{"id":824,"date":"2011-03-12T06:48:01","date_gmt":"2011-03-12T14:48:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/?p=824"},"modified":"2011-03-12T06:48:01","modified_gmt":"2011-03-12T14:48:01","slug":"author-naomi-hirahara-to-speak-at-sierra-madre-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/?p=824","title":{"rendered":"Author Naomi Hirahara To Speak At Sierra Madre Library"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/Naomi-Hirahara-head-shot-.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-825\" title=\"Naomi-Hirahara-head-shot-\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/Naomi-Hirahara-head-shot-.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/Naomi-Hirahara-head-shot-.jpg 200w, http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/Naomi-Hirahara-head-shot--100x150.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a>All are invited to the Sierra Madre Public Library on Thursday, March 17, at 7:00 p.m. to meet acclaimed author Naomi Hirahara. \u00a0Ms. Hirahara is an award-winning mystery novelist, children\u2019s author, biographer, and the author of numerous books on Japanese history, culture and horticulture.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In 2004 Ms. Hirahara began a series featuring one of the most original protagonists in mystery fiction, the \u201creluctant detective\u201d Mas Arai, an Hiroshima survivor, inveterate gambler, gardener and curmudgeon, who longs for the simple life, but finds instead, murder on his doorstep and wrongs that only he can right.\u00a0 Her highly regarded first novel in the series, <em>Summer of the Big Bachi, <\/em>was included in Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2004, and was featured in the Chicago Tribune\u2019s Best Mystery list of 2004.\u00a0 Her second novel, <em>Gasa-Gasa Girl, <\/em>received a starred review and was a Southland best seller. <em>Snakeskin Samisen<\/em>, the third Mas Arai mystery, won an Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original.<\/p>\n<p>The intrigue in her latest book, <em>Blood Hina<\/em>, includes the theft of antique \u201china dolls.\u201d Hina dolls are used to celebrate Girls Day, a beloved Japanese cultural festival held in March.\u00a0 As an adjunct to the presentation, dolls from Ms. Hirahara\u2019s personal collection will be on display.<\/p>\n<p>Attendees are invited to bring personal copies of Ms. Hirahara\u2019s books for signing.\u00a0 Following the presentation, Japanese snack foods and Gen Mai tea will be served.\u00a0 This program is free and open to the public.<\/p>\n<p>The Sierra Madre Public Library is located at 440 West Sierra Madre Boulevard in Sierra Madre. For more information call (626) 355-7186, or go to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/mydocs\/svitale\/My%20Documents\/www.sierramadre.lib.ca.us\">www.sierramadre.lib.ca.us<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>All are invited to the Sierra Madre Public Library on Thursday, March 17, at 7:00 p.m. to meet acclaimed author Naomi Hirahara. \u00a0Ms. Hirahara is an award-winning mystery novelist, children\u2019s author, biographer, and the author&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,4],"tags":[22,23],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}