'Strength' thought-provoking

"Strength in What Remains" by Tracy Kidder (Random House, 304 pages, $26) —This is the story of how an African medical student named Deo fled the violence in his native Burundi and escaped to the United States. The early pages tell of his flight from Africa (the wealthy father of a fellow student paid for his ticket), his arrival in New York City and his effort to survive there alone, with no money or English skills. He earned $15 for 12-hour days delivering groceries and slept at first in an abandoned tenement and later in Central Park.

The next section traces Deo's memories of the slaughter in Burundi and neighboring Rwanda. The third, and most exhilarating, tells of his relationships with the Americans who helped him, including a couple who take Deo into their home and finance his return to school.

Kidder shows up, too (he meets Deo through Paul Farmer, subject of Kidder's book, "Mountains Beyond Mountains"), and goes with Deo back to Burundi. It's a thought-provoking look at a persistent human spirit, and at what it was capable of surviving.

WSU professor to read, sign books Thursday

Wichita State University faculty member Doris Chang will read from and sign copies of her book "Women's Movements in Twentieth-Century Taiwan." The first book English on the topic, it pays special attention to Madame Chiang Kai-shek, influential wife of Chiang Kai-shek, Taiwan's president from 1949 to 1975, and Hsiu-lien Annette Lu, who was vice president of Taiwan from 2000 to 2008.

The event is at 7 p.m. Thursday at Watermark Books, 4701 E. Douglas. Chang is an associate professor of women's studies at WSU.