Author: Patricia Benke

Author, Patricia Benke, will discuss her book, Qudeen the Magnificent -- twelve compelling stories of young girls in conflict with their Arabic culture and the world around them.
Together and separately the stories explore a complex range of universal themes and experiences common to many immigrant populations, especially those involving challenges faced by girls. Whether set in the East Coast or the West Coast, the stories are probing and entertaining, a chorus of individual voices spanning the decades of the 20th century. Patricia Benke was born and spent her early childhood in the coal regions of Pennsylvania, where in the early 20th century both sets of her grandparents settled as Syrian immigrants. In the early 1950s she moved with her family to Southern California. In Qudeen the Magnificent, she draws upon her personal knowledge of those locales and the experiences of their immigrant populations. Patricia Benke currently lives in Southern California, where she serves as an appellate judge. She is the author of the acclaimed Judith Thornton series. Sponsored by the San Carlos Friends of the Library (SCFOL).