Read. Respond. Win a scholarship up to $1,000.
Now Read This! Community Book Read
Offers Chance at $1,000 Scholarship to Ivy Tech–Northeast.
Residents of northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio are encouraged to read, discuss and respond creatively to The Story of Beautiful Girl by author Rachel Simon. This community book read, to be conducted during the next several months, promotes literacy, dialogue about the literary work and the enjoyment of reading the same book as a community.
Ivy Tech−Northeast will also award one or more scholarships worth up to $1,000 for the best creative responses to the book. Entries can include essays, music, dance, multimedia and visual art submissions. Read the submission guidelines.
THE BOOK - The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon
The Story of Beautiful Girl focuses on characters with disabilities, as it features the adventures and sometimes tragic events surrounding Lynnie, a young white woman with a developmental disability, and Homan, an African American deaf man. Both are left to languish in the School for the Incurable and Feebleminded until they escape the institution—with Lynnie’s newborn baby in tow. The three are aided by Martha, a widowed schoolteacher, who befriends them and hides the baby from law enforcement and mental institution authorities. This friendship begins a 40-year epic journey of lives that are divided but come together to make a compelling tale of those who are frequently forgotten or ignored in American society.
WHERE TO FIND THE BOOK
- The New Edition Bookstore - North Campus in lower level of Harshman Hall, Ivy Tech-Northeast
- Ivy Tech’s library - Coliseum Campus (3800 N. Anthony Blvd.)
- Area libraries and other area bookstores
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Susan Howard
260-481-2203
showard62@ivytech.edu
Spring 2012 Scholarship Winners
Megan Dunlap - $1,000 scholarship
Nina Shedd - $1,000 scholarship
Nancy Miskulin - $500 scholarship
Ginger Boyer - $500 scholarship
Rachel Simon is a best-selling author, public speaker and advocate on helping people with disabilities. “Like many siblings of people with disabilities, I first heard about institutions as a young child,” Simon writes. “My sister, Beth, had an intellectual disability, and my parents would talk about how some children like Beth were ‘put away’ in institutions. They didn’t elaborate but were emphatic that Beth would not live in one.” This piqued Simon’s curiosity about such facilities and informs her latest book, The Story of Beautiful Girl. It is the story of two patients from the School for the Incurable and Feebleminded and the people who either aid or take advantage of them.
Simon is the author of six critically acclaimed books, including Riding the Bus with My Sister, which was adapted into a TV movie in 2005 that starred actress/comedian Rosie O’Donnell.
