About Community Reads
Community Foundation of North Louisiana invites any and all in the community to join Community Reads, a book club led by CFNLA. We encourage community members to join us as we read about issues like poverty, education, addiction, mental health, blight, and criminal justice reform. Each quarter, CFNLA will announce a new book selection. At the end of the quarter, we will invite up to 25 community members to participate in a group discussion and dialogue about the book. Discussion events will take place in both the Shreveport-Bossier area and Ruston. Interested community members may join the book club or simply sign up to receive Community Reads updates at the link above.
Need a copy of the book? Visit the Shreve Memorial Library website to find and reserve digital, print, and audiobook editions.
Winter 2021 Selection: The Orchid and the Dandelion, by W. Thomas Boyce, M.D.
Please join us as we read The Orchid and the Dandelion. In Tom Boyce’s book, he explores the “dandelion” child (hardy, resilient, healthy), able to survive and flourish under most circumstances, and the “orchid” child (sensitive, susceptible, fragile), who, given the right support, can thrive as much as, if not more than, other children.
About the Book
Boyce writes of his pathfinding research as a developmental pediatrician working with troubled children in child-development research for almost four decades, and explores his major discovery that reveals how genetic make-up and environment shape behavior. He writes that certain variant genes can increase a person’s susceptibility to depression, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and antisocial, sociopathic, or violent behaviors. But rather than seeing this “risk” gene as a liability, Boyce, through his daring research, has recast the way we think of human frailty, and has shown that while these “bad” genes can create problems, they can also, in the right setting and the right environment, result in producing children who not only do better than before but far exceed their peers. Orchid children, Boyce makes clear, are not failed dandelions; they are a different category of child, with special sensitivities and strengths, and need to be nurtured and taught in special ways. And in The Orchid and the Dandelion, Boyce shows us how to understand these children for their unique sensibilities, their considerable challenges, their remarkable gifts.
Discussion Event – Shreveport-Bossier
Our next discussion event will be held on Tuesday, January 26th, at 5:30 PM and will be moderated by Michael Hicks, Assistant Professor of Education at Centenary College of Louisiana.
Discussion Event – Ruston
Community Reads is now in Ruston! The Orchid and the Dandelion discussion event details will be announced soon. Please sign up for the newsletter to receive updates.