Arlington Heights 'One Book' author to speak at Metropolis

The second year of the Arlington Heights Memorial Library's One Book, One Village program is underway and library officials shared the project with the village board this week.

"The idea is simple - we want to build community by inviting all of Arlington Heights to read the same book at the same time," said Deputy Library Director Jeremy Andrykowski about the 2015 selection, "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez.

In an author video played for the board, Henríquez said she was inspired to write the book because of her father, who came to the United States from Panama in 1971.

"He had what I thought was a very ordinary story, but it was a story I didn't see reflected very much in mainstream media," she said. "I wanted to honor the idea of ordinary stories of people who come to the United States for all different reasons. To me it is a book that is about love, family, guilt and blame, but most importantly it is about home and what it means to make a place your home.' Henríquez will be at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre on Nov. 12 to discuss the book and sign copies. Registration for the program begins on Oct. 1 at the library and online.