The purpose of One Book One Pass is to promote the value of reading by recommending a compelling book linking the community in a common conversation. One Book One Pass hopes to encourage dialogue about a particular book while fostering lifelong learning through reading. Each year, a new book will be selected.
In support of One Book One Pass, Pass Christian Books annually donates 100 books to the community and Pass High School for juniors and seniors to read the year's selection as part of the school curriculum.
The inaugural 2016 selection was Erik Larson's Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania. After a series of community events throughout the year featuring Dead Wake, Erik Larson spoke to a packed house of community residents on October 5th.
The 2017 One Book One Pass selection was The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race, edited by Jesmyn Ward. She is also the author of Where the Line Bleeds, Salvage the Bones, and Men We Reaped.
The 2018 One Book One Pass selection was The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea by Jack Davis. Jack Davis won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for his history and overview of the Gulf of Mexico.
Our 2019 One Book One Pass book is The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels by Jon Meacham. He won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for his biography American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House. Jon Meacham will present and speak to the community on Wednesday, October 9th at 7:00 PM at The Randolph Center in Pass Christian.
in 2022, we hosted two authors for One Book One Pass, Natasha Trethewey and Walter Isaacson. Trethewey joined us in May to discuss Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir. In November, Walter Isaacson spoke about The Code Breaker: Jennifer Douda, Gene Editing, and the future of the Human Race.
