
Today, I have an announcement about an event that is taking place this weekend. Perhaps many of you have heard this already, but Perry has lately had a Community-Wide read of the book Enrique’s Journey. This book is a nonfiction piece by Sonia Nazario about the perilous journey of Enrique, a Honduran boy, to travel from Honduras all the way to the United States in order to be reunited with his mother, who left eleven years earlier so she could send back money to try to feed her starving family. If you have not read it yet, there should be some copies at the Perry Public Library if other people have not already checked them out.
Anyway, the event that is happening this weekend relates to this book. Sonia Nazario herself will be here on Sunday, October 18th, at the Performing Arts Center at 2:30 pm to talk about Enrique’s Journey! Not to mention that, if you have not been able to get a copy of the book yet, Beaverdale Books will be selling them after Ms. Nazario’s presentation, and will be signing them.
This presentation is made possible thanks to Humanities Iowa, in partnership with the Perry Public Library and Hometown Heritage and a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the American Library Association (ALA). It is part of a bigger project over the next year called Latino Americans: 500 Years of History. This project will have many events, ranging from talks and presentations like this one to a progressive dinner featuring dishes from Mexico and Central America. I highly encourage all of you to attend these events! Finally, if you wish learn more about stories similar to Enrique’s, you can read Sonia Nazario’s article that was published in the New York Times this past Sunday here: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/11/opinion/sunday/the-refugees-at-our-door.html?_r=1