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  • ABOUT ONE BOOK ONE AURORA
  • ABOUT STRANGERS WITH THE SAME DREAM
  • AUTHOR BIO
  • IF YOU LIKED...
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  • GET A COPY
  • BOOK CLUBS
  • INTERVIEWS & PRESS
  • Aurora Public Library
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    Our community reads

    STRANGERS WITH THE SAME DREAM
    BY ALISON PICK




  • ABOUT ONE BOOK ONE AURORA
     

    OneBookOneAurora supports reading, celebrates books and writing, and builds a sense of community through the shared experience of reading. It encourages Aurorans to read the same book, discuss it, attend one of the many events, and then meet the author at our culminating event on November 3, 2018.

  • ABOUT STRANGERS WITH THE SAME DREAM

    This beautifully written novel transports us back to 1921, when a band of young Jewish pioneers set out to realize a dream: the founding of a settlement on a patch of land that would eventually become Israel.

     

    One by one, we enter the minds of three compelling characters – Ida, an idealistic young woman escaping the violence in Europe; David, the charismatic and volatile group leader; and Hannah, a wife and mother struggling with her roles. Through these main voices, we witness how the utopian dream is punctured by flawed characters and messy human entanglements.

     

    Strangers with the Same Dream is also the story of the land itself, revealing with irony and compassion how the settlers chose to ignore the fact that the homeland they sought was home to people whose lives they did not understand.

  • Author Bio

     
    Photo Credit: Brock Weir, The Auroran.

    Alison Pick

    Author
    Alison Pick was the 2002 winner of the Bronwen Wallace Award for the most promising young writer in Canada.
     
    She has published three acclaimed volumes of poetry, and her first novel,The Sweet Edge (2005), was a Globe and Mail "Best Book."

     

    Her second novel, Far to Go (2010), was nominated for the Man Booker Prize, won the Canadian Jewish Award for Fiction and was named a "Top Ten of 2010" book by the Toronto Star and NOW Magazine. Published internationally to acclaim, it has been optioned for film.

     

    Her memoir, Between Gods, also published internationally, was a finalist for the BC National Award for Non-Fiction, and a Globe and Mail "Best Book" of 2014.

     

     Strangers with the Same Dream (2017) compares competing ideals in a troubled history. Alison’s writing has been described as faultlessly rendered with compassion and lyrical grace.

     

    Alison Pick lives and writes in Toronto.

     
     
  • IF YOU LIKED...

    If you liked Strangers with the Same Dream, you may like the following:
     

    Between Gods by Alison Pick
    Far to Go by Alison Pick
    All The Rivers by Dorit Rabinyan
    The Arrival by Shaun Tan
    Day After Night by Anita Diamant
    Exodus by Leon Uris
    The Fortunate Ones by Ellen Umansky
    A Shall Not Hate by Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish
    An Improbable Friendship by Anthony David
    Ishmael’s Oranges by Claire Hajaj
    Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa
    The Photographer's Wife by Suzanne Joinson
    Salt Houses by Hala Alyan
    Three Wishes Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak by Deborah Ellis
    The Wall by William Sutcliffe
    Enemies and Neighbours by Ian Black
  • UPCOMING EVENTS

    Please check back often, as new events continue to be added to the Fall lineup.

    THINGS ARAB MEN SAY

    Thursday Sept. 13, 7 pm
    Aurora Public Library, Magna Room
    In this antidote to mainstream-media depictions of Arab men, we get to meet Jay, Ghassan and their friends, who gather at Jamal’s Eden Barber Shop in Edmonton to discuss politics, religion and family over a cut and a shave. Often funny, sometimes sad, this engaging NFB film documents the challenges these men face integrating into Canadian life while preserving their identity and culture.
     

     

    Screening followed by Q&A with special guest Raja G. Khouri.

     

     

    Free tickets will be available starting August 1.

    SHOOT THE LAND:
    photography contest

    Ongoing Submissions
    Submission Deadline: Friday Sept. 28
    Send your entry to: brock@auroran.com

    In Strangers with the Same Dream, the land itself becomes one of the characters in the book. Capture your relationship with the landscape in this year’s OBOA photography contest. 

     

    Winners to be announced at APL’s Ontario Public Library Week Open House on Monday October 15, and via email or phone. 

     

    In collaboration with The Auroran newspaper.

     

     

    OBOA WRITING CONTEST

    Ongoing Submissions
    Submission Deadline: Friday Sept. 28
     
    Send your entry to: writingcontest@aurorapl.ca
    Alison Pick’s opening line to Strangers with the Same Dream sets the stage for a journey into the magic of storytelling. Borrowing Alison’s opening for your own story, we invite you to submit your writing to the OBOA 2018 writing contest.
     
    Your first line is: This story begins with a lie.
     
    Winners to be announced at APL’s Ontario Public Library Week Open House on Monday October 15, and via email or phone. 
     
     

    Bring Your Own Ghost:
    writing workshop

    Saturday Sept. 29, 1:30 - 3:30 pm
    Aurora Public Library, Marjorie Andrews Room
    In this writing workshop, unearth a ghost of your former self, an ancestor, family member, lover, stranger, or an imagined character. Using writing prompts and meditation techniques unravel the plot that leads to the ghost’s departure.
     
    Workshop Facilitator: Marnie Maguire
    Marnie’s writing is part magic realism/part poetic grunge. She has combined her experience as a writer with her doctoral research on social change, memory & the creative process to provide truly meaningful workshops for a broad spectrum of aspiring authors. 
     
    Free tickets will be available starting August 1.

    Photography Workshop

    Saturday Sept. 29, 1:30 - 3:30 pm
    Aurora Public Library, Lebovic Room
    Just like the settlers in Strangers With the Same Dream, landscape photographers oftentimes use their environment as a basis for creating images that don’t simply document the environment but also reflect the photographer’s personal vision.

    In this workshop we will look at things such as light, composition, depth of field, image processing and other photographic basics that will allow you to move beyond a simple literal representation of the environment and instead create fine art photographs that represent your vision of the world.
     
    Free tickets will be available starting August 1.

    Folk Dancing with Riki Adivi

    Saturday Sept. 29, 3:30 - 4:15 pm
    Aurora Public Library, Living Room

    Folk dancing is about family and friends of all ages dancing together. Join folk dance teacher, Riki Adivi, for a vibrant Culture Days workshop and learn some easy dances and a little about other cultures.

     

    In celebration of OneBookOneAurora, Riki will be including folk dancing from Israeli and Arabic cultures.

     

    Family friendly!  Wear comfortable shoes and be ready to have fun!

    IDEAS: a philosophical conversation

    Tues. October 30, 7:00 - 8:30 pm
    Aurora Public Library, Magna Room
    Is it possible to build a community based on the socialist ideal of
    equality and communal living? Join us for a discussion led by Ronen Grunberg on the philosophical ideas of Marx, Plato and Sartre and how they relate to Strangers with the Same Dream. We will pay particular attention to the questions that they each raise about whether human nature is innate and determined, or instead shaped by nurture, culture and geography.
     
    Free tickets will be available starting August 1.

    OBOA Grand Finale:
    Meet Alison Pick

    Saturday Nov. 3, 2 pm
    Aurora Public Library, Living Room
    Join us for the grand finale of the 2018 OneBookOneAurora project.
    Meet Alison Pick and enjoy a fascinating glimpse into the story behind the story.
     
    Free tickets will be available starting August 1.

    Coming Soon!
    A delicious OBOA recipe prepared by Jan's Country Pantry.
  • GET A COPY OF THE BOOK

    Unfortunately the release of the paperback edition has been pushed back to March 2019. This means we are unable to put out our free lending libraries.
     
    Instead, this year we will have additional hardcover copies 
    of Strangers with the Same Dream available for loan at Aurora Public Library. 
     
    We hope you enjoy the book and look forward to seeing you at the events.
     

     

  • BOOK CLUBS
     

    Strangers with the Same Dream

    Book Club Discussion Questions
    • The novel is told through three perspectives narrating the same events through each character’s eyes. Was this literary technique successful to the flow of the storyline?
    • Strangers with the Same Dream has been described as a feminist novel. Did the author ring true in her exploration of subjects such as marriage and motherhood?
    • Each of the central characters might be described as flawed, perhaps no one more so than the charismatic David. Did you hold much sympathy for him? Do you think charisma a requisite for leadership?
    • In interviews, Alison Pick acknowledges that the story of the Palestinian characters was not her own to tell, but that she couldn’t write this novel without including their viewpoints. At every turn, the Arab population peers in from the fringes. Was the author successful in drawing the characters of little Sakina, stoic Fatima and noble Habib?
    •  The kibbutz movement (and other social utopias) espoused gender equality. Do you think any society has been successful in attaining equality between the sexes? Do you think this is even possible or desirable?
    • The land itself might well be described as a tragic character in this book, revealing the terrible irony of how the settlers chose to ignore the undeniable fact that the land was already populated by the Arab people. How were you able to balance your sympathies given the time period the novel was set in and how history continues to play out?
  • INTERVIEWS & PRESS

    The Next Chapter with Shelagh Rogers: Why Alison Pick wrote a novel about Jewish pioneers in 1920s Palestine
    The Auroran: "Strangers with the Same Dream" selected for One Book One Aurora 2018
    The Auroran: Strangers with the Same Dream explores important ideas of identity


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      • Slogan
      • ABOUT ONE BOOK ONE AURORA
      • ABOUT STRANGERS WITH THE SAME DREAM
      • AUTHOR BIO
      • IF YOU LIKED...
      • EVENTS
      • GET A COPY
      • BOOK CLUBS
      • INTERVIEWS & PRESS
      • Aurora Public Library