Getting Started - SKYCTC QEP Book Club - Fall 2019 - Lawn Boy - Research Guides at Southcentral Kentucky Community and Technical College

YA novel explores race in America, police brutality, and the Black Lives Matter movement

Join the SKYCTC book club Fall 2019 as we read Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison.

Jonathan Evison was born in San Jose, California and lived there until age 8 when his family relocated to Bainbridge Island, Washington. Evison says his 3rd grade teacher encouraged him to write as a way to deal with some tough things that were going on in his home life and this was the beginning of his writing career. He published his first book in 2008 and it was well-received by the literary community, ending up on many best of the year lists.

Lawn Boy, his fifth novel, was published in 2018. It is the story of Mike Muñoz, a young man a few years past high school age, living in Washington State where he has a job mowing lawns. Mike doesn't know what he wants out of life but he knows he wants something better. Mike faces many hurdles in his pursuit of the American Dream. Lawn Boy is a coming-of-age story filled with honesty and humor about race and class issues that often keep many young adults from achieving their dreams.

Image Courtesy of The Seattle Times

Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison

Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison
ISBN: 9781616202620
For Mike Muñoz, a young Chicano living in Washington State, life has been a whole lot of waiting for something to happen. Not too many years out of high school and still doing menial work--and just fired from his latest gig as a lawn boy on a landscaping crew--he knows that he's got to be the one to shake things up if he's ever going to change his life. But how? In this funny, angry, touching, and ultimately deeply inspiring novel, bestselling author Jonathan Evison takes the reader into the heart and mind of a young man on a journey to discover himself, a search to find the secret to achieving the American dream of happiness and prosperity. That's the birthright for all Americans, isn't it? If so, then what is Mike Muñoz's problem? Though he tries time and again to get his foot on the first rung of that ladder to success, he can't seem to get a break. But then things start to change for Mike, and after a raucous, jarring, and challenging trip, he finds he can finally see the future and his place in it. And it's looking really good. Lawn Boy is an important, entertaining, and completely winning novel about social class distinctions, about overcoming cultural discrimination, and about standing up for oneself.

Winner of the Alex Award "Jonathan Evison's voice is pure magic. In Lawn Boy, at once a vibrant coming-of-age novel and a sharp social commentary on class, Evison offers a painfully honest portrait of one young man's struggle to overcome the hand he's been dealt in life and reach for his dreams. It's a journey you won't want to miss, with an ending you won't forget." --Kristin Hannah, author of The Nightingale

Learn more about the SKYCTC QEP

What is a QEP?

QEP: Quality Enhancement Plan

Continual improvement

All colleges develop a project to enhance some aspect of student learning

What are the SKYCTC QEP goals?

To help transitional reading students become academically successful

To help students become better critical readers

To develop a literacy-rich campus culture

To learn more about the SKYCTC QEP visit the Advising for Reading Students webpage

Book Club selections through the years

Ways to Participate in the SKYCTC QEP Book Club

SKYCTC Book Giveaways

Wednesday, September 25

Thursday, September 26

Main Campus

Building E | Lounge Area | 9:45-10:00am
Building L | Lobby | 9:45-10:00am

Main Campus

Building L | Lobby | 9:45-10:00am
Building E | Lounge Area | 10:45-11:00am

Glasgow Health Campus

LRC B-302 | 12:30-12:40pm

KATI Campus

Front Lobby/Reception Desk Area |
9:15-9:30am

Franklin-Simpson Campus

Lobby | 9:15-9:30am

SKYCTC Face to Face Book Discussion & Video Presentation

Main Campus: Building F | Conference Room | Monday, November 4 | 12:30-1:45pm

Main Campus: Building F | Conference Room | Tuesday, November 5 | 8:00-9:15am & 9:30-10:45am

New Day Northwest interviews Jonathan Evison about his new novel Lawn Boy

New Day Northwest is Western Washington's only morning talk show. On April 2, 2018 host Margaret Larson interviewed Jonathan Evison about his new novel, Lawn Boy, which spotlights a young landscapers' quest for the American Dream.

Length: 7:47

Jonathan Evison introduces Lawn Boy

Best-selling author Jonathan Evison takes you into the heart and mind of a young man on a search for self-discovery and the American dream with his novel, Lawn Boy.

This video was recorded at The Unversity Bookstore in Seattle, Washington in April 2018.

Length: 47:07

SKYCTC QEP Book Club - Fall 2019 - Lawn Boy: Getting Started