Summer Reading for the JTerm course: The Zookeeper's Wife

Students will gain some valuable insights into the lives of Polish people by reading The Zookeeper's Wife this summer.  The book, written by Diane Ackerman, writes of the Polish couple who mercifully helped about 300 Jews by hiding them from the nazis.

The college students we will meet in Poland (and meet virtually before the trip) have grandparents who lived in those times.  Certainly, their parents and grandparents are forever imprinted by the tragic incidents occurring in their country during World War II.

We are hosting Book Club-type discussions about the book, Aug 24 and Sep 14.  These will be open to any member of the Drake community and the Des Moines community.  Here is the New York Times review of the book: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/09/books/review/Max-t.html?_r=0