The City of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Public Library is pleased to announce the featured book for the 2008 Santa Monica Citywide Reads program: The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch.

Santa Monica Citywide Reads is a community reading program that invites everyone to read and discuss the same novel in book clubs and other events held around the city. 2008 marks the sixth anniversary of the program.

In The Highest Tide, thirteen-year-old Miles O’Malley spends one transformative summer navigating the mysteries of his beloved Puget Sound surroundings and his relationships with family and friends. The Highest Tide is an exciting selection for Santa Monica Citywide Reads with richly drawn characters and vivid descriptions of marine life. Its green themes, universal appeal to young and adult readers alike, and high quality of writing make this a compelling and resonant book for the entire Santa Monica community. The book was published in hardback and in trade paperback by Bloomsbury USA.

Jim Lynch grew up on a lake near Seattle, and explored Puget Sound as a child during weekend trips aboard his parents’ sailboat. He has degrees in creating writing and journalism from the University of Washington. He has written for The Seattle Times and Portland’s Oregonian, and has won national journalism awards. The Highest Tide, Mr. Lynch’s debut novel, received the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award. He lives near Olympia, Washington with his wife and daughter.

Santa Monica Citywide Reads will take place from April 12 to May 17, 2008, and will feature free public book discussion groups led by volunteer facilitators and held in libraries, bookstores, coffeehouses, and other venues. Related special events, including a presentation by the author at Santa Monica College on May 17, are being planned.

For more information about Citywide Reads, visit www.smpl.org/cwr, or call the Santa Monica Public Library at (310) 458-8600.

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