The Virginia Yerxa Community Read Committee announced its selection for the 2023 book-in-common, the Charles Portis’ classic western, “True Grit.”
“True Grit” tells the story of Mattie Ross, who at just 14 years old seeks to avenge her father’s death with the help of one-eyed Rooster Cogburn, the meanest available U.S. Marshal.
Joined by a Texas Ranger, the trio head off after the killer. Full of humor, inventive prose, and compelling characters, the multi-layered coming-of-age novel set in the Old West of 1870’s Arkansas and Oklahoma explores the duality of human nature and how a young girl discovers the meaning of “true grit.”
The annual Virginia Read day is scheduled for Saturday, April 23, 2023. The group was founded in 2010, in honor of Virginia Yerxa. Yerxa had a longstanding mission to promote literacy to Colusa’s youth.
The book-in-common project brings together members of the community around the same literary work with discussions and events in the planning stages. Readers are invited to visit www.virginiaread.net for more information. ■