Lewiston Public Library is set to host a discussion at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 13, of Phuc Tran’s coming-of-age memoir “Sigh, Gone,” the nonfiction selection for this year’s Read ME statewide summer reading program.
This in-person event will take place in the library’s Couture Room at 200 Lisbon St.
Advance registration is required. For more information or to register, call 207-513-3135 or email lplreference@gmail.com.
“Sigh, Gone: A Misfit’s Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and the Fight to Fit In” shares an irreverent, funny and moving tale of displacement and assimilation, according to a news release from the library.
After his family immigrates during the fall of Saigon to the small town of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Tran struggles to find and accept himself while grappling with feelings of social isolation and the high expectations of his parents. Against the hairspray-and-synthesizer backdrop of the 1980s, he eventually finds refuge and inspiration in the wisdom of classic literature and the disaffected youth culture of punk rock.
Presented by the Maine State Library and Maine Humanities Council, the Read ME statewide summer reading program connects Maine’s adult reading community through new books written by up-and-coming Maine authors. The titles, one each for fiction and nonfiction, are selected each year by a Maine author with an established reputation. This year’s titles were chosen by Christina Baker Kline, author of the best-selling novels “Orphan Train,” “A Piece of the World,” and, most recently, “The Exiles.”
Multiple copies of the books are available to borrow at local libraries. In addition to events presented by local libraries, the Read ME program features statewide virtual events, including a kick-off program with Jennifer Rooks on Maine Public Radio’s “Maine Calling” and a virtual visit with each of the two featured authors.
Lewiston Public Library will also host an in-person discussion of the fiction selection for Read ME 2022, Meredith Hall’s compassionate novel “Beneficence,” from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 24. That event will also take place in the library’s Couture Room. Readers are invited to attend either or both discussions.
For more information about Read ME 2022, this year’s featured books, or the dates and registration information for the statewide virtual events, visit mainehumanities.org/read-me.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
