Valley Focus: Book by Hmong-American writer selected for Big Read

The Fresno County Public Library is encouraging you to have fun at Big Read events. The Big Read is a program made possible by a grant through the National Endowment for the Arts.

The NEA gives grants to libraries across the country and Fresno was one of the library jurisdictions that received a grant. It allows for a community to come together and read a book from a list of books designated by the NEA.

The book selection is The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir by Kao Kalia Yang. It pays tribute to Hmong families who have made the journey from war-torn jungles of Laos to refugee camps of Thailand and eventually America.

Rocky Vang with Fresno County Public Library says the library is planning several events through April to encourage dialogue about the book. He sat down with Valley Focus host Margot Kim to talk about Big Read events and how the book can resonate with Hmong families here in the Central Valley.

The library kicked off its first Big Read event on January 13th with Hmong cultural displays, performances, and special guest readers. Learn more by watching Rocky's interview with Margot.

Get more information about The Big Read here: http://www.fresnolibrary.org/bigread.html