Global Book Club Selection Addresses School Violence Issues

CLEVELAND, OH--(Marketwired - October 11, 2016) - Violence in schools has become a serious problem in many countries. Students being bullied, fighting, and being threatened or injured with a weapon have all increased in recent years and thus have become a hot topic for discussion. Marieke Nijkamp's debut novel, This Is Where It Ends (Sourcebooks), hits close to home on this subject and is the featured eBook in the largest library digital book club, Big Library Read. Starting October 13 for a two-week period, readers across the globe will read and discuss this widely popular Young Adult eBook. More than 20,000 libraries and schools around the world in 32 countries are participating in Big Library Read. Readers can borrow and read the #1 New York Times bestseller, This Is Where It Ends, at the same time, for free, through their local or school library and participate in a worldwide digital version of a local book club.

To find a participating library near you, visit www.overdrive.com.

Told from four teens' perspectives over the course of 54 harrowing minutes, the students of a fictional high school (Opportunity High) struggle to both survive and understand why one boy started shooting. This Is Where It Ends easily won the popular vote as the next Big Library Read in a survey of thousands of readers, teachers and librarians and provides a unique look into what it's like to experience a school shooting through the eyes of students living through it in real time. Though a work of fiction, this powerful story is more poignant today than ever as school shootings have averaged nearly one per week since 2013 in the United States alone. The subject of school violence, though difficult, is one that students and parents alike need to be aware of in today's society. This Is Where It Ends confronts this subject realistically but tastefully and without graphic depictions of the violence the students experience.

The Big Library Read program was created as a global reading experience, providing a platform for readers around the world to connect through the library and discuss important topics. Reading and discussing This Is Where It Ends creates an opportunity for parents, teachers, students and readers of all ages to approach a difficult subject.

In a recent podcast interview with OverDrive, Marieke discussed her thoughts on writing This Is Where It Ends, violence in schools, the importance of diversity in literature and much more. "To me, this is a story about how even when a world seems to have stopped turning, when everything has fallen apart, the darkness is never absolute. There is always hope. I hope readers in Big Library Read will find hope in This Is Where It Ends too," said Marieke Nijkamp, author. The full interview can be found on OverDrive's Professional Book Nerds podcast.

Big Library Read kicks off October 13 and concludes on October 27. Available for free at public libraries, there will be no waitlists for this popular eBook. To get started reading, all that is needed is valid library card or student ID from one of the thousands of public libraries that offer digital content powered by OverDrive. This Is Where It Ends can be read on all computers and mobile devices, including iPhone^®, iPad^®, Android^™ phones and tablets, Chromebook^™ and Kindle^® [U.S. Libraries only]. The digital book will automatically expire at the end of the lending period. Readers can join in an ongoing discussion at www.biglibraryread.com to share their thoughts about the eBook.

About OverDrive
OverDrive is the leading digital distribution platform, supplying the industry's largest catalog of eBooks, audiobooks, streaming video and periodicals to 34,000 libraries and schools worldwide. We support all major computers and devices, including iOS^®, Android^™, Chromebook^™ and Kindle^® (U.S. only). OverDrive delivers all digital media on a single platform, and offers innovations such as OverDrive Read, the breakthrough EPUB and HTML5 browser-based reading experience, and Read-Along eBooks. Founded in 1986, OverDrive is based in Cleveland, Ohio USA and is owned by Tokyo-based Rakuten. For more information, visit www.overdrive.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and our blog.