I think this is neat!

Source: Miamiherald.com

MDC WOLFSON CAMPUS
COURT STARS AIM HIGH
DWYANE WADE AND OTHER BASKETBALL STARS WILL READ FROM THEIR FAVORITE BOOKS DURING A PROGRAM GEARED TO PROMOTING READING
Miami Herald Staff
Endorsements from celebrity sports figures will sell just about anything. But can a National Basketball Association superstar persuade young adults 16-25 to read one of his favorite books?

That's the challenge Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade will face on Thursday when he visits Miami Dade College's Wolfson Campus to discuss the classic Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

Fans will have an opportunity to hear Wade in a discussion with Heat commentator Eric Reid and also get an NBA poster that features him reading from the book. They also will have a chance to meet the young NBA star and shake hands. He will not have time to sign memorabilia.

The event is free and open to the public and is being presented by Books & Books, the Florida Center for the Literary Arts at Miami Dade College and Penguin Classics.

Penguin Classics and the NBA asked Wade to help celebrate the publishing house's 60th anniversary and the NBA Cares Read to Achieve Literacy Initiative by choosing a classic title.

''I've read Pride and Prejudice a couple of times. It's one of my favorite books, which usually surprises people,'' Wade said in a statement. ``I guess they wonder how a love story from Regency England could be relevant to a 21st century basketball player from the Southside of Chicago.

``Class struggle, overcoming stereotypes and humble beginnings, getting out of your own way and letting love take over: These are things I can relate to, definitely.''

Books & Books will have copies of Pride & Prejudice (Penguin Classics, $ available for sale at the event, along with the books chosen by the other three participants: Ray Allen of the Seattle SuperSonics, Becky Hammon of the New York Liberty and Hall of Famer Earvin ''Magic'' Johnson.

Those who buy a copy of any of the Penguin Classic titles will get a poster, Aim High. Live Classic, that features Wade reading Pride & Prejudice, Allen reading Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha, Hammon reading The Crucible by Arthur Miller, and Johnson reading Narrative of My Life as a Slave by Frederick Douglass.

Books & Books will distribute free tickets while they last. Overflow crowds can watch on video outside.

Renée