Keith Donohue, author of “The Stolen Child,” will meet with students Sept. 6 and present a lecture at 8 p.m. in WMC Alumni Hall.

Donohue’s classic tale of leaving childhood behind in order to find one’s own identity is required reading for McDaniel College’s class of 2011. First-year students are encouraged to read a critically acclaimed book over the summer to prepare for meaningful conversations on the book during the next academic year.

“It taught me that it’s better to be who you are than try to take on roles,” says Joe Browning ’11.

The novel was chosen because it can be analyzed through many different perspectives, from scientific to poetic and sociological.

“The Stolen Child,” a science fiction/fantasy, tells the tale of Henry Day, a boy who runs away from home and hides in a hollow tree. “The changelings,” a tribe of wild children who live in darkness and in secret, kidnap the boy and rename him Aniday.

In his place, they leave behind a changeling who transforms himself to look like Henry and who takes his place in Henry’s old life. Both Henry and Aniday obsessively search for the lives they had before they changed places in the world.

The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, call 410-857-2294.