Dean Of The College Rashid Zia Repeatedly Pitches "Tale Of Despereaux" For Next Year's First Readings

Published Friday, December 6th, 2019
Filed under Campus Life

“At first glance, ‘Tale of Despereaux’ might seem like just another story about a mouse who lives in a castle and falls in love with a human princess, but it’s so much more,” Zia could be heard saying to anyone who would listen. “Throughout its four main sections and 50 individual chapters, the novel masterfully and compellingly weaves the narratives of Despereaux, his rat friend Roscuro, and the human child Miggery Sow to tell a touching story of love, art, and friendship, and overcoming adversity through community. This would be a perfect work for First Readings — a book that will undoubtedly stimulate and delight the minds of incoming first-year students, providing plenty of material for fruitful campus-wide discussion in the spirit of Brown’s Liberal Education.”

“With clean, engaging prose and beautiful, evocative illustrations, author Kate DiCamillo and illustrator Timothy Ering pulled together nothing short of a masterpiece,” Zia reportedly wrote in an email to all high-level University administrators. “Despereaux is a no-brainer — it’s really exactly what we look for when trying to pick a First Readings book. Did I mention he uses a needle as a sword? Pretty cool, right?”

At press time, Dean Zia was casually mentioning the idea to random students on campus to test the waters.