Winchester Reads: 2014

LOVE ANTHONY BY LISA GENOVA

Copies available now at the Reference Desk!

From award-winning New York Times bestselling author Lisa Genova—whose novel Still Alice is soon to be a major motion picture starring Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin, Kate Bosworth, and Kristen Stewart—comes a heartfelt novel in the vein of Jodi Picoult, about an accidental friendship that helps a grieving mother understand the thoughts of her autistic son.

I’m always hearing about how my brain doesn’t work right…But it doesn’t feel broken to me. 

Olivia Donatelli’s dream of a “normal” life shattered when her son, Anthony, was diagnosed with autism at age three. He didn’t speak. He hated to be touched. He almost never made eye contact. And just as Olivia was starting to realize that happiness and autism could coexist, Anthony was gone.

Now she’s alone on Nantucket, desperate to find meaning in her son’s short life, when a chance encounter with another woman brings Anthony alive again in a most unexpected way.

In a warm, deeply human story reminiscent of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Daniel Isn’t Talking, and The Reason I Jump, New York Times bestselling author Lisa Genova offers us two unforgettable women on the verge of change and the irrepressible young boy with autism whose unique wisdom helps them both find the courage to move on.

RELATED EVENTS

• Panel Discussion: How Does Autism Affect Me? – Join us on Thursday, October 2nd, 2014 at 7:30pm at the Jenks Center, 109 Skillings Rd. Winchester, MA. Speakers include Dr. Margaret Bauman, a pioneer in the study of autism, Cathy Boyle, President of Autism Housing Pathways, Capt. Bill Cannata who educates first responders in rescuing individuals with autism, and Anne Kostos, ADA Coordinator for the Town of Winchester.
• Meet the Author: Lisa Genova – Tuesday, October 14, 2014 at 7:30pm at the McCall Middle School, 458, Main Street, Winchester, MA.
• Film Screening: Autism: The Musical – Sunday, October 26, 2014 at 2:30pm at the Winchester Public Library.

READING TIE-INS

• Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin
• Life, Animated by Ron Suskind
• Rules (ages 8-12) by Cynthia Lord

WINCHESTER READS IS SPONSORED BY:

The John & Mary Murphy Educational Foundation. Additional support is from Book Ends, the Friends of the Winchester Public Library, the Winchester Multicultural Network, Winchester Public Schools, and many enthusiastic volunteers.