Welcome to 2010 Kansas Reads!

January 29-March 15, 2010

A statewide reading and discussion project sponsored by the Kansas Center for the Book and the Kansas Humanities Council!

Recommended by a committee of experienced and qualified librarians and educators, Dreams from My Father was chosen by the State Librarian for its broad-based appeal that encourages and sustains spirited discussion.

Please use this site as a resource for both personal and classroom information as you read and study the book. You will find a wealth of material including study questions, classroom activities, related graphics and much more!

“You have to know where you’ve been if you want to know where you’re going.” -Barack Obama

Read about his dreams…come talk about yours.

The Kansas Center for the Book at the State Library of Kansas and the Kansas Humanities Council are proud for the fourth year to present 2010 Kansas Reads…Dreams from My Father, a moving memoir by Barack Obama of his traumatic journey to discover his heritage.

Before Barack Obama was elected President of the United States, and even before he entered politics, he needed to know more about the meaning of his life as a black American. Dreams from My Father begins with: “The sudden death of his father inspires an emotional odyssey—first to a small town in Kansas, from which he retraces the migration of his mother’s family to Hawaii, and then to Kenya, where he meets the African side of his family, confronts the bitter truth of his father’s life, and at last reconciles his divided inheritance.”

“Beautifully crafted…moving and candid…this book belongs on the shelf beside works like James McBride’s The Color of Water and Gregory Howard Williams’ Life on the Color Line as a tale of living astride America’s racial categories.” -Scott Turow