(PHOENIX, Ariz., April 16, 2004) – People from across the state will indulge in Yann Martel’s novel, Life of Pi this month to celebrate OneBookAZ April 2004.

Faculty and staff from the Phoenix College Fannin Library encourage the campus community to come out and enjoy an exciting day with the Life of Pi. Mark your calendar for the following events scheduled for Wednesday, April 21.

Community Colleges Read- Relay
8:00 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
(Someone, somewhere in the Maricopa Community Colleges will be reading from and/or discussing Life of Pi.)

Book Discussion at the Learning Center
10:00 a.m. -11:00 a.m.
(Facilitated by Ann Pollack)

Read Aloud at Sophomore Square
12:00 p.m. -1:30 p.m.
(Some of PC's finest faculty and students will read passages from Life of Pi in English and other languages.)

Student Book Discussion in the South Staff Dinning Room
5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
(Led by students Rosa Bicego, PatiCardona & Yuliana Hernandez.)

OneBookAZ is an exciting program hosted by libraries and other partners across the state. The goal of the project is to bring communities together through literature and reading. This statewide event, OneBookAZ will allow Phoenix College students, faculty and staff, as well as the community an opportunity to get involved. This marks the third year of the OneBookAZ program.

According to the OneBookAZ web site, national bestseller, Life of Pi by Yann Martel is a "daring, redemptive tale of adventure and survival where the most unusual Pi manages to survive on a lifeboat with a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker." The novel won the 2002 Man Booker Prize and was chosen as a New York Times Notable Book of 2002, a Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2002, a Los Angeles Times Best Fiction Books of 2002 and Amazon.com’s #1 Book of the Year.

For more information about Phoenix College events please call (602) 285-7360 or for events throughout Arizona please visit www.onebookaz.org.

Additionally, the upcoming Phoenix College Conversation and Cuisine will consist of a book discussion on the Life of Pi. The next Conversation and Cuisine is scheduled for Wednesday, April 28 at 12:15 p.m. To make reservations, please call Arlene Martinsen at (602) 285-7444.

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