PUSHING THE LIMITS OF COMMUNITY
Through this theme, you’ll explore the importance of COMMUNITY in the face of large-scale challenges like natural disasters, pandemics, and climate change. As individuals, how vulnerable are we against these dangers? Chances are, we stand a better chance of surviving as a unified force. So people are coming together, maximizing their capabilities as a community to — literally — weather the storm.
Read the featured book
Watch the community-themed featured video
Jumpstart your group conversation with our discussion questions
Pick a new themed topic, and repeat!
FEATURED BOOK
The Hidden Life of Trees
In The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben shares his deep love of woods and forests and explains the amazing processes of life, death, and regeneration he has observed in the woodland and the amazing scientific processes behind the wonders of which we are blissfully...
Available In English & Spanish
Discussion Questions
BERT AND JOHNNIE
Community Volunteers
FEATURED VIDEO
Pushing the Limits
of Community
Meet Johnnie and Bert. A married couple living on the edge of the Boundary Waters–a series of interconnected lakes that cross from the US into Canada. During this short documentary, you come to know what’s important to them. Among her other
Watch in English
w/ Spanish Subtitles
Take a look at the other offerings curated for this theme. How do people push the limits of community in each book or video? The joy is in the discovery! Making those connections as you read will enrich your follow-up conversations.
Lord of the Flies
At the dawn of the next world war a plane crashes on an uncharted island, stranding a group of schoolboys. With no adult supervision, their freedom is something they celebrate. This far from civilization they can do anything they want - anything. But as order collapses, as strange howls Read More...
Available In English and Spanish
Discussion Questions
A.D: New Orleans After the Deluge
Available In English
Discussion Questions
Flight Behavior
Available In English and Spanish
An unhappy woman discovers a "miracle" in the woods near her home. Thousands of monarch butterflies hang from the trees. She tries desperately to protect these lovely insects — in part, because their presence in her life will change it forever.
Flight Behavior is a...
Breath to Breath
Veterinarian Anna Dunlop can recite all 230 bones in a cat’s body. She can listen to a dog’s chest and know instantly how to save its life. What she can’t seem to do is work her way through her own personal pain. Sadness over her husband’s death hasn’t lessened with time...
Available In English
Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a
Sometimes Lonely World
Available In English
In his groundbreaking audiobook, the 19th surgeon general of the United States Dr. Vivek Murthy makes a case for loneliness as a public health concern: a root cause and contributor to many of...
"Beams fractured. Glass broke. Lumber ricocheted among the walls of the hallway outside the bath. The front half of the house tore loose. The Beckers stood in their bedroom holding each other close as the wind peeled the house away...
Available In English
Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History
Discussion Questions
Memory of Water
Available In English and Spanish
Can a dystopian tale be beautiful? In this case, the concept is dark and emotionally scarring. But the writing is lyrical and delicate. And much of the suspense comes from positive elements in life such as love, the choices we make, and the imprint we leave on our communities and the world...
Discussion Questions
Odds Against Tomorrow
Available In English
Here’s an original spin on a disaster story. Instead of the main characters trying to prevent, escape, chase, survive, or live in the aftermath of a cataclysmic event, our protagonist makes money from predicting it, envisioning the most horrifying impact, and selling the fear...
Discussion Questions
Methuselah’s Children
Available In English and Spanish
A secret foundation rewards people for selected inbreeding, and after several generations, some 100,000 members of the Howard Families have now achieved a life expectancy twice that of ordinary men and women. This revelation sparks violence from the general public, who thinks the community is...