In the past three years, HB Reads has taken participants' minds around the world — to Afghanistan, Alaska and Sudan — but this year, it also will give them another language to express their thoughts.
To mirror the subject matter in "Barefoot Heart" and expand the program to a wider audience, organizers have scheduled two bilingual discussions of Elva Trevino Hart's story of growing up as the youngest daughter of a Mexican migrant family in America.
Amy Crepeau, the literacy coordinator at the Oak View Branch Library, said the book already appears to be a hit in the mostly Latino neighborhood. More than 50 parents in the library's Family Literacy Program have borrowed the book to read with their tutors, and she expects at least a few of them to show up for the discussions at the library Feb. 28 and March 9.
"I think probably because it's a story of an immigrant family, it makes it interesting," Crepeau said. "And obviously, the parents are from Mexico, and a lot of our students are from Mexico originally. And it's a fun story. It's well written, and I think it's accessible."
