One Book, One Batavia 2025
One Book, One Batavia is an annual community-wide reading program presented by the Batavia Public Library and co-sponsored by the Friends of the Batavia Public Library.
This year’s adult selection: Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea
This year’s teen selection: Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
This year’s youth selection: Allies by Alan Gratz
Adult selection:
Good Night, Irene
by Luis Alberto Urrea
Irene abandons an abusive fiancé in New York, enlists with the Red Cross and heads to Europe. There she joins a group of women nicknamed Donut Dollies who drive “clubmobiles” at the front lines, providing a taste of home before troops head into battle.
Teen selection:
Salt to the Sea
by Ruta Sepetys
As World War II draws to a close, refugees try to escape the war’s final dangers, only to find themselves aboard a ship with a target on its hull.
Youth selection:
Allies
by Alan Gratz
June 6, 1944: The Nazis are terrorizing Europe on their evil quest to conquer the world. The only way to stop them? The biggest, most top-secret operation ever, with the Allied nations coming together — by land, sea, and air — to storm German-occupied France. Welcome to D-Day.
About the Authors
Luis Alberto Urrea
Luis Alberto Urrea is a prolific and acclaimed writer who uses his dual-culture life experiences to explore greater themes of love, loss, and triumph.
A 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist for nonfiction and a Guggenheim fellow, Urrea is the critically acclaimed and best-selling author of 19 books, winning numerous awards for his poetry, fiction and essays. Born in Tijuana to a Mexican father and American mother, Urrea is most recognized as a border writer, though he says, “I am more interested in bridges, not borders.”
Urrea’s newest book, Good Night, Irene, takes as inspiration his mother’s own Red Cross service. With its affecting and uplifting portrait of friendship and valor in harrowing circumstances, Good Night, Irene powerfully demonstrates yet again that Urrea’s gifts as a storyteller are prodigious.
Ruta Sepetys
Ruta Sepetys (Rūta Šepetys) is an internationally acclaimed, #1 New York Times bestselling author of historical fiction published in more than 60 countries and 40 languages.
Sepetys is considered a “crossover” novelist as her books are read by both students and adults worldwide. Winner of the Carnegie Medal, she is renowned for giving voice to underrepresented history and those who experienced it.
Her books have won or been shortlisted for more than 40 book prizes, are included on more than 30 state reading lists, and currently are in development for film and television.
Alan Gratz
Alan Gratz is the New York Times bestselling author of 20 novels for young readers, including Prisoner B-3087, Projekt 1065, Refugee, Ban This Book, Allies, Ground Zero, Captain America: The Ghost Army, Two Degrees, and Heroes.
A Knoxville, Tennessee native, Gratz now is a full-time writer living in Portland, Oregon with his family.
Upcoming Events
Would you know what to do if your dog or cat had an accident or a health emergency? Dr. Nate Berg of Batavia Animal Clinic will explain the steps you can take and answer your questions. Ages 12 and up.
Disclaimer(s)
The library makes every effort to ensure our programs can be enjoyed by all. If you have any concerns about accessibility or need to request specific accommodations, please contact the library.
Author Laurie Zaleski will join us via Zoom to discuss her book Funny Farm with the audience.
Disclaimer(s)
The library makes every effort to ensure our programs can be enjoyed by all. If you have any concerns about accessibility or need to request specific accommodations, please contact the library.