The BackStage Book Club’s March selection, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, ushers in a pair of related events in April at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.

In his best-selling book, Ishmael Beah tells of his life as a drug-addicted child soldier in Sierra Leone and his difficult journey back to humanity.

Beah is scheduled to visit UC Davis on April 8 to give a talk titled “A Long Way Gone: A Story of Redemption and Hope.” His appearance in the Mondavi Center’s Distinguished Speakers Series is set for 8 p.m. in Jackson Hall. Tickets: (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787, or www.mondaviarts.org.

Beah’s book has been praised as inspirational and criticized for alleged factual inaccuracies. Indeed, his is not the only memoir to come under scrutiny in recent years.

This controvery is the focus of a Forum@MC scheduled for 5 p.m. April 6 in the Studio Theatre. The forum is free and open to the public.

Forum organizers said “Just the Facts, Ma’am?” will include these panelists: David Simpson, G.B. Needham Distinguished Professor of English; and Steve Magagnini, staff writer, The Sacramento Bee, and UC Davis lecturer. Organizers said the moderator will be Jeffrey Callison, host of Insight on Sacramento radio station KXJZ.

The panel has been asked to examine the boundaries between memoir and fiction, and explore the future of nonfiction in the new century.

BackStage Book Club

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier is the last book on the BackStage Book Club’s recommended reading list for the 2008-09 academic year. Club members are encouraged to make their own pick for April — and a new list will come out in the fall.

The book club drew an overwhelming response when the Mondavi Center launched it in 2007. So, for 2008-09, the center invited people to form their own clubs — and avail themselves of the center’s list of recommended books, all connected with Mondavi Center events. The center provides study guides and discount coupons for the suggested books.

Book club registration is free: mondaviarts.org/bookclub. The Mondavi Center also maintains a book club blog: bookclub.mondaviarts.org.

More information: (530) 754-5423 or MCbookclub@ucdavis.edu.