'The Help' is Lisle's Big Read

For a first-time author, Kathryn Stockett hit the jackpot. Her novel, "The Help," earned the distinction of being on the New York Times Best Seller List, and two weeks ago moved to No. 1.

The thought-provoking book is also this year's Big Read for the Lisle Library, working with the Clarendon Hills, Downers Grove, Hinsdale, Indian Park, La Grange, La Grange Park, Thomas Ford, Westmont and Woodridge public libraries.

Pooling their resources allows libraries to offer patrons a plethora of interesting opportunities based on a single book. The Big Read Resource Guide 2010 is available at participating libraries and online at thebigread.org. In recent years, the Big Read program has encouraged people to read "The March" by E.L. Doctorow, "Dream When You're Feeling Blue" by Elizabeth Berg and "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver.

This year, a range of events will revolve around the Southern themes of Stockett's "The Help."

"I named the book "The Help" because I like the play on words having a few different meanings," Stockett said in a phone interview from Atlanta.

After writing a compelling story, Stockett's climb to the top took sheer tenacity.

"'The Help' took me about four to five years from the first word on the page to getting an agent and then publisher," Stockett said. "I was turned down between 40 and 60 times, which is years and years of rejections; I lost count."

Stockett considers herself lucky for the help her supportive writers group gave her, especially pointing out scenes that were too difficult for her characters to pull off.

"It is fun to develop a character and have them do all the things you never had the guts to do," Stockett said.

"The Help" is set in Jackson, Miss., Stockett's hometown, in the early 1960s as the Civil Rights Movement flares. Three different women bring together their individual strengths to work on a clandestine project that will jeopardize their very well being. Each is optimistic their efforts will cause others to question the status quo and make things better for the kids. In the process, the women grow to realize they are more alike than different.

Walter Burdick, a history professor at Elmhurst College, will present two Big Read programs on that part of U.S. history.

"It may be important for people to know that was a time of racial change and challenge," Burdick said via e-mail. "It was one of several culmination events during a lengthy period of attempts to change the racial policies and attitudes in the United States.

"There had been the quiet efforts of the NAACP working patiently through the courts and the signal victory of the Brown case in the 1950s that provided an important opportunity to begin to challenge the Jim Crow system of segregation in the South."

The book tests the arbitrary lines drawn to separate race and relative wealth.

"I love putting my characters in tough, sticky situations," Stockett said. "You fight and fight for equal rights, civil rights or to be in the club and then once in the circle, what do they do then? I am very interested in that dynamic of American culture."

So Stockett, much like her character Skeeter, took on a challenge to tell a story of the racial status that separates maids from their employers, the gender lines that grip career-centered men and society-conscious wives, and the perplexed roles that adults model for their offspring.

The character Celia Foote, a brash new arrival, offers a counterbalance to experience what it was like to live outside the circle, Stockett said.

The story is visually told with unique details, such as, "I've spent half my life trying not to sweat so much: Dainty Lady sweat cream, frozen potatoes in my pockets, ice pack tied to my head. I tote my Fairley Funeral Home fan every place I go. Works good and it was free."

"My childhood bedroom - has a white-frosting chair rail and pink cherubs in the molding. It's papered in mint green rosebuds. - The box bay window makes the room look round. After Mother berates me about finding a husband every other day, I have to sleep in a wedding cake."

An unconscionable pie, some clever household hints and the historical Deep South setting are fodder for a far-reaching array of opportunities for Big Read participants.

There are small reading groups, a household cleaning 101 class and several pie-making demonstrations among other events.

Musicians Kim and Reggie Harris will present "Songs of the Civil Rights Movement" at 7 p.m. March 17 at the Lisle Library. Leslie Goddard portrays First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy at 7 p.m. March 23 at Indian Prairie Library. A display of 1960s cars is set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 24 at the Westmont Library.

Burdick's programs on "The 1960s: Reform and Rebellion" are at 7 p.m. March 15 at the Thomas Ford Memorial Library in Western Springs, and at 7 p.m. April 12 at the Westmont Public Library.

"Southern Comfort Cooking" with celebrity chef Dave Esau is at 7 p.m. April 6 at the Lisle Library. It is "Sassy Southern Cooking" with Andrew Comens at 7 p.m. March 29 at LaGrange Public Library.

"Southern Gardens" are the topic at 7 p.m. April 8 at the Downers Grove Library.

Charles Branham, senior historian at the DuSable Museum of African American History, will discuss the laws that impacted the book's characters at 7 p.m. April 7 at the Westmont Public Library.

Among the eight different movies that will be shown, "To Kill a Mockingbird" is at 1:30 and 7 p.m. April 14 at the Tivoli Theatre in Downers Grove.

Registration is required. Classes are filling fast. Locations and contact information are in the Big Read brochure.

Participants in the Big Read will have an enlightened edge on moviegoers in 2011 or 2012 when "The Help" debuts as a movie of its own.

"The screenplay is already written and it is fantastic," Stockett said. "A classmate and another Mississippian, Tate Taylor, along with his production partner, Brunson Green, wrote the screenplay and will direct the movie."

• Joan Broz writes about Lisle. E-mail her at jgbroz@yahoo.com.

'The Help' kicks off African American History MonthFebruary is African American History Month and along with the kick-off of the Big Read program featuring "The Help," a novel dealing with race issues and social change, Friends of the Lisle Library presents a special program on Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglas. Actor Max Daniels of Wheaton will portray Lincoln and present his second Inaugural Address. Actor Michael Crutcher of Lexington, Ky., will portray Douglas. Both men will present a segment together discussing their relationship and time in history. The program is at 2 p.m. Feb. 28 at the Lisle Library, 777 Front St., Lisle. Advance registration is encouraged. Call (630) 971-1675.