The title of the new required novel for the fall 2008 incoming freshman class, “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro, was recently announced by Synergy, the UNCW Common Reading Experience.

The award-winning book will be handed out to students during summer orientation and organizers hope it will foster a sense of community and intellectual experiences.

Starting in fall of 2007, UNCW followed in the footsteps of many universities that already offer a reading program.

“We decided to do this program because we have such strong freshman seminar classes that we could incorporate the book into,” said Common Reading Committee member Jenny Adams. “And we wanted to send students an expectation of college academics and also enhance a sense of intellectual community.”

The novel is chosen by the Common Reading Committee of about 15 people including faculty, staff, administration and students. Recommendations are submitted and researched, and certain criteria are met for each book chosen.

The novel must engage students and spark passionate discussion, have historical and cultural references, appeal to a wide range of students, contain rich themes and be relevant to student life in terms of diversity, relationships, identity and coming of age issues.

“It was a very difficult choice this year and we’re excited about it,” Adams said. “The themes mesh well with the objectives and criteria and it’s also more complex and challenging [than ‘The Kite Runner’].”

“Never Let me Go” follows the lives, trials, tribulations and relationships of a few English boarding school students.

“It reads like a mystery with lots of symbolism,” Adams said. “There’s also a big focus on creativity so we hope to organize creative participation events at the Kickoff Ceremony.”

Adams added, “I think it will appeal to some students that ‘The Kite Runner’ didn’t appeal to. It’s less culturally deep and more of a psychological thriller.”

The novel is a required reading for all incoming students, freshman seminar classes, Orientation Leaders, Seahawk Links, and RAs, but recommended to the rest of the student body.

“We’re trying to encourage other departments and faculty to use it,” Adams said.

“The Kite Runner,” the novel introduced to the 2007 incoming freshman class, received positive feedback and encouraged the program greatly.

“We feel that since more faculty want to serve on the committee this year and recommend books, they’re supporting the program,” Adams said. “We really want to engage faculty and give them an opportunity to showcase their expertise.”

The Common Reading Committee incorporated a variety of events into the experience with “The Kite Runner” including a Kickoff festival with food, music and dancing, a lecture series, films, an essay contest, and a closing ceremony.

“Academic Affairs and Student Affairs worked very closely [through this program], which is very rare,” Adams said. “It has been a successful collaboration.”

While “The Kite Runner” has thrived this past year, committee members hope to improve things for the next. They would like to have more events that last the whole semester and do more marketing for the novel the spring before.

“We really want to extend it to upperclassmen, the surrounding community and upper class levels,” Adams said.

Committee members also attended a National Conference this February in San Francisco where they shared a presentation of their experience, success, thoughts and improvements of implementing a Common Reading Program into a university.

“‘The Kite Runner’ was really a gripping tale about coming to age in a war-torn country,” said sophomore RA Kathryn Clair. “By incorporating this book into the curriculum, UNCW has given students a little perspective outside the Wilmington bubble in which we all exist. I think the program has been very successful.”