If all Arkansas read the same book

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

The Pecan Man, a novel by Cassie Dandridge Selleck, is the selection for the 2016-17 statewide reading program, "If All Arkansas Read the Same Book." Arkansans are encouraged to read and discuss the book in book clubs and libraries throughout the year.

Dandridge Selleck, the Florida-based author, will visit 10 Arkansas communities June 11-16 for readings and book signings. Events during the week-long tour are planned for Hot Springs, St. Paul, Morrilton, Newport, Paragould, Wynne, Beebe, Alma, Siloam Springs and Harrison.

The Siloam Springs Public Library, located at 205 East Jefferson, will host an event at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 15, in the meeting room. Please call 479-524-4236 or visit www.siloamsprings.com/library/programs for more details.

The Pecan Man is a Southern novel set in Florida in the 1970s and explores issues of race, redemption, family and community.

In the summer of 1976, recently widowed and childless, Ora Lee Beckworth hires a homeless black man to mow her lawn. The neighborhood children call him the Pee-can Man; their mothers call them inside whenever he appears. When the police chief's son is found stabbed to death near his camp, the man Ora knows as Eddie is arrested and charged with murder.

Twenty-five years later, Ora sets out to tell the truth about the Pecan Man. In narrating her story, Ora discovers more truth about herself than she could ever have imagined. The novel has been described as "To Kill a Mockingbird" meets "The Help."

Born and raised in Central Florida, Dandridge Selleck now makes her home on the banks of the Suwannee River in North Florida with her husband of 25 years and their tiny, but terrifying, chihuahua.

General News on 06/14/2017