STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

Stop fretting about the tug of war over a border wall for the moment, and pick up a book that provides a fresh, almost magical, perspective.

“Into the Beautiful North” tells the sometimes humorous story of a 19-year-old whose father has journeyed to the United States for a better life. As she looks around, she realizes that he isn’t the only man who has left her village a thousand miles south of the United States-Mexican border.

There are almost no men in the village—they’ve all gone north. And there are no babies in the village either.

Inspired by “The Magnificent Seven,” Nayeli decides to head north and recruit her own magnificent seven to repopulate her village and protect it from drug-dealing bandidos.

She and her friends venture north through mountains and deserts, trash dumps and diners, to Kankakee, Ill., discovering things about themselves and the world along the way.

This novel was written by Luis Alberto Urrea, a Tijuana-born, San Diego-grown author of 18 books who claims he’s more interested in bridges than borders. And it has been chosen as this year’s BIG READ by the National Endowment for the Arts with the hope of starting local—and national--conversations by having everyone read the same book.

Both Ketchum’s Community Library and the Hailey Public Library are taking part. And both will kick off their BIG READ this week.

The Community Library will hold its Big Read Kick-Off Party from 5:30 to 7:30 tonight—Tuesday, Jan. 29. Co-hosted by the Nosotros United student club from Wood River High School, it will include music, refreshments and other activities. Free copies of the book in English and Spanish will be available.

The Hailey Public Library will hold its Kick-Off from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 31. There’ll be local food and fare and more.

The Kick-Offs will be followed several events, concluding with a Keynote Talk with the author himself on March 6.

Here’s the schedule:

Feb. 5, 5 p.m.—Hailey Public Library Taco Tuesday and Art Exhibit

Feb. 6 and 8, 10:30 a.m. Hailey Public Library multi-cultural storytime

Feb. 6, 5:30 p.m. Community Library English book discussion

Feb. 10, 6 p.m. Divine Wine Bar in Hailey, screening of “The Magnificent Seven”

Feb. 12, 6 p.m. Community Library lecture on “Mexican Women in History: From La Malinche to La Llorona to Frida Kahlo”by Professor Raquel Arenz of College of Southern Idaho

Feb. 13, 5 p.m. Wood River High School English book discussion hosted by WRHS English teachers and students

Feb. 13, 5:30 p.m. Community Library Spanish book discussion

Feb. 20, 6 p.m. Community Library screening of “The Other Side of Immigration”

Feb. 25, 3 p.m. Community Library Tea Time Talk: “Contemporary Mexican and Chicano Artists” by Kathryn Zupsic, a docent from the de young and Legion of Honor museums in San Francisco

Feb. 26, 4 p.m. Hailey Public Library Young Adult book discussion “Inside Out and Back Again” by Thanhha Lai (copies available at the library)

Feb. 27, 6 p.m. Hailey Public Library English/Spanish book discussion and potluck dinner

Feb. 28, 6 p.m. Community Library lecture on “Modernity and Mexican Fiction” by Dr. Adrian Kane of Boise State University

March 2, 2 p.m.—Hailey Public Library lecture on “Understanding Migration” with Dr. John Bieter of Boise State University

March 5, 6 p.m. Wood River Sustainability Center Lines Between Wines book discussion with refreshments and wine tasting. $30. Register at 208-721-3114.

March 6 p.m. Community Library Closing Celebration and Keynote Talk with “Into the Beautiful North” author Luis Alberto Urrea. The talk will be Livestreamed at the Hailey Public Library.