Fremont author Tosca Lee’s most recent novel, “The Long March Home,” received the 2025 selection for the 21st annual One Book One Nebraska at the Nebraska Celebration of Books literary festival on Oct. 12 in Lincoln.
Sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book, Humanities Nebraska and Nebraska Library Commission, the One Book One Nebraska reading program encourages Nebraskans across the state to read and discuss the same book, chosen from books written by Nebraska authors or that have a Nebraska theme or setting.
“This is a way for Nebraska authors and Nebraska stories to be highlighted across the state,” said Tessa Timperley, communications coordinator for the Nebraska Library Commission. “The nominations come from Nebraskans and the selection committee includes Nebraskans from Omaha all the way across the state to Gering. Their goal is to pick a book that every single Nebraskan could read and then have a conversation about.”
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The Nebraska Library Commission seeks to promote a dialog with the selected book.
The yearly program starts with nominations.
“We have to close the nominations for the upcoming year at the end of June,” Timperley said. “And then we look at the books that were nominated in that calendar year. It could be any book written by a Nebraska author with a Nebraska theme or setting. It doesn’t really matter how many times a book gets nominated, once a book is nominated it’s on the list for consideration.”
A committee organized by the Nebraska Center for the Book reads all of the books that have been nominated.
“At least three people read each book in the first round of readings,” Timperley said. “A book has to get at least two votes from two different readers to move on to the second round.”
The procedure continues until the committee picks a list of finalists. The finalists for this year included:
“My Nebraska: The Good, the Bad, and the Husker,” Roger Welsch, 2006
“The Lincoln Highway: A Novel,” Amor Towles, 2021
“The Long March Home: A World War II Novel of the Pacific,” Marcus Brotherton and Tosca Lee, 2023
Libraries across Nebraska will join other literary and cultural organizations in planning book discussions, activities and events that encourage Nebraskans to read and discuss “The Long March Home.”
Support materials to assist with local reading/discussion activities will be available after Jan. 1. Updates and activity listings will be posted on the One Book One Nebraska Facebook page.
“We really want this program to be statewide, not just about Lincoln or Omaha or a specific city,” Timperley said. “It’s for everyone in Nebraska. We want them to have one book they all read, and then have it spark conversations.”
The Nebraska Center for the Book brings together the state’s readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators and scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading and the written word.
The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at and supported by the Nebraska Library Commission.
As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission advocates for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services, “bringing together people and information.”
Lee describes “The Long March Home” as historical fiction “inspired by true stories of friendship, sacrifice, and hope on the Bataan Death March” during WWII. Lee and Brotherton, both New York Times bestselling authors, worked together on the research and writing of the novel. The novel also received recognition with the 2024 International Book Award for Historical Fiction, Booklist Top 10 Historical Fiction, 2023 Hemingway Award Finalist and Library Journal Starred Review also in 2023.
For more information about Lee, visit ToscaLee.com.
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