The 2024 - 2025 One Book is
The Last Beekeeper by Julie Carrick Dalton
Part environmental dystopia, part coming of age, part mystery, part romance,
The Last Beekeeper delivers a much-needed reminder of the importance of safeguarding the Earth and its inhabitants (even the tiniest) from unnecessary harm and the habitual acts we perform that can imperil both. Sarah Penner, NYT bestselling author, puts the novel's importance best: "The significance of this story cannot be overstated. It is so much more than a tale about bees: it's a story about humanity, determination, and honoring the delicate world in which we all live."
A beekeeper, environmentalist, and author, Ms. Carrick Dalton is a frequent speaker on Fiction in the Age of Climate Crisis at universities, conferences, libraries, and museums. Her work has been featured in
Chicago Review of Books, Orion, Newsweek, The Boston Globe, Electric Literature, and more.
Meet the Author!
An Evening with Julie Carrick Dalton is sponsored by RCSJ, One Book, One College and the
Cumberland Campus Educational Foundation
|
An Evening with Julie Carrick Dalton
Live and In Person
Wed., October 16, 2024, at 7:00 PM
Guarancini Fine & Performing Arts Center |
Julie Carrick Dalton visits RCSJ-Cumberland's Luciano Theatre on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, at 7 PM.
A book signing will follow. The event is free and open to RCSJ faculty, students, staff, and the community at large.
Already a popular book club pick, this year's selection is sure to enthrall campus and community with its timely message and page-turning suspense.
The Last Beekeeper is available at RCSJ Barnes & Noble Bookstores and major booksellers and is sure to elicit important conversations on friendship, hope in the midst of despair, and the fragile, irreplaceable beauty of nature.
For RCSJ Instructors:
The novel is easily relatable to the English, Women's Studies, Psychology, Agriculture, Biology, Earth and Environmental Science classrooms. Instructors who plan to incorporate the book into their classrooms may request an instructor copy and a discussion guide/resource packet by emailing Judy at
[email protected]. Instructor copies are limited and will be handled on a first-come, first-served basis.
Instructors will find an excellent companion to the novel in the documentary,
Vanishing of the Bees. (Email
[email protected] for a
Vanishing of the Bees study guide and information on how to gain access to the film for your class.)
What is One Book, One College?
Initiated in the 2004-2005 academic year, OBOC is a college- and community-wide reading program with the goal of fostering a reading community that encourages reading for pleasure, critical thinking, global awareness, and multicultural understanding.
Each year the OBOC committee chooses one special book to be read by students, faculty, staff, and the community at large. Workshops, discussions, lectures, and/or other related activities are organized around the selected book during the Fall and Spring Semesters of that year. Faculty are encouraged to incorporate the "One Book" into their classes across the curriculum.
The program's highlight is the much-anticipated annual author visit to campus. Participation in OBOC is not limited to Cumberland's campus, however. OBOC invites community members to read its selection and welcomes them to attend the annual author visit and book signing on a first-come, first-served basis.
To nominate a work of fiction or a memoir for the committee's consideration, please email Judy, [email protected].
Committee Members
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Josh Austin, Assistant Professor of English - Cumberland
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Erin Brabazon, Professor of English - Gloucester
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Danielle Carroll, community representative
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Judy Cirucci, Chair, Sr. Instructional Designer - Cumberland
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Anya Cronin, Professor of English - Gloucester
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Toni DiTomo, Professor/Coordinator Developmental English - Cumberland
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Yolanda Garcia Balicki, Esq., RCSJ Board of Trustees Member
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Kelly Hayden, Librarian - Cumberland
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Sharon Kewish, Past Chair, Professor Emeritus - English
- Maria LeBlanc, Executive Director, Cumberland Campus Educational Foundation
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Susan Nardelli, Special Assistant to the President-Institutional Advancement
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Sandra Reid, Professor of Nursing - Cumberland
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Meredith Vicente, Director of Special Services - Cumberland
Previous Selections
- 2023 -2024 Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
- 2022 -2023 The Children’s Blizzard by Melanie Benjamin
- 2021 -2022
The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate
- 2020-2021
Maid by Stephanie Land
- 2019-2020
Ginny Moon by Benjamin Ludwig
- 2018-2019
The Orphan's Tale by Pam Jenoff
- 2017-2018
The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
- 2016-2017
Remember Me Like This by Bret Anthony Johnston
- 2015-2016
The Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
- 2014-2015
Until Tuesday by Luis Carlos Montalvan
- 2013-2014
A Mighty Long Way by Carlotta Walls Lanier
- 2012-2013
Faithless by Joyce Carol Oates
- 2011-2012
Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario
- 2010-2011
The Soloist by Steve Lopez
- 2009-2010
Strong Medicine Speaks by Amy Hill Hearth
- 2008-2009
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
- 2007-2008
Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell
- 2006-2007
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
- 2005-2006
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
- 2004-2005
The Color of Water by James McBride
