Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer has been selected for the 2012 Summer Reading Program.

Novella Carpenter chronicles her efforts to live off the land on the fringes of an urban ghetto. Her efforts to have a sustainable source of food for herself–with some for friends and neighbors as well-- sends her down a path inspired by Henry Thoreau, Euell Gibbons and her mother. The experiment to eat exclusively from her urban squat farm tries her will and ingenuity while bolstering her spirit with a sense of connection with all around her.

Farm City will be provided to all incoming freshmen at Appalachian, and Novella Carpenter will speak to members of the campus community and others during Convocation in the Holmes Center on campus, September 6.. Carpenter also will participate in other discussions on campus and in the community, which will be announced at a later date.