The 2009 Thousand Oaks Reads One City One Book selection is “The Soloist” by Steve Lopez. 

The book, a work of nonfiction, chronicles a story of friendship between the author and Nathaniel Ayers, a gifted musician and former Julliard student who struggles with mental illness. Lopez, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times , met Ayers playing his violin on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles. 

A seven-week celebration of the book kicks off at the Thousand Oaks Arts Festival on Sept. 26 to 27, where children can make murals for display at the library.  

There will be opportunities to talk about the book at seven different community book discussions. 

Other events will include film screenings, a family program about music education titled “Music of The Soloist with Jackie Petitto: The Joy of Making Music,” a concert by the California Lutheran University Orchestra, a program about violin making featuring a local violin collector, Battle of the Air Guitars contest for teens, a conversation with L.A. Philharmonic musician Pete Snyder and a field trip to the Disney Concert Hall to attend a Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra performance.

All events are free except for the Disney Hall Concert Field Trip, which costs $85. Reservations for the trip must be made at the library by Sept. 17. Price includes concert ticket, roundtrip bus transportation, a box lunch and a pre-concert lecture.

The culmination of Thousand Oaks Reads will be an afternoon with Lopez on Nov. 14 at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza Fred Kavli Theatre.

Free tickets are required and will be available at the library beginning Sept. 28. 

For more information, visit www.thousandoaksreads.org.