Hopewell Valley Heritage Month Book Club
During the 2021-22 school year, the Hopewell Valley Regional School District in conjunction with HVEF will be honoring various Heritage Months by sponsoring community book reads and discussions to celebrate the diverse cultures present within the United States and our local community. We will also be providing videos offering a Children’s Book Story Time read by HVRSD teachers and staff that celebrate each Heritage Month. This month's videos are available at https://www.hvrsd.org/page/heritagecelbration
June - Pride Month
In June, we celebrate Pride Month in an engaging conversation with author Malindo Lo regarding her novel Last Night at the Telegraph Club.
May -- AAPI Heritage Month
In May, we celebrated AAPI Heritage Month in a fascinating conversation with Jean Kwok regarding her best selling novel Searching for Sylvie Lee. Click Here to Watch the Recording of our AAPI Discussion
March -- Women's Heritage Month
In March we celebrated Women's Heritage Month in a conversation with local author Ari Honarvar’s regarding her debut novel A Girl Called Rumi which tells a captivating tale of Kimia, a successful spiritual advisor haunted by her Iranian childhood. When Kimia travels back to Iran with her mother, she arrives in the middle of the Green Uprising and begins to unravel the secrets of her past. Kimia must decide whether to run away again r continue her journey. Critics describe Honarvar's novel as spell binding, compelling, lush and layered, and beautifully written. Described by Deepak Chopra, MD as "A page-turner that goes deep into the reality beyond perception." Click Here to Watch a recording of our Women's Heritage Month Discussion
February -- Black History Month
In February 2022, we celebrated Black History Month in a conversation with local residents and authors Elain Buck and Beverly Mills regarding If These Stones Could Talk. We discussed stories, including dozens of oral histories, that reflect the deeply important but often overlooked history of the collected lives of a minority Black community in the Hopewell Valley, a predominantly White region. The discussion was facilitated by a CHS teacher and student. A recording of the event will be posted here soon. Click here to watch a recording of our discussion regarding If These Stones Could Talk
November -- Native American Heritage Month
In November 2021, we celebrated the important contributions Indigenous Peoples have made in our local community and the United States, honor Native American histories, and seek solutions to the struggles they still face today. We held a community book discussion with Dr. Camilla Townsend regarding her book Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma. The discussion was facilitated by a CHS teacher and student. Click her to watch a recording of the November 2021 discussion.
September 2021 -- Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month began as a way to celebrate and promote the history, culture, & contributions of Hispanic and Latinx Americans, specifically those whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, & Central and South America. On September 27, 2021, we held an exciting discussion with author Alexandra Villasante regarding her award winning book, The Grief Keeper. Follow the link to watch the recording of our discussion. Discussion with Alexandra Villasante
Alexandra Villasante
Alexandra Villasante has always loved telling stories—though not always with words. She has a BFA in Painting and an MA in Combined Media (that’s art school speak for making work out of anything). Born in New Jersey to immigrant parents, Alex has the privilege of dreaming in both English and Spanish.
When she’s not writing or painting, Alexandra is the online program manager for the Highlights Foundation. She lives with her family in the semi-wilds of Pennsylvania. Her debut Young Adult novel, The Grief Keeper, was an Indies Next, Indies Introduce and Fall 2019 Junior Library Guild Selection. The Grief Keeper is on ALA’s Rainbow Book List 2020 and is the winner of the 2020 Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Children’s Literature/Young Adult Fiction.
