by Dave Wendelin
Director of NEHS
The Advisory Council of NEHS has selected The Well and the Mine by Gin Phillips as the Common Reader for the 2013-2014 school year. Set in Alabama during the Great Depression, this novel introduces us to the Moore family as they endure the challenges of living and the joys of loving during a difficult time in American history. Structured as a series of first-person narratives shared in turn by each family member, the novel unfolds in turns as a mystery, a coming-of-age tale, and an insightful window into dignity, honesty, integrity, and perseverance.
NEHS encourages all chapters to consider using the text as a book club selection or a community common reader. As the first novel written by Phillips, this selection will allow NEHS to introduce a new writer’s voice from the South while promoting a fresh text that may find its way into high school curricula.
Senior members of NEHS who wish to vie for the scholarships we offer will find, we trust, the novel engaging and thought-provoking, one that will elicit fine writing. More information about the timeline for the 2013-2014 scholarship timeline will be forthcoming in the next NEHSXpress. We do know that the deadline for entry will be in January 2014, a later date than was used this past year.
