The Books that Stir Us: The Basbanes Project

The Basbanes Project asked Lorain County Community College students to submit essays that answer the following question:

What one book has contributed most to the story of your current life?

Essays were judged on the basis of their originality, their impact, their clarity, and the richness of their message. The writers of the three winning essays received awards of $500.

An awards ceremony was held on April 30, 2009 to present awards to the writers of the winning essays. Click here to view a video of the event.

Award Recipients, pictured left to right: Tristan Rader, Sara Davidson, Nicholas Basbanes, Benjamin Willets

	The Basbanes Project
	View a video about the project Learn more about Nicholas A. Basbanes Learn more about the Basbanes Project Basbanes Project volunteer team Essays submitted by LCCC faculty and staff

Below is a list of all students who submitted essays for the Basbanes project. To view an essay, click on the student's name.

Student Name	Book Title	Book Author
Elsie Aponte	The Giver	Lois Lowry
Rhonda Arendt	Alcoholics Anonymous	Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith
Scott Baisden	The DaVinci Code	Dan Brown
Aaron Balas	Rookie	Jerry B. Jenkins
Kimberly Beegan	The Secret	Rhonda Byrne
Kwasi Bonney	Things Fall Apart	Chinua Achebe
Nicholas Boose	Animal Farm	George Orwell
Jennifer Bornancin	A Million Little Pieces	James Frey
Melissa Brenneman	The Bible	Various
Courtney Brewer	Novels of Nicholas Sparks; Chicken Soup for the Soul series, The Bible	Various
Kaylie Bring	Louder than Words: A Mother’s Journey in Healing Autism	Jenny McCarthy
Sarah Brooks	The Chosen	Chaim Potok
Michelle Brown	Helen Keller	George Sullivan
Jonathan Carey	Who Moved My Cheese?	Spencer Johnson
Katelyn Chopcinski	Odd Thomas	Dean Koontz
*Sara Davidson* Basbanes Award Recipient	Ishmael	Daniel Quinn
Elisabeth Dickerson	The Bible	Various
Amy Doinidis	The Paper Bag Princess	Robert Munsch
Jennifer Dziak	The Perks of Being a Wallflower	Steven Chbosky
Isabel Farina	The Bible	Various
Samantha Freas	I Love You Forever	Robert Munsch
Betty Furlan	The Great Gatsby	F. Scott Fitzgerald
Rachel Galloway	Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl	Anne Frank
Kristen Grace	The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom	Don Miguel Ruiz
Robin Hodges	The Alchemist	Paulo Coelho
Dustin Huffman	The Lord of the Rings	J.R.R. Tolkien
Colleen Hurst	The Uglies	Scott Westerfield
Jacqueline Jackson	The Bible	Various
Patrick Kilbane, Jr.	Siddhartha	Hermann Hesse
Nancy Kopnicky	The Little Engine that Could	Watty Piper
Cindi Manning	Tuesdays with Morrie	Mitch Albom
Ryan Miller	Fahrenheit 451	Ray Bradbury
Eddie Morales	The Red Badge of Courage	Stephen Crane
Abigail Morton	The Bible	Various
Chris Nabakowski	The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy	Douglas Adams
Megan Piatak	Corduroy	Don Freeman
Kelsey Pleban	The Five People You Meet in Heaven	Mitch Albom
Tierrah Powell	From Terror to Glory	Susan Knauff
Ryanna Pratt	The Celestine Prophecy	James Redfield
*Tristan Rader* Basbanes Award Recipient	The Little Engine that Could	Watty Piper
Caitlyn Rice	Atlas Shrugged	Ayn Rand
Victoria Rotger	A Child Called “It”	Dave Pelzer
Gil Salumbides	The Lord of the Flies	William Golding
Danell Sebastian	The Bible	Various
Cherie Shanko	Looking for Alaska	John Green
Hannah Speckhart	The Five People You Meet in Heaven	Mitch Albom
Sara Spevok	The Bible	Various
Sarita Spinks	Traveling Light	Katrina Kittle
Crystal Szabo	The Things They Carried	Tim O’Brien
Marla Taylor	Infidel	Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Rebecca Temerario	The Thirteenth Tale	Diane Setterfield
Suzanna Theobald	God Has a Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Time	Desmond Tutu
Benjamin Toth	You Will Dream New Dreams	Dr. Stanley D. Klein and Kim Schive
Sarah Traxler	Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith	Rob Bell
Monica Walker	At First Sight	Nicholas Sparks
Frank Whitfield	The Road Less Traveled	Scott Peck
*Benjamin Willets* Basbanes Award Recipient	The One Straw Revolution	Masanobu Fukuoka

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The Books that Stir Us: The Basbanes Project

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