Canals And Dams
Juvenile non fiction
In her Canals And Dams: Invesitgate Feats Of Engineering.
Donna Latham informs us that: "According to the United Nations, every
person on the planet needs 5 to 13 gallons of freshwater every day (20
to 50 liters). People require water for drinking, cooking, and
bathing. Sadly, about 1.1 billion people on Earth lack access to
freshwater." You might wonder why when there is so much water on the
planet. It isn't always where it's needed though. Getting the fluid
required for life from one place to another has inspired some of the
feats of greatest ingenuity in the history of the human race. That's
what the book is all about.
But it is also so much more. It demystifies engineering for
kids at peak ages for scientific curiosity. Let's face it. A lot of
people, child and adult, hear the word engineer and include not me in
their definition. That includes kids that spontaneously take on
projects like damming up streams that are the heart and soul of
engineering. There are twenty-five hands on projects. They and the
accessible, conversational tone--not to mention the really nifty did
you knows, some of which caught me off guard--neatly tie theoretical
to everyday and lend the profession an aura of I-can-do-this!
If you teach or parent kids between the ages of nine and twelve
you should check the book out. If you like it you can find plenty
more engaging titles at www.nomadpress.net.
On a personal note, I just realized it's not only Adam's 17th
birthday, but also his dad's and my half anniversary. In exactly 6
months we'll hit our quarter century mark.
A great big shout out goes out to the couples I meet who put Eugene
and me to shame in terms of longevity. Last summer I saw a lady and
gentleman walking along holding hands and exchanging loving gazes.
She was the hometown girl he dreamed of coming back to during those
years he was overseas fighting. He was her hero who looked ever so
handsome in his uniform. We're talking World War II, folks. YOWZA!
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
The Girl from the Tar Paper School
The Girl from the Tar Paper School
Juvenile biography
When she was reading Richard Kluger's Simple Justice, Teri
Kanefield was inspired by learning about Barbara Rose Johns. "I've
always been drawn to stories about strong and innovative girls and
young women, particularly those growing up in times and places that
did not encourage them to be strong and innovative. For a teenager to
do what Barbara Johns did was astonishing. For a black teenager from
a poor rural area in the segregated south in 1951 to do what she did
was beyond astonishing." We are truly blessed that she took on the
research and writing of a book, The Girl from the Tar Paper School, so
readers all over can share in her astonishment.
When Johns was a student at the Robert R. Moton High School for
black students in Farmville, Virginia, Jim Crow was in full swing and
separate but equal was anything but. "Temporary" classrooms made of
tar paper covered wood couldn't even keep the rain off students who
needed umbrellas inside. Pot bellied wood stoves still were the only
source of heat. In contrast, whites only Farmville High boasted
amenities like modern heating, a cafeteria, and an auditorium with a
sound system. This inequity was justified by the idea that the
whites, being richer, were paying more into the system and deserved
better. (Sounds to me a lot like how we continue to rationalize
property tax based school funding.)
When Johns talked to her favorite teacher about the injustice of
the situation, she was asked, "Why don't YOU do something about it?".
She felt seriously let down, like her concerns had been dismissed.
Adults had been doing their best to get more adequate education for
black students. The all white school board had been finding one
reason after another to delay doing anything.
Pretty much anyone in her situation would have given up. Johns
had an epiphany. "As I lay in my bed that night I prayed for help.
That night, whether in a dream or whether I was awake--but I felt I
was awake--a plan began to formulate in my mind, a plan I felt was
divinely inspired, because I hadn't been able to think of anything til
then."
It was an audicious plan, an extremely bold plan, a plan that
carried much peril for Johns and everyone she cared about. But it was
a plan that made people come alive with hope even after a cross
burning. The Girl from the Tar Paper School juxtaposes this powerful
story with insightful details about Johns' life and rare period
photographs. It is a must read for anyone who carries a heavy heart,
burdened by the rampant injustice of the world we find ourselves in,
and wants to strive for better.
On a personal note, I read a sentence in this book that sent little
lightning bolts through every cell in my central nervous system.
"Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing as gentle as strength."
This is so different from the testosterone-laden version of strength
today that often makes government the "adult" version of school
playground bullying. But it is the juxtaposition of strength and
gentleness that, in my mind, epitomizes true and valid leadership. It
was on the program at Johns' funeral. My greatest hope is that by the
time I pass I will have earned those words.
A great big shout out goes out to all leaders, past and present,
including my mentor, Dr. Betsy Webb, for whom those words would ring
true.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Juvenile biography
When she was reading Richard Kluger's Simple Justice, Teri
Kanefield was inspired by learning about Barbara Rose Johns. "I've
always been drawn to stories about strong and innovative girls and
young women, particularly those growing up in times and places that
did not encourage them to be strong and innovative. For a teenager to
do what Barbara Johns did was astonishing. For a black teenager from
a poor rural area in the segregated south in 1951 to do what she did
was beyond astonishing." We are truly blessed that she took on the
research and writing of a book, The Girl from the Tar Paper School, so
readers all over can share in her astonishment.
When Johns was a student at the Robert R. Moton High School for
black students in Farmville, Virginia, Jim Crow was in full swing and
separate but equal was anything but. "Temporary" classrooms made of
tar paper covered wood couldn't even keep the rain off students who
needed umbrellas inside. Pot bellied wood stoves still were the only
source of heat. In contrast, whites only Farmville High boasted
amenities like modern heating, a cafeteria, and an auditorium with a
sound system. This inequity was justified by the idea that the
whites, being richer, were paying more into the system and deserved
better. (Sounds to me a lot like how we continue to rationalize
property tax based school funding.)
When Johns talked to her favorite teacher about the injustice of
the situation, she was asked, "Why don't YOU do something about it?".
She felt seriously let down, like her concerns had been dismissed.
Adults had been doing their best to get more adequate education for
black students. The all white school board had been finding one
reason after another to delay doing anything.
Pretty much anyone in her situation would have given up. Johns
had an epiphany. "As I lay in my bed that night I prayed for help.
That night, whether in a dream or whether I was awake--but I felt I
was awake--a plan began to formulate in my mind, a plan I felt was
divinely inspired, because I hadn't been able to think of anything til
then."
It was an audicious plan, an extremely bold plan, a plan that
carried much peril for Johns and everyone she cared about. But it was
a plan that made people come alive with hope even after a cross
burning. The Girl from the Tar Paper School juxtaposes this powerful
story with insightful details about Johns' life and rare period
photographs. It is a must read for anyone who carries a heavy heart,
burdened by the rampant injustice of the world we find ourselves in,
and wants to strive for better.
On a personal note, I read a sentence in this book that sent little
lightning bolts through every cell in my central nervous system.
"Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing as gentle as strength."
This is so different from the testosterone-laden version of strength
today that often makes government the "adult" version of school
playground bullying. But it is the juxtaposition of strength and
gentleness that, in my mind, epitomizes true and valid leadership. It
was on the program at Johns' funeral. My greatest hope is that by the
time I pass I will have earned those words.
A great big shout out goes out to all leaders, past and present,
including my mentor, Dr. Betsy Webb, for whom those words would ring
true.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
The Golden Door
The Golden Door
Juvenile non fiction
Our very own Statue of Liberty carries a verse by Emma Lazarus
callling for the "huddled masses yearning to be free," other nation's
poor and homeless, to enter the "golden door" she stood sentry over.
We seem, as a country, to be too quickly forgetting this national
mandate. We're also very proficient at denial when it comes to the
fact that the great majority of us (meaning all who aren't one hundred
percent native American) have at least one ancestor from away. I get
so tired of the us-them close the border quick (except for when it
nets us cheap labor) mentality. I checked out two terrific books that
looked at the lives of earlier arrivals on both coasts from the Orono
Public Library.
Did you know that the dormitory buildings of California's Angel
Island (the West Coast counterpart to New York's Ellis Island) were
almost demolished? Don't feel bad if you didn't. I just learned this
evening reading Russell Freedman's Angel Island: Gateway To Golden
Mountain. In 1970 Alexander Weiss became curious about a decrepit
building on the island. Entering it, he discovered a treasure: walls
covered with carved calligraphy. They were poems and other
inscriptions by Chinese, Korean, Russian, and other nationality would
be immigrants. Reporting his discovery he was told not to rock the
boat. The building was slated to be demolished. Fortunately he
persisted and prevailed. If the wrecking ball had done its thing, so
much would have been lost.
This story is only the first of the true adventures you will
encounter in the book. In this deceptively slender volume you will
learn about:
*the predudice and violence from native born Americans Chinese
immigrants encountered despite the great contributions they made to
agriculture and the building of the transcontinental railroad;
*the weeks and even months long detentions they endured, not knowing
if they would ever be admitted to Gam Saan (Gold Mountain);
*the illusion shattering arrival of picture brides from Japan, China,
and Korea who often learned that their intendeds looked a lot
different from the pictures they had been shown;
*the saving of Jewish refugees from Hitler's Germany arriving by way
of Shanghai...
My favorite part of the book was the poems translated into
English. They are quite eloquent. The period photographs greatly
enhance the text.
Zipping across America we'll look at where many folks ended up
after successfully getting through Ellis Island by way of Raymond
Bial's Tenement: Immigrant Life On The Lower East Side. It too is a
deceptively slim volume, rich with period photos. Bial dedicated the
book to his and his wife's ancestors who lived in such establishments
at the start of their quest for a better future. The book is
obviously a labor of love.
Tenement life was grim by today's standards. A flat (apartment)
usually consisted of two (often windowless) rooms: one for sleeping,
one for everything else. For many families that everything else would
include seven day a week piecework sewing or cigar making involving
parents and children struggling to survive.
Tenement life carried very real dangers. "In 1862, the
superintendent of buildings for the city described tenements as an
approach to housing in which 'the greatest amount of profit is sought
to be realized from the least amount of space, with little or no
regard for the health, comfort, or protection of the lives of the
tenants.'". Can we say recipe for disaster? The buildings were
firetraps. Crowding and very poor sanitation (Can you believe one
outhouse for every 20 people was an improvement?) led to the rapid
spread of dreaded diseases like smallpox and typhoid.
Amazingly, considering the obstacles they had to overcome
tenement parents were able to rise or enable their children to rise to
better neighborhoods and more secure vocations. Many of us, like Bial
himself, come from families owing a great debt of gratitude for the
hard work and sacrifice of first generation American ancestors.
Remember Alexander Weiss--the guy who saw treasure where others
saw wrecking ball fodder? He said, "'We needed to save the
immigration station to remind us of the tough times some immigrants
had in coming to this country...They were treated shabbily, but they
actually made this country a better place. That's why we need
memorials...so that we will learn from our past." We need to learn
from our past because today we have refugees escaping desperate and
heart breaking conditions. With our help or despite our hostility,
they will persevere and make important contributions. It is my hope
that we can be decent and treat then with the respect and kindness we
would desire if we walked in their shoes. Books like the two I just
reviewed can be a big help in gaining perspective.
On a personal note, my baby, my one and only son is seventeen today.
A great big shout out goes out to Adam, a wonderful son who has
brought joy into my life every year he has been on this earth.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Juvenile non fiction
Our very own Statue of Liberty carries a verse by Emma Lazarus
callling for the "huddled masses yearning to be free," other nation's
poor and homeless, to enter the "golden door" she stood sentry over.
We seem, as a country, to be too quickly forgetting this national
mandate. We're also very proficient at denial when it comes to the
fact that the great majority of us (meaning all who aren't one hundred
percent native American) have at least one ancestor from away. I get
so tired of the us-them close the border quick (except for when it
nets us cheap labor) mentality. I checked out two terrific books that
looked at the lives of earlier arrivals on both coasts from the Orono
Public Library.
Did you know that the dormitory buildings of California's Angel
Island (the West Coast counterpart to New York's Ellis Island) were
almost demolished? Don't feel bad if you didn't. I just learned this
evening reading Russell Freedman's Angel Island: Gateway To Golden
Mountain. In 1970 Alexander Weiss became curious about a decrepit
building on the island. Entering it, he discovered a treasure: walls
covered with carved calligraphy. They were poems and other
inscriptions by Chinese, Korean, Russian, and other nationality would
be immigrants. Reporting his discovery he was told not to rock the
boat. The building was slated to be demolished. Fortunately he
persisted and prevailed. If the wrecking ball had done its thing, so
much would have been lost.
This story is only the first of the true adventures you will
encounter in the book. In this deceptively slender volume you will
learn about:
*the predudice and violence from native born Americans Chinese
immigrants encountered despite the great contributions they made to
agriculture and the building of the transcontinental railroad;
*the weeks and even months long detentions they endured, not knowing
if they would ever be admitted to Gam Saan (Gold Mountain);
*the illusion shattering arrival of picture brides from Japan, China,
and Korea who often learned that their intendeds looked a lot
different from the pictures they had been shown;
*the saving of Jewish refugees from Hitler's Germany arriving by way
of Shanghai...
My favorite part of the book was the poems translated into
English. They are quite eloquent. The period photographs greatly
enhance the text.
Zipping across America we'll look at where many folks ended up
after successfully getting through Ellis Island by way of Raymond
Bial's Tenement: Immigrant Life On The Lower East Side. It too is a
deceptively slim volume, rich with period photos. Bial dedicated the
book to his and his wife's ancestors who lived in such establishments
at the start of their quest for a better future. The book is
obviously a labor of love.
Tenement life was grim by today's standards. A flat (apartment)
usually consisted of two (often windowless) rooms: one for sleeping,
one for everything else. For many families that everything else would
include seven day a week piecework sewing or cigar making involving
parents and children struggling to survive.
Tenement life carried very real dangers. "In 1862, the
superintendent of buildings for the city described tenements as an
approach to housing in which 'the greatest amount of profit is sought
to be realized from the least amount of space, with little or no
regard for the health, comfort, or protection of the lives of the
tenants.'". Can we say recipe for disaster? The buildings were
firetraps. Crowding and very poor sanitation (Can you believe one
outhouse for every 20 people was an improvement?) led to the rapid
spread of dreaded diseases like smallpox and typhoid.
Amazingly, considering the obstacles they had to overcome
tenement parents were able to rise or enable their children to rise to
better neighborhoods and more secure vocations. Many of us, like Bial
himself, come from families owing a great debt of gratitude for the
hard work and sacrifice of first generation American ancestors.
Remember Alexander Weiss--the guy who saw treasure where others
saw wrecking ball fodder? He said, "'We needed to save the
immigration station to remind us of the tough times some immigrants
had in coming to this country...They were treated shabbily, but they
actually made this country a better place. That's why we need
memorials...so that we will learn from our past." We need to learn
from our past because today we have refugees escaping desperate and
heart breaking conditions. With our help or despite our hostility,
they will persevere and make important contributions. It is my hope
that we can be decent and treat then with the respect and kindness we
would desire if we walked in their shoes. Books like the two I just
reviewed can be a big help in gaining perspective.
On a personal note, my baby, my one and only son is seventeen today.
A great big shout out goes out to Adam, a wonderful son who has
brought joy into my life every year he has been on this earth.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Five From Yuletide
Five From Yuletide
Picture books
What do you do if you're a reviewer who at the tail end of
January stumbles on a treasure trove of Christmas books? A more
traditional reviewer might say, with a slight shoulder shrug, "Too
bad, so sad.". I, however, added them to my check out pile speedy
quick (as my girlfriend Junie B. Jones would say) and (because they
all lived up to the promise of their covers) decided to share. You
will be glad I did.
My membership church, which is Orono United Methodist, raises
money each year to help an orphanage in India with their special
Christmas celebration. They have a special dinner and each child
receives the one new outfit he or she will get that year. My daughter
commented that was so sad and asked me why I shared that with her. I
guess from a perspective of great plenty it would seem pitiful. But
for people with much less, that small treasure may be eagerly awaited...
...which is exactly what the young girl narrator of Linda Oatman
High's A Christmas Star, set in the Depression, is doing. Her parents
are hitching the sleigh for the ride to Christmas Eve service. She is
all excited for the mittens ("Christmas-red and snuggly-warm"), candy,
and orange she will receive. When she reaches the church, however,
she receives sad news. Someone has stolen all the gifts. As you may
suspect, all is not lost. A miracle happens exactly on time. This
book is ideal for helping children learn that what may seem like a
trifle can be a treasure for someone who has very little.
I am reminded of an experience from my teen years. I read about
someone stealing a coin jar from a store. The change was to get small
amenities for teens who were in a home for kids with hard lives. I
was angry as all get out. I gave my mom a huge and expensive grocery
list and went into hyperdrive baking and selling cookies. When I
called someone at the home to find where to deliver the money and left
over cookies he invited me to join them all for lunch. It wasn't the
money (which wasn't all that much) or the cookies (I never did channel
Betty Crocker all that well) that mattered the most to those kids.
The fact that someone cared enough to get mad and do something gave
them hope, some of the trust the thief has robbed them of, and a
better sense of their own worth. So you never know...
...anyway, not sorry for that digression. If there is anyone
who knows how to touch the human soul, to stir kids and adults to
laughter and tears, she's Patricia Polacco. Her Gifts of the Heart is
a prime example. Narrator Trisha and her brother, Richie, are heading
toward a bittersweet Christmas. It's their last on the farm their
Grampa will sell come spring. With their Gramma dead it holds too
many memories. They would love to give the adults in their live gifts
but they have no money. They are despondent until they are reminded
of heart gifts, treasures one can't out a price tag on.
When I think on heart gifts I think on how my older daughter and
future son-in-law invite me over for a day as my Christmas gift since
I far prefer presence to presents. I also think on my mentor, Dr.
Betsy Webb, who loves what she calls intangibles. If I send her a
poem or leave a note at her office she is happier than if I'd bought
out the whole Bangor Mall...
...Got sidetracked again, didn't I? Oh, well. Ashley Bryan's
beautifully Who Built the Stable? takes us behind the scene of the
nativity. We tend to think of the major players, angels, shepherds,
wisemen. Bryan speculates on the kind of person who would have
provided shelter to Joseph and great-with-child Mary when everyone
else declared "no room", wanting nothing to do with them. Mary, in or
about to go into labor, looks tired and apprehensive, something any of
us who have shared the experience can relate to. After the birth
she's radiant. And the Holy Infant is not porcelein white, but the
color you'd expect someone born in that part of the world to be. Yowza!
Any of us who have ever entertained stage aspirations will
sympathize with the young protagonist of Marilyn Singer's Tallulah's
Nutcracker. Tallulah gets the only Christmas gift on her list when
she is chosen to be a mouse in a professional production of the
Nutcracker. She practices dilligently, passing up a party invitation,
sure she'll be the best mouse ever. Things don't work out exactly as
she planned, and she learns a lesson many young and not-so-young
performers could stand to think on...
...even yours truly now and then. When I auditioned for Our
Town, my all time favorite play, I ended up being a townsperson with
no lines. My first reaction (in my head) was rats! Phooey! Even as
I was thanking the director for calling. But then I decided to be the
best townsperson possible. I made myself a backstory: a married
woman with seven sons who adores church because it's the only time she
gets away from housework, sees friends, and learns what's going on in
her community. A special piece of choreography was put in for my
character. And I had the time of my life...
My gosh, why is memory lane so tempting today? Anyway, last
but not least we have Holly Hobbie's adaptation of Clement C. Moore's
The Night Before Christmas, one of the most delightful I've ever
seen. In this version the pater familias (father of the family) is
not the only one who springs out of bed upon hearing a clatter. The
youngest child, a tow haired toddler, thumb in mouth and blankie over
shoulder, sets put to see what's going on, accompanied by a faithful
grey tiger cat. That twosome is so perfect. Cat sticks a feline nose
into everything, even standing on hind legs to peer into the toy sack,
which is exactly what such a beastie would do. Toddler peers out in
amazement from the safety of a familiar chair, finally summoning up
the courage to wave bye bye up the chimney. Just too precious for
words.
Hey, Christmas is less than eleven months away. If you do like
I do, start setting stuff aside now, you won't end up all fatigued,
cranky, and flabbergasted (just had to toss that word in there),
fighting the hordes on Black Friday.
I think I've snuck in enough personal notes.
A great big shout out goes out to the authors and illustrators who
write the holiday books that gladden the hearts of children and
parents and the librarians who display them so enticingly.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Picture books
What do you do if you're a reviewer who at the tail end of
January stumbles on a treasure trove of Christmas books? A more
traditional reviewer might say, with a slight shoulder shrug, "Too
bad, so sad.". I, however, added them to my check out pile speedy
quick (as my girlfriend Junie B. Jones would say) and (because they
all lived up to the promise of their covers) decided to share. You
will be glad I did.
My membership church, which is Orono United Methodist, raises
money each year to help an orphanage in India with their special
Christmas celebration. They have a special dinner and each child
receives the one new outfit he or she will get that year. My daughter
commented that was so sad and asked me why I shared that with her. I
guess from a perspective of great plenty it would seem pitiful. But
for people with much less, that small treasure may be eagerly awaited...
...which is exactly what the young girl narrator of Linda Oatman
High's A Christmas Star, set in the Depression, is doing. Her parents
are hitching the sleigh for the ride to Christmas Eve service. She is
all excited for the mittens ("Christmas-red and snuggly-warm"), candy,
and orange she will receive. When she reaches the church, however,
she receives sad news. Someone has stolen all the gifts. As you may
suspect, all is not lost. A miracle happens exactly on time. This
book is ideal for helping children learn that what may seem like a
trifle can be a treasure for someone who has very little.
I am reminded of an experience from my teen years. I read about
someone stealing a coin jar from a store. The change was to get small
amenities for teens who were in a home for kids with hard lives. I
was angry as all get out. I gave my mom a huge and expensive grocery
list and went into hyperdrive baking and selling cookies. When I
called someone at the home to find where to deliver the money and left
over cookies he invited me to join them all for lunch. It wasn't the
money (which wasn't all that much) or the cookies (I never did channel
Betty Crocker all that well) that mattered the most to those kids.
The fact that someone cared enough to get mad and do something gave
them hope, some of the trust the thief has robbed them of, and a
better sense of their own worth. So you never know...
...anyway, not sorry for that digression. If there is anyone
who knows how to touch the human soul, to stir kids and adults to
laughter and tears, she's Patricia Polacco. Her Gifts of the Heart is
a prime example. Narrator Trisha and her brother, Richie, are heading
toward a bittersweet Christmas. It's their last on the farm their
Grampa will sell come spring. With their Gramma dead it holds too
many memories. They would love to give the adults in their live gifts
but they have no money. They are despondent until they are reminded
of heart gifts, treasures one can't out a price tag on.
When I think on heart gifts I think on how my older daughter and
future son-in-law invite me over for a day as my Christmas gift since
I far prefer presence to presents. I also think on my mentor, Dr.
Betsy Webb, who loves what she calls intangibles. If I send her a
poem or leave a note at her office she is happier than if I'd bought
out the whole Bangor Mall...
...Got sidetracked again, didn't I? Oh, well. Ashley Bryan's
beautifully Who Built the Stable? takes us behind the scene of the
nativity. We tend to think of the major players, angels, shepherds,
wisemen. Bryan speculates on the kind of person who would have
provided shelter to Joseph and great-with-child Mary when everyone
else declared "no room", wanting nothing to do with them. Mary, in or
about to go into labor, looks tired and apprehensive, something any of
us who have shared the experience can relate to. After the birth
she's radiant. And the Holy Infant is not porcelein white, but the
color you'd expect someone born in that part of the world to be. Yowza!
Any of us who have ever entertained stage aspirations will
sympathize with the young protagonist of Marilyn Singer's Tallulah's
Nutcracker. Tallulah gets the only Christmas gift on her list when
she is chosen to be a mouse in a professional production of the
Nutcracker. She practices dilligently, passing up a party invitation,
sure she'll be the best mouse ever. Things don't work out exactly as
she planned, and she learns a lesson many young and not-so-young
performers could stand to think on...
...even yours truly now and then. When I auditioned for Our
Town, my all time favorite play, I ended up being a townsperson with
no lines. My first reaction (in my head) was rats! Phooey! Even as
I was thanking the director for calling. But then I decided to be the
best townsperson possible. I made myself a backstory: a married
woman with seven sons who adores church because it's the only time she
gets away from housework, sees friends, and learns what's going on in
her community. A special piece of choreography was put in for my
character. And I had the time of my life...
My gosh, why is memory lane so tempting today? Anyway, last
but not least we have Holly Hobbie's adaptation of Clement C. Moore's
The Night Before Christmas, one of the most delightful I've ever
seen. In this version the pater familias (father of the family) is
not the only one who springs out of bed upon hearing a clatter. The
youngest child, a tow haired toddler, thumb in mouth and blankie over
shoulder, sets put to see what's going on, accompanied by a faithful
grey tiger cat. That twosome is so perfect. Cat sticks a feline nose
into everything, even standing on hind legs to peer into the toy sack,
which is exactly what such a beastie would do. Toddler peers out in
amazement from the safety of a familiar chair, finally summoning up
the courage to wave bye bye up the chimney. Just too precious for
words.
Hey, Christmas is less than eleven months away. If you do like
I do, start setting stuff aside now, you won't end up all fatigued,
cranky, and flabbergasted (just had to toss that word in there),
fighting the hordes on Black Friday.
I think I've snuck in enough personal notes.
A great big shout out goes out to the authors and illustrators who
write the holiday books that gladden the hearts of children and
parents and the librarians who display them so enticingly.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Locomotive
Locomotive
Picture book
When my mother was a little girl living way out in rural North
Carolina she would hear the haunting tone of train whistles and ponder
on where they were going, dreaming of someday travelling to these far
off locales. A whole lot of time has passed since. With planes and
rockets you'd think today's kids would have no interest in something
so old timey. And you'd be wrong. Whether counting cars, waving to a
conductor, or scaring friends with late night campfire tales about
phantom trains and headless engineers, they seem to catch some of the
mystique.
Brian Floca's Locomotive can take them way back to 1869, when
the transcontinental railroad had just been completed. Along with a
woman and her son and daughter they'll step on a train in Omaha,
Nebraska, headed for California. They'll learn where they would
sleep, how they would stay warm, and why using the toilet when the
train is stopped at a station is considered rude. They'll enjoy
lively descriptions of the vivid, ever changing scenery. They will
also learn all that went into keeping the iron horse running safely
back then.
For the young boy or girl who is captivated by trains,
Locomotive can be quite the ticket for adventure and learning. :)
On a personal note, when I was a little girl growing up on the
Massachusetts coast train trips to Boston were the total cat's
pajamas. There was usually an exotic destination like the circus or
downtown transformed into Christmas awaiting winter wonderland.
However, the trip itself, for which we would dress up in church
clothes, was a big part of the magic. I have vivid memories of gazing
out the windows and running up and down the aisle to refill cone
shaped water cups. For some reason mom had little patience with
this. I also recall with great fondness a trip to and from North
Carolina involving sleeper cars. Wowza!
A great big shout out goes to the folks running trains today,
especially the guys who never forget to return the waves of small and
not so small people.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Picture book
When my mother was a little girl living way out in rural North
Carolina she would hear the haunting tone of train whistles and ponder
on where they were going, dreaming of someday travelling to these far
off locales. A whole lot of time has passed since. With planes and
rockets you'd think today's kids would have no interest in something
so old timey. And you'd be wrong. Whether counting cars, waving to a
conductor, or scaring friends with late night campfire tales about
phantom trains and headless engineers, they seem to catch some of the
mystique.
Brian Floca's Locomotive can take them way back to 1869, when
the transcontinental railroad had just been completed. Along with a
woman and her son and daughter they'll step on a train in Omaha,
Nebraska, headed for California. They'll learn where they would
sleep, how they would stay warm, and why using the toilet when the
train is stopped at a station is considered rude. They'll enjoy
lively descriptions of the vivid, ever changing scenery. They will
also learn all that went into keeping the iron horse running safely
back then.
For the young boy or girl who is captivated by trains,
Locomotive can be quite the ticket for adventure and learning. :)
On a personal note, when I was a little girl growing up on the
Massachusetts coast train trips to Boston were the total cat's
pajamas. There was usually an exotic destination like the circus or
downtown transformed into Christmas awaiting winter wonderland.
However, the trip itself, for which we would dress up in church
clothes, was a big part of the magic. I have vivid memories of gazing
out the windows and running up and down the aisle to refill cone
shaped water cups. For some reason mom had little patience with
this. I also recall with great fondness a trip to and from North
Carolina involving sleeper cars. Wowza!
A great big shout out goes to the folks running trains today,
especially the guys who never forget to return the waves of small and
not so small people.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Yoon and the Christmas Mitten
Yoon and the Christmas Mitten
Picture book
I'm about seven years late or ten months early on this review.
But Helen Recorvits' Yoon and the Christmas Mitten is one of the
sweetest yuletide stories I've ever seen. It's also a poignant look
at the struggle between an immigrant child's desire to incorporate
fascinating aspects of her new home country and her parents' need to
not lose their identity.
Yoon comes home from school bursting with excitement. She
shares a special book with her parents. It's about Mr. Santa Claus
who lives at the North Pole and delivers presents on Christmas Eve.
Yoon's parents explain that they are not a Christmas family.
Instead they will celebrate the New Year. They will visit another
Korean family to share a meal and wish each other good luck.
Somehow this pales in comparison in Yoon's mind to the splendid
celebration she hears more about every day in school. But how can she
get her parents to be open to the songs, the stories, and the
enchantment?
On a personal note, it is a cold, dreary, rainy day in central Maine.
A great big shout out goes out to the ancestors nearly all of us have
who went through the process of adapting to this confusing country and
those who are still coming over.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Picture book
I'm about seven years late or ten months early on this review.
But Helen Recorvits' Yoon and the Christmas Mitten is one of the
sweetest yuletide stories I've ever seen. It's also a poignant look
at the struggle between an immigrant child's desire to incorporate
fascinating aspects of her new home country and her parents' need to
not lose their identity.
Yoon comes home from school bursting with excitement. She
shares a special book with her parents. It's about Mr. Santa Claus
who lives at the North Pole and delivers presents on Christmas Eve.
Yoon's parents explain that they are not a Christmas family.
Instead they will celebrate the New Year. They will visit another
Korean family to share a meal and wish each other good luck.
Somehow this pales in comparison in Yoon's mind to the splendid
celebration she hears more about every day in school. But how can she
get her parents to be open to the songs, the stories, and the
enchantment?
On a personal note, it is a cold, dreary, rainy day in central Maine.
A great big shout out goes out to the ancestors nearly all of us have
who went through the process of adapting to this confusing country and
those who are still coming over.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Monday, January 27, 2014
Make Lemonade
Make Lemonade
It took Virginia Euwer Wolff sixteen years to get a very
worthwhile trilogy published. Make Lemonade (1993), True Believer
(2001), and This Full House (2009) chronicle in sparse and eloquent
free form poetry the journey of a high school student, LaVaughn,
striving desperately to get admitted to college to achieve a career
that will get her out of her dangerous low income neighborhood. These
three books are unfortunately even more relevant today that when they
were written. You'd better believe we'll get back to that.
When we meet LaVaughn in Make Lemonade she's a newly minted
freshperson. She and her mom are determined for her to make it to
college, just not sure, beyond hard work, how this will be achieved,
especially in a school very lacking in even the basics. When she
answers a babysitting ad, seeking a job to help her save tuition
money, she discovers a whole other world of hurt. Jolly, mother of a
toddler and a baby, has been victimized by a haphazard ward of the
state childhood, homeless teen years, and two baby daddies who up and
left.
In True Believer LaVaughn's guidance counselor is getting her
sophomore self on a college bound track. She's been moved to advanced
biology with pressure on to do well. A very focussed grammar elective
is giving her a new grasp on language and all its possibilities. But
her two best friends are growing further and further away. And a
former friend has come back to her building, looking distractingly
much too good.
LaVaughn is a senior in This Full House. She has decided on
nursing as a vocation and won a place in an advanced science program
for girls. She is presented with a number of troubling decisions
including one that would probably be difficult for most adults.
These books were very much relevant when they were hot off the
press. Dangerous neighborhoods and poorly equipped schools put too
many kids at a distinct disadvantage college wise. Then there are the
subtle things. Kids in families and neighborhoods where no one has
gone to college don't have the insider information of their more
advantaged peers or often the confidence that they will belong on a
campus. Now with the push for the "non deserving" (not elderly or
handicapped) poor to be self sufficient able bodied but severely
disadvantaged Jolly would be thrown to the wolves.
These three volumes give us today a lot to think on.
On a personal note, I've been involved in raising money for a benefit
dance marathon that will take place from 6:00 in the evening til 6:00
the next morning up to the University. Last week I was tabling
(selling cookies and raffle tickets). As the event gets closer I'm
just a tad apprehensive. Will I be able to keep up with all the
students young enough to be my kids? Lord have mercy.
A great big shout out to everyone else involved. If all goes well
some serious change will be raised to help with young people's medical
expenses.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
It took Virginia Euwer Wolff sixteen years to get a very
worthwhile trilogy published. Make Lemonade (1993), True Believer
(2001), and This Full House (2009) chronicle in sparse and eloquent
free form poetry the journey of a high school student, LaVaughn,
striving desperately to get admitted to college to achieve a career
that will get her out of her dangerous low income neighborhood. These
three books are unfortunately even more relevant today that when they
were written. You'd better believe we'll get back to that.
When we meet LaVaughn in Make Lemonade she's a newly minted
freshperson. She and her mom are determined for her to make it to
college, just not sure, beyond hard work, how this will be achieved,
especially in a school very lacking in even the basics. When she
answers a babysitting ad, seeking a job to help her save tuition
money, she discovers a whole other world of hurt. Jolly, mother of a
toddler and a baby, has been victimized by a haphazard ward of the
state childhood, homeless teen years, and two baby daddies who up and
left.
In True Believer LaVaughn's guidance counselor is getting her
sophomore self on a college bound track. She's been moved to advanced
biology with pressure on to do well. A very focussed grammar elective
is giving her a new grasp on language and all its possibilities. But
her two best friends are growing further and further away. And a
former friend has come back to her building, looking distractingly
much too good.
LaVaughn is a senior in This Full House. She has decided on
nursing as a vocation and won a place in an advanced science program
for girls. She is presented with a number of troubling decisions
including one that would probably be difficult for most adults.
These books were very much relevant when they were hot off the
press. Dangerous neighborhoods and poorly equipped schools put too
many kids at a distinct disadvantage college wise. Then there are the
subtle things. Kids in families and neighborhoods where no one has
gone to college don't have the insider information of their more
advantaged peers or often the confidence that they will belong on a
campus. Now with the push for the "non deserving" (not elderly or
handicapped) poor to be self sufficient able bodied but severely
disadvantaged Jolly would be thrown to the wolves.
These three volumes give us today a lot to think on.
On a personal note, I've been involved in raising money for a benefit
dance marathon that will take place from 6:00 in the evening til 6:00
the next morning up to the University. Last week I was tabling
(selling cookies and raffle tickets). As the event gets closer I'm
just a tad apprehensive. Will I be able to keep up with all the
students young enough to be my kids? Lord have mercy.
A great big shout out to everyone else involved. If all goes well
some serious change will be raised to help with young people's medical
expenses.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Blackwater
Blackwater
YA fiction
Imagine you've impusively done something with very bad
unintended consequences. Not just ordinairy blew the diet or bounced
a check consequences. At least one person being dead consequences.
Now imagine you're being treated as a hero because you tried to make
things right. But at least one person knows the truth. That's the
plight of Brodie, protagonist of Eve Bunting's Blackwater.
Brodie has grown up beside the Blackwater River, quite aware of
its power and treachery. One morning he takes a visiting cousin,
Alex, to a secluded, calmer section for swimming lessons. Seeing the
girl he has a crush on with another boy, he tries a prank that ends up
with them being swept away.
Brodie tries to save them and has to be rescued from an island.
Much to his chagrin, he finds that Alex has given the police a totally
made up story, one in which his error of judgement plays no part in
the tragedy. Privately Alex tells him to keep the truth to himself.
If anyone learns the truth they will be in big trouble.
Someone does, however, knows what really happened...someone who
leaves messages on the front porch...someone who might eventually go
to the police.
This powerful coming of age novel is an oldie but goodie...well
worth seeking through library or ILL.
On a personal note, Saturday the hubby was trying to keep me from
going to the library to volunteer because of the ice on road
situation. He tried to give me a ride. About halfway there we found
part of Route 2 blocked and had to turn back. I had to call in
absent, but, hey, I had a pretty credible reason.
A great big shout out goes out to all who were working to make driving
and walking less hazardous.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
YA fiction
Imagine you've impusively done something with very bad
unintended consequences. Not just ordinairy blew the diet or bounced
a check consequences. At least one person being dead consequences.
Now imagine you're being treated as a hero because you tried to make
things right. But at least one person knows the truth. That's the
plight of Brodie, protagonist of Eve Bunting's Blackwater.
Brodie has grown up beside the Blackwater River, quite aware of
its power and treachery. One morning he takes a visiting cousin,
Alex, to a secluded, calmer section for swimming lessons. Seeing the
girl he has a crush on with another boy, he tries a prank that ends up
with them being swept away.
Brodie tries to save them and has to be rescued from an island.
Much to his chagrin, he finds that Alex has given the police a totally
made up story, one in which his error of judgement plays no part in
the tragedy. Privately Alex tells him to keep the truth to himself.
If anyone learns the truth they will be in big trouble.
Someone does, however, knows what really happened...someone who
leaves messages on the front porch...someone who might eventually go
to the police.
This powerful coming of age novel is an oldie but goodie...well
worth seeking through library or ILL.
On a personal note, Saturday the hubby was trying to keep me from
going to the library to volunteer because of the ice on road
situation. He tried to give me a ride. About halfway there we found
part of Route 2 blocked and had to turn back. I had to call in
absent, but, hey, I had a pretty credible reason.
A great big shout out goes out to all who were working to make driving
and walking less hazardous.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
The Milk Of Birds
The Milk Of Birds
YA fiction
"Saida Noor does not have to finish because we all know what was
inside. Most of us have seen the blackened bones. We know the smell
that rides the smoke and seeps into your clothes and skin. Even if
you find water, you cannot wash it off."
Most of us here in America are lucky enough not to be familiar
with the look of charred human bones or the smell of burnt up
cadavers. No one should be. Especially kids. Nawra, protagonist of
Sylvia Whitman's The Milk Of Birds, is only fourteen when she makes
this observation. She is living in a displaced persons camp in
Darfur. Most of her loved ones have been slaughtered. Her mother is
mute with grief. A baby conceived by rape is growing in her.
There are, however, a few rays of hope in Nawra's life. Her
best friend, Abeeda, is strong, determined, and relatively educated.
There are some attempts to provide schooling and health care for the
camp residents. And she has been paired by an organization with a
fairly wealthy American girl, K. C., who will pay sponsorship money
for a year as they exchange letters. Their correspondance and the
experiences behind it are the text of a truly amazing novel.
You'd think, as I initially did, that a fairly well off American
private school student and a dirt poor African refugee would live in
worlds too far apart to have anything in common. But you would be
wrong. Their evolving relationship makes for a very powerful
narrative. You just have to read the book to experience it.
That's also the only way you're going to learn what the title
means.
You just have to realize it would probably be impossible to read
the book and not come to care about and want to do something to help
real life girls like Nawra. YOWZA!!!
On a personal note, today as I saw my younger daughter all dressed up
the start of another semester at University my heart was overflowing
with gratitude. She lives in a home with electricity and running
water. I had the food to prepare her a nourishing breakfast. She has
access to an education many of her peers around the world can only
dream of. She and I will know the safety of not having our nation
full or armies and rebel groups killing, raping, and burning anyone
and anything in their path. I will never take great good fortune like
that for granted.
A great big shout out goes out to Sylvia Whitman for this very
powerful and eloquent novel with its great potential to touch readers'
hearts and minds.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
YA fiction
"Saida Noor does not have to finish because we all know what was
inside. Most of us have seen the blackened bones. We know the smell
that rides the smoke and seeps into your clothes and skin. Even if
you find water, you cannot wash it off."
Most of us here in America are lucky enough not to be familiar
with the look of charred human bones or the smell of burnt up
cadavers. No one should be. Especially kids. Nawra, protagonist of
Sylvia Whitman's The Milk Of Birds, is only fourteen when she makes
this observation. She is living in a displaced persons camp in
Darfur. Most of her loved ones have been slaughtered. Her mother is
mute with grief. A baby conceived by rape is growing in her.
There are, however, a few rays of hope in Nawra's life. Her
best friend, Abeeda, is strong, determined, and relatively educated.
There are some attempts to provide schooling and health care for the
camp residents. And she has been paired by an organization with a
fairly wealthy American girl, K. C., who will pay sponsorship money
for a year as they exchange letters. Their correspondance and the
experiences behind it are the text of a truly amazing novel.
You'd think, as I initially did, that a fairly well off American
private school student and a dirt poor African refugee would live in
worlds too far apart to have anything in common. But you would be
wrong. Their evolving relationship makes for a very powerful
narrative. You just have to read the book to experience it.
That's also the only way you're going to learn what the title
means.
You just have to realize it would probably be impossible to read
the book and not come to care about and want to do something to help
real life girls like Nawra. YOWZA!!!
On a personal note, today as I saw my younger daughter all dressed up
the start of another semester at University my heart was overflowing
with gratitude. She lives in a home with electricity and running
water. I had the food to prepare her a nourishing breakfast. She has
access to an education many of her peers around the world can only
dream of. She and I will know the safety of not having our nation
full or armies and rebel groups killing, raping, and burning anyone
and anything in their path. I will never take great good fortune like
that for granted.
A great big shout out goes out to Sylvia Whitman for this very
powerful and eloquent novel with its great potential to touch readers'
hearts and minds.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Monday, January 13, 2014
Brides Of Eden
Brides Of Eden
YA fiction
One of the things I love best about doing my own book review
blog is making the rules. Books don't have to be hot off the press.
So when I find a fascinating one, no matter what vintage, I get to
tell you about it. Anyway Linda Crew's Brides Of Eden is a real oldie
but goodie.
You know sometimes you read in the paper how people go off in
cults and do stuff the rest of us wouldn't like getting bent out of
shape when the rapture didn't happen when they predicted, taking
multiple underage wives, or drinking neurotoxin laced beverages? The
universal reaction is, "What were they thinking?"--especially if
little kids were brought along for the ride. Well in Corvallis,
Oregon, at the beginning of the twentieth century a cult of what
townspeople called Holy Rollers formed. Crew grew up in that town.
She tries to capture what the experience of being caught up in the
fantasy of a charismatic leader was like for one of the girls involved.
As the story opens, protagonist Eva Mae is the teenage daughter
of a fairly well off family. She strives in vain for the approval of
older sister Maud. So when deeply religious Maud becomes a follower
of self declared preacher Joshua (formerly Franz Edmund Creffield) Eva
Mae joins in along with a goodly number of kin and friends, mostly
women.
It's not long before things go from innocuous to creepy. Maud
breaks off her engagement because Joshua doesn't approve. Cousin
Sophie quits college. When nightly worship sessions become the
subject of less than kind gossip, Joshua tells his people they are the
chosen, the few who will ascend to heaven when the imminent rapture
happens. Conflict escalates between the chosen and concerned and
frightened townspeople including Eva Mae's loving father. Joshua
demands more and more of his disciples. As Eva Mae evolves from
fairly care free girl to young woman willing to do all she is told to
and terrified of letting Joshua down, you can see a logic that would
be convincing for someone in the middle of what she believes to be end
times.
The book is wonderfully enhanced by period photographs including
one of Eva Mae. Brides Of Eden is a captivating read for history
fiction fans. It can be helpful, in my mind, for people who see
friends of family members join cults.
On a personal note, my sister was involved quite awhile in what I saw
as extreme rapture groups. I was alternately scared by their visions
and aggravated by their attempts to save my soul. Once her group sang
themselves practically into laryngitis trying to motivate me to
approach the alter and attain salvation.
A great big shout out goes out to our college kids who are about to go
back to classes. Hopefully they're enjoying last days of vaca.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
YA fiction
One of the things I love best about doing my own book review
blog is making the rules. Books don't have to be hot off the press.
So when I find a fascinating one, no matter what vintage, I get to
tell you about it. Anyway Linda Crew's Brides Of Eden is a real oldie
but goodie.
You know sometimes you read in the paper how people go off in
cults and do stuff the rest of us wouldn't like getting bent out of
shape when the rapture didn't happen when they predicted, taking
multiple underage wives, or drinking neurotoxin laced beverages? The
universal reaction is, "What were they thinking?"--especially if
little kids were brought along for the ride. Well in Corvallis,
Oregon, at the beginning of the twentieth century a cult of what
townspeople called Holy Rollers formed. Crew grew up in that town.
She tries to capture what the experience of being caught up in the
fantasy of a charismatic leader was like for one of the girls involved.
As the story opens, protagonist Eva Mae is the teenage daughter
of a fairly well off family. She strives in vain for the approval of
older sister Maud. So when deeply religious Maud becomes a follower
of self declared preacher Joshua (formerly Franz Edmund Creffield) Eva
Mae joins in along with a goodly number of kin and friends, mostly
women.
It's not long before things go from innocuous to creepy. Maud
breaks off her engagement because Joshua doesn't approve. Cousin
Sophie quits college. When nightly worship sessions become the
subject of less than kind gossip, Joshua tells his people they are the
chosen, the few who will ascend to heaven when the imminent rapture
happens. Conflict escalates between the chosen and concerned and
frightened townspeople including Eva Mae's loving father. Joshua
demands more and more of his disciples. As Eva Mae evolves from
fairly care free girl to young woman willing to do all she is told to
and terrified of letting Joshua down, you can see a logic that would
be convincing for someone in the middle of what she believes to be end
times.
The book is wonderfully enhanced by period photographs including
one of Eva Mae. Brides Of Eden is a captivating read for history
fiction fans. It can be helpful, in my mind, for people who see
friends of family members join cults.
On a personal note, my sister was involved quite awhile in what I saw
as extreme rapture groups. I was alternately scared by their visions
and aggravated by their attempts to save my soul. Once her group sang
themselves practically into laryngitis trying to motivate me to
approach the alter and attain salvation.
A great big shout out goes out to our college kids who are about to go
back to classes. Hopefully they're enjoying last days of vaca.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Friday, January 10, 2014
The Loud Silence of Francine Green,
The Loud Silence of Francine Green,
Catch a Tiger By The Toe
YA fiction
Someone famous once said that those who forget the lessons of
history are doomed to repeat them. Jeepers Creepers! The United
States must have the world's worst case of amnesia. On a regular
basis we get so scared of some scapegoat enemy du jour we willingly
relinquish our freedoms for protection by the government, conveniently
forgetting they're the ones keeping us focussed on fear. Why do they
do this? Why do we let them?
Why am I asking these questions? I recently found a couple of
very thought provoking books set in the Cold War years written by
people who were young when Joe McCarthy was in ascendence, innocent
people were blacklisted and arrested for alleged Communist sympathies,
and children were taught to take cover under classroom desks if Russia
decided to drop the bomb. Karen Cushman's The Loud Silence of
Francine Green and Ellem Levine's Catch a Tiger By The Toe give vivid
pictures of a time both light years distant from and chillingly
similar to our own.
Francine, Cushman's protagonist, has been taught by her family
that it's essential to not rock the boat or make waves, to stay in the
shadows, and, above all, to never get in trouble. She has learned her
lesson well. She tries to help a neighbor, Sophie, who was kicked out
of public school, adjust to their strict Catholic school as they start
eighth grade.
Sophie will have none of that. She has opinions of her own and
no fear of sharing them. The first day of class she gets in trouble
for observing that praying for a volleyball team win might be silly
when there are much bigger problems in the world.
Seeing Sophie stand up for issues ranging from free speech
rights to the need to ban the bomb, Francine begins to question her
strategy of silence, especially when she sees innocent people
blacklisted and in danger of arrest. Things have become a lot less
black and white than she has been raised to believe. She covets the
clarity of her earlier years. In a scene where she is stamping
through rain puddles, she declares, "...I wanted the government to be
right and fair, to keep us safe and out of war. I wanted communists
to go back to Russia and get rid of their bombs. I wanted Americans
to get rid of our bombs (splash!). I wanted the world to be like I
thought it was when I was four or five. It was much too scary now
that I was thirteen (splash! splash!)."
Francine could have had quite an interesting conversation with
Levine's narrator, Jamie, who asks, "'Can't we once, just once, sit
down to dinner, and nobody says anything except 'Pass the butter,
please,' or 'The meat loaf is really good,' or 'How nice you're on the
newspaper staff'"--I paused--without one word about the president or
Congress or Senator McCarthy or anything about politics?'" She hates
politics. She has ample reason to.
Jamie has to think very carefully about everything she says or
does. Her parents are always reminding her of the need for secrecy.
They have participated in activities that could have McCarthy's people
considering them Communists. Her radio writer mother and teacher
father could be easily blacklisted, losing their jobs and maybe going
to jail. She has reason to believe the family is on the F.B.I.
radar. A couple of agents have asked her what newspapers they read.
Jamie has to be very careful at school. A lot of kids reflect
the anti Communist views they hear at home. A girl, Harriet Purdue,
who had to move when her blacklisted college professor father lost his
job, was ostracized her last day at school. Even some teachers share
the prejudices of their time. Mrs. Ridit considers the United Nations
to be fellow travellers, communist sympathizers.
Retro (the old becoming cool again) is awesome for clothes
styles and atrocious for politics. Joe McCarthy would be green with
envy over the new techhnologies the government can use for espionage
in the name of homeland security. It may be terrorists instead of
Communists. But the script of gubmemt protecting us from them has
remained dismally the same in 60 years, as has this focus been used to
divert citizens from pressing issues of justice and fairness. Either
or both of these books would be great to show kids this recurring
theme in much the way Arthur Miller used his play, The Crucible, set
in the Salem witch hunt days, to show that what went on in the
McCarthy era had much deeper historical roots.
On a personal note, I learned a lot about the McCarthy Era from my
college professor mom and college librarian dad who hadn't been
exactly simpatico with Joe when it was all going down. In my mind
Margaret Chase Smith's Declaration of Conscience became one of the
truly pivotal moments of American history. Smith became the famous
person I would most like to meet. This actually happened in the
1980s. I arrived very early at a place she was going to speak. She
was there early too and actually started a conversation with me. She
didn't let me talk much of my admiration of her, turning the
conversation to my thoughts and passions which, for some reason I
couldn't fathom, she found fascinating. Before she went in the
building she insisted I at least seriously consider running for public
office. It is a matter of great pride that I was first encouraged
into public service (school committee) by my greatest role model. I
try very hard to live up to the example of courage and grace under
fire that she set.
A great big shout out goes out to Dennis Kucinich. I so would love to
see him become president and change the priorities of the United
States to be more in line with our Constitution and its amendments.
Maybe, just maybe, liberty and justice for all could become a reality.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Catch a Tiger By The Toe
YA fiction
Someone famous once said that those who forget the lessons of
history are doomed to repeat them. Jeepers Creepers! The United
States must have the world's worst case of amnesia. On a regular
basis we get so scared of some scapegoat enemy du jour we willingly
relinquish our freedoms for protection by the government, conveniently
forgetting they're the ones keeping us focussed on fear. Why do they
do this? Why do we let them?
Why am I asking these questions? I recently found a couple of
very thought provoking books set in the Cold War years written by
people who were young when Joe McCarthy was in ascendence, innocent
people were blacklisted and arrested for alleged Communist sympathies,
and children were taught to take cover under classroom desks if Russia
decided to drop the bomb. Karen Cushman's The Loud Silence of
Francine Green and Ellem Levine's Catch a Tiger By The Toe give vivid
pictures of a time both light years distant from and chillingly
similar to our own.
Francine, Cushman's protagonist, has been taught by her family
that it's essential to not rock the boat or make waves, to stay in the
shadows, and, above all, to never get in trouble. She has learned her
lesson well. She tries to help a neighbor, Sophie, who was kicked out
of public school, adjust to their strict Catholic school as they start
eighth grade.
Sophie will have none of that. She has opinions of her own and
no fear of sharing them. The first day of class she gets in trouble
for observing that praying for a volleyball team win might be silly
when there are much bigger problems in the world.
Seeing Sophie stand up for issues ranging from free speech
rights to the need to ban the bomb, Francine begins to question her
strategy of silence, especially when she sees innocent people
blacklisted and in danger of arrest. Things have become a lot less
black and white than she has been raised to believe. She covets the
clarity of her earlier years. In a scene where she is stamping
through rain puddles, she declares, "...I wanted the government to be
right and fair, to keep us safe and out of war. I wanted communists
to go back to Russia and get rid of their bombs. I wanted Americans
to get rid of our bombs (splash!). I wanted the world to be like I
thought it was when I was four or five. It was much too scary now
that I was thirteen (splash! splash!)."
Francine could have had quite an interesting conversation with
Levine's narrator, Jamie, who asks, "'Can't we once, just once, sit
down to dinner, and nobody says anything except 'Pass the butter,
please,' or 'The meat loaf is really good,' or 'How nice you're on the
newspaper staff'"--I paused--without one word about the president or
Congress or Senator McCarthy or anything about politics?'" She hates
politics. She has ample reason to.
Jamie has to think very carefully about everything she says or
does. Her parents are always reminding her of the need for secrecy.
They have participated in activities that could have McCarthy's people
considering them Communists. Her radio writer mother and teacher
father could be easily blacklisted, losing their jobs and maybe going
to jail. She has reason to believe the family is on the F.B.I.
radar. A couple of agents have asked her what newspapers they read.
Jamie has to be very careful at school. A lot of kids reflect
the anti Communist views they hear at home. A girl, Harriet Purdue,
who had to move when her blacklisted college professor father lost his
job, was ostracized her last day at school. Even some teachers share
the prejudices of their time. Mrs. Ridit considers the United Nations
to be fellow travellers, communist sympathizers.
Retro (the old becoming cool again) is awesome for clothes
styles and atrocious for politics. Joe McCarthy would be green with
envy over the new techhnologies the government can use for espionage
in the name of homeland security. It may be terrorists instead of
Communists. But the script of gubmemt protecting us from them has
remained dismally the same in 60 years, as has this focus been used to
divert citizens from pressing issues of justice and fairness. Either
or both of these books would be great to show kids this recurring
theme in much the way Arthur Miller used his play, The Crucible, set
in the Salem witch hunt days, to show that what went on in the
McCarthy era had much deeper historical roots.
On a personal note, I learned a lot about the McCarthy Era from my
college professor mom and college librarian dad who hadn't been
exactly simpatico with Joe when it was all going down. In my mind
Margaret Chase Smith's Declaration of Conscience became one of the
truly pivotal moments of American history. Smith became the famous
person I would most like to meet. This actually happened in the
1980s. I arrived very early at a place she was going to speak. She
was there early too and actually started a conversation with me. She
didn't let me talk much of my admiration of her, turning the
conversation to my thoughts and passions which, for some reason I
couldn't fathom, she found fascinating. Before she went in the
building she insisted I at least seriously consider running for public
office. It is a matter of great pride that I was first encouraged
into public service (school committee) by my greatest role model. I
try very hard to live up to the example of courage and grace under
fire that she set.
A great big shout out goes out to Dennis Kucinich. I so would love to
see him become president and change the priorities of the United
States to be more in line with our Constitution and its amendments.
Maybe, just maybe, liberty and justice for all could become a reality.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Season Of The Witch
Season Of The Witch
YA fiction
Get ready for Hell.
Quite the message to get before the start of your high school
junior year. Toni, protagonist of Mariah Fredericks' Season of the
Witch, has spent time with Oliver over the summer. Now his
girlfriend, Chloe, is back with him and irate. She and her girls are
out for blood. There are the threats, the emails, and the rumor
campaign that has Toni pegged as a slut.
Then one day things get seriously ugly. Chloe and her chums
assault Toni in the bathroom, sticking her head in an unflushed toilet
bowl. Not surprisingly, when she is offered a chance to get revenge
through witchcraft she wants her tormenter scared, hurt, and humiliated.
Only things get out of hand fast.
Season Of The Witch is a real page turner of a suspense story.
It also asks some thought provoking questions. It's quite relevant
these days when teens have so many ways to torment those they hate.
On a personal note, weather is still really messed up in Maine. Power
lines keep going down.
A great big shout out goes out to the people working around the clock
to fix power outages.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
YA fiction
Get ready for Hell.
Quite the message to get before the start of your high school
junior year. Toni, protagonist of Mariah Fredericks' Season of the
Witch, has spent time with Oliver over the summer. Now his
girlfriend, Chloe, is back with him and irate. She and her girls are
out for blood. There are the threats, the emails, and the rumor
campaign that has Toni pegged as a slut.
Then one day things get seriously ugly. Chloe and her chums
assault Toni in the bathroom, sticking her head in an unflushed toilet
bowl. Not surprisingly, when she is offered a chance to get revenge
through witchcraft she wants her tormenter scared, hurt, and humiliated.
Only things get out of hand fast.
Season Of The Witch is a real page turner of a suspense story.
It also asks some thought provoking questions. It's quite relevant
these days when teens have so many ways to torment those they hate.
On a personal note, weather is still really messed up in Maine. Power
lines keep going down.
A great big shout out goes out to the people working around the clock
to fix power outages.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Material World
Material World
Crafts
Today in Maine, on the heels of snow and ice storms, we have
rain which will harden quickly into ice, making for treacherous
walking and driving. People will be spending more time indoors. If
you are one of them, please don't fall into the default habit of
endless tv watching or exchanging pleasantries with hundreds of
virtual friends. There are constructive alternatives. Perri Lewis'
Material World: The Modern Craft Bible introduces readers to a whole
lot of them.
This is a particularly good book for people who haven't done
anything crafty since scout camp or primary school and associate hand
made stuff with little kids and elderly maiden great aunts. Nothing
tacky about its offerings. A double-chain necklace with strategically
placed beads looks straight out of a boutique. A reusable cover can
neatly upgrade a diary or notebook. A snazzy encrusted belt would add
a touch of elegance to any outfit. And there are ways to make dull
walls and furniture eye catching.
The benefits of crafting go way beyond saving money and
recycling. In a world of conformity, you and your enviroment can be
uniquely expressive. The rythym of something like knitting can be as
tension relieving as meditation. Mastering new skills can enter one
into a community of those who share an interest. And in a world where
more and more is done on the Internet, crafting helps rebuild
connections with the physical world. "You can liken it to the ancient
but newly popular concept of mindfulness, where being acutely aware of
the way things smell, taste, touch, and feel is being taught to
everyone from the depressed teenager to the burnout CEO to counteract
stress and anxiety."
Nuff said?
And don't you want to know what the guerilla-knitting movement
is all about?
On a personal note, kids and I have been making good use of Adam's
snow day to send out for pizza and watch Monsters University, a family
favorite DVD.
a great big shout out goes out to Betsy Webb, Joanne Harriman, Rick
Lyons, and the other superintendents who had the sense to cancel
school on a very messy travel day!
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Crafts
Today in Maine, on the heels of snow and ice storms, we have
rain which will harden quickly into ice, making for treacherous
walking and driving. People will be spending more time indoors. If
you are one of them, please don't fall into the default habit of
endless tv watching or exchanging pleasantries with hundreds of
virtual friends. There are constructive alternatives. Perri Lewis'
Material World: The Modern Craft Bible introduces readers to a whole
lot of them.
This is a particularly good book for people who haven't done
anything crafty since scout camp or primary school and associate hand
made stuff with little kids and elderly maiden great aunts. Nothing
tacky about its offerings. A double-chain necklace with strategically
placed beads looks straight out of a boutique. A reusable cover can
neatly upgrade a diary or notebook. A snazzy encrusted belt would add
a touch of elegance to any outfit. And there are ways to make dull
walls and furniture eye catching.
The benefits of crafting go way beyond saving money and
recycling. In a world of conformity, you and your enviroment can be
uniquely expressive. The rythym of something like knitting can be as
tension relieving as meditation. Mastering new skills can enter one
into a community of those who share an interest. And in a world where
more and more is done on the Internet, crafting helps rebuild
connections with the physical world. "You can liken it to the ancient
but newly popular concept of mindfulness, where being acutely aware of
the way things smell, taste, touch, and feel is being taught to
everyone from the depressed teenager to the burnout CEO to counteract
stress and anxiety."
Nuff said?
And don't you want to know what the guerilla-knitting movement
is all about?
On a personal note, kids and I have been making good use of Adam's
snow day to send out for pizza and watch Monsters University, a family
favorite DVD.
a great big shout out goes out to Betsy Webb, Joanne Harriman, Rick
Lyons, and the other superintendents who had the sense to cancel
school on a very messy travel day!
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
I Believe In Zero
I Believe In Zero
"...I had never considered that the water pouring forth from my
sink tap was a luxury beyond the grasp of millions of people. Nor had
I ever stopped to think what a difference something as simple as hand
washing can make in lowering the number of children who take ill, or
for that matter, who die. When I was a child, my mother constantly
told me, 'Wash your hands before you eat anything,' so I had assumed
this to be common practice everywhere. How incredible to think that
for vast stretches of humanity it wasn't."
Incredible indeed! And in Caryl Stern's I Believe In Zero you
learn how, incredibly but sadly true, much of what we take for granted
as basics is beyond the reach of many of the fellow human beings we
share this globe with. Stern knows what she's talking about. She's
president and CEO of U.S. Fund for UNICEF. The book, written from her
experience in the field, is a wonderful blend of personal narrative
and background information. If you have a human heart beating in your
chest, there's at least one thing in the book that will touch and,
hopefully, tug at it.
Rosa's story really tugged at my heart. When she went into
labor she was working in a rice paddy. Unlike most of us in America
who are driven to modern hospitals, she walked four hours in over 106
degree heat. Can you imagine? At the clinic where she gave birth
there were only the most basic help and no pain meds. Most ominously,
if there had been any complications, mother and baby would mostly
likely have died. As someone who would have died along with my first
baby if I'd lacked access to emergency c section I surely can care
about that.
As a parent of three I have had the great fortune of having free
public education for my children. They are now in grad school,
college, and high school. My heart would have broken if they'd had to
spend their childhoods as garbage pickers, sweatshop workers, or
prostitutes without access to even basic literacy. That is the bleak
reality for too many innocent kids. We aren't even talking about
young people in refugee camps who have often seen family and friends
slaughtered and homes and communities destroyed by armies or rebels.
If these grim realities constituted the entirity of the book it
would just be too heart breaking to read. Stern also tells us of the
strength and resilience of the people in third world countries. If we
share out of our bounty we can make such a difference. Stern says it
much better than I can, "The material divide may be huge, but we are
all human beings with the same goals and desires. We all love our
children and want the best for them...It might sound trite, but it's
absolutely true and often forgotten; what joins us as human beings is
at least as important as what divides us."
Amen to that!
Normally I recommend buying books or borrowing. For this book I
think all who can afford to do so should outright buy. Royalties,
rather than going to the author, are accruing to her fine organization
to help children survive and thrive.
On a personal note, as a Methodist, I feel like I have a mandate to
look beyond myself and do what I can for those in need. The God I
worship said whatsoever I do for my fellow humans I do for God. A
number of my birthdays have been UNICEF fund raisers. As soon as I
have a permanent job I'm going to start sponsoring a child through
another organization.
A great big shout out goes out to workers for UNICEF and other
organizations who deliver services, often in volatile situations at
great personal risk.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
"...I had never considered that the water pouring forth from my
sink tap was a luxury beyond the grasp of millions of people. Nor had
I ever stopped to think what a difference something as simple as hand
washing can make in lowering the number of children who take ill, or
for that matter, who die. When I was a child, my mother constantly
told me, 'Wash your hands before you eat anything,' so I had assumed
this to be common practice everywhere. How incredible to think that
for vast stretches of humanity it wasn't."
Incredible indeed! And in Caryl Stern's I Believe In Zero you
learn how, incredibly but sadly true, much of what we take for granted
as basics is beyond the reach of many of the fellow human beings we
share this globe with. Stern knows what she's talking about. She's
president and CEO of U.S. Fund for UNICEF. The book, written from her
experience in the field, is a wonderful blend of personal narrative
and background information. If you have a human heart beating in your
chest, there's at least one thing in the book that will touch and,
hopefully, tug at it.
Rosa's story really tugged at my heart. When she went into
labor she was working in a rice paddy. Unlike most of us in America
who are driven to modern hospitals, she walked four hours in over 106
degree heat. Can you imagine? At the clinic where she gave birth
there were only the most basic help and no pain meds. Most ominously,
if there had been any complications, mother and baby would mostly
likely have died. As someone who would have died along with my first
baby if I'd lacked access to emergency c section I surely can care
about that.
As a parent of three I have had the great fortune of having free
public education for my children. They are now in grad school,
college, and high school. My heart would have broken if they'd had to
spend their childhoods as garbage pickers, sweatshop workers, or
prostitutes without access to even basic literacy. That is the bleak
reality for too many innocent kids. We aren't even talking about
young people in refugee camps who have often seen family and friends
slaughtered and homes and communities destroyed by armies or rebels.
If these grim realities constituted the entirity of the book it
would just be too heart breaking to read. Stern also tells us of the
strength and resilience of the people in third world countries. If we
share out of our bounty we can make such a difference. Stern says it
much better than I can, "The material divide may be huge, but we are
all human beings with the same goals and desires. We all love our
children and want the best for them...It might sound trite, but it's
absolutely true and often forgotten; what joins us as human beings is
at least as important as what divides us."
Amen to that!
Normally I recommend buying books or borrowing. For this book I
think all who can afford to do so should outright buy. Royalties,
rather than going to the author, are accruing to her fine organization
to help children survive and thrive.
On a personal note, as a Methodist, I feel like I have a mandate to
look beyond myself and do what I can for those in need. The God I
worship said whatsoever I do for my fellow humans I do for God. A
number of my birthdays have been UNICEF fund raisers. As soon as I
have a permanent job I'm going to start sponsoring a child through
another organization.
A great big shout out goes out to workers for UNICEF and other
organizations who deliver services, often in volatile situations at
great personal risk.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Out Of Nowhere
Out Of Nowhere
YA fiction
When the children were quite young we used to attend the
Unitarian Universalist Church over to Bangor. Since the bus didn't
run on Sunday I depended on other congregants for transportation. I
got along with one of the people who gave rides about as well as
Dennis Kucinich would with Sarah Palin. She had one theme. The
United States had to shut the border to immigrants. Whatever
motivated them, too bad, so sad, but they were not our problem.
Predictably by the time we reached my home we would be yelling at each
other, even with all three kids seeing the example I set. In my mind,
she JUST DID NOT GET IT. Immigrants aren't leaving all they know and
love for the chance to take jobs from the native born and buy consumer
goods at WalMart. Many flee horrors we can't begin to imagine, only
to often arrive at places where not only language, but resentment of
native born folks who see them as competitors for scarce resources,
serve as formidable obstacles.
Maria Padian is someone who very much gets it. Her Out Of
Nowhere, a bittersweet coming of age novel, combines a riveting plot
and engaging characters with an honest look at what can happen when a
working class community that has seen better days is inundated with
Somali refugees.
Tom, a high school senior, is soccer team captain. For years
his working class squad has been beaten badly by kids who go to a much
wealthier school and can afford luxeries like travel leagues, camps,
and personal trainers. He'd give just about anything to win one game
against them. It seems like that's a lost cause until four Somalis
join the team. Their style of play is like nothing he's seen, but
they really know how to score. The team may have a fighting chance.
Not everyone in Enniston is happy to have the Somalis in town.
The mayor puts a piece in the paper asking additional refugees to stay
away since the town can't afford to take care of the ones they already
have. Tom's family nicely reflects the split. His Aunt Maddie, an
educated liberal, begins to organize a group to respond to the mayor.
His Uncle Paul, a blue collar high school grad feels the Somalis
should have stayed in their own country instead of taking advantage of
America's misguided generosity. Aren't they a lot like the folks who
took down the Twin Towers?
Tom's impulsive best friend, Donnie, talks him into a prank
against their rival school that ends up badly when the police show
up. He ends up doing community service at the K Street Center where
many Somalis go for help. There and at soccer he learns lot about the
refugees and their religion and customs.
Then things start to go terribly wrong.
Out Of Nowhere is the compelling story of a boy and a community
struggling to cope with serious change. I highly recommend it,
especially for parent-teen book clubs.
On a personal note, last fall I was truly fortunate to meet Maria
Padian at the Bangor Book Festival. She is very smart and personal
and I really appreciated being able to talk to her. She's the total
cat's pajamas.
A great big shout out goes out to people who take refuge in the United
States and all who help them adjust to their new lives.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
YA fiction
When the children were quite young we used to attend the
Unitarian Universalist Church over to Bangor. Since the bus didn't
run on Sunday I depended on other congregants for transportation. I
got along with one of the people who gave rides about as well as
Dennis Kucinich would with Sarah Palin. She had one theme. The
United States had to shut the border to immigrants. Whatever
motivated them, too bad, so sad, but they were not our problem.
Predictably by the time we reached my home we would be yelling at each
other, even with all three kids seeing the example I set. In my mind,
she JUST DID NOT GET IT. Immigrants aren't leaving all they know and
love for the chance to take jobs from the native born and buy consumer
goods at WalMart. Many flee horrors we can't begin to imagine, only
to often arrive at places where not only language, but resentment of
native born folks who see them as competitors for scarce resources,
serve as formidable obstacles.
Maria Padian is someone who very much gets it. Her Out Of
Nowhere, a bittersweet coming of age novel, combines a riveting plot
and engaging characters with an honest look at what can happen when a
working class community that has seen better days is inundated with
Somali refugees.
Tom, a high school senior, is soccer team captain. For years
his working class squad has been beaten badly by kids who go to a much
wealthier school and can afford luxeries like travel leagues, camps,
and personal trainers. He'd give just about anything to win one game
against them. It seems like that's a lost cause until four Somalis
join the team. Their style of play is like nothing he's seen, but
they really know how to score. The team may have a fighting chance.
Not everyone in Enniston is happy to have the Somalis in town.
The mayor puts a piece in the paper asking additional refugees to stay
away since the town can't afford to take care of the ones they already
have. Tom's family nicely reflects the split. His Aunt Maddie, an
educated liberal, begins to organize a group to respond to the mayor.
His Uncle Paul, a blue collar high school grad feels the Somalis
should have stayed in their own country instead of taking advantage of
America's misguided generosity. Aren't they a lot like the folks who
took down the Twin Towers?
Tom's impulsive best friend, Donnie, talks him into a prank
against their rival school that ends up badly when the police show
up. He ends up doing community service at the K Street Center where
many Somalis go for help. There and at soccer he learns lot about the
refugees and their religion and customs.
Then things start to go terribly wrong.
Out Of Nowhere is the compelling story of a boy and a community
struggling to cope with serious change. I highly recommend it,
especially for parent-teen book clubs.
On a personal note, last fall I was truly fortunate to meet Maria
Padian at the Bangor Book Festival. She is very smart and personal
and I really appreciated being able to talk to her. She's the total
cat's pajamas.
A great big shout out goes out to people who take refuge in the United
States and all who help them adjust to their new lives.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Friday, January 3, 2014
Tree Girl
Tree Girl
YA fiction
I am at a loss of words as to how to begin a review of Ben
Mikaelsen's Tree Girl. I could not have written the book. It's based
on the true story of a young woman obtained by personal interviews...a
woman barely beyond childhood (younger than my Adam) when she loses
nearly everyone she loved and has to survive in a world of danger and
treachery. Her story, told candidly, is one of survival and, oddly,
at the end, hope.
Gabriela's mother often told her that climbing trees brings her
closer to heaven. It is her way of centering, of getting in touch
with nature and God. She is well known for this ability in her
community.
As the story begins Gabriela is weaving the huipil (special
blouse) she will wear at her quinceanera. She eagerly awaits this
special fifteenth birthday celebration in which she will go from
childhood to womanhood. When it arrives after much careful
preparation it lives up to her hopes until armed soldiers break up the
festivities and take her only slightly brother away.
The soldiers keep coming back. They demand the papers to show
the Indios own their land. They outlaw the machetes people need to
harvest their crops. There is always the fear they will kidnap boys
and men for their army or make anyone who violates their rules
disappear. Gabriela, for instance, is in violation simply by knowing
Spanish.
After Gabriela's mother's death her father has her promise that
she will protect her younger siblings if anything happens to him.
That is way beyond her control. One day, returning from the market
she finds her family and neighbors massacred, their homes on fire.
She has already seen her teacher beaten to death and her schoolmates
shot in cold blood. And there is a lot more horror in store...
Although Tree Girl is billed as YA it is a little too much for
more sensitive preteens and teens. For adults, however, it is a must
read. What country do you think supplied the weapons?
On a personal note, I just can't imagine how anyone could shoot
children in cold blood.
A great big shout out goes out to all who work to help refugees survive.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
YA fiction
I am at a loss of words as to how to begin a review of Ben
Mikaelsen's Tree Girl. I could not have written the book. It's based
on the true story of a young woman obtained by personal interviews...a
woman barely beyond childhood (younger than my Adam) when she loses
nearly everyone she loved and has to survive in a world of danger and
treachery. Her story, told candidly, is one of survival and, oddly,
at the end, hope.
Gabriela's mother often told her that climbing trees brings her
closer to heaven. It is her way of centering, of getting in touch
with nature and God. She is well known for this ability in her
community.
As the story begins Gabriela is weaving the huipil (special
blouse) she will wear at her quinceanera. She eagerly awaits this
special fifteenth birthday celebration in which she will go from
childhood to womanhood. When it arrives after much careful
preparation it lives up to her hopes until armed soldiers break up the
festivities and take her only slightly brother away.
The soldiers keep coming back. They demand the papers to show
the Indios own their land. They outlaw the machetes people need to
harvest their crops. There is always the fear they will kidnap boys
and men for their army or make anyone who violates their rules
disappear. Gabriela, for instance, is in violation simply by knowing
Spanish.
After Gabriela's mother's death her father has her promise that
she will protect her younger siblings if anything happens to him.
That is way beyond her control. One day, returning from the market
she finds her family and neighbors massacred, their homes on fire.
She has already seen her teacher beaten to death and her schoolmates
shot in cold blood. And there is a lot more horror in store...
Although Tree Girl is billed as YA it is a little too much for
more sensitive preteens and teens. For adults, however, it is a must
read. What country do you think supplied the weapons?
On a personal note, I just can't imagine how anyone could shoot
children in cold blood.
A great big shout out goes out to all who work to help refugees survive.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Siblings Without Rivalry
Siblings Without Rivalry
Parenting
One book that I really wish I had discovered back when my kids
were young is Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish's Siblings Without
Rivalry: How to help your children live together so you can live too.
Looking at the larger picture of my family it's all good. Ranging in
age from high to grad school, my kids get along well, enjoy each
other's company, and can resolve difficulties without help. I guess
that's the goal. However, a lot of the earlier years there were days
it seemed like they'd fight over everything. That was one of the most
frustrating aspects of parenting.
Faber and Mazlish got the idea for the book when they were
working on a previous one: How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen
So Kids Will Talk. The chapter on sibling rivalry, only half done,
was over one hundred pages. They decided to settle for the bare
basics and give the subject its own book. They knew speaking
engagements for the former book would glean them material for the
latter. Boy did it ever! It keeps evolving. The latest edition
(2012) contains a huge afterward of new material.
The authors don't claim Siblings Without Rivalry to be a
panacea. There are endless variations on the theme. What they do is
give new ways of looking at this problem that has been around since
Cain decided his parents favored Abel and did something about it and
techniques for behaving in ways that promote cooperation rather than
competition:
*avoiding making comparisons ("Why can't you keep your room clean like
Cheryl?) and roles ("Rick is the smart one; Mike is the athletic one");
*giving each child what he or she needs rather than always striving to
give each the same amount;
*avoiding the trap of treating one child as bully and the other as
victim;
*facilitating the use of words rather than more physical alternatives
when one child is the the grip of red hot anger...
The ultimate goal (as in just about every aspect of parenting) is to
work ourselves out of a job--help our kids to negotiate their
conflicts without our intervention. It is very rewarding. But it
takes a lot of work. The authors know that. They aren't just
experts. They are parents who know what it's like to walk into a room
and find one child about to throw a metal truck and the other wielding
a baseball bat.
So here's the bottom line. If your children are not getting
along as well as you think they have the potential to, if your days
are filled with phrases like "I'm TELLING!", "Can't you throw the baby
out?", and "MOOOOOOOM", Siblings Without Rivalry would be well worth
checking out.
On a very personal note, it's fitting I was reading this book January
1. I had a heck of an epiphany. My sister has serious brain damage.
After her illness I was given a new role, the one who never gives a
bit of trouble and the one who would be taking care of Harriet when
our parents passed. It was not easy to live up to, especially where I
had been a creative, affectionate child who still was very much a
child. When I was about to start college my mom had a stroke. The
doctor said if she kept up everything she was doing the next one would
be fatal. So I stayed home to be her teaching and office assistant
and help with the house and Harriet. The last year I was home I had
my mother's aunt also who was medically fragile and unable to remember
who I was.
I came to feel I existed only in relationship to everyone else,
conditionally.
Harriet and I are grown up. Our parents have passed. She lives in
another state and wants to move to Maine. I feel the ambivolance of
knowing I should help her and being terrified by the prospect. What I
realized today is I'm afraid of being put back in the role of being
defined as her caretaker. After I spent decades raising my kids I'm
learning who I am. I'm job hunting, being on school board, library
volunteering, acting, writing. I have a growing circle of friends. I
have a mentor who values the whimsical, sweet, creative aspects of my
personality as much as my achievements. I am also just a little over
a year into recovery from anorexia and relatively fragile. I can't
take on the complex responsibility of adult disability care. And I
don't want to give up the unconditional love of the people who matter
or the joyous sense of belonging they give me.
What I realized is we can both win. As soon as I just get the job
thing settled I can start looking into ways Harriet can live in Maine
in some kind of assisted living situation with professional help so I
can be there for her without drowning.
Whew!
A great big shout out goes out to all parents who are struggling with
sibling rivalry.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Parenting
One book that I really wish I had discovered back when my kids
were young is Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish's Siblings Without
Rivalry: How to help your children live together so you can live too.
Looking at the larger picture of my family it's all good. Ranging in
age from high to grad school, my kids get along well, enjoy each
other's company, and can resolve difficulties without help. I guess
that's the goal. However, a lot of the earlier years there were days
it seemed like they'd fight over everything. That was one of the most
frustrating aspects of parenting.
Faber and Mazlish got the idea for the book when they were
working on a previous one: How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen
So Kids Will Talk. The chapter on sibling rivalry, only half done,
was over one hundred pages. They decided to settle for the bare
basics and give the subject its own book. They knew speaking
engagements for the former book would glean them material for the
latter. Boy did it ever! It keeps evolving. The latest edition
(2012) contains a huge afterward of new material.
The authors don't claim Siblings Without Rivalry to be a
panacea. There are endless variations on the theme. What they do is
give new ways of looking at this problem that has been around since
Cain decided his parents favored Abel and did something about it and
techniques for behaving in ways that promote cooperation rather than
competition:
*avoiding making comparisons ("Why can't you keep your room clean like
Cheryl?) and roles ("Rick is the smart one; Mike is the athletic one");
*giving each child what he or she needs rather than always striving to
give each the same amount;
*avoiding the trap of treating one child as bully and the other as
victim;
*facilitating the use of words rather than more physical alternatives
when one child is the the grip of red hot anger...
The ultimate goal (as in just about every aspect of parenting) is to
work ourselves out of a job--help our kids to negotiate their
conflicts without our intervention. It is very rewarding. But it
takes a lot of work. The authors know that. They aren't just
experts. They are parents who know what it's like to walk into a room
and find one child about to throw a metal truck and the other wielding
a baseball bat.
So here's the bottom line. If your children are not getting
along as well as you think they have the potential to, if your days
are filled with phrases like "I'm TELLING!", "Can't you throw the baby
out?", and "MOOOOOOOM", Siblings Without Rivalry would be well worth
checking out.
On a very personal note, it's fitting I was reading this book January
1. I had a heck of an epiphany. My sister has serious brain damage.
After her illness I was given a new role, the one who never gives a
bit of trouble and the one who would be taking care of Harriet when
our parents passed. It was not easy to live up to, especially where I
had been a creative, affectionate child who still was very much a
child. When I was about to start college my mom had a stroke. The
doctor said if she kept up everything she was doing the next one would
be fatal. So I stayed home to be her teaching and office assistant
and help with the house and Harriet. The last year I was home I had
my mother's aunt also who was medically fragile and unable to remember
who I was.
I came to feel I existed only in relationship to everyone else,
conditionally.
Harriet and I are grown up. Our parents have passed. She lives in
another state and wants to move to Maine. I feel the ambivolance of
knowing I should help her and being terrified by the prospect. What I
realized today is I'm afraid of being put back in the role of being
defined as her caretaker. After I spent decades raising my kids I'm
learning who I am. I'm job hunting, being on school board, library
volunteering, acting, writing. I have a growing circle of friends. I
have a mentor who values the whimsical, sweet, creative aspects of my
personality as much as my achievements. I am also just a little over
a year into recovery from anorexia and relatively fragile. I can't
take on the complex responsibility of adult disability care. And I
don't want to give up the unconditional love of the people who matter
or the joyous sense of belonging they give me.
What I realized is we can both win. As soon as I just get the job
thing settled I can start looking into ways Harriet can live in Maine
in some kind of assisted living situation with professional help so I
can be there for her without drowning.
Whew!
A great big shout out goes out to all parents who are struggling with
sibling rivalry.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg
His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg
Juvenile Biography
Louise Borden chose Raoul Wallenberg as her hero after reading a
book about him. Fortunately she met an elderly man who had studied
with him in college. She promised him and herself that she would
write Wallenberg's story. Her His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg is a
moving tribute to a hero for all time.
In 1944 Hitler's militia occupied Hungary. Jewish citizens
began to be sent to Auschwitz to be killed in gas chambers. First were
those who lived in small villages and rural areas. Budapest Jews were
targeted next. Desperate, they turned to ambassadors of neutral
nations including Sweden pleading for help.
Wallenberg was in his native Sweden then. He was called on to
travel to Budapest to organize a rescue operation. As he prepared to
leave documents created by people who had witnessed the atrocities of
and escaped from Auschwitz were given to a diplomat. Wallenberg was
determined to save as many Jews as possible.
Borden's book describes vividly his unwavering dedication to his
mission, even at great risk to his life. It also, though starts off
with his childhood. It shows how the savior of so many and paradigm
of selfless courage was once a child like many potential readers who
enjoyed riding his bike and flying kites. It brings out the humanity
as well as the courage of a man who gave his all only to disappear as
Russian troops liberated Budapest, never again to see his beloved
homeland again.
Raoul Wallenberg's name is one that must never be forgotten. It
is quite fortunate that Borden found a very powerful way to introduce
his amazing story to our children.
On a personal note, we are less that two hours from midnight. I am
glad I have the gift of concentration because if I could not ignore
the noisy television it would be driving me up the wall.
A great big shout out goes out to all heroes past and present
unwaveringly dedicated to saving the lives of innocent people trapped
in horrendous situations.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Juvenile Biography
Louise Borden chose Raoul Wallenberg as her hero after reading a
book about him. Fortunately she met an elderly man who had studied
with him in college. She promised him and herself that she would
write Wallenberg's story. Her His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg is a
moving tribute to a hero for all time.
In 1944 Hitler's militia occupied Hungary. Jewish citizens
began to be sent to Auschwitz to be killed in gas chambers. First were
those who lived in small villages and rural areas. Budapest Jews were
targeted next. Desperate, they turned to ambassadors of neutral
nations including Sweden pleading for help.
Wallenberg was in his native Sweden then. He was called on to
travel to Budapest to organize a rescue operation. As he prepared to
leave documents created by people who had witnessed the atrocities of
and escaped from Auschwitz were given to a diplomat. Wallenberg was
determined to save as many Jews as possible.
Borden's book describes vividly his unwavering dedication to his
mission, even at great risk to his life. It also, though starts off
with his childhood. It shows how the savior of so many and paradigm
of selfless courage was once a child like many potential readers who
enjoyed riding his bike and flying kites. It brings out the humanity
as well as the courage of a man who gave his all only to disappear as
Russian troops liberated Budapest, never again to see his beloved
homeland again.
Raoul Wallenberg's name is one that must never be forgotten. It
is quite fortunate that Borden found a very powerful way to introduce
his amazing story to our children.
On a personal note, we are less that two hours from midnight. I am
glad I have the gift of concentration because if I could not ignore
the noisy television it would be driving me up the wall.
A great big shout out goes out to all heroes past and present
unwaveringly dedicated to saving the lives of innocent people trapped
in horrendous situations.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Ladybug Girl and the Big Snow
Ladybug Girl and the Big Snow
Picture book
For at least the next couple of months David Soman and Jacky
Davis' Ladybug Girl and the Big Snow will be a perfect read aloud in
Maine and other northern states.
Ladybug Girl wakes up to find her yard covered in snow. She
can't wait to get out into its magic. She and her dog, Bingo, sample
the white stuff and create a whimsical footprint penguin. Then things
get a little more difficult. A snow castle does not shape up well.
When she bumps a tree branch a lot of snow falls on her head. When
she tries to climb a hill she gets stuck. Snow is looking a lot less
magical until...
...read the book and see. If my kids were still little (sigh) I'd
haul out this book right after a storm and then take them out to play!
On a personal note, a couple of years ago, the day after a big storm,
I got to the library for my volunteering shift a bit early. I made
good use of the time before it opened by making a beautiful snow cat.
I posed proudly with it. The picture still makes me smile.
A great big shout out goes out to my amazing mentor, Betsy Webb, who
also still finds the magic in snow. She was walking with a group of
children this winter when the first flakes began to fall. Their great
happiness filled her with joy. Yay, Betsy!!! You are the total cat's
pajamas!
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Picture book
For at least the next couple of months David Soman and Jacky
Davis' Ladybug Girl and the Big Snow will be a perfect read aloud in
Maine and other northern states.
Ladybug Girl wakes up to find her yard covered in snow. She
can't wait to get out into its magic. She and her dog, Bingo, sample
the white stuff and create a whimsical footprint penguin. Then things
get a little more difficult. A snow castle does not shape up well.
When she bumps a tree branch a lot of snow falls on her head. When
she tries to climb a hill she gets stuck. Snow is looking a lot less
magical until...
...read the book and see. If my kids were still little (sigh) I'd
haul out this book right after a storm and then take them out to play!
On a personal note, a couple of years ago, the day after a big storm,
I got to the library for my volunteering shift a bit early. I made
good use of the time before it opened by making a beautiful snow cat.
I posed proudly with it. The picture still makes me smile.
A great big shout out goes out to my amazing mentor, Betsy Webb, who
also still finds the magic in snow. She was walking with a group of
children this winter when the first flakes began to fall. Their great
happiness filled her with joy. Yay, Betsy!!! You are the total cat's
pajamas!
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Family Farm
Family Farm
Picture book
Thomas Locker's Family Farm is an oldie but goodie well worth
seeking through inter library loan. The luminous paintings (I
especially love the barn cats) and engaging text provide a great way
to introduce kids to the struggles faced by farming families, the
strength and resilience with which they hang on, and the need to buy
local to support them in the face of the unfair competition posed by
factory agriculture.
Siblings Mike and Sarah see a number of alarming signs. Their
school is shut down and they are bussed to another. Not enough money
or kids to keep both open. Bills pile up. Their dad gets a factory
job, leaving the rest of the family to take on many of his chores.
Even that might not be enough. The family faces the prospect of
having to sell the farm and move to the city.
What can they do to continue in the life style they treasure?
On a personal note, all over the United States small farms face a
myriad of really tough challenges. Not only do they provide healthful
food for those fortunate enough to have access to it, but they are
about our only alternative to the offerings of Big Agra. We need to
all be talking about where we want our food to come from and under
what conditions we want it to be raised and grown. Picture books like
Family Farm help us to include our younger children in this very
crucial dialog.
A great big shout out goes out to today's heroes, running family farms
against all odds.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Picture book
Thomas Locker's Family Farm is an oldie but goodie well worth
seeking through inter library loan. The luminous paintings (I
especially love the barn cats) and engaging text provide a great way
to introduce kids to the struggles faced by farming families, the
strength and resilience with which they hang on, and the need to buy
local to support them in the face of the unfair competition posed by
factory agriculture.
Siblings Mike and Sarah see a number of alarming signs. Their
school is shut down and they are bussed to another. Not enough money
or kids to keep both open. Bills pile up. Their dad gets a factory
job, leaving the rest of the family to take on many of his chores.
Even that might not be enough. The family faces the prospect of
having to sell the farm and move to the city.
What can they do to continue in the life style they treasure?
On a personal note, all over the United States small farms face a
myriad of really tough challenges. Not only do they provide healthful
food for those fortunate enough to have access to it, but they are
about our only alternative to the offerings of Big Agra. We need to
all be talking about where we want our food to come from and under
what conditions we want it to be raised and grown. Picture books like
Family Farm help us to include our younger children in this very
crucial dialog.
A great big shout out goes out to today's heroes, running family farms
against all odds.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Al Capone Does My Homework
Al Capone Does My Homework
Young adult fiction
Well I got an early Christmas gift this year. I was shelf
reading at Orono Public Library when I discovered Gennifer Choldenko's
Al Capone Does My Homework, the very promising sequel to her Al Capone
Does My Shirts and Al Capone Shines My Shoes. Yowza! That would be
quite the treat for my New Years Eve Reading Geekfest.
As the story opens, Moose, protagonist of all three books, has a
lot of responsibility for a 13-year-old. His father has been promoted
from electrician to associate warden. It's the number two position on
Alcatraz. This makes him likely to be targeted by the felons who are
his charges--the worst of the worst in America's 1936 criminal
system. They have a point system for rule infractions. Killing a
warden is worth 5,000 points. Moose feels he needs to watch his
father's back but has no idea how.
His family is also under a more subtle pressure. His older
sister, Natalie, has what I think is autism. Much of the time she is
at a residential school. But when she's home her behavior is the
object of scrutiny. With their father's new position putting the
family more in the spotlight, his mother wants him to get her to act
more normally. That is a lot more easily said than done.
One night Moose is watching Natalie while their parents are off
island. He wakes up to find their apartment on fire. He is able to
save his sister, only to find her in another kind of danger. Bea
Trixle is trying to prove that Nat started the fire. She's a woman
with an axe to grind. She believes that her guard husband, Darby,
deserves the promotion Moose's father received. If Nat is found
guilty the whole family will be kicked off the island, leaving the job
open.
Moose is determined to prove his sister innocent. It's a very
daunting challenge, making for a real page turner of a read.
In addition to the plot, the setting in itself is compelling.
Who wouldn't find the lives of children growing up on Alcatraz Island
fascinating? Choldenko has done extensive research. The book is full
of fascinating details. I bet you will never guess what insect
messengers prisoners used to swap cigarettes!
On a personal note, here in Penobscot County 2013 is coming to a very
chilly end with more snow expected later in the week. This is
following on the heels of our recent ice and snow storms.
A great big shout out goes out to the legions of utility workers who
have left homes and families for the holiday season to work around the
clock to restore electricity to the tens of thousands of folks who
lost it.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Young adult fiction
Well I got an early Christmas gift this year. I was shelf
reading at Orono Public Library when I discovered Gennifer Choldenko's
Al Capone Does My Homework, the very promising sequel to her Al Capone
Does My Shirts and Al Capone Shines My Shoes. Yowza! That would be
quite the treat for my New Years Eve Reading Geekfest.
As the story opens, Moose, protagonist of all three books, has a
lot of responsibility for a 13-year-old. His father has been promoted
from electrician to associate warden. It's the number two position on
Alcatraz. This makes him likely to be targeted by the felons who are
his charges--the worst of the worst in America's 1936 criminal
system. They have a point system for rule infractions. Killing a
warden is worth 5,000 points. Moose feels he needs to watch his
father's back but has no idea how.
His family is also under a more subtle pressure. His older
sister, Natalie, has what I think is autism. Much of the time she is
at a residential school. But when she's home her behavior is the
object of scrutiny. With their father's new position putting the
family more in the spotlight, his mother wants him to get her to act
more normally. That is a lot more easily said than done.
One night Moose is watching Natalie while their parents are off
island. He wakes up to find their apartment on fire. He is able to
save his sister, only to find her in another kind of danger. Bea
Trixle is trying to prove that Nat started the fire. She's a woman
with an axe to grind. She believes that her guard husband, Darby,
deserves the promotion Moose's father received. If Nat is found
guilty the whole family will be kicked off the island, leaving the job
open.
Moose is determined to prove his sister innocent. It's a very
daunting challenge, making for a real page turner of a read.
In addition to the plot, the setting in itself is compelling.
Who wouldn't find the lives of children growing up on Alcatraz Island
fascinating? Choldenko has done extensive research. The book is full
of fascinating details. I bet you will never guess what insect
messengers prisoners used to swap cigarettes!
On a personal note, here in Penobscot County 2013 is coming to a very
chilly end with more snow expected later in the week. This is
following on the heels of our recent ice and snow storms.
A great big shout out goes out to the legions of utility workers who
have left homes and families for the holiday season to work around the
clock to restore electricity to the tens of thousands of folks who
lost it.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
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