The Chosen One by Echo Brown

THE CHOSEN ONE is written by a recent Dartmouth college graduate, Echo Brown, and builds upon her experiences there. The fictional account details how out of place she felt on a campus filled with rich, white students.  After being hypnotized, the main character begins to see portals and openings everywhere and starts questioning her own sanity.  For our privileged students this would likely be a difficult, although important, read that offers new perspective.

For those interested in learning more about organizations which work with first generation college students, be sure to inquire about programs sponsored at individual colleges and universities and also start by looking into these (some national, some local) which work with multiple schools:

• Posse Foundation
• QuestBridge
• OneGoal  founded in Chicago
• Link Unlimited with over 50 years of working with economically disadvantaged African American high school students in the Chicago area, working towards graduation and college acceptance.

As research has repeatedly shown, more knowledge and support lead to greater success for first generation students.  Echo Brown has won a number of awards for her writing, including Black Girl Unlimited which was named a William C. Morris Award Finalist, a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, a New York Public Library Best Book of the Year.  THE CHOSEN ONE received starred reviews from Booklist (“powerful and vulnerable”) and Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books.