Alejandro Jimenez packs library

Hood River County Reads welcomed poet Alejandro Jimenez, author of “Moreno. Prieto. Brown.,” this year’s selection, on April 28 at the Hood River Library. His poems, “about growing up brown in Hood River County, as an immigrant in a mixed-status family,” were the focus of his presentation, as well as his experiences with performance poetry. “I grew up undocumented, and I always had this idea that I wouldn’t be here tomorrow, because they were coming to get us,” he said, “whoever ‘they’ are.” He was introduced by Hood River Valley High School teacher Nan Noteboom, who had Jimenez in Writing 121 his senior year and was one of the first readers of his book. “Thank you all,” Jimenez said to the overflow crowd. “It means a lot to come back, especially this way.” He also presented on April 29 at Mid Valley Elementary in Spanish.