2010 One Book One Island
(January 28 - February 20)
Coal Black Horse

One Book One Island, an island-wide reading program for Nantucket, has chosen Robert Olmstead's 2007 novel Coal Black Horse, the  story of a fourteen year-old boy travelling the Civil War-torn South in search of his father.

When Robey Childs'mother has a premonition about her husband, a soldier fighting in the Civil War, she does the unthinkable. She instructs her only child to retrieve his father from the battlefield and bring him home. Robey is ill-prepared for such a journey, but with a sense of adventure he sets off.

Olmstead has written six books and is a professor at Ohio Wesleyan University. He will visit Nantucket on January 28 and kick off the festivities with a talk at the Nantucket Atheneum. The program continues with a film series, book discussions, a tribute to Nantucket's Civil War veterans and ends with a grand finale on February 20. For the list of events see the column at left.

Discussion Questions provided by the publisher.

For further information see our bibliography of books and films

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Now in its fourth year, One Book One Island is sponsored by 12 Nantucket nonprofit organizations and underwritten by the Tupancy Harris Foundation.

Free copies of the book are available at:

• Annye's Whole Foods
• Nantucket Atheneum
• Nantucket Cottage Hospital (in the living room)
• Nantucket Historical Association (admin offices)
• Saltmarsh Center

Who can I contact for more information?

If you would like more information or would like to become involved with One Book, One Island, Please contact one of the following people: Molly Anderson, Nantucket Atheneum at 508-228-1110; Jean Grimmer, Egan Maritime Foundation at 508-228-2505; or Jim Lentowski at the Nantucket Conservation Foundation at 508-228-2884.

One Book One Island Mission Statement

One Book One Island is a collaborative project of community partners and sponsors on Nantucket which seeks to promote reading, literacy and community by encouraging the entire population of Nantucket to read, discuss, and reflect on the same book. In addition, the project is designed to foster the importance of life-long learning for children and adults and to provide multiple opportunities for cultural enrichment in the community.

One Book One Island will be organized as a program for the Island’s 2008 winter season and is being spear-headed by several of the Island’s major nonprofit organizations. It has the additional purpose of increasing a sense of community in Nantucket’s growing year-round population. Thus the project’s related events will be designed to encourage long-time residents and recent newcomers of all ages to feel at ease in sharing personal experiences, diverse backgrounds, cultures, and traditions.

The multi-week project will also provide participants with ways to celebrate the Island’s richness.  To achieve this objective, the book-related activities will include discussion groups, lectures, films, theatre, music, dance, art, and culinary events for children and adults throughout the community.