Browse our list of literary organizations and projects below or click here for a round up of community “One Book” reading programs.
Literacy Links: Helping Tomorrow’s Reader
826 Valencia. This San Francisco writing lab, founded in 2002 by author Dave Eggers, helps kids ages 8-18 improve their writing skills through free tutoring and other programs. The program has grown into 826 National and now includes centers in Southern California (Venice Beach and Echo Park), New York, Chicago, Boston and Michigan.
Bay Area Literacy Network. Represents 25 library-based adult literacy programs, from Mendocino County to Santa Clara County.
Bring Me a Book Foundation. Mountain View nonprofit promotes family literacy with efforts such as its Book Bag Library in the Workplace program. Group also shares book lists with parents, teachers, school districts, and produced literacy videos for educators.
California Dictionary Project. This nonprofit’s goal is to give every California third-grader one of the most valuable tools for reading: a dictionary.
First Book. Publishers and other contributors provide new books for needy children in California and nationwide.
Literacy Network of Greater Los Angeles. Site includes a city-by-city listing of Southern California services.
My California Project. An effort by California’s literary community to supports writing programs and arts education in the state. Five communities - Long Beach, Santa Barbara, Sacramento, Whittier, and Benicia - have adopted the My California anthology as a community read.
Reach Out and Read. National, nonprofit that promotes literacy by making books part of pediatric care at doctor’s offices, clinics and hospitals. Click here, then use the map to view more than 100 participating
providers in California.
The Wonder of Reading. Non-profit group helps renovate school libraries in Southern California and provides new books, and also trains volunteers to read one-on-one with children each week.
California community reading programs
Artesia
2004: School of Dreams: Making the Grade at a Top American High School by Edward Humes. Life inside California’s No. 1 public school, Whitney High in Cerritos. Read an excerpt.
Info: Artesia branch of the Los Angeles County Public Library.
Bakersfield
2008: Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser.
2007: All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren.
2006: Epitaph for a Peach by David Mas Masumoto.
2005: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.
2004: It’s Not About the Bike By Lance Armstrong.
Info: One Book, One Bakersfield.
Benicia
2008: My California Journeys by Great Writers, edited by Donna Wares; introduction by Pico Iyer; narrative travel stories by 27 California writers.
Info: Benicia Public Library.
California
2002: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Read an excerpt. Read Gerald Haslam’s essay about reading the book.
Info: California Council for the Humanities. National Steinbeck Center.
Carlsbad
2008: The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith.
2007: Night by Eli Wiesel.
2006: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.
Info: Carlsbad Reads Together.
Fallbrook
2008: Run by Ann Patchett.
Huntington Beach
2008: Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and and David Oliver Relin.
Info: city of Huntington Beach
Long Beach
2008: Grayson by Lynne Cox.
2007: The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw.
2006: My California: Journeys by Great Writers edited by Donna Wares, introduction by Pico Iyer. Info: mycaliforniaproject.org.
2005: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.
2004: The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World. Info: Freedom Writers Foundation.
2003: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
2002: Tuesdays With Morrie, by Mitch Albom.
Los Angeles
2005: Little Scarlet by Walter Mosley.
2004: Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand. The story of the famed racehorse. Read an excerpt.
2003: The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros.
2002: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Malibu
2008: California Poetry: From the Gold Rush to the Present, edited by Dana Gioia, Chryss Yost, and Jack Hicks.
2007: Grayson by Lynne Cox.
2006: The White Album by Joan Didion
2005: Gidget by Frederick Kohner.
Nevada County
2008: Nature Noir: A Park Ranger’s Patrol in the Sierra by Jordan Fisher Smith.
2005: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.
Info: Nevada County Reads.
Orange County
2004: Funny in Farsi by Firoozeh Dumas.
Info: Orange County Public Library.
Palo Alto
2006: Funny in Farsi by Firoozeh Dumas.
Info: Palo Alto City Library.
Pasadena
2008: Easter Island by Jennifer Vanderbes.
2005: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
2003: Peace Like a River by Leif Enger.
2002: The Soloist by Mark Salzman.
Info: Pasadena Public Library.
Pico Rivera
2004: The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
2002: The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros.
Sacramento
2006: California Uncovered: Stories for the 21st Century, edited by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, William E. Justice and James Quay and My California: Journeys By Great Writers, edited by Donna Wares.
Info: Sacramento Public Library.
San Diego
2008: Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin.
2007: Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario.
San Francisco
2005: China Boy by Gus Lee.
Info: San Francisco Public Library.
San Joaquin County-Stockton
2008: The Maltese Falcon by Dasheill Hammet.
2004: Epitaph For A Peach by David Mas Masumoto.
2003: The Tortilla Curtain by T. C. Boyle.
2002: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
Info: Read San Joaquin.
Santa Barbara
2008: Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder.
2006: My California: Journeys By Great Writers, edited by Donna Wares., introduction by Pico Iyer.
2005: When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka.
2004: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.
2003: The Life of Pi by Yann Martel.
2002: The Tortilla Curtain by T. C. Boyle.
Info: Santa Barbara Public Library.
Santa Clarita
2005: Life of Pi by Yann Martel.
Info: One Book, One Santa Clarita.
Santa Monica
2008: The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch.
2005: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
2004: The Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood.
Silicon Valley
2005: Epitaph for a Peach by David Mas Masumoto.
2004: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
2003: Breaking Through by Francisco Jiminez.
Info: “Silicon Valley Reads: One Book, One Community”, San Jose Library Foundation.
Whittier
2007: My California: Journeys By Great Writers, edited by Donna Wares, introduction by Pico Iyer.
2005: Funny in Farsi by Firoozeh Dumas.
Info: Whittier Public Library.
Additional “One Book” Resources:
The Center for the Book at the Library of Congress
California Center for the Book
The Big Read at the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, D.C. The Big Read provides grants for community reads.
Meet the authors of the California Authors Directory. Visit the directory to discover writers like Christina Meldrum, a Bay Area attorney whose book Madapple was just released this month. “In debut novelist Christina Meldrum's mesmerizing literary mystery, 
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