Missouri Is Reading

Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston's 1973 autobiography, Farewell to Manzanar, was chosen for Missouri's new yearlong statewide reading program, known as ReadMOre. Last month, public and private reading groups, school activities, special discussions and lectures took place throughout the state, and Houston made several public appearances to promote the program. According to the ReadMOre committee,Farewell to Manzanar, which tells of the time the author, a Japanese-American, spent in a California internment camp during World War II, was chosen because the issue of ethnic profiling during time of war seemed especially timely.

Houghton Mifflin reissued the hardcover last month (its adult division originally published the book), and Dell/Laurel-Leaf is the paperback publisher.