While the inaugural Lebanon County Reads campaign launched in 2018, planning for Lebanon County’s own community read campaign began a year prior. All six Lebanon County public libraries support the campaign which runs from summer through early fall and culminates in the title selection’s author’s visit in the Fall. We hope you’ll read with us and check out the special events affiliated with the campaign!
The 2024 Lebanon County Reads selection is The House Is On Fire by Rachel Beanland! Younger readers are invited to check out the youth companion selections and after you’ve read The House Is On Fire, you may enjoy one of the suggested readalikes or Beanland’s debut novel, Florence Adler Swims Forever.
Here’s local news story about the tragedy.
Check out the Lebanon County Reads selection discussion guide!
The House is On Fire by Rachel Beanland
A riveting reimagining of one of early America’s deadliest tragedies, the Richmond Theater Fire of 1811, told from the perspectives of four characters whose lives are irrevocably altered in the aftermath of the inferno.
Richmond, Virginia 1811. It’s the height of the winter social season, the General Assembly is in session, and many of Virginia’s gentleman planters, along with their wives and children, have made the long and arduous journey to the capital in hopes of whiling away the darkest days of the year. At the city’s only theater, the Charleston-based Placide & Green Company puts on two plays a night to meet the demand of a populace that’s done looking for enlightenment at the front of a church.
On the night after Christmas, the theater is packed with more than six hundred holiday revelers. In the third-floor boxes, sits newly-widowed Sally Henry Campbell, who is glad for any opportunity to relive the happy times she shared with her husband. One floor away, in the colored gallery, Cecily Patterson doesn’t give a whit about the play but is grateful for a four-hour reprieve from a life that has recently gone from bad to worse. Backstage, young stagehand Jack Gibson hopes that, if he can impress the theater’s managers, he’ll be offered a permanent job with the company. And on the other side of town, blacksmith Gilbert Hunt dreams of one day being able to bring his wife to the theater, but he’ll have to buy her freedom first.
When the theater goes up in flames in the middle of the performance, Sally, Cecily, Jack, and Gilbert make a series of split-second decisions that will not only affect their own lives but those of countless others. And in the days following the fire, as news of the disaster spreads across the United States, the paths of these four people will become forever intertwined.
Based on the true story of Richmond’s theater fire, The House Is On Fire offers proof that sometimes, in the midst of great tragedy, we are offered our most precious—and fleeting—chances at redemption.
From the author’s website
Rachel Beanland is the author of two novels, The House Is On Fire and Florence Adler Swims Forever.
Beanland’s essays have appeared in Lit Hub, Business Insider, Creative Nonfiction, and Broad Street, among other places. She has benefitted from a fellowship at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and residencies at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Key West Literary Seminar, Hambidge Center, and Eastern Frontier Educational Foundation.
Beanland attended the University of South Carolina and earned her MFA in creative writing from Virginia Commonwealth University. She lives in Richmond, Virginia where she is the 2023-24 Writer-in-Residence at University of Richmond.
From the author’s website
Swatara Coffee Co. and Ancestor Coffeehouse & Crêperie Promotional Tie-in
This year’s promotional tie-in will be available for purchase at all Swatara Coffee Co. and Ancestor Coffeehouse locations. It will be announced soon.
For Picture Book Readers
An American Story by Kwame Alexander; art by Dare Coulter.
#1 New York Times Bestselling and award-winning author, Kwame Alexander, pens a powerful picture book that tells the story of American slavery through the voice of a teacher struggling to help her students understand its harrowing history.
From the fireside tales in an African village, through the unspeakable passage across the Atlantic, to the backbreaking work in the fields of the South, this is a story of a people’s struggle and strength, horror and hope. This is the story of American slavery, a story that needs to be told and understood by all of us. A testament to the resilience of the African American community, this book honors what has been and envisions what is to be.
With stunning mixed-media illustrations by Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award winning artist Dare Coulter, this is a potent book for those who want to speak the truth.
Waiting in the Wings by Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton; illustrated by E.G. Keller.
Mr. and Mrs. Puddleduck have found the perfect place to nest: a cozy planter by a theater in a sunny seaside village. While Mrs. P is warming the eggs, Mr. P is drawn to the spellbinding songs, fabulous feathered costumes, and dazzling dances he’s secretly watching during rehearsals. He’s even showing off some fancy new footwork to Mrs. P!
But it turns out he’s been learning much more than how to put on a show. When the chicks begin hatching right by the roadside, it takes a chorus line of parading performers—and Mr. P’s clever choreography—to come to the rescue!
From the bestselling mother-daughter team, musical icon Julie Andrews and author Emma Walton Hamilton comes a delightful story inspired by the true tale of ducklings who stopped traffic and charmed a community, all the way to their splashy grand finale!
For Middle Grade Readers
How Does the Show Go On: An Introduction to the Theater by Thomas Schumacher and Jeff Kurtti.
An introduction to the backstage work done in the theater uses examples from Disney musicals to show the jobs done by the cast and crew, from the playwright and set manager to the director, conductor, and actors.
Resistance to Slavery: From Escape to Everyday Rebellion by Cicely Lewis.For Young Adult Readers
Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix.
The fire at the Triangle Waist Company in New York City, which claimed the lives of 146 young immigrant workers, is one of the worst disasters since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and brought attention to the labor movement in America.
Told from alternating points of view, this historical novel draws upon the experiences of three very different young women: Bella, who has just emigrated from Italy and doesn’t speak a word of English; Yetta, a Russian immigrant and crusader for labor rights; and Jane, the daughter of a wealthy businessman. Bella and Yetta work together at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory under terrible conditions. When the situation worsens, Yetta leads the factory’s effort to strike, and she meets Jane on the picket line. Through a series of twists and turns, the three girls become fast friends—and all of them are in the Triangle Shirtwast Factory on March 25, 1911, the day of the fateful fire. In a novel that puts a human face on the tragedy, Margaret Peterson Haddix has created a sweeping, forceful tale that will have readers guessing until the last page who—if anyone—survives.
2024 — The House Is On Fire by Rachel Beanland
2023 — Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
2022 — Mercy House by Alena Dillon
2020/21 — Running With Sherman: The Donkey With The Heart Of A Hero by Christopher McDougall
2019 – The Baker’s Secret by Stephen P. Kiernan
2018 – America’s First Daughter by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie
