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If I Survive You, by Jonathan Escoffery

This year's One Book, One U selection is If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery.

One Book, One U Common Reading Program

The One Book, One U program selects a book for each Spring semester to provide a shared educational experience in our university community.  Find information on upcoming events as well as research resources, dicussion guides, and more!

Pick up a copy of the book!

Visit Richter Library's Access Services desk to receive a free print copy of the One Book, One U selection, while supplies last!

Find a copy of the book in a library!

If you are a member of the UM community, use the links below to get access to the ebook and audio book:
If you are a member of the South Florida community, check your local library to find a copy of the ebook available for check out.

Events

We are still planning events for Spring 2023.  Please check back for updates.  Find the full list of events on the One Book, One U website.  If you are planning an event related to If I survive you, please feel free to let us know about here: https://forms.gle/nk7zYSGQ6Sbwvbu38

 

SAVE THE DATE: Spring 2024 Author Event

Jonathan Escoffery will be speaking in person at UM!
Save the date!
Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, 6pm

Databases with focus on sociology, gender studies, and related fields

UM Libraries Specialists

UM Instructional Designers

Want more ideas and activities?  Reach out to the Learning Innovation & Faculty Engagement team at Academic Technologies!  Contact them at life@miami.edu.  Find more information on the Academic Technologies website.

Instructor Reading Groups: Fall 2023

Are you interested in including the 2023-2024 One Book, One U common reading selection, Jonathan Escoffery's If I Survive You in your teaching?  Join us for a facilitated reading group to discuss how to teach If I Survive You, for UM faculty, staff, and graduate students.  Organized by the Platform for Excellence in Teaching & Learning (PETAL) and the Learning Innovation and Faculty Engagement departments, this initiative allows interested instructors to explore how to incorporate the text into their classrooms.
 
Please join us for our Instructor Group session: November 15th, Noon to 1pm
Sessions will be held over Zoom. 
 

Discussion questions

Using the Chapter Summaries document, select a chapter that relates to your class or group and host a discussion session.  As a starting point, you can use the questions below, adapted from the American Library Association Book Discussion Group online guide.

Questions to Discuss (Fiction)
  1. How did you experience the book? Were you immediately drawn into the story--or did it take you a while? Did the book intrigue, amuse, disturb, alienate, irritate, or frighten you?
  2. Do you find the characters convincing? Are they believable? Compelling? Are they fully developed as complex, emotional human beings--or are they one-dimensional?
  3. Which characters do you particularly admire or dislike? What are their primary characteristics?
  4. What motivates a given character’s actions? Do you think those actions are justified or ethical?
  5. Do any characters grow or change during the course of the novel? If so, in what way?
  6. Who in this book would you most like to meet? What would you ask—or say?
  7. If you could insert yourself as a character in the book, what role would you play? You might be a new character or take the place of an existing one.
  8. Is the plot well-developed? Is it believable? Do you feel manipulated along the way, or do plot events unfold naturally, organically?
  9. Is the story plot or character driven? In other words, do events unfold quickly? Or is more time spent developing characters' inner lives? Does it make a difference to your enjoyment?
  10. Consider the ending. Did you expect it or were you surprised? Was it manipulative? Was it forced? Was it neatly wrapped up--too neatly? Or was the story unresolved, ending on an ambiguous note?
  11. If you could rewrite the ending, would you? In other words, did you find the ending satisfying? Why or why not.
  12. Can you pick out a passage that strikes you as particularly profound or interesting--or perhaps something that sums up the central dilemma of the book?
  13. Does the book remind you of your own life? An event or situation? A person--a friend, family member, boss, co-worker?
  14. If you were to talk with the author, what would you want to know? (Many authors enjoy talking with book clubs. Contact the publisher to see if you can set up a phone chat.)
  15. Have you read the author’s other books? Can you discern a similarity—in theme, writing style, structure—between them? Or are they completely different?

Contact Information

  • Jose Rodriguez

    Director of Access Services and Learning Commons

    jfr133@miami.edu