I never realized there were so many types of business involved in arranging first-year experiences. Several publishers market books, ficiton and non-fiction, to be used in book reading assignments for first-year students. They offer various kinds of study guides to go along with the titles. Macmillan had many of their titles on sale. Here are some that I picked up.
Is there a pattern to these kind of books? They should be earnest, life-changing, and/or life-affirming. Should they be controversial? Showing new cultures or an American’s view of a new culture is important.
I always thought that program leaders just picked a book that they liked!