Barack Obama's presidential memoir, A Promised Land, is the hottest book in the country, and now students and staff in the author's adopted hometown can access the book for free through the rest of the year.
The former president reportedly made the announcement to Chicago students yesterday via a "virtual assembly," saying that each senior will receive a free print or digital copy of the book, with plans to hold follow-up conversations through “a little book club” in the new year.
The donation was arranged by President Obama, the Penguin Random House Foundation, Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, and OverDrive Education. All Chicago Public Schools high school students and staff can freely access the digital edition of A Promised Land through December 31, 2020, via OverDrive's Sora app. Students can log on with their Chicago Public School credentials, and start reading in English or Spanish. The audiobook edition is also available.
"Former President Barack Obama invites high school students of Chicago Public Schools to read his memoir, A Promised Land," reads a web page hosted for students by OverDrive, in hopes that the book will help "inspire students to engage in their future by studying civics and the impact of participating in our democracy."
Sora is OverDrive's popular student reading app which offers millions of e-books and audiobooks for students.
Though he was born in Hawaii, Chicago is Obama's adopted hometown, where for years he worked as a community organizer and taught Constitutional law at the University of Chicago before being sworn in as the junior Senator from Illinois in January of 2005.
The book was officially published on November 17, selling more than 887,000 units in all formats and editions in the U.S. and Canada on day one, the single largest first-day sales for any book ever published by Penguin Random House, the publisher said, with a reported first printing of 3.4 million copies.
