Oprah Winfrey has announced the latest pick for her popular book club.
Winfrey’s newest selection is Sophie Chen Keller’s Little Wonder, the media mogul announced on CBS Mornings. Keller’s novel, published Tuesday by Jenna Bush Hager’s Ballantine imprint, Thousand Voices, follows Song, a mother in northeast China who is separated at a Beijing railway station from her piano-prodigy son, River; over the following years, the two fight to reunite with each other. A critic for Kirkus wrote of the novel, “Tissues may be needed as this intimate story of unceasing love unfolds in a seemingly heartless city.”
On CBS Mornings, Keller described getting the phone call from Winfrey letting her know her book had been selected.
“That day, my 6-year-old was home sick from school; he had the flu, and he had passed the flu to my 1-year-old,” Keller recalled. “Then [Winfrey] started speaking, and despite the circumstances, it was so special to share that moment with my two kids, because they are the heart of this book.”
CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King noted that Keller’s novel features stories about the kindness of strangers.
“Maya [Angelou] always said that people never forget how you make them feel, and I love the idea that just ordinary folks that you encounter can make such a huge difference in someone’s day and, in the case of River, someone’s life,” Winfrey said.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
