University Center for International Studies |  Asian Studies Center | NCTA National

Online Book Discussion

Global Issues Through Literature: Grenade by Alan Gratz

 

Global Issues Through Literature: Grenade by Alan Gratz

Thursday, April 23, 2026

6:00pm - 7:30pm (Eastern Time)

In collaboration with the Global Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh, NCTA at Pitt is sponsoring a novel exploring the role of the U.S. in East Asia as part of their Global Issues Through Literature Series (GILS). This April's program will feature Alan Gratz’s book Grenade, a novel about an Okinawan boy named Hideki who encounters an American G.I. named Ray during the Battle of Okinawa. This decisive battle between the Imperial Japanese Army and the Allied Forces led by the United States provides the setting for this engaging young adult novel.

This reading group for K-16 educators explores literary texts from a global perspective. Content specialists will present the work and its context, and participants brainstorm innovative pedagogical practices for incorporating the text and its themes into the curriculum. 

A complimentary copy of the book and three Act 48 credit hours are provided for Pennsylvania Teachers. For teachers in other states, we can provide you with a copy of the book and a certificate of completion.

After you register, we will send you a confirmation email and will (depending on your response below) send a complimentary copy of Grenade.  You will also receive information about logging on to the Zoom session.

NOTE: This registration form is only for NCTA alumni. If you have already registered for the Global Issues Through Literature program on Grenade via the Global Studies Center's site, then you do NOT need to register again using this form.

 

Deadline to apply for the session on Grenade is April 1, 2026

 

Global Issues Through Literature: Grenade by Alan Gratz
Wednesday, April 1, 2026 - 23:59
Online Book Discussion
Event Location: 
Online via Zoom

Global Issues Through Literature: Grenade by Alan Gratz

 

Global Issues Through Literature: Grenade by Alan Gratz

Thursday, April 23, 2026

6:00pm - 7:30pm (Eastern Time)

In collaboration with the Global Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh, NCTA at Pitt is sponsoring a novel exploring the role of the U.S. in East Asia as part of their Global Issues Through Literature Series (GILS). This April's program will feature Alan Gratz’s book Grenade, a novel about an Okinawan boy named Hideki who encounters an American G.I. named Ray during the Battle of Okinawa. This decisive battle between the Imperial Japanese Army and the Allied Forces led by the United States provides the setting for this engaging young adult novel.

This reading group for K-16 educators explores literary texts from a global perspective. Content specialists will present the work and its context, and participants brainstorm innovative pedagogical practices for incorporating the text and its themes into the curriculum. 

A complimentary copy of the book and three Act 48 credit hours are provided for Pennsylvania Teachers. For teachers in other states, we can provide you with a copy of the book and a certificate of completion.

After you register, we will send you a confirmation email and will (depending on your response below) send a complimentary copy of Grenade.  You will also receive information about logging on to the Zoom session.

NOTE: This registration form is only for NCTA alumni. If you have already registered for the Global Issues Through Literature program on Grenade via the Global Studies Center's site, then you do NOT need to register again using this form.

 

Deadline to apply for the session on Grenade is April 1, 2026

 

Event/Opportunity Type: 
Online Book Discussion Group(s)
Type: 
Online Book Discussion

Convenience Store Woman in Cultural Context: A Workshop for K-12 Educators

 

May 14, 2026

 

6:00pm - 8:00pm (Eastern Time)

 

Online via Zoom

 

Centering on Sayaka Murata’s novel Convenience Store Woman, this free NCTA online workshop for K-12 educators explores the meaning of work, family, and happiness in Japan as they manifest in the life of one quirky female protagonist. Convenience stores—konbini in Japanese—are a distinctive marker of the Japanese cityscape. For some, they are the first stop for everyday essentials. For others, they are a place to grab a quick meal or browse a weekly comic. For still others, like the fictional character at the heart of Murata’s novel, they are a welcome respite from the pressures of conformity and conventional pathways to motherhood or career.

 

Convenience Store Woman, which won the Akutagawa Prize in 2016, is an entertaining window into aspects of contemporary Japanese culture rarely seen in literature. The book is accessibly written and will interest students from middle school on up.

 

The workshop will be moderated by Shawn Bender (Dickinson College) and feature a framing lecture on Japanese convenience stores by Gavin Whitelaw (Harvard University). The lecture will be followed by a session led by Michele Beauchamp (Mannheim School District) on adapting Convenience Store Woman in the classroom. Participants will receive a copy of the short novel to read in advance of the workshop.

 

 

 

Deadline to Register for this Book Workshop is May 1, 2026

 

 

 

Learn More About the Speakers for this Workshop

 

Featured Lecturer: Dr. Gavin Whitelaw is Executive Director of the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies. Dr. Whitelaw received his Ph.D. in Sociocultural Anthropology from Yale University and has spent over a decade living and teaching in Japan. For his dissertation research, he conducted ethnographic research on Japanese convenience stores by working part-time at a konbini himself. He has published extensively on Japan’s convenience stores, foodways, and material culture.

 

Moderator/Organizer: Dr. Shawn Bender is Professor of East Asian Studies and Coordinator of the NCTA Seminar Site at Dickinson College. Trained as a cultural anthropologist, Dr. Bender’s research examines applications of robotics technology in healthcare and agriculture. His books include Feeling Machines: Japanese Robotics and the Global Entanglements of More-Than-Human Care (Stanford University Press, 2025) and Taiko Boom: Japanese Drumming in Place and Motion (UC Press, 2012). At Dickinson, he teaches courses on contemporary Japan and China, food studies, health and society, and digital culture.

 

Master Teacher: Michele Beauchamp is an English teacher at Manheim Township High School in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She received her MEd from the University of Pittsburgh and for the past 25 years she has taught all levels of secondary English Language Arts. She has participated in two NTCA study tours and has taken advantage of numerous opportunities to study about Asia. In 2019 she trained to lead NCTA seminars and has since conducted several presentations and book discussions on East Asian novels and nonfiction texts.

 

 

 

Event/Opportunity Type: 
Teacher Programs
Type: 
Online Book Discussion

2026 Spring NCTA Alumni Online Book Discussion Group: Let Only Red Flowers Bloom by Emily Feng

 

2026 Spring NCTA Alumni Online Book Discussion Group

Let Only Red Flowers Bloom:

by Emily Feng

January 25 through April 12, 2026

A free, asynchronous book discussion group over eleven weeks.

In her introduction to Let Only Red Flowers Bloom, NPR correspondent Emily Feng explains that “This is a book about identity, how the state controls expressions of identity, and who gets to be considered Chinese.” In a country of over 1.4 billion people and 56 recognized ethnic groups, Xi Jinping is attempting to shape a unified Chinese identity, one that is staunchly loyal to the Communist Party.  

"Through a series of intimate portraits, Feng explores some of the political communities and issues that have been most affected by Xi’s tenure: human rights lawyers, ethnic minorities, Hong Kongers, and the Chinese diaspora. Feng’s subjects are largely idealists who engage in activities that eventually run afoul of Xi’s increasingly repressive regime. They include a lawyer who helped spark a nationwide debate on the need for a more humane Chinese legal system, a young Hui Muslim who founded an Islamic study center to advance religious and cultural understanding, and a bookseller in Hong Kong who sought to keep freedom of expression alive in the city."  

(Elizabeth Economy in Foreign Affairs) 

 
In addition to the book we will read and discuss timely news articles that pertain directly to the book's topics.

This free discussion group will be conducted asynchronously (using the Proboards platform) beginning January 25, with the first post due February 1, and will continue through April 12 in eleven one-week modules.  

This discussion group is for NCTA Alumni in the University of Pittsburgh Coordinating Site region (PA, OH, MI, WV, MD, AL, MN, DE, LA, IL, KY) 

For Pennsylvania teachers, completion of this book discussion will be worth fourteen Act 48 hours. For teachers in other states, we can provide you with a certificate of completion.
All participants will receive a complimentary copy of the book.

After you register, we will send you a confirmation email and will (depending on your response below) send a complimentary copy of the book.  You will also receive information on logging on to the Proboards Discussion Board site and a schedule of the readings and assignments.

 

Deadline to apply for this Book Group is January 15, 2026

 

Event/Opportunity Type: 
Online Book Discussion Group(s)
Type: 
Online Book Discussion