How often do you get to meet the author of the book you are currently reading? On Monday September 17th, the Global Citizenship students attended a presentation from the author of the novel, The First 1000 Days. The author, Roger Thurow, was a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal and is now senior fellow for global agriculture and food policy for the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. He is noted for his writing about the politics of world hunger, and his previous books The Last Hunger Season and Enough. Thurow calls his books “the real hunger games trilogy.” Last year when Global Citizenship was starting, Ms. Boyle saw Mr. Thurow on the roster to speak on a Chicago Council meeting and emailed him to ask him to come to Whitney Young.
The First 1000 Days chronicles the 1,000 Days initiative to end early childhood malnutrition through compelling stories of new mothers and babies in Uganda, India, Guatemala, and Chicago. Thurow told the stories of his personal experiences with these women and their children. He showed pictures that represent moments explained in his book. The students at the presentation heard Thurow’s stories from his return after the 1,000 days to show the mothers and children the book. This information was something readers of the book could only know from meeting the author himself. Mr. Thurow said at the end of the, “I would be interested in coming back in a couple of months after you have finished the book and hear everyone’s thoughts.”
The students of Whitney Young are very thankful to have had the opportunity to meet and learn from a great book they are reading for class.Jay Owens ‘19 notes, “I learned a lot about children in developing countries and it made me very interesting in helping them.” If you are interested to be a part of a great experience like this, be sure to take Global Citizenship next year.