Author Amada Irma Pérez leads a discussion of the award winning bestseller Bless Me Ultima, at the Museum of Ventura County on Saturday, October 11 at 2:00 p.m. The book by Rudolfo Anaya is a coming-of-age novel of a young boy in New Mexico in the 1940s, and was chosen by the City of Ventura to be read by the community during October’s Ventura Big Read.

A resident of Ventura, author Pérez has been a bilingual educator, literacy consultant and presenter for more than twenty-five years. Her teaching experience includes kindergarten through university, and her bilingual children’s books are designed to encourage multicultural understanding. Her first book, My Very Own Room/Mi Propio Cuartito, won the Tomás Rivera Children’s Book Award and is given to every newborn in San Antonio, Texas through the Library Foundation‘s “Born to Read” program. Her second book, My Diary from Here to There/Mi Diario De Aquí Hasta Alla, won the Pura Belpre Honor Book Award. Her most recent publication is Nana's Big Surprise/Nana, Que Sorpresa.

Perez’s event at the museum is one of several associated with Ventura Big Read .The Ventura Cultural Affairs Division, in partnership with the Ventura County Library, was selected by the National Endowment for the Arts to take part in the Big Read, an initiative in which an entire community is encouraged to read the same book at the same time and participate in discussions on its themes. For more information, go to www.cityofventura.net/bigread.

The Museum of Ventura County is located at 89 S. California Street in Ventura.