Announcing…Fifteenth Annual

Lackawanna Reads 2025!

One Book, One College

 

Lackawanna Reads Mission Statement

The purpose of this program is to provide everyone in the college community with an enjoyable and positive reading experience, to promote life-long learning, to reinforce the message that reading is an integral part of the college experience, and to encourage our student body along, with faculty and staff, to read the same book and participate in open discussions across the curriculum.

 

 

 Lackawanna Reads Objectives

• To introduce and create a united social and academic experience for incoming freshmen, returning students, faculty, staff, and administration… the entire college community.
• To encourage critical thinking skills for the entire student body by open discussion on a common theme.
• To enhance academic and community awareness.
• To provide students with a positive reading experience.

 

 

I Never Thought Of It That Way

by Monica Guzman

 

About the Book

I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times: Guzmán, Mónica: 9781637746028: Amazon.com: Books

 

Journalist Mónica Guzmán is the loving liberal daughter of Mexican immigrants who voted—twice—for Donald Trump. When the country could no longer see straight across the political divide, Mónica set out to find what was blinding us and discovered the most eye-opening tool we’re not using: our own built-in curiosity.

 

Partisanship is up, trust is down, and our social media feeds make us sure we’re right and everyone else is ignorant (or worse). But avoiding one another is hurting our relationships and our society.

 

In this timely, personal guide, Mónica, the chief storyteller for the national cross-partisan depolarization organization Braver Angels, takes you to the real front lines of a crisis that threatens to grind America to a halt—broken conversations among confounded people. She shows you how to overcome the fear and certainty that surrounds us to finally do what only seems impossible: understand and even learn from people in your life whose whole worldview is different from or even opposed to yours.

 

Drawing from cross-partisan conversations she’s had, organized, or witnessed everywhere from the echo chambers on social media to the wheat fields in Oregon to raw, unfiltered fights with her own family on election night, Mónica shows how you can put your natural sense of wonder to work for you immediately, finding the answers you need by talking with people—rather than about them—and asking the questions you want, curiously.

 

In these pages, you’ll learn:

 

How to ask what you really want to know (even if you’re afraid to)

 

How to grow smarter from even the tensest interactions, online or off

 

How to cross boundaries and find common ground—with anyone

 

Whether you’re left, right, center, or not a fan of labels: If you’re ready to fight back against the confusion, heartbreak, and madness of our dangerously divided times—in your own life, at least—Mónica’s got the tools and fresh, surprising insights to prove that seeing where people are coming from isn’t just possible. It’s easier than you think.

 

 

About the Author/Bio Note

Amazon.com: Mónica Guzmán: books, biography, latest update

 

Mónica Guzmán is a bridge builder, journalist, and author who lives for great conversations sparked by curious questions. Her new book, "I Never Thought of it That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times" was featured on the Glenn Beck Podcast and named a New York Times recommended read. She’s Senior Fellow for Public Practice at Braver Angels, the nation’s largest cross-partisan grassroots organization working to depolarize America; founder and CEO of Reclaim Curiosity, an organization working to build a more curious world; co-founder of the award-winning Seattle newsletter The Evergrey; and advisor for Starts With Us and the Generations Over Dinner project. She was a 2019 fellow at the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, where she studied social and political division, and a 2016 fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, where she researched how journalists can rethink their roles to better meet the needs of a participatory public. She was named one of the 50 most influential women in Seattle, served twice as a juror for the Pulitzer Prizes, and plays a barbarian named Shadrack in her besties’ Dungeons & Dragons campaign. A Mexican immigrant, Latina, and dual US/Mexico citizen, she lives in Seattle with her husband and two kids and is the proud liberal daughter of conservative parents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monica Guzman Home & Featured Videos

Click here:  Mónica Guzmán | Curiosity Author & Bridge Builder

 

 

List of Past LC Reads Book Choices

2011 – A Dog’s Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron

2012 – The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

2013 – No Turning Back:  One Man’s Inspiring True Story of Courage, Determination, and Hope by Brian Anderson with Davis Alan Mack

2014 – Saddle Up, Charlie:  Charles Wysocki’s Journey from Gridiron Glory into Mental Illness by C. Terry Walters and Charlie Wysocki

2015 – Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

2016 – I am Malala:  The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb

2017 – Hot Dogs & Hamburgers:  Unlocking Life’s Potential by Inspiring Literacy at Any Age by Rob Shindler

2018 – UGH!?! Not Another Diversity Book!  “When Multicultural Competence Meets a Real Reality” by Justin LaKyle Brown

2019 – Note to Self:  Inspiring Words from Inspiring People by Gayle King

2020 – Send Judah First:  The Erased Life of an Enslaved Soul by Brian C. Johnson

2021 – Look Back to Yesterday by Tara Lynn Marta

2022 – Becoming Nicole by Amy Ellis Nutt

2023 - Why Didn’t They Teach Me This In School? by Cary Siegel

2024 – How To Love A Country:  Poems by Richard Blanco

 

 

Poetry Open Mike Night

Thursday, November 6, 2025 @ 6:00 PM

Henkelman Room of the Albright Memorial Library

Flyers will be posted around the college as we get closer to the event.

 

Help Choose the 2026-2027 LC Reads Book!

LC Reads is looking for suggestions from you!  What do you like to read, what are you interested in, what would you suggest to incoming freshmen for 2026-2027?  Many of our LC Reads book choices have come from these suggestions.  Please send your ideas and suggestions to KiehartC@lackawanna.edu or BradiganN@lackawanna.edu by Friday, March 13, 2026. 

 

Essay Contest 

Responses to the essay prompt will be judged based on a demonstrated ability to think critically about the prompt, responsiveness to the prompt, and grammar. The winner will receive a prize of a $50 Visa gift card. Responses should be no longer than 500 words and can be submitted as an attachment to KurillaE@lackawanna.edu by the deadline of Friday, October 24, 2025.

 

Additional guidelines for essay:

• Your essay should include:  One-inch margins, Times New Roman, 12-point font, 500-word maximum, and double spaced.
• Essays should be entirely original work responding the prompt.  An AI submitted essay will disqualify your entry.
• Cover page should include your name, title of essay, Falcon’s email, and current cell phone number.

 

Essay Prompt

 

Talk about the time you made an incorrect assumption about someone else.  How did your perception of that person change when you learned the truth?  What are some of the challenges with having a conversation with a person who holds a different belief than you?  What are you most afraid of when having challenging conversations?

 

Poetry Contest

This contest focusses on writing a poem because you want to capture a feeling that you experienced by reading, I Never Thought Of It That Way.  Just write whatever feels right. Only you experienced the feeling that you want to express, so why not share those feelings through poetry.  Your poem must be entirely your original work – An AI submitted poem will disqualify your entry.

 

The winner will receive a prize of a $50 Visa gift card.  Their poem will be presented at the Poetry Open Mike Night on Thursday, November 6, 2025.  Runners-up may also be asked to present their submissions.  Poems should be no longer than 1-2 pages long and can be submitted as an attachment to FanelliB@lackawanna.edu by the deadline of Friday, October 24, 2025.

 

Guidelines for Poetry Entry/Poetry Rubric:

Category	Score
Poetic Devices: A minimum of four poetic devices are used (metaphor, simile, alliteration, etc.).  The devices are used correctly (i.e. a metaphor is used as a metaphor).	______/30
Organization: The poem is very well organized. One idea or image follows another in a logical sequence with clear transitions.	______/20
Spelling, Grammar, Mechanics, etc.: There are no errors in the final draft. People or place names that the author invented are spelled consistently throughout.  End punctuation, and correct punctuation in general, is used throughout the poem.	______/15
Creativity: The poem contains sensory details, figurative language, and descriptions that contribute to the reader's enjoyment. The author has really used his or her imagination.	______/15
Title: Title is creative, sparks interest and is related to the poem and topic.	______/10
Quality Product: The final draft of the poem is typed in a 12-point, readable font and includes the student’s name in the upper-left hand margin with Falcon’s e-mail and current cell phone number.	______/10

                                                                                                                                                                         

 

Total: _______