by the Arkansas Center for the Book at the Arkansas State Library. The program encourages Arkansans to read the chosen title and participate in author events and book discussions during the month of October.

Camp Nine , set in World War II-era Arkansas, is the story of a young girl whose life becomes intertwined with two young Japanese Americans interned in a fictionalized version of the Rowher Relocation Center in Desha County. In 1942 President Franklin D. Roosevelt used Executive Order 9066 to imprison 120,000 people of Japanese descent in such camps.

Schiffer, a Desha County native, will kick off a statewide tour as a part of the reading program with an appearance at the Arkansas Library Association conference in Hot Springs on Monday, Oct. 7.

She will also conduct public readings, signings and discussions at these public libraries:

• Fort Smith Public Library, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8
• Van Buren Public Library, 10 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9
• Springdale Public Library, 2 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9
• Jackson County Public Library, Newport, 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10
• Crowley Ridge Regional Library, Jonesboro, 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10
• University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton and Conway County Library joint event, noon Friday, Oct. 11
• Monticello Public Library and University of Arkansas at Monticello Library joint event, 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24
• Barton Library, El Dorado, 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25
• McGehee High School, 10 a.m. Monday, Oct. 28

The library events are free and open to the public.

Publishers Weekly praised Camp Nine as a “a finely wrought debut novel.” Booklist described the book as “a compelling, vivid account of a shameful episode that should not be forgotten.” Originally published in hardback, the University of Arkansas Press has published a paperback edition of the book for this program.

The Arkansas Center for the Book at the Arkansas State Library exists to encourage reading, writing and literacy in Arkansas and to protect the state’s rich literary heritage by preserving and promoting books and literature in the state. Funding for the project is provided by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services to the Arkansas State Library under the Library Services and Technology Act. A copy of Camp Nine has been provided to each public library in the state through this program.

The University of Arkansas Press was founded in 1980 as the book publishing division of the University of Arkansas. A member of the Association of American University Presses, it has as its central and continuing mission the publication of books that serve both the broader academic community and Arkansas and the region.