The Oswego Reading Initiative (ORI) selection for will be “Which Side Are You On” written by Ryan Lee Wong.
Rameen Mohammadi, the associate provost and convener of the ORI committee, announced the selection and that Wong will visit campus for a 7 p.m. talk on Wednesday, Sept. 25, in the Marano Campus Center auditorium.
Described by Time magazine as "A thought-provoking and poignant coming-of-age story," the novel is told from the perspective of a Korean-American college student struggling to come to terms with what it means to live an ethical, meaningful, life while facing police brutality and racism.
“At its best, which it frequently is, ‘Which Side Are You On’ bears the distinction of telling a story for and of our times, asking difficult, but necessary, questions of its narrator and readers alongside him." Jung Yun wrote in a review in The Washington Post.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, the son of a fifth-generation Chinese American father and a Korean immigrant mother, Wong is an active writer, speaker and trainer, and the administrative director of Brooklyn Zen Center.
The Oswego Reading Initiative is an annual project asking the campus community to read one book over the summer. To accompany the selection, a series of programs, including cultural events and talks are planned to facilitate discussion and involvement around the title.