World Book Night Books Delivered

I've given my WBN book When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago to a warm hearted woman who is a volunteer teacher for a class of ESL (English Second Language) class.  That will be 20 happy students!  I can't wait to hear how they like the book, but tonight I'm celebrating that they are receiving the book.  Hooray!

Here's some interesting information from this busy, amazing lady volunteer teacher -

Why did you choose this book for your students? What appealed to you and what did you think would appeal to them?

Since I am Puerto Rican, the title of the book caught my attention. My parents immigrated to the US in the 50s during Operation Bookstrap in Puerto Rico. We lived outside of Chicago, Illinois, in the city of Aurora. I felt my English Language Learners (ELLs) would find this book interesting and a subject they could relate to. At this time, the adults I work with are all Hispanic.

Why is teaching important to you?

I’ve always wanted to give back to my community through a volunteer program. My parents came to America on a shoestring and they had to acculturate into a society that was very different from theirs. At the time, there were no services to assist them. They received help from their friends, employers and professionals who were willing to help them learn how to live in America. When an opportunity came up in Duvall through “Duvall Eastside Literacy” (now Hopelink) I jumped at the opportunity to volunteer to work with the local migrant, immigrant and refugee communities. Originally, I had a diverse group of adults, but now all my adult students are Hispanic.

How did this class get started?

When I was originally offered a chance to get some books for my class, I had organized a group of Hispanic adult women through my church’s Outreach Center. Now I am working with adults through the King County Library System in their Talk Time program. Some of my past students are now going to Talk Time.

Is the class in Duvall, WA or where?

All my volunteer classes have been located in Duvall. As I referenced above, I started with Eastside Literacy in Duvall, it merged with Hopelink. I volunteered with them for over 15 years.

Other World Book Night Givers pictured here with their boxes of books: Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow, Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown, The Ravens Warrior by Vincent Platchett, Bobcat by Rebecca Lee, and Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers