The Cincinnati Enquirer

Momentum is building for On the Same Page, the project that asks the entire community to read and discuss the same book. This year's book for adults is Crossing the River by Caryl Phillips; the young readers' book is Hush by Jacqueline Woodson.

River spans 250 years, opening with an anguished African farmer with failed crops being forced to sell his children into slavery. It progresses to the present, employing several voices to tell of a family's struggle to establish roots in a new land.

Hush is the story of Toswiah Green and her life when her family enters the witness protection program. The pressures of growing up in a strange place, along with a forced new identity, form the basis of a tale about an adolescent coming to terms with life.

Woodson is in town today, doing programs mostly in schools, but also doing a live broadcast 11-11:30 a.m. on Channel 48. During the show, she'll take questions from the studio audience, and viewers at home, in schools and on the Web.

Next week's library discussions of Phillips' River, all open to the public, are:

• 6 p.m. Monday, Avondale Branch, 3566 Reading Road (369-4440) with branch manager Tara Kressler leading the discussion.

• 6 p.m. Monday, West End Branch, 805 Ezzard Charles Drive (369-6026) with branch manager Kathy Bach leading the discussion.

• 6:30 p.m. next Tuesday, Northside Branch, 4219 Hamilton Ave. (369-4449) with branch manager Kathy Taylor leading the discussion.

• 7 p.m. April 8, Covedale Branch, 4980 Glenway Ave. (369-4460) with discussion leaders Eileen Mallory, branch manager, and Laura Davis, reference librarian.

• 7:30 p.m. April 8, Groesbeck Branch, 2994 W. Galbraith Road (369-4454) with discussion leader Carrie Vale, reference librarian.

• 1 p.m. April 10, Norwood Branch, 4325 Montgomery Road (369-6037) with branch manager Tina Messerschmidt as discussion leader.

On the Same Page is a cooperative effort among WCET, the Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County and the Enquirer. Information: www.cincinnati.com/samepage04.

Enquirer group to meet

The Enquirer is looking for Crossing the River readers to join our discussion group. We'll meet within a month on a date to be determined to discuss the book and the issues it raises. Would you join us? E-mail Jim Knippenberg (jknippenberg@enquirer.com). Or call 768-8513.