Last year’s “Bat 6” immersed readers into the Japanese-American post-World War II experience; this year readers will vicariously live a Mexican life, whether in a migrant worker camp in America (“Esperanza Rising”) or Mexican prison (“Gonzalez and Daughter Trucking Co.”)

The steering committee chose those books in hopes of helping to get rid of stereotypes. Pat Hazlehurst, who was a driving force in bringing the community reading project to Hood River last year, said that there is a need for better communication and that reading books that address the subject of the Mexican experience can help.

 ‘Esperanza’ author Pam Munoz Ryan answers questions of the Mid Valley students after her presentation Feb. 15.

This year, books are being made available in Spanish as well as English, and special effort is being made to involve the Spanish-speaking community. The event has been publicized on Radio Tierra and a special reading by Maria Amparo Escandon, author of Gonzalez and Daughter,” will be held April 12 at Wy’east Apartments.

Like last year, the schools have been participating in the project by reading “Esperanza Rising” in the classroom and enhancing the experience with special activities. The author, Pam Munoz Ryan, visited Mid Valley School Feb. 15 and presented a slideshow and background information about her book, then fielded questions from the students.

“How old were you when you wrote your first book? Does it ever make you mad when the people at the publishing company want to change something like the title of the cover picture? Which book is your favorite?” the kids wanted to know.

In answer to the latter question, Ryan responded, “That’s like asking me which one of my children is my favorite — I love them all.”

At the kick-off March 3 at Georgiana Smith Memorial Park, books are offered free of charge to those who wish to participate in this year’s community reading project.

Ryan, whose family background is a mixture of Spanish, Mexican, Basque, Italian and Oklahoman, based “Esperanza Rising” on the experiences of her grandmother, who not only immigrated to a new country, but had to assimilate into a different, lower, social class.

Sophie Whitehead, who is the English Language Learner specialist at Mid Valley Elementary School, planned a full unit around the book for her “Spanish for Spanish-Speakers” class, which will study culture, history and the book itself.

“One of the things I find most exciting is that I have volunteers from the community coming to read the book out loud to the children as they follow along in their own books,” Whitehead says. “I have all ages and cultural backgrounds coming to read to the children.”

One of the volunteers, Nancy Koppy, is also a teacher and gets the students into great discussions, says Whitehead. Another is an older woman who looks like a typical grandma, Whitehead says.

“The children love her not only because she is very sweet, but because she reads really well,” she adds.

Whitehead plans a Mexican folk art activity using metal tooling. The artwork, and that of other schools — including yarn dolls like those in “Esperanza Rising” — will be on display at the Hood River County Library later this month and in April.

Hood River County students began reading in February, but books were not available for the adults until the kick-off March 3 at Georgiana Smith Memorial Park, where Mayor Linda Streich and County Commissioner Maui Meyer both officially proclaimed March 3 through April 15, 2007, “Hood River County Reads” in Hood River city and county.

According to Hazlehurst, the Gonzalez book is just now taking off and being discussed in several book groups, and public discussions are planned for March 25 at the Hood River library and at Elliot Glacier Public House in Parkdale. There are still books available at the library.

All of the “Esperanza Rising” books, both in English and Spanish, have been distributed, and Hazlehurst urges those who have finished reading the books to pass them on to someone else, or take them back to the library so that more people can have the opportunity.

“Our hope is to involve the whole Hood River County community in the reading and discussion of the issues raised by the books,” she says. “Understanding that different lifestyles, cultural differences and different backgrounds is important for a community to thrive and grow in a way that includes everyone.”