Favorite children's author and illustrator Todd Parr will be at Almaden Branch Library this Saturday, April 21, at 3:30 PM as part of the Silicon Valley Reads program.

So save the date and tell your friends!

Todd — author of It's OK To Be Different — will talk and draw for young children and families, and there will be a book signing afterward.

FREE copies of It's OK To Be Different will be distributed at this event, compliments of First 5 Santa Clara County. One book per family. Quantities are limited.

Don't miss it.

I hope you have been enjoying the variety of programs the library has been able to offer as we have explored the topic "Muslim and American" over the past several months.  Silicon Valley Reads 2012 continues to run through the month of April.  San Jose Public Library will be offering the following upcoming events to engage with others in a discussion of this relevant subject.

• Sumbul Ali-Karamali, author of The Muslim Next Door will speak at the Cambrian Library on Saturday, April 14 and the following week at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Library on Saturday, April 21.  Both programs begin at 2:00.
• Todd Parr, author and illustrator of the children's book It's Okay to be Different will appear on April 21 at both the Pearl Avenue and Almaden libraries.  The Pearl Avenue program begins at 2:00 pm and the Almaden presentation begins at 3:00 pm.
• The Berryessa  Library will screen the film "Allah Made Me Funny" at 11:00 am on April 21.
• The Pearl Avenue Library will also host Willow Wilson, author of The Butterfly Mosque on Friday, April 27 at 4:00.

Take part in the conversation!  Plan now to attend one of these special events.  Silicon Valley Reads 2012 concludes on April 29 with a closing event to be held at the Santa Clara Central Park Library.

For March 2012, our Online Book Club continues by discussing The Butterfly Mosque by Willow Wilson, another featured title of this year's community reading program, Silicon Valley Reads, which focuses on the theme "Muslim and American."  While The Muslim Next Door helped us to better understand the beliefs and practices of Muslim Americans living in the United States, in The Butterfly Mosque the author lets us share her experience as an American whose faith leads her eventually to Cairo, Egypt and a life very different from the one she may have imagined growing up in America.  

Each week, we'll put forth a different question to prompt reflection on the book and its ideas.  We hope you will participate in the discussion by leaving comments below!

Week 3: What new insights into the Middle East, Muslims, and Islamic life does Wilson present? Has reading this book altered your views of Islam? In what way does the book challenge the stereotypes portrayed by the media?

Welcome to week three of the March Online Bookclub! How has your reading been going? I have always been interested in Egypt. Actually, I will clarify that statement.  I have been interested in Egypt and King Tut since purchasing a pocketbook about the discovery of the tomb when I was  11! At that age I was fascinated (I still am) and I read that book over and over.  I wanted to become an Egyptologist or a curator of Asian Art. At the time I had no sense of anything political. Now I think about things "inconvenient" to the romance of it all. "Why did so many treasures leave Egypt?" comes to mind. Anyway, what was really eye opening about The Butterfly Mosque was how shopping, cooking, and cleaning are daily obstacles to someone unused to the way things work. I can't imagine going to buy a live chicken for my dinner. Reading Willow's descriptions of modern day Cairo were interesting and informative.  I can't say that my views of Islam changed. Prior to reading Butterfly, and other Silcon Valley Reads books, I had no real view. I am very happy to keep learning to broaden my knowledge bit by bit.

I am hoping to hear what some of you think about the questions. Does the book challenge stereotypes? Let's talk.

See our Online Book Club page for more information about this book and to preview the next weeks' questions

For March 2012, our Online Book Club continues by discussing The Butterfly Mosque by Willow Wilson, another featured title of this year's community reading program, Silicon Valley Reads, which focuses on the theme "Muslim and American."  While The Muslim Next Door helped us to better understand the beliefs and practices of Muslim Americans living in the United States, in The Butterfly Mosque the author lets us share her experience as an American whose faith leads her eventually to Cairo, Egypt and a life very different from the one she may have imagined growing up in America.  

Each week, we'll put forth a different question to prompt reflection on the book and its ideas.  We hope you will participate in the discussion by leaving comments below!

For Week 2, we'd like to ask:

What do you make of the fact that Wilson dons a headscarf. What are her reasons? What does the headscarf mean to her?
 

This week’s question deals with headscarves and what wearing one means to Willow. One thing that Willow mentions in her library visits is that you can ask five different women why they wear a headscarf and get five different answers - and the same person might not always have the same answer. I was raised Episcopalian and when I was young we wore a round lace circle on the top of our heads to attend church. The women wore hats as well. I find the subject of head coverings very interesting and by extension I find that I am generally curious about religions/cultures and the practices surrounding hair covering, shaving, and glorifying that people participate in. Many people practice their beliefs about the head or hair to some extent or another, don’t they?

What do you think? What does the headscarf mean to Willow?

See our Online Book Club page for more information about this book and to preview the next weeks' questions

For March 2012, our Online Book Club continues by discussing The Butterfly Mosque by Willow Wilson, another featured title of this year's community reading program, Silicon Valley Reads, which focuses on the theme "Muslim and American."  While The Muslim Next Door helped us to better understand the beliefs and practices of Muslim Americans living in the United States, in The Butterfly Mosque the author lets us share her experience as an American whose faith leads her eventually to Cairo, Egypt and a life very different from the one she may have imagined growing up in America.  

Each week, we'll put forth a different question to prompt reflection on the book and its ideas.  We hope you will participate in the discussion by leaving comments below!

For Week 1, we'd like to ask:
Early after Willow moves to Cairo, Ahmad told her she was "becoming a little bit Arab."  She wrestled with the idea that this somehow represented a betrayal of her American self (p. 4-5).  Do you think that through her decisions and choices Willow does in fact become a different person or do you essentially hear the same voice throughout her journey?

I found Willow's story very interesting and engaging.  I enjoyed watching her grow and develop as she made choices very different from those of her parents and friends.  As someone who grew up in a family where Christian faith has always been a central part of my life, it was interesting to watch how Willow moved from a nonreligious background to embrace a faith that seemed right for her.  Throughout the book, even as she changed from a pink haired tattooed teen to a young wife who chose to don a headscarf, her character remained consistent for me.  Even when hesitant to share her newfound beliefs or her decision to marry, she remained true to what felt right for her.  While always respectful, she was willing to speak up and question beliefs and practices she did not understand.  The Butterfly Mosque is a very personal story of the author's life journey.  As she says herself on p. 107, "I never tried to become a mascot; I was just a person, with the usual quirks and faults, who was now Muslim."

How about you?  Do you think Willow's decisions and choices cause her to become a different person? 

See our Online Book Club page for more information about this book and to preview the next weeks' questions

Meet author G. Willow Wilson on Wednesday February 29 at 6:00 PM in the Community Room of the Edenvale Branch Library.  Willow Wilson is the author of the The Butterfly Mosque. This remarkable book is one of the books selected for Silicon Valley Reads 2012!  If you enjoy memoirs and if you are interested in other cultures, you will love this book and enjoy the presentation. This event is co-sponsored by Friends of Edenvale Branch Library, who will also provide refreshments.

For more information about Silicon Valley Reads, please visit their website and this blog posting.