Mama Says
Picture book
With Mothers Day just around the corner I want to share one of
my all time favorite seasonal books. Rob D. Walker's Mama Says: A
Book of Love for Mothers and Sons, beautifully illustrated by Leo and
Diane Dillon, is a heart warming multicultural celebtration of a truly
special relationship.
Each two page spread focuses on a mother-son pair. On the first
page they are shown above the mother's advice in their native language
and English. The second full page painting portrays the son following
the mother's advice.
A Russian baker teaches her son how to bake.
"Mama says
Be loving
Mama says
Be caring
Mama says
You've done God's will
Every time you're sharing"
The son passes a loaf through a window to a fragile elderly mam as his
mother smiled proudly in the background.
Readers of Mama Says would do well to take the time to study the
pictures. They really extend the information available in the text.
Perhaps this is most evident in the American pages. A mother helps a
son with his tie.
Mama says
To be on time
Mama says
Be neat
Mama says
To be on time
And never drag my feet
In the second picture she must stand aside, visibly pained, as he
walks with determination past screaming, sign carrying segregationists.
On a personal note, I'm really excited because my younger daughter has
promised me that my Mothers Day gift will be a trip to Santa's Village
with her and her boyfriend! It's where her dad would take the family
for special summer visits. My children know the gifts I treasure are
time with them and the precious memories thus created.
A great big shout out goes out to my wonderful children, their
significant others, and my grandcat, Archie.
jules hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Saturday, April 30, 2016
Basketball Belles
Basketball Belles
Picture book
Here in Penobscot County, Maine, where the Brewer Witches of
both genders clash vigorously with rival Bangor Rams and it's hard to
imagine a year the UMaine women Black Bears don't seriously outperform
their male hoopster counterparts, it seems like women have played
basketball forever or at least as long as the sport has been around.
Of course we know that's very much not true. The sport was designed
for men in 1891. Conventional wisdom back then saw it as too
strenuous for women.
Fortunately women didn't take this sitting down. In 1896 there
was the first women's intercollegiate basketball game played between
Stanford and Berkeley. Sue Macy's Basketball Belles: How Two Teams
and One Scrappy Player Put Women's Hoops on the Map is the story of
this historic event.
The narrator has been sent to Stanford University to become more
ladylike. (Back in those days that probably also meant more
marriageable.) Her opening paragraph shows why a traditional 19th
century mother might have cause for concern.
"Nobody can ever accuse me of being a girly-girl. Sure, I can
sashay around in a ruffled skirt if I have to. But I'm more
comfortable in breeches and spurs. My name is Agnes Morley. I grew up
working on my family's ranch in New Mexico. Getting dirty came with
the territory."
The audience for this first game consisted of over five hundred
women. (The only men in the building are the janitor and his
assistant who, when called on to fix a basket, saw who is playing and
were properly horrified). The Berkeley team had questioned the
propriety of men seeing women perspire.
Neither the players nor the fans (whose cheering Morley compares
to a cattle stampede) are at all "ladylike". Matt Collins'
wonderfully detailed illustrations show the intensity of the
competition and the determination of the players. Other than
differences in uniforms and hair style they could have been painted
from this year's Bangor Daily News--particularly my two favorites. In
one one of Morley's team mates, about to make a shot, is a study in
concentration. A two page spread shows the unbridled joy of the
winning team.
Basketball Belles is a fun must read for sports fans and
feminists. I think I'll try to track down
On a personal note, I have never been all that fond of watching
sports. But gender equity is a big concern of mine. When I started
Gordon College in 1979 I quickly saw that, in relation to men's
athletics, women's sports were very much neglected. How could I
remedy that? My first work study job was in the cafeteria where I
made a wonderful discovery--a locked closet containing an unused
public address system. I tracked down the keys Nancy Drew style and
startled the diners by making an enthusiastic publicity message on
behalf of our women's teams. It was the first of many. I also went
to their games. Before the first trimester was over I would hear
chants of "Win one for the Big E" (my middle name being Emily).
A great big shout out goes out to pioneering girls and women in sports
and STEM and all other arenas of human endeavor.
jules hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Picture book
Here in Penobscot County, Maine, where the Brewer Witches of
both genders clash vigorously with rival Bangor Rams and it's hard to
imagine a year the UMaine women Black Bears don't seriously outperform
their male hoopster counterparts, it seems like women have played
basketball forever or at least as long as the sport has been around.
Of course we know that's very much not true. The sport was designed
for men in 1891. Conventional wisdom back then saw it as too
strenuous for women.
Fortunately women didn't take this sitting down. In 1896 there
was the first women's intercollegiate basketball game played between
Stanford and Berkeley. Sue Macy's Basketball Belles: How Two Teams
and One Scrappy Player Put Women's Hoops on the Map is the story of
this historic event.
The narrator has been sent to Stanford University to become more
ladylike. (Back in those days that probably also meant more
marriageable.) Her opening paragraph shows why a traditional 19th
century mother might have cause for concern.
"Nobody can ever accuse me of being a girly-girl. Sure, I can
sashay around in a ruffled skirt if I have to. But I'm more
comfortable in breeches and spurs. My name is Agnes Morley. I grew up
working on my family's ranch in New Mexico. Getting dirty came with
the territory."
The audience for this first game consisted of over five hundred
women. (The only men in the building are the janitor and his
assistant who, when called on to fix a basket, saw who is playing and
were properly horrified). The Berkeley team had questioned the
propriety of men seeing women perspire.
Neither the players nor the fans (whose cheering Morley compares
to a cattle stampede) are at all "ladylike". Matt Collins'
wonderfully detailed illustrations show the intensity of the
competition and the determination of the players. Other than
differences in uniforms and hair style they could have been painted
from this year's Bangor Daily News--particularly my two favorites. In
one one of Morley's team mates, about to make a shot, is a study in
concentration. A two page spread shows the unbridled joy of the
winning team.
Basketball Belles is a fun must read for sports fans and
feminists. I think I'll try to track down
On a personal note, I have never been all that fond of watching
sports. But gender equity is a big concern of mine. When I started
Gordon College in 1979 I quickly saw that, in relation to men's
athletics, women's sports were very much neglected. How could I
remedy that? My first work study job was in the cafeteria where I
made a wonderful discovery--a locked closet containing an unused
public address system. I tracked down the keys Nancy Drew style and
startled the diners by making an enthusiastic publicity message on
behalf of our women's teams. It was the first of many. I also went
to their games. Before the first trimester was over I would hear
chants of "Win one for the Big E" (my middle name being Emily).
A great big shout out goes out to pioneering girls and women in sports
and STEM and all other arenas of human endeavor.
jules hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
I'm Trying To Love Spiders
I'm Trying To Love Spiders
Picture book
Once when I was a lot younger I went to visit my father. His
roommate had a pet tarantula. For some reason Dad decided to put it
on my arm, hoping for a stereotypical scream. I thought it was so
cool and was happy to let it walk on me.
A lot of my friends are very much afraid of spiders. All of
them, adult and child, would do well to read Bethany Barton's I'm
Trying To Love Spiders. A wealth of really cool arachnid facts are
interwoven into the narrative of someone trying very hard to overcome
a phobia.
Come to think of it even an arachnophile (if there isn't such a
word there should be) like me can learn a thing or two. Bet you can't
guess the poundage of bugs a single spider can chow down on in a year...
...You'll have to read the book and see.
On a personal note, spiders and all the other creatures were
celebrated recently at the HOPE festival up to UMaine. About 60
organizations had booths. I was volunteering at the Wilson Center
table. There was great music and awesome food. I had some of the
best coconut ice cream ever. I saw a lot of people I rarely see. It
was a really awesome day.
A great big shout out goes out to all the people who work hard every
year to make the HOPE Festival a great success.
jules hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Picture book
Once when I was a lot younger I went to visit my father. His
roommate had a pet tarantula. For some reason Dad decided to put it
on my arm, hoping for a stereotypical scream. I thought it was so
cool and was happy to let it walk on me.
A lot of my friends are very much afraid of spiders. All of
them, adult and child, would do well to read Bethany Barton's I'm
Trying To Love Spiders. A wealth of really cool arachnid facts are
interwoven into the narrative of someone trying very hard to overcome
a phobia.
Come to think of it even an arachnophile (if there isn't such a
word there should be) like me can learn a thing or two. Bet you can't
guess the poundage of bugs a single spider can chow down on in a year...
...You'll have to read the book and see.
On a personal note, spiders and all the other creatures were
celebrated recently at the HOPE festival up to UMaine. About 60
organizations had booths. I was volunteering at the Wilson Center
table. There was great music and awesome food. I had some of the
best coconut ice cream ever. I saw a lot of people I rarely see. It
was a really awesome day.
A great big shout out goes out to all the people who work hard every
year to make the HOPE Festival a great success.
jules hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Blackbird Fly
Blackbird Fly
Juvenile fiction
"'She may not be Chinese, but I guarantee you don't wanna go to
her house and ask her mom for hot dogs,' Jake said. He put his
fingers on the corners of his eyes and pulled them to make slits.
'Would you-ah like-ah Chinese tea with-ah you-ah hot-
dahg?'"
Like many other immigrant youngsters, Apple Yengko, narrator of
Erin Entrada Kelly's Blackbird Fly, is caught between two worlds:
those of school and home. At school she is ridiculed for her Filipino
looks and accused of stuff like eating dogs. She hasn't had anyone
over to visit since, back in third grade, when a sleepover guest
critiqued her home and mother to all their peers. Her best friends
seem only lukewarmly supportive, more interested in getting in with
the popular crowd.
Apple's escape is Beatles music. She longs to become a musician
and start a new life. Maybe she could become a New Orleans street
performer. She has to figure out how to earn enough money to buy a
guitar...
...because her mother won't buy her one. Mom won't even let her
be in her school's swing choir. In her mind music is a waste of time
that will get Apple nowhere. Academics are all that counts in America
where they came to for a better life.
Apple isn't sold on her mother's beliefs. "...I don't
understand how our life in America is any better. In the Philippines,
I would be just another face in the crowd. No one would call me a dog-
eater or a dog. Maybe I would even be pretty."
On a personal note, Earth Day up to UMaine was the cat's pajamas. We
celebrated on the quad. There was nonstop music. People threw
frisbees. A few people painted themselves green and biked around
campus. (It's a tradition. It sure doesn't look fun.) At lunch time
free pizza appeared. (A tradition I can understand a whole lot
better). A bunch of us tabled for different causes. I was with Real
Food Challenge. We used fabric paint to make a cool new banner. And
we had a food quiz. Everyone who entered it was eligible for a prize
drawing.
A great big shout out goes out to all who participated in Earth Day
activities. Can you believe it's been 46 years since the first Earth
Day?
jules hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Juvenile fiction
"'She may not be Chinese, but I guarantee you don't wanna go to
her house and ask her mom for hot dogs,' Jake said. He put his
fingers on the corners of his eyes and pulled them to make slits.
'Would you-ah like-ah Chinese tea with-ah you-ah hot-
dahg?'"
Like many other immigrant youngsters, Apple Yengko, narrator of
Erin Entrada Kelly's Blackbird Fly, is caught between two worlds:
those of school and home. At school she is ridiculed for her Filipino
looks and accused of stuff like eating dogs. She hasn't had anyone
over to visit since, back in third grade, when a sleepover guest
critiqued her home and mother to all their peers. Her best friends
seem only lukewarmly supportive, more interested in getting in with
the popular crowd.
Apple's escape is Beatles music. She longs to become a musician
and start a new life. Maybe she could become a New Orleans street
performer. She has to figure out how to earn enough money to buy a
guitar...
...because her mother won't buy her one. Mom won't even let her
be in her school's swing choir. In her mind music is a waste of time
that will get Apple nowhere. Academics are all that counts in America
where they came to for a better life.
Apple isn't sold on her mother's beliefs. "...I don't
understand how our life in America is any better. In the Philippines,
I would be just another face in the crowd. No one would call me a dog-
eater or a dog. Maybe I would even be pretty."
On a personal note, Earth Day up to UMaine was the cat's pajamas. We
celebrated on the quad. There was nonstop music. People threw
frisbees. A few people painted themselves green and biked around
campus. (It's a tradition. It sure doesn't look fun.) At lunch time
free pizza appeared. (A tradition I can understand a whole lot
better). A bunch of us tabled for different causes. I was with Real
Food Challenge. We used fabric paint to make a cool new banner. And
we had a food quiz. Everyone who entered it was eligible for a prize
drawing.
A great big shout out goes out to all who participated in Earth Day
activities. Can you believe it's been 46 years since the first Earth
Day?
jules hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Fire Engine No. 9
Fire Engine No. 9
Picture book
About a few weeks ago a neighborhood youngster told another boy,
probably a visiting school chum, that my big boy (son) is a REAL LIVE
FIREMAN. "For real?," the other boy said, "Wow! That is AMAZING." I
don't think I could have gotten more respect if I'd raised the
president. Children are still fascinated by fire fighters, as anyone
who has chaperoned a fire station field trip can attest. Mike
Austin's Fire Engine No. 9 is a perfect read aloud for today's kids.
Fire fighters and their dalmatian are cleaning a fire engine
when an alarm goes off and they leap into action. The multicultural,
two gender team puts out the blaze and rescues a baby, reuniting it
with its family, before a most satisfying surprise ending.
Whether in a home, library, or school, Fire Engine No. 9 will be
a frequently requested read aloud. The collage like illustrations are
vibrant and dynamic. Text is perfectly sparse and full of words
(weooo, honk, whoosh, smash) that bring out the dramatic in adults and
help emergent readers to enjoy success.
On a personal note, I just looked out and...NOOOOO....it's
snowing...with my daffodils flowering!!! I got plastic sleds and a
bin out the my shed and put them up for a little protection. I hope
this frigid precip doesn't amount to anything.
A great big shout out goes out to my son and all his fellow fire
fighters.
jules hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Picture book
About a few weeks ago a neighborhood youngster told another boy,
probably a visiting school chum, that my big boy (son) is a REAL LIVE
FIREMAN. "For real?," the other boy said, "Wow! That is AMAZING." I
don't think I could have gotten more respect if I'd raised the
president. Children are still fascinated by fire fighters, as anyone
who has chaperoned a fire station field trip can attest. Mike
Austin's Fire Engine No. 9 is a perfect read aloud for today's kids.
Fire fighters and their dalmatian are cleaning a fire engine
when an alarm goes off and they leap into action. The multicultural,
two gender team puts out the blaze and rescues a baby, reuniting it
with its family, before a most satisfying surprise ending.
Whether in a home, library, or school, Fire Engine No. 9 will be
a frequently requested read aloud. The collage like illustrations are
vibrant and dynamic. Text is perfectly sparse and full of words
(weooo, honk, whoosh, smash) that bring out the dramatic in adults and
help emergent readers to enjoy success.
On a personal note, I just looked out and...NOOOOO....it's
snowing...with my daffodils flowering!!! I got plastic sleds and a
bin out the my shed and put them up for a little protection. I hope
this frigid precip doesn't amount to anything.
A great big shout out goes out to my son and all his fellow fire
fighters.
jules hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Orbiting Jupiter
Orbiting Jupiter
YA fiction
A widely believed in figure in the rogue's gallery of urban
legend is the deadbeat dad (personified by the only too real Timothy
McSeed who boasted that the government supported the six children he
had sired with multiple women--see my April 4 review of Doing The Best
I can). He leaves a woman with whom he is intimate as soon as the
pregnancy test comes back pregnant. Pundits and government officials
use a lot of ink reminding him that it's the ability to support the
child rather than just impregnate its mother that makes one a real
man. The idea that he might have real love for the child(ren) he
seeds does not generally fit in with this narrative.
Researchers who have taken the trouble to talk to large numbers
of men who leave their children have found that often a very different
picture emerges. The father may be strongly emotionally attached to
the child. Being undereducated may prevent him from earning enough
money to support the child. A new partner in the baby's mother's life
or his life and infidelity suspicion may stand in the way of his even
visiting on a regular basis. Gary D. Schmidt's Orbiting Jupiter is a
poignant portrayal of a teen father desperate to be in his baby's life
and stymied at every turn.
Jack and his parents take in a foster child who presents a
number of challenges. He's been in the juvenile justice system. He's
tried to kill a teacher. And he's parented a child by another 13-year-
old.
Joseph also faces an obstacle his case worker fails to mention:
prejudice on the part of people who should know better. When he steps
on the school bus the driver (clued in by vice principal Canton)
greets him with "You're the kid that has a kid." Later Canton tells
Jack, "...They're [his parents] trying to make a difference in the
world, bringing kids like Joseph Brook into a normal family. But kids
like Joseph Brook aren't always normal, see? They act the way they do
because their brains work differently..."
It takes time and persistence for Jack and his parents to get
past Joseph's silence. When he trusts them with his story it's a
poignant narrative of young love complicted by strong disapproval on
the part of the girl's (Maddie's) parents who do their best to keep
the couple apart. What shouldn't happen does. Maddie dies in child
birth. Joseph is desperate to parent the baby who is also all he can
have of a girl he still adores. But seemingly insurmountable
obstacles stand in his way.
On a personal note, the last few Wednesday nights the programs at
Wilson Center have been about mysticism: Islamic, Jewish, and
Christian. Really thought provoking. And of course the food has been
delish.
A great big shout out goes out to people of faith who share their
beliefs and traditions with others.
jules hathaway
Sent from my iPod
YA fiction
A widely believed in figure in the rogue's gallery of urban
legend is the deadbeat dad (personified by the only too real Timothy
McSeed who boasted that the government supported the six children he
had sired with multiple women--see my April 4 review of Doing The Best
I can). He leaves a woman with whom he is intimate as soon as the
pregnancy test comes back pregnant. Pundits and government officials
use a lot of ink reminding him that it's the ability to support the
child rather than just impregnate its mother that makes one a real
man. The idea that he might have real love for the child(ren) he
seeds does not generally fit in with this narrative.
Researchers who have taken the trouble to talk to large numbers
of men who leave their children have found that often a very different
picture emerges. The father may be strongly emotionally attached to
the child. Being undereducated may prevent him from earning enough
money to support the child. A new partner in the baby's mother's life
or his life and infidelity suspicion may stand in the way of his even
visiting on a regular basis. Gary D. Schmidt's Orbiting Jupiter is a
poignant portrayal of a teen father desperate to be in his baby's life
and stymied at every turn.
Jack and his parents take in a foster child who presents a
number of challenges. He's been in the juvenile justice system. He's
tried to kill a teacher. And he's parented a child by another 13-year-
old.
Joseph also faces an obstacle his case worker fails to mention:
prejudice on the part of people who should know better. When he steps
on the school bus the driver (clued in by vice principal Canton)
greets him with "You're the kid that has a kid." Later Canton tells
Jack, "...They're [his parents] trying to make a difference in the
world, bringing kids like Joseph Brook into a normal family. But kids
like Joseph Brook aren't always normal, see? They act the way they do
because their brains work differently..."
It takes time and persistence for Jack and his parents to get
past Joseph's silence. When he trusts them with his story it's a
poignant narrative of young love complicted by strong disapproval on
the part of the girl's (Maddie's) parents who do their best to keep
the couple apart. What shouldn't happen does. Maddie dies in child
birth. Joseph is desperate to parent the baby who is also all he can
have of a girl he still adores. But seemingly insurmountable
obstacles stand in his way.
On a personal note, the last few Wednesday nights the programs at
Wilson Center have been about mysticism: Islamic, Jewish, and
Christian. Really thought provoking. And of course the food has been
delish.
A great big shout out goes out to people of faith who share their
beliefs and traditions with others.
jules hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Page by Paige
Page by Paige
YA graphic novel
There are some stories that are meant to be told as graphic
novels. The nuanced belnd of narrative and image would be far more
clunky if words had to do all the work. The haunting (and sometimes
halting) process of identity formation is a perfect context for this
genre. Laura Lee Gulledge's Page by Paige is a marvelous example.
Paige and her parents (and cat, Harley) have moved to New York
from Virginia, leaving behind all her friends. City life feels
strange. She misses wildlife, mountains, and a house with a porch.
Her mother's nonstop upbeat excitement leaves her tired and grouchy.
Paige is an artist at a crucial juncture in her life. Other
people including her parents see her as a quiet girl who draws. She
senses another self hidden away.
"I want to get to know this other me, but I don't know her well enough
yet to be her all the time. Living quietly feels safer. But artists
draw inspiration from challenges, right?"
This quirky coming of age novel will appeal to anyone who has
had to move and start over in a new place or has wondered if there is
more to her/himself than the persona the world perceives--anyone who
must find the courage to take a leap of faith.
On a personal note, the weather was perfect for the UMaine Healthy
High. That's a 5 and 10K race with a 1 mile run walk. Real Food
Challenge had a team with runners and cheerers. (Since I'd donated
blood I was one of the cheerers. Red Cross nurses had been very clear
on that score.) We had really cool purple RFC shirts with running
carrots. There was great music that gave me an adrenalin rush that
let me cut the rug, or actually pavement. (Red Cross nurses
fortunately hadn't said anything about dancing. Back in my child
bearing days I'd done the macarana the morning after a C section.) An
ice cream truck was on the scene with refreshing summery goodies.
A great big shout out goes out to Male Arhletes Against Violence.
They frequently table in the Union to remind people that preventing
rape and sexual violence is not just a women's issue. They did the
miler taking turns with gosh awful tall red high heels as a "Man
Enough to Walk a Mile in Her Shoes" statement. Gotta respect that.
As a woman who is one of the rape statistics and desperately wants
that to never happen to my daughters I deeply appreciate what they are
crusading for.
jules hathaway
Sent from my iPod
YA graphic novel
There are some stories that are meant to be told as graphic
novels. The nuanced belnd of narrative and image would be far more
clunky if words had to do all the work. The haunting (and sometimes
halting) process of identity formation is a perfect context for this
genre. Laura Lee Gulledge's Page by Paige is a marvelous example.
Paige and her parents (and cat, Harley) have moved to New York
from Virginia, leaving behind all her friends. City life feels
strange. She misses wildlife, mountains, and a house with a porch.
Her mother's nonstop upbeat excitement leaves her tired and grouchy.
Paige is an artist at a crucial juncture in her life. Other
people including her parents see her as a quiet girl who draws. She
senses another self hidden away.
"I want to get to know this other me, but I don't know her well enough
yet to be her all the time. Living quietly feels safer. But artists
draw inspiration from challenges, right?"
This quirky coming of age novel will appeal to anyone who has
had to move and start over in a new place or has wondered if there is
more to her/himself than the persona the world perceives--anyone who
must find the courage to take a leap of faith.
On a personal note, the weather was perfect for the UMaine Healthy
High. That's a 5 and 10K race with a 1 mile run walk. Real Food
Challenge had a team with runners and cheerers. (Since I'd donated
blood I was one of the cheerers. Red Cross nurses had been very clear
on that score.) We had really cool purple RFC shirts with running
carrots. There was great music that gave me an adrenalin rush that
let me cut the rug, or actually pavement. (Red Cross nurses
fortunately hadn't said anything about dancing. Back in my child
bearing days I'd done the macarana the morning after a C section.) An
ice cream truck was on the scene with refreshing summery goodies.
A great big shout out goes out to Male Arhletes Against Violence.
They frequently table in the Union to remind people that preventing
rape and sexual violence is not just a women's issue. They did the
miler taking turns with gosh awful tall red high heels as a "Man
Enough to Walk a Mile in Her Shoes" statement. Gotta respect that.
As a woman who is one of the rape statistics and desperately wants
that to never happen to my daughters I deeply appreciate what they are
crusading for.
jules hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Saturday, April 23, 2016
Masterminds
Masterminds
Juvenile fiction
"...Project Osiris was never abandoned. Felix Hammerstrom
changed his name and went underground and did it in a place so far off
the grid that no one would ever find out about it.
Project Osiris was us."
Imagine what it would be like to find out, at the age of
thirteen, that your comfortable life is a total lie. You are part of
a highly unethical experiment. All the adults in your life are in on
it...even the one you considered your father. That is the chilling
premise expertly explored in Gordon Korman's Masterminds.
Life is just about perfect in Serenity (population 185). A
plastic cone factory keeps all adults gainfully employed. Hunger and
homelessness only happen in other parts of the world. Each house has
its swimming pool and tree house.
One day Eli, son of the town's mayor and school principal, goes
outside the town limits with his best friend, Randy. Suddenly he's
violently ill. When he gets out of the health center after a couple
of days of observation he learns that Randy is being sent away to help
care for grandparents in the outside world.
Randy, however, has left Eli a covert, carefully hidden
message. He's being sent to a boarding school and not allowed to get
in touch with Eli. There is something really messed up in the town.
It involves a group of kids like Eli who are somehow special.
Masterminds, told in the voices of Eli and four of his
classmates, is a suspenseful coming of age narrative. Fans of
dystopia will find it nearly impossible to put down.
On a personal note, Real Foods Challenge people are volunteering to
build relationships with local farmers. Curren, Sarah, and I helped
at the Daily Bread table at the farmers market. It was lots of fun.
I saw scads of friends. And I got a free loaf of cinnamon raisin bread.
A great big shout out goes out to the awesome people selling local,
ethically sourced food at farmers markets around the world.
jules hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Juvenile fiction
"...Project Osiris was never abandoned. Felix Hammerstrom
changed his name and went underground and did it in a place so far off
the grid that no one would ever find out about it.
Project Osiris was us."
Imagine what it would be like to find out, at the age of
thirteen, that your comfortable life is a total lie. You are part of
a highly unethical experiment. All the adults in your life are in on
it...even the one you considered your father. That is the chilling
premise expertly explored in Gordon Korman's Masterminds.
Life is just about perfect in Serenity (population 185). A
plastic cone factory keeps all adults gainfully employed. Hunger and
homelessness only happen in other parts of the world. Each house has
its swimming pool and tree house.
One day Eli, son of the town's mayor and school principal, goes
outside the town limits with his best friend, Randy. Suddenly he's
violently ill. When he gets out of the health center after a couple
of days of observation he learns that Randy is being sent away to help
care for grandparents in the outside world.
Randy, however, has left Eli a covert, carefully hidden
message. He's being sent to a boarding school and not allowed to get
in touch with Eli. There is something really messed up in the town.
It involves a group of kids like Eli who are somehow special.
Masterminds, told in the voices of Eli and four of his
classmates, is a suspenseful coming of age narrative. Fans of
dystopia will find it nearly impossible to put down.
On a personal note, Real Foods Challenge people are volunteering to
build relationships with local farmers. Curren, Sarah, and I helped
at the Daily Bread table at the farmers market. It was lots of fun.
I saw scads of friends. And I got a free loaf of cinnamon raisin bread.
A great big shout out goes out to the awesome people selling local,
ethically sourced food at farmers markets around the world.
jules hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Sunday, April 17, 2016
The Boys Who Challenged Hitler
The Boys Who Challenged Hitler
Juvenile fiction
"Lying low was the last thing I wanted. Norwegians were still
fighting and dying, and Danes were still singing folk songs and buying
King's Badges. We were still occuppied. The Germans seemed more at
home in Aalborg by the day. If I had to go down, I wanted to go down
fighting like the hero of my fantasies."
In 2000 Maine's own Phillip Hoose took a bycicle tour of
Denmark. He toured the Museum of Danish Resistance and learned some
interesting information. While most Danes had cooperated during the
invading Germans in the first years of World War II, overwhelmed by
the might of this military Goliath, a small group fought back. They
were ninth grade school boys. A ringleader, Knud Pederson, was still
alive. Hoose contacted him. Much to his disappointment Pederson had
a contract with another writer. That contract fell through. In 2011
Hoose was able to begin the correspondance that led to the publication
of The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pederson And The Churchill Club.
In 1940 Pederson and his family were eating breakfast. A siren
and the sound of planes drew them outside. Leaflets announcing that
Denmark was a protectorate of Germany were being dropped all over.
The next day Denmark's king and prime minister signed permission for
Germany to take over the government. German soldiers began to pour in.
Although the king and prime minister had signed the agreement to
protect their country from "an even worse fate" their acquiescence
bothered young Pederson as did the attitudes of his fellow Danes.
Teachers warned students to not say a thing that might incur the wrath
of Hitler. Many people seemed to accept the occupation, particularly
merchants who made money off the soldiers. Norway, in contrast had
fought back.
After the invasion Pederson and his older brother and chums,
formerly apolitical, became avid newspaper readers. The stories of
violence against civilians horrified them. They realized that since
their nation's leaders and military had surrendered resistance would
have to be led by civilians. They would be those civilians.
Resistance to an occuppier was not something they could learn in
school or seek advice from adults about. They had to do much of their
work in broad daylight since they still had curfews. They started out
vandalizing German signs and cutting wires. By the time they were
arrested they were destroying vehicles, committing arson, and stealing
military grade weapons.
This very dramatic narrative in which the larger story is
interspersed with Pederson's memories and period photographs gives the
reader the sense of really being there. There is a great deal of
suspense. We know who won the war. But the fate of the young men
undertaking very dangerous tasks, always operating with the knowledge
that they could be shot on sight, is always up in the air.
On a personal note, Orono Arts Cafe was wonderful as always. I read
three poems which were well received. One of my Wilson Center
friends, Dylan, who loves open mic opportunities as much as I do,
performed in the venue for the first time and fit in perfectly.
A great big shout out goes out to my Orono Arts Cafe family.
jules hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Juvenile fiction
"Lying low was the last thing I wanted. Norwegians were still
fighting and dying, and Danes were still singing folk songs and buying
King's Badges. We were still occuppied. The Germans seemed more at
home in Aalborg by the day. If I had to go down, I wanted to go down
fighting like the hero of my fantasies."
In 2000 Maine's own Phillip Hoose took a bycicle tour of
Denmark. He toured the Museum of Danish Resistance and learned some
interesting information. While most Danes had cooperated during the
invading Germans in the first years of World War II, overwhelmed by
the might of this military Goliath, a small group fought back. They
were ninth grade school boys. A ringleader, Knud Pederson, was still
alive. Hoose contacted him. Much to his disappointment Pederson had
a contract with another writer. That contract fell through. In 2011
Hoose was able to begin the correspondance that led to the publication
of The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pederson And The Churchill Club.
In 1940 Pederson and his family were eating breakfast. A siren
and the sound of planes drew them outside. Leaflets announcing that
Denmark was a protectorate of Germany were being dropped all over.
The next day Denmark's king and prime minister signed permission for
Germany to take over the government. German soldiers began to pour in.
Although the king and prime minister had signed the agreement to
protect their country from "an even worse fate" their acquiescence
bothered young Pederson as did the attitudes of his fellow Danes.
Teachers warned students to not say a thing that might incur the wrath
of Hitler. Many people seemed to accept the occupation, particularly
merchants who made money off the soldiers. Norway, in contrast had
fought back.
After the invasion Pederson and his older brother and chums,
formerly apolitical, became avid newspaper readers. The stories of
violence against civilians horrified them. They realized that since
their nation's leaders and military had surrendered resistance would
have to be led by civilians. They would be those civilians.
Resistance to an occuppier was not something they could learn in
school or seek advice from adults about. They had to do much of their
work in broad daylight since they still had curfews. They started out
vandalizing German signs and cutting wires. By the time they were
arrested they were destroying vehicles, committing arson, and stealing
military grade weapons.
This very dramatic narrative in which the larger story is
interspersed with Pederson's memories and period photographs gives the
reader the sense of really being there. There is a great deal of
suspense. We know who won the war. But the fate of the young men
undertaking very dangerous tasks, always operating with the knowledge
that they could be shot on sight, is always up in the air.
On a personal note, Orono Arts Cafe was wonderful as always. I read
three poems which were well received. One of my Wilson Center
friends, Dylan, who loves open mic opportunities as much as I do,
performed in the venue for the first time and fit in perfectly.
A great big shout out goes out to my Orono Arts Cafe family.
jules hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Saturday, April 16, 2016
Forgotten Bones
Forgotten Bones
Picture book
My husband is a construction worker who usually runs an excavator.
He's replaced more than a few sewer lines. I can imagine how he'd
react if, in the course of this essential work, he dug up an object
that turned out to be a human skull. That is exactly what happened to
a peer of his in Albany New York in 2005. His gruesome discovery led
to a fascinating real life mystery and Lois Miner Huey's Forgotten
Bones: Uncovering A Slave Cemetary.
A skeleton had been discovered at that place in 1998. After the
coroner judged that they wouldn't be messing up an active crime scene
archeologists set to work. They discovered evidence of other
skeletons in what was possibly a burial ground. Needless to say, the
sewer project was put on hold. But it was too far along to be
scrapped. The aged remains would have to be moved.
Documents showed that the property had been owned by a slave
owning farming family. Only they were far removed from the much
better preserved family burial ground. Could this be a slave burial
ground? If so, it would be only the third discovered in the North.
The bones could not talk, but they carried stories--ones that
could be read by STEM enhanced detective work. It's amazing, even to
an adult, how much information they carried. The well illustrated
narrative will pique many children's curiosity--maybe even set a few
on a promising career path.
On a personal note, when I was ten I wanted to be an archaeologist.
My mother set up an independent study with a professional for me. It
was capped off with my mom, Harriet, and me spending part of the
summer in Mexico visiting pyramids. We did home stays rather than
hotels. I remember attending the Girl Scout meeting of a host family
child and having the kids buy me strawberry and coconut ice creams
from a vendor with a cart. I collected insects for my collection.
The customs officials were in for a big surprise when they tried to
keep me from bringing them across the border. Mom had helped me get a
permit in my name. That was something they didn't see every day.
A great big shout out goes to all the professionals who use skills and
technology to open windows onto the past.
jules hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Picture book
My husband is a construction worker who usually runs an excavator.
He's replaced more than a few sewer lines. I can imagine how he'd
react if, in the course of this essential work, he dug up an object
that turned out to be a human skull. That is exactly what happened to
a peer of his in Albany New York in 2005. His gruesome discovery led
to a fascinating real life mystery and Lois Miner Huey's Forgotten
Bones: Uncovering A Slave Cemetary.
A skeleton had been discovered at that place in 1998. After the
coroner judged that they wouldn't be messing up an active crime scene
archeologists set to work. They discovered evidence of other
skeletons in what was possibly a burial ground. Needless to say, the
sewer project was put on hold. But it was too far along to be
scrapped. The aged remains would have to be moved.
Documents showed that the property had been owned by a slave
owning farming family. Only they were far removed from the much
better preserved family burial ground. Could this be a slave burial
ground? If so, it would be only the third discovered in the North.
The bones could not talk, but they carried stories--ones that
could be read by STEM enhanced detective work. It's amazing, even to
an adult, how much information they carried. The well illustrated
narrative will pique many children's curiosity--maybe even set a few
on a promising career path.
On a personal note, when I was ten I wanted to be an archaeologist.
My mother set up an independent study with a professional for me. It
was capped off with my mom, Harriet, and me spending part of the
summer in Mexico visiting pyramids. We did home stays rather than
hotels. I remember attending the Girl Scout meeting of a host family
child and having the kids buy me strawberry and coconut ice creams
from a vendor with a cart. I collected insects for my collection.
The customs officials were in for a big surprise when they tried to
keep me from bringing them across the border. Mom had helped me get a
permit in my name. That was something they didn't see every day.
A great big shout out goes to all the professionals who use skills and
technology to open windows onto the past.
jules hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Enormous Smallness
Enormous Smallness
Juvenile biography
In 2007 writer and teacher, Matthew Burgess, had an unexpected
chance to see the room in New York where E. E. Cummings wrote for over
forty years. Although it had been transformed into a boy's bedroom,
he could easily imagine it in its former incarnation. Three years
later this experience seemed like an omen when his editor asked him to
do a picture book about cummings. The delightful result was Enormous
Smallness: A Story Of E. E. Cummings.
Edward Estlin Cummings grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts in a
family that encouraged him to pursue his interests. He began creating
poems at such an early age his mother wrote them down. Not
surprisingly, when he was eleven his favorite teacher encouraged his
talents.
He became an unconventional writer at a time when artists in all
genres were exploring new directions and breaking free from the
conventions of the past. He explored new ways of placing words on
paper and used lowercase letters where most people insisted on
capitals--even in his name.
Enormous Smallness gives fascinating glimpses into the life of
one of America's best loved poets. Children will especially enjoy
details such as the poet as young boy and his sister flying a kite on
the roof of their family home.
On a personal note, I had just started signing my name on all but the
most official documents with no capitals. I like the way it looks.
After being reminded of such a fine literary precedent, I shall do so
in this blog.
A great big shout our goes out to my fellow free spirits in the worlds
of writing and art.
jules hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Juvenile biography
In 2007 writer and teacher, Matthew Burgess, had an unexpected
chance to see the room in New York where E. E. Cummings wrote for over
forty years. Although it had been transformed into a boy's bedroom,
he could easily imagine it in its former incarnation. Three years
later this experience seemed like an omen when his editor asked him to
do a picture book about cummings. The delightful result was Enormous
Smallness: A Story Of E. E. Cummings.
Edward Estlin Cummings grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts in a
family that encouraged him to pursue his interests. He began creating
poems at such an early age his mother wrote them down. Not
surprisingly, when he was eleven his favorite teacher encouraged his
talents.
He became an unconventional writer at a time when artists in all
genres were exploring new directions and breaking free from the
conventions of the past. He explored new ways of placing words on
paper and used lowercase letters where most people insisted on
capitals--even in his name.
Enormous Smallness gives fascinating glimpses into the life of
one of America's best loved poets. Children will especially enjoy
details such as the poet as young boy and his sister flying a kite on
the roof of their family home.
On a personal note, I had just started signing my name on all but the
most official documents with no capitals. I like the way it looks.
After being reminded of such a fine literary precedent, I shall do so
in this blog.
A great big shout our goes out to my fellow free spirits in the worlds
of writing and art.
jules hathaway
Sent from my iPod
That's Hockey
That's Hockey
Picture book
David Boucher played a lot of street hockey when he was growing
up. Lucky for us, he remembered his experiences. Even luckier, he
made them the basis of the very lively That's Hockey.
The narrator is spending a weekend at a cousin's farm. It's
going to be two days of hockey. Both kids love the sport. Only it
turns out they have two different games in mind.
Our narrator is quite surprised when Etienne provides old ratty
clothes and a stubby stick. Where are the skates and safety gear?
The game takes place on the bare ground with chunks of snow or rocks
for goal posts. Instead of a puck there's a red ball.
Over the course of the game consternation turns to delight.
Narrator has a wonderful time and is able to keep Etienne's sweater as
a souvenir.
The book has a truly wonderful surprise ending.
That's Hockey is a wonderful tribute to the games passed on by
kids to younger siblings and friends...those subversive activities
unsullied by expensive equipment, intrusive coaches, and too many
rules. Whenever I see kids raptly involved, whether it's ghost in the
graveyard or an elaborate clapping game, I cheer inwardly.
On a personal note, schools are now on April vacation. When I met
with the teachers of the Veazie Community School I noticed that the
kids weren't the only ones bubbling over with eager anticipation.
A great big shout out goes out to our teachers and kids enjoying a
week of freedom. Hopefully both groups will be able to enjoy some
unstructured play time!
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Picture book
David Boucher played a lot of street hockey when he was growing
up. Lucky for us, he remembered his experiences. Even luckier, he
made them the basis of the very lively That's Hockey.
The narrator is spending a weekend at a cousin's farm. It's
going to be two days of hockey. Both kids love the sport. Only it
turns out they have two different games in mind.
Our narrator is quite surprised when Etienne provides old ratty
clothes and a stubby stick. Where are the skates and safety gear?
The game takes place on the bare ground with chunks of snow or rocks
for goal posts. Instead of a puck there's a red ball.
Over the course of the game consternation turns to delight.
Narrator has a wonderful time and is able to keep Etienne's sweater as
a souvenir.
The book has a truly wonderful surprise ending.
That's Hockey is a wonderful tribute to the games passed on by
kids to younger siblings and friends...those subversive activities
unsullied by expensive equipment, intrusive coaches, and too many
rules. Whenever I see kids raptly involved, whether it's ghost in the
graveyard or an elaborate clapping game, I cheer inwardly.
On a personal note, schools are now on April vacation. When I met
with the teachers of the Veazie Community School I noticed that the
kids weren't the only ones bubbling over with eager anticipation.
A great big shout out goes out to our teachers and kids enjoying a
week of freedom. Hopefully both groups will be able to enjoy some
unstructured play time!
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Hope
Hope
Sports
"...If I had started out little more than an observer, the
detached reporter, that separation was long gone. I wanted Hope to
win because it needed to win; needed it for respect, for validation,
for some tangible proof that if you worked hard enough and cared
enough there would be some reward..."
Normally sports is a genre I avoid in literature as well as real
life. I'm not gonna lie to you. Even growing up in Massachusetts and
moving just a little north to Maine I couldn't care less about the
fortunes of the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, and whomever else I'm
supposed to root for. So a sports book has to be very special for me
to pick it up, let alone read the whole thing. Bill Reynolds' Hope:
A School, A Team, A Dream is that kind of special.
Hope is a very run down inner city Rhode Island high school.
Underfunded and overcrowded it has high rates of students turnover,
dropping out, violence, and absentiism. It educates a lot of kids who
are often too hungry, stressed, and scared to apply themselves to
school work or sports...the kids most of us would rather not see in a
place we can too easily ignore.
"....This is the Providence of sirens and gunshots in the night,
of kids who live in fear, of gritty streets where there are too many
drugs, too many gangs, too many guns, too little hope that it's gonna
change anytime soon. This is the Providence that got left behind in
the so-called Providence Renaissance in the '90s. A place you could
spend your entire life in Rhode Island ignoring, a place where the
American Dream has been under siege for a long time now."
Reynolds, a sports columnist for the Providence Journal, had
written about students who had overcome all the odds and achieved
success. He began to wonder about the others. He did an in depth
coverage of Hope's 2012-2013 basketball season. You get to know the
kids and coaches and the many obstacles they have to contend with.
Interwoven skillfully with the games and personal drama is plenty of
back story.
This is no after school special. Even as it uplifts, it should
also make you angry that in the United States in the twenty-first
century educational opportunity is so unequal.
On a personal note, last week we had a local writers program at the
Orono Public Library. Six of us read from our work to an appreciative
audience. I read two of my love poems which people took to like Joey
cat to tuna.
A great big shout out goes out to all who work to give kids in inner
city schools a fighting chance.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Sports
"...If I had started out little more than an observer, the
detached reporter, that separation was long gone. I wanted Hope to
win because it needed to win; needed it for respect, for validation,
for some tangible proof that if you worked hard enough and cared
enough there would be some reward..."
Normally sports is a genre I avoid in literature as well as real
life. I'm not gonna lie to you. Even growing up in Massachusetts and
moving just a little north to Maine I couldn't care less about the
fortunes of the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, and whomever else I'm
supposed to root for. So a sports book has to be very special for me
to pick it up, let alone read the whole thing. Bill Reynolds' Hope:
A School, A Team, A Dream is that kind of special.
Hope is a very run down inner city Rhode Island high school.
Underfunded and overcrowded it has high rates of students turnover,
dropping out, violence, and absentiism. It educates a lot of kids who
are often too hungry, stressed, and scared to apply themselves to
school work or sports...the kids most of us would rather not see in a
place we can too easily ignore.
"....This is the Providence of sirens and gunshots in the night,
of kids who live in fear, of gritty streets where there are too many
drugs, too many gangs, too many guns, too little hope that it's gonna
change anytime soon. This is the Providence that got left behind in
the so-called Providence Renaissance in the '90s. A place you could
spend your entire life in Rhode Island ignoring, a place where the
American Dream has been under siege for a long time now."
Reynolds, a sports columnist for the Providence Journal, had
written about students who had overcome all the odds and achieved
success. He began to wonder about the others. He did an in depth
coverage of Hope's 2012-2013 basketball season. You get to know the
kids and coaches and the many obstacles they have to contend with.
Interwoven skillfully with the games and personal drama is plenty of
back story.
This is no after school special. Even as it uplifts, it should
also make you angry that in the United States in the twenty-first
century educational opportunity is so unequal.
On a personal note, last week we had a local writers program at the
Orono Public Library. Six of us read from our work to an appreciative
audience. I read two of my love poems which people took to like Joey
cat to tuna.
A great big shout out goes out to all who work to give kids in inner
city schools a fighting chance.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Friday, April 15, 2016
A Polar Bear's World
A Polar Bear's World
Picture book
Rarely do literary form and function blend as beautifully, even
in the picture book world, as they do in Caroline Arnold's A Polar
Bear's World. Illustrations and narrative make this first look at the
life of a fascinating mammal appealing to young listeners while
additional information expands the reader range upward.
Illustrations are collages done mostly in the muted pallette of
an arctic world. They are extremely appealing. The primary text
covers the first years of twin cubs and their development from
helpless neonate to adult ready to leave mom. Younger children will
enjoy the details of the cubs' activities and relationship with their
mother. Informational sidebars will help school age kids with research.
Global warming is exacting a cruel toll on the polar bear
population. Our species is the only one that can turn things around
for them. A Polar Bear's World is a good start toward getting
children to care and grow up to advocate for creatures they will most
likely never see in the flesh.
On a personal note, yesterday was the first time in 2016 that it was
warm enough to sit out in my outside glider (which maybe this year I
get around to painting) to work. I was writing the first draft of an
op ed. I'd better get the hubby to reconstruct my reading swing. I
anticipate many happy hours of reading and writing outside. :)
A great big shout out goes out to all the folks who are working to
save polar bears and other endangered species.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Picture book
Rarely do literary form and function blend as beautifully, even
in the picture book world, as they do in Caroline Arnold's A Polar
Bear's World. Illustrations and narrative make this first look at the
life of a fascinating mammal appealing to young listeners while
additional information expands the reader range upward.
Illustrations are collages done mostly in the muted pallette of
an arctic world. They are extremely appealing. The primary text
covers the first years of twin cubs and their development from
helpless neonate to adult ready to leave mom. Younger children will
enjoy the details of the cubs' activities and relationship with their
mother. Informational sidebars will help school age kids with research.
Global warming is exacting a cruel toll on the polar bear
population. Our species is the only one that can turn things around
for them. A Polar Bear's World is a good start toward getting
children to care and grow up to advocate for creatures they will most
likely never see in the flesh.
On a personal note, yesterday was the first time in 2016 that it was
warm enough to sit out in my outside glider (which maybe this year I
get around to painting) to work. I was writing the first draft of an
op ed. I'd better get the hubby to reconstruct my reading swing. I
anticipate many happy hours of reading and writing outside. :)
A great big shout out goes out to all the folks who are working to
save polar bears and other endangered species.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
What's the Buzz?
What's the Buzz?
Picture book
Has anyone ever said that you're as busy as a bee? Consider
that quite the compliment. These industrious denizens of the insect
world are fascinating. Did you know that this world has more species
of bees than of birds and mammals? Did you know that bees dance to
communicate flower location to their foraging friends?
It might be a good time to buzz on over to your local library or
book store and snap up a copy of Merrie-Ellen Wilcox's What's The
Buzz?: Keeping Bees In Flight.
Wilcox obtained her first hives and started a hands on learning
process. Lucky for us this piqued a young neighbor's curiosity. This
deceptively slim volume is the result of real life questions.
Wilcox enlightens readers about the life cycle of bees, their
social organization, and the very important work they do. She also
warns us about the precariousness of their existence and the many
dangers they face. Fortunately she ends the book with a list of fun
ways people can help these insect friends to survive.
The photographs are the bee's knees. The ones of young bee
keepers could very well inspire kids to take up this fascinating
hobby. My favorite, though, is the one of the young man with the bee
beard.
On a personal note, here in Penobscot County, Maine, a drawn out
winter is reluctantly taking its leave. Every day there are more
signs of spring. The daffodils in my front yard are coming up quite
nicely. I am feeling such a need to get down to work at the Orono
Community Garden where I am sure to have lovely close encounters of
the pollinator kind.
A great big shout out goes out to my fellow community gardeners and
our peers around the world.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Picture book
Has anyone ever said that you're as busy as a bee? Consider
that quite the compliment. These industrious denizens of the insect
world are fascinating. Did you know that this world has more species
of bees than of birds and mammals? Did you know that bees dance to
communicate flower location to their foraging friends?
It might be a good time to buzz on over to your local library or
book store and snap up a copy of Merrie-Ellen Wilcox's What's The
Buzz?: Keeping Bees In Flight.
Wilcox obtained her first hives and started a hands on learning
process. Lucky for us this piqued a young neighbor's curiosity. This
deceptively slim volume is the result of real life questions.
Wilcox enlightens readers about the life cycle of bees, their
social organization, and the very important work they do. She also
warns us about the precariousness of their existence and the many
dangers they face. Fortunately she ends the book with a list of fun
ways people can help these insect friends to survive.
The photographs are the bee's knees. The ones of young bee
keepers could very well inspire kids to take up this fascinating
hobby. My favorite, though, is the one of the young man with the bee
beard.
On a personal note, here in Penobscot County, Maine, a drawn out
winter is reluctantly taking its leave. Every day there are more
signs of spring. The daffodils in my front yard are coming up quite
nicely. I am feeling such a need to get down to work at the Orono
Community Garden where I am sure to have lovely close encounters of
the pollinator kind.
A great big shout out goes out to my fellow community gardeners and
our peers around the world.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Malala Yousafzai And The Girls Of Pakistan
Malala Yousafzai And The Girls Of Pakistan
YA nonfiction
In Maine school districts are in budget season. Administrators
and school committees and boards work together to craft fiscal plans
that will meet students' needs while not seeming excessive to
taxpayers. As we wrestle over line items, we run the risk of not
realizing that in relation to much of the world we are truly
fortunate. Our children (both boys and girls) are guaranteed a free
and appropriate public education. We should all take a few minutes to
read David Aretha's Malala Yousafzai And The Girls Of Pakistan.
October 9, 2012 in Pakistan a man flagged down a bus containing
students and teachers. He asked which of the young people was
Malala. When he ascertained who she was he shot her in the head three
times. Malala had known she was in danger. The Taliban had sent her
death threats.
Malala was then only fifteen years old. Why would a young teen
make their assassination list? Even at that age she had spoken out
strongly for girls' rights to education.
Malala was born into a land, Pakistan, with a literacy rate of
69% for males and 40% for females. Family poverty, the need for their
help, and hunger kept a lot of children out of school.
Fundamentalist religious interpretations forbid educating girls,
particularly after the Taliban entered Pakistan follow America's
invasion of Afghanistan.
Facing such dire circumstances, most people would have given
up. Malala became even more resolute in her demand for education for
children. She can provide a fine inspiration for young adult readers...
...and maybe even for not so young school committee members.
On a personal note, choir has recently been a really a beautiful
experience at Universal Fellowship. We had one Sunday with only five
of us--no guys. The congregation said we sounded like angels. Then
last Sunday we did a beautiful and complicated piece by Bach. When we
started rehearsing it felt like we were wrestling with the music and
Bach was losing. But when we performed it was beauty like chills and
fever at the same time. I wrote a poem about it when I was supposed
to be listening to Pastor Lorna preach.
A great big shout out goes out to my Orono Methodist and Universal
Felliwship choir families who make my soul soar.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
YA nonfiction
In Maine school districts are in budget season. Administrators
and school committees and boards work together to craft fiscal plans
that will meet students' needs while not seeming excessive to
taxpayers. As we wrestle over line items, we run the risk of not
realizing that in relation to much of the world we are truly
fortunate. Our children (both boys and girls) are guaranteed a free
and appropriate public education. We should all take a few minutes to
read David Aretha's Malala Yousafzai And The Girls Of Pakistan.
October 9, 2012 in Pakistan a man flagged down a bus containing
students and teachers. He asked which of the young people was
Malala. When he ascertained who she was he shot her in the head three
times. Malala had known she was in danger. The Taliban had sent her
death threats.
Malala was then only fifteen years old. Why would a young teen
make their assassination list? Even at that age she had spoken out
strongly for girls' rights to education.
Malala was born into a land, Pakistan, with a literacy rate of
69% for males and 40% for females. Family poverty, the need for their
help, and hunger kept a lot of children out of school.
Fundamentalist religious interpretations forbid educating girls,
particularly after the Taliban entered Pakistan follow America's
invasion of Afghanistan.
Facing such dire circumstances, most people would have given
up. Malala became even more resolute in her demand for education for
children. She can provide a fine inspiration for young adult readers...
...and maybe even for not so young school committee members.
On a personal note, choir has recently been a really a beautiful
experience at Universal Fellowship. We had one Sunday with only five
of us--no guys. The congregation said we sounded like angels. Then
last Sunday we did a beautiful and complicated piece by Bach. When we
started rehearsing it felt like we were wrestling with the music and
Bach was losing. But when we performed it was beauty like chills and
fever at the same time. I wrote a poem about it when I was supposed
to be listening to Pastor Lorna preach.
A great big shout out goes out to my Orono Methodist and Universal
Felliwship choir families who make my soul soar.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Crenshaw
Crenshaw
Juvenile fiction
"What bothered me most, though, was that I couldn't fix
anything. I couldn't control anything. It was like driving a bumper
car without a steering wheel. I kept getting slammed, and I had to
just sit there and hold on tight."
In the summer between fourth and fifth grade, Jackson,
protagonist of Katherine Applegate's Crenshaw, has to think about
things most of his peers can take for granted. Will he and his family
have enough food? Will they be able to pay the rent? Will he still
be in the same school when vacation ends? Will they have another
spell of living in their van?
Things have been very rough since his dad was diagnosed with
multiple sclerosis and had to quit a physically demanding job. His
mom's middle school teaching job was cut. Even with both parents
working a patchwork of part time jobs there is never enough money.
Valuables get sold. Utilities get shut off. Jackson and his little
sister, Robin, are constantly hungry. They are always in danger or
being homeless.
Again.
At this turbulant point in Jackson's life he is joined by
Crenshaw, a humungous imaginary friend cat who likes bubble baths.
Only Jackson (and possibly family dog, Aretha) can see Crenshaw.
Jackson isn't sure why he is being visited. He isn't much for
imagination. Science and facts are more his cup of cocoa. Also isn't
he a bit old for an imaginary friend?
Still maybe the mega cat can somehow help Jackson gain some way
of coping with his family's very precarious situation.
On a personal note, last week was the UMaine's counseling center's
annual carnival, one of my favorite events of the year. There was
lots of good food. My favorite was the watermelon snow cones. There
were crafts. There were fun games (my favorite being the tricycle
races) to earn tickets to cash in for prizes. I got mood rings, a
stress ball for Joey, and eight sheets of scented stickers to pretty
up my journals. I saw lots of friends. My Islamic friends gave me a
henna tattoo. It was fabulous.
A great big shout out goes out to all the folks who worked hard to
make the carnival a reality. You are simply the best.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Juvenile fiction
"What bothered me most, though, was that I couldn't fix
anything. I couldn't control anything. It was like driving a bumper
car without a steering wheel. I kept getting slammed, and I had to
just sit there and hold on tight."
In the summer between fourth and fifth grade, Jackson,
protagonist of Katherine Applegate's Crenshaw, has to think about
things most of his peers can take for granted. Will he and his family
have enough food? Will they be able to pay the rent? Will he still
be in the same school when vacation ends? Will they have another
spell of living in their van?
Things have been very rough since his dad was diagnosed with
multiple sclerosis and had to quit a physically demanding job. His
mom's middle school teaching job was cut. Even with both parents
working a patchwork of part time jobs there is never enough money.
Valuables get sold. Utilities get shut off. Jackson and his little
sister, Robin, are constantly hungry. They are always in danger or
being homeless.
Again.
At this turbulant point in Jackson's life he is joined by
Crenshaw, a humungous imaginary friend cat who likes bubble baths.
Only Jackson (and possibly family dog, Aretha) can see Crenshaw.
Jackson isn't sure why he is being visited. He isn't much for
imagination. Science and facts are more his cup of cocoa. Also isn't
he a bit old for an imaginary friend?
Still maybe the mega cat can somehow help Jackson gain some way
of coping with his family's very precarious situation.
On a personal note, last week was the UMaine's counseling center's
annual carnival, one of my favorite events of the year. There was
lots of good food. My favorite was the watermelon snow cones. There
were crafts. There were fun games (my favorite being the tricycle
races) to earn tickets to cash in for prizes. I got mood rings, a
stress ball for Joey, and eight sheets of scented stickers to pretty
up my journals. I saw lots of friends. My Islamic friends gave me a
henna tattoo. It was fabulous.
A great big shout out goes out to all the folks who worked hard to
make the carnival a reality. You are simply the best.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Unmarried Couples With Children
Unmarried Couples With Children
Adult nonfiction
"'Well, we were planning on getting married, and planning to
save for a house, so Myron and I are very committed to each other, so
we just were--I don't know. If we were to get pregnant it wouldn't be
a big deal. Or it wouldn't be something unwanted or unplanned. And
if we didn't [get pregnant] it wasn't a big deal either.'"
Recall we just recently explored the urban legend of the
flamboyant Timothy McSeed exemplified deadbeat dad though an analysis
of Kathryn Edin and Timothy Nelson's Doing The Best I Can. Today we
look at a closely related book: Unmarried Couples With Children
(source of the above quote) edited by Paula England and Kathryn
Edin. In it researchers analyze data from the Time, Love, and Cash
among Couples with Children (TLC3) project to look at differing
aspects of this very complex life style. Since in 2004 one in every
three American babies was born to unwed parents (as opposed to a more
modest one in twenty in 1960) and since this is a more prevalent
trend for socioeconomically disadvantaged couples, the field, with
its implications for policy and social work practice, is a very
important one to study.
At the turn of the century the Fragile Families and Child
Wellbeing (Fragile Families) study was begun in seventy-five hospitals
in twenty large America cities. The subjects were 3,700 unmarried and
1,200 married couples who gave birth in a specified time. They were
interviewed at the birth of the child and when (s)he was one, three,
and five years old. TLC3 researchers worked with couples from three
of the cities who met two additional criteria: being romantically
involved at the birth of their child and earning less than $75,000 the
year before the study. They followed the family from shortly after
the child's birth until her/his fourth birthday.
Some of the really interesting topics exlored in Unmarried
Couples With children are:
*Edin et al's exploration of the planned, unplanned, or something
entirely else status of the baby. They discover a dimension that has
a big impact on the intentionality continuum;
*Paula England and Emily Fitzgibbons Shafer's inquiry into the two
most important issues couples disagree on. One you might expect to be
up there isn't;
*and Kathryn Linnenburg's study of father's parenting styles with
their live in kids. Don't go looking for Ward Cleaver.
Unmarried Couples With Children is a good sumner read for social
work students. However, I'd urge people outside the field to not let
the research paper format get in the way. The blend of narrative and
theory makes it emininantly readable.
On a personal note, last Thursday at UMaine I found a most wonderful
surprise--a karaoke party being put on by the multicultural student
center. We had pizza, chips, and soda. A lot of people volunteered
to or were cajoled into singing with a good variety of music.
Appreciation was loud, spontaneous, and enthusiastic. I sang You
Can't Hurry Love. Then near the end Patrick and I did Summer Lovin'
from Grease. Let the good times roll!
A great big shout out goes out to the multicultural center crowd, good
friends who really know how to live!
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Adult nonfiction
"'Well, we were planning on getting married, and planning to
save for a house, so Myron and I are very committed to each other, so
we just were--I don't know. If we were to get pregnant it wouldn't be
a big deal. Or it wouldn't be something unwanted or unplanned. And
if we didn't [get pregnant] it wasn't a big deal either.'"
Recall we just recently explored the urban legend of the
flamboyant Timothy McSeed exemplified deadbeat dad though an analysis
of Kathryn Edin and Timothy Nelson's Doing The Best I Can. Today we
look at a closely related book: Unmarried Couples With Children
(source of the above quote) edited by Paula England and Kathryn
Edin. In it researchers analyze data from the Time, Love, and Cash
among Couples with Children (TLC3) project to look at differing
aspects of this very complex life style. Since in 2004 one in every
three American babies was born to unwed parents (as opposed to a more
modest one in twenty in 1960) and since this is a more prevalent
trend for socioeconomically disadvantaged couples, the field, with
its implications for policy and social work practice, is a very
important one to study.
At the turn of the century the Fragile Families and Child
Wellbeing (Fragile Families) study was begun in seventy-five hospitals
in twenty large America cities. The subjects were 3,700 unmarried and
1,200 married couples who gave birth in a specified time. They were
interviewed at the birth of the child and when (s)he was one, three,
and five years old. TLC3 researchers worked with couples from three
of the cities who met two additional criteria: being romantically
involved at the birth of their child and earning less than $75,000 the
year before the study. They followed the family from shortly after
the child's birth until her/his fourth birthday.
Some of the really interesting topics exlored in Unmarried
Couples With children are:
*Edin et al's exploration of the planned, unplanned, or something
entirely else status of the baby. They discover a dimension that has
a big impact on the intentionality continuum;
*Paula England and Emily Fitzgibbons Shafer's inquiry into the two
most important issues couples disagree on. One you might expect to be
up there isn't;
*and Kathryn Linnenburg's study of father's parenting styles with
their live in kids. Don't go looking for Ward Cleaver.
Unmarried Couples With Children is a good sumner read for social
work students. However, I'd urge people outside the field to not let
the research paper format get in the way. The blend of narrative and
theory makes it emininantly readable.
On a personal note, last Thursday at UMaine I found a most wonderful
surprise--a karaoke party being put on by the multicultural student
center. We had pizza, chips, and soda. A lot of people volunteered
to or were cajoled into singing with a good variety of music.
Appreciation was loud, spontaneous, and enthusiastic. I sang You
Can't Hurry Love. Then near the end Patrick and I did Summer Lovin'
from Grease. Let the good times roll!
A great big shout out goes out to the multicultural center crowd, good
friends who really know how to live!
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
There's a Giraffe in My Soup
There's a Giraffe in My Soup
Picture book
We've all heard of the proverbial restaurant complaint: there's
a fly in my soup. The young narrator of Ross Burach's There's a
Giraffe in My Soup should be so lucky. His experience puts quite a
new spin on the line.
Everytot rides his Big Wheels to a restaurant, hungry for tomato
soup. His first bowl contains a giraffe. In his second there's what
looks like a frog and turns out to be a hungry alligator. You get a
veritable menagerie in the ensuing pages.
This delightful book is a must for the toddler/preschool
library. The text, particularly the lines of the beleagurered waiter,
will have even the most restrained read alouder hamming it up. This
volume is one that will stay delightful while being requested over and
over.
On a personal note, last week's Wilson Center was great. In addition
to the usual scrumptious meal, we had a fascinating discussion of
Islam. I met the cutest Islamic baby.
A great big shout out goes out to the students who were gracious
enough to share their faith with us.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Picture book
We've all heard of the proverbial restaurant complaint: there's
a fly in my soup. The young narrator of Ross Burach's There's a
Giraffe in My Soup should be so lucky. His experience puts quite a
new spin on the line.
Everytot rides his Big Wheels to a restaurant, hungry for tomato
soup. His first bowl contains a giraffe. In his second there's what
looks like a frog and turns out to be a hungry alligator. You get a
veritable menagerie in the ensuing pages.
This delightful book is a must for the toddler/preschool
library. The text, particularly the lines of the beleagurered waiter,
will have even the most restrained read alouder hamming it up. This
volume is one that will stay delightful while being requested over and
over.
On a personal note, last week's Wilson Center was great. In addition
to the usual scrumptious meal, we had a fascinating discussion of
Islam. I met the cutest Islamic baby.
A great big shout out goes out to the students who were gracious
enough to share their faith with us.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Freedom In Congo Square
Freedom In Congo Square
Picture book
It's really exciting to discover a little known part of history
in the picture book section of a library. This happens more often
than most people suspect. Carole Boston Weatherford's Freedom In
Congo Square is a real gem in this subgenre.
Hundreds of years ago Louisiana slaves had something that their
peers in other regions didn't. They were given Sundays off. Those
who lived close enough to a field that later became known as Congo
Square were able to gather there to perform their music and dances.
(Elsewhere African music and drums were banned.) The tradition
continued even after the abolition of slavery. The music performed
there was a big part of the evolution of jazz.
Freedom In Congo Square tells the story in eloquently sparse
verse and colorful, fluid paintings. In the first pages the hardships
of slaves' live are interspersed with their longing for their day of
freedom:
"The dreaded lash, too much to bear.
Four more days to Congo Square."
The latter pages are a celebration of their free time and space:
"This piece of earth was a world apart.
Congo Square was freedom's heart."
This book just begs to be read aloud, even if you have no
audience but a cat or dog! It's perfect for school and public library
read alouds.
On a personal note, last week I had a wonderful opportunity to hear
two very talented journalists speak at UMaine. On Monday Bangor Daily
News' own Erin Rhoda talked about her special section about a young
man lost all too soon to drugs. On Tuesday Boston Globe's Kathryn
Kingsbury spoke about her Pulitzer prize winning work on the plight of
workers in the restaurant industry. Needless to say both were
fascinating speakers.
A great big shout out goes out to Erin, Katie, and all their sisters
(and brothers) in the field who can make us care about people we
probably wouldn't otherwise give a thought about.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Picture book
It's really exciting to discover a little known part of history
in the picture book section of a library. This happens more often
than most people suspect. Carole Boston Weatherford's Freedom In
Congo Square is a real gem in this subgenre.
Hundreds of years ago Louisiana slaves had something that their
peers in other regions didn't. They were given Sundays off. Those
who lived close enough to a field that later became known as Congo
Square were able to gather there to perform their music and dances.
(Elsewhere African music and drums were banned.) The tradition
continued even after the abolition of slavery. The music performed
there was a big part of the evolution of jazz.
Freedom In Congo Square tells the story in eloquently sparse
verse and colorful, fluid paintings. In the first pages the hardships
of slaves' live are interspersed with their longing for their day of
freedom:
"The dreaded lash, too much to bear.
Four more days to Congo Square."
The latter pages are a celebration of their free time and space:
"This piece of earth was a world apart.
Congo Square was freedom's heart."
This book just begs to be read aloud, even if you have no
audience but a cat or dog! It's perfect for school and public library
read alouds.
On a personal note, last week I had a wonderful opportunity to hear
two very talented journalists speak at UMaine. On Monday Bangor Daily
News' own Erin Rhoda talked about her special section about a young
man lost all too soon to drugs. On Tuesday Boston Globe's Kathryn
Kingsbury spoke about her Pulitzer prize winning work on the plight of
workers in the restaurant industry. Needless to say both were
fascinating speakers.
A great big shout out goes out to Erin, Katie, and all their sisters
(and brothers) in the field who can make us care about people we
probably wouldn't otherwise give a thought about.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Over-Scheduled Andrew
Over-Scheduled Andrew
Picture book
When my older daughter was seven I called a classmate's mother
to invite her daughter to our house for a play date. That mom was
horrified that I let Amber play. What kind of negligent mom was I?
Her daughter had structured activities, sports, and classes scheduled
for every day.
Sadly, things seem to have gotten worse. Ashley Spires' Over-
Scheduled Andrew should give children and adults the nudge to
reflect. Could we be taking enrichment a little too far?
Andrew, a spunky chicadee, loves acting. At his teacher's
suggestion he signs up for debate club. He wins a lot of debates so a
friend suggests he join chess club. Pretty soon he's also doing
ballet, karate, tennis, school newspaper, and more...even learning
bagpipes for his grandmother.
Not surprisingly, Andrew isn't doing too well on any of his too
many activities. He decides it's time to cut down. You'll love what
he does with some of his freed up time.
On a personal note, last week had the potential to be overscheduled
for me. Fortunately I had the freedom to not take on too much. I had
plenty to do and the energy to thoroughly enjoy it and Saturday to
catch up with cleaning and laundry.
A great big shout out goes out to parents who understand the need for
and kids who fight for unstructured play time.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Picture book
When my older daughter was seven I called a classmate's mother
to invite her daughter to our house for a play date. That mom was
horrified that I let Amber play. What kind of negligent mom was I?
Her daughter had structured activities, sports, and classes scheduled
for every day.
Sadly, things seem to have gotten worse. Ashley Spires' Over-
Scheduled Andrew should give children and adults the nudge to
reflect. Could we be taking enrichment a little too far?
Andrew, a spunky chicadee, loves acting. At his teacher's
suggestion he signs up for debate club. He wins a lot of debates so a
friend suggests he join chess club. Pretty soon he's also doing
ballet, karate, tennis, school newspaper, and more...even learning
bagpipes for his grandmother.
Not surprisingly, Andrew isn't doing too well on any of his too
many activities. He decides it's time to cut down. You'll love what
he does with some of his freed up time.
On a personal note, last week had the potential to be overscheduled
for me. Fortunately I had the freedom to not take on too much. I had
plenty to do and the energy to thoroughly enjoy it and Saturday to
catch up with cleaning and laundry.
A great big shout out goes out to parents who understand the need for
and kids who fight for unstructured play time.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Monday, April 4, 2016
Doing The Best I Can
Doing The Best I Can
Adult nonfiction
"...Then in 2007, two days before Father's Day, presidential
candidate Barack Obama admonished the congregants of Mount Moriah
Baptist Church in Spartanburg, South Carolina, saying, 'There are a
lot of men out there who need to stop acting like boys, who need to
realize that responsibility does not end at conception, who need to
know that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child but
the courage to raise one.'"
You can't have lived in recent decades without hearing the
dismal drumbeat of deadbeat dad dissimg. Politicians, pundits, and
performers have joined in condemnation of the perpetrators of these
drive by impregnations. Conservatives and liberals have jumped on the
bandwagon. It was Bill Moyers who introduced America to Timothy
McSeed, father of then six children by four mothers and source of the
infamous line, "Well, the majority of the mothers are on welfare, [so]
what I'm not doing the government does."
Fortunately Kathryn Edin has probably never met the stereotype
she is unwilling to investigate. In Doing The Best I Can (source of
the above quotes) she and Timothy Nelson show readers that while there
is a spark behind all the smoke it's not the full scale conflagration
we're led to believe.
The setting for the research, carried out over a seven year
period, was poor and working class neighborhoods in Camden and
Philadelphia. The subjects were 110 low income unwed fathers ranging
in age from seventeen to 64. There were roughly equal numbers of
African Americans and Caucasians. The focus of the study quickly
shifted from investigating the conventional wisdom that dead beat dads
just don't care to something more subtle and nuanced.
"...By examining each father's story as it unfolds, we offer a
strong corrective to the conventional wisdom regarding fatherhood in
America's inner cities. There is seldom anything fixed about the
lives of men in this book--not their romantic attachments, their jobs,
or their ties to their kids. Only by revealing how they grapple with
shifting contexts over time can we fully understand how so many will
ultimately fail to play a significant and ongoing role in their
children's lives."
Edin and Nelson examined the trajectories of the relationships
that produced the out of wedlock pregnancies. Children were usually
conceived within ongoing relationships, not by the no commitment hook
ups that occur too often on college campuses. Unlike the legendary
Mr. McSeed, the men generally tried to do their best to take the
responsibility mandated by Presidebt Obama. Many men reacted with
joy, often seeing fatherhood as a type of salvation in otherwise grim
existences.
Father's concepts of parenting were explored. Although they
looked up to television paragons of parenting virtue, they were in a
very different place. Many could not earn enough to be primary
breadwinners. A new emphasis on the primacy of being there for their
kids allowed them more of a sense of adequacy than a financial
provider role would.
Finally fathers were questioned about the obstacles that stood
in the way of their being optimally involved in their kids' lives.
Often mothers stood in the way, particularly the ones who had moved on
to a new partner. Children were sometimes rejecting. Many of the men
had been too traumatized in their own childhoods to develop the inner
confidence and strength to keep trying.
Doing The Best I Can is a fascinating look into the lives of a
very misunderstood and demonized segment of the American population.
Theory and background are neatly interspersed with narrative. This is
another must read for social work students' summer lists.
An insight I gleaned is that what seem like no brainers in one
social context may be something entirely else in another. At UMaine
condoms of all sorts are as ubiquitous as candy for children on
Halloween. Students are taught to equate them with responsibility.
In the venues in which Edin does research, however, the use of condoms
in a steady relationship implies distrust of one's partner. Sort of
goes to show that solutions to societal problems won't be any more one
size fits all than women's bathing suits.
On a personal note, I got up bright and early on Easter for the
sunrise service which was followed by a lovely breakfast at my
church. In the afternoon I went to an extended family gathering at my
mother-in-law's house. I enjoyed the rare chance to see my niece and
nephew. I got a beautifully crafted pewter carousel unicorn the size
of the palm of my hand. I named her Amathyst for her glass amathyst
eyes.
A great big shout out goes out to researchers like Kathryn Edin who
refuse to take conventional wisdom for granted or to let the rest of
us do so.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Adult nonfiction
"...Then in 2007, two days before Father's Day, presidential
candidate Barack Obama admonished the congregants of Mount Moriah
Baptist Church in Spartanburg, South Carolina, saying, 'There are a
lot of men out there who need to stop acting like boys, who need to
realize that responsibility does not end at conception, who need to
know that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child but
the courage to raise one.'"
You can't have lived in recent decades without hearing the
dismal drumbeat of deadbeat dad dissimg. Politicians, pundits, and
performers have joined in condemnation of the perpetrators of these
drive by impregnations. Conservatives and liberals have jumped on the
bandwagon. It was Bill Moyers who introduced America to Timothy
McSeed, father of then six children by four mothers and source of the
infamous line, "Well, the majority of the mothers are on welfare, [so]
what I'm not doing the government does."
Fortunately Kathryn Edin has probably never met the stereotype
she is unwilling to investigate. In Doing The Best I Can (source of
the above quotes) she and Timothy Nelson show readers that while there
is a spark behind all the smoke it's not the full scale conflagration
we're led to believe.
The setting for the research, carried out over a seven year
period, was poor and working class neighborhoods in Camden and
Philadelphia. The subjects were 110 low income unwed fathers ranging
in age from seventeen to 64. There were roughly equal numbers of
African Americans and Caucasians. The focus of the study quickly
shifted from investigating the conventional wisdom that dead beat dads
just don't care to something more subtle and nuanced.
"...By examining each father's story as it unfolds, we offer a
strong corrective to the conventional wisdom regarding fatherhood in
America's inner cities. There is seldom anything fixed about the
lives of men in this book--not their romantic attachments, their jobs,
or their ties to their kids. Only by revealing how they grapple with
shifting contexts over time can we fully understand how so many will
ultimately fail to play a significant and ongoing role in their
children's lives."
Edin and Nelson examined the trajectories of the relationships
that produced the out of wedlock pregnancies. Children were usually
conceived within ongoing relationships, not by the no commitment hook
ups that occur too often on college campuses. Unlike the legendary
Mr. McSeed, the men generally tried to do their best to take the
responsibility mandated by Presidebt Obama. Many men reacted with
joy, often seeing fatherhood as a type of salvation in otherwise grim
existences.
Father's concepts of parenting were explored. Although they
looked up to television paragons of parenting virtue, they were in a
very different place. Many could not earn enough to be primary
breadwinners. A new emphasis on the primacy of being there for their
kids allowed them more of a sense of adequacy than a financial
provider role would.
Finally fathers were questioned about the obstacles that stood
in the way of their being optimally involved in their kids' lives.
Often mothers stood in the way, particularly the ones who had moved on
to a new partner. Children were sometimes rejecting. Many of the men
had been too traumatized in their own childhoods to develop the inner
confidence and strength to keep trying.
Doing The Best I Can is a fascinating look into the lives of a
very misunderstood and demonized segment of the American population.
Theory and background are neatly interspersed with narrative. This is
another must read for social work students' summer lists.
An insight I gleaned is that what seem like no brainers in one
social context may be something entirely else in another. At UMaine
condoms of all sorts are as ubiquitous as candy for children on
Halloween. Students are taught to equate them with responsibility.
In the venues in which Edin does research, however, the use of condoms
in a steady relationship implies distrust of one's partner. Sort of
goes to show that solutions to societal problems won't be any more one
size fits all than women's bathing suits.
On a personal note, I got up bright and early on Easter for the
sunrise service which was followed by a lovely breakfast at my
church. In the afternoon I went to an extended family gathering at my
mother-in-law's house. I enjoyed the rare chance to see my niece and
nephew. I got a beautifully crafted pewter carousel unicorn the size
of the palm of my hand. I named her Amathyst for her glass amathyst
eyes.
A great big shout out goes out to researchers like Kathryn Edin who
refuse to take conventional wisdom for granted or to let the rest of
us do so.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Sunday, April 3, 2016
It's Not Like I'm Poor
It's Not Like I'm Poor
Adult nonfiction
I was very happy recently when Internet research revealed the
existence of more books coauthored by Kathryn Edin. Needless to say,
I was off to the Orono Public Library to order them by Inter Library
Loan.
For most of our nation's history our leaders have at least paid
lip service to the idea that workers should have, in the words of
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, "the right to earn enough to provide
adequate food and clothing and recreation." The reality, however, has
often been a lot less rosier. The shift from a manufacturing to a
service economy, with its weakening of unions and outsourcing of
decently paying jobs, has resulted in a lot of exploitive gigs that
often can't even provide shelter.
In 1972 the earned income tax credit was created. Unlike the
greatly despised (by policy makers) welfare, it rewarded, rather than
penalized, reported income. Legislators on both sides of the aisle
sang its praises since it couldn't be seen as rewarding idleness. In
1996 expansion of this program was coupled with ending welfare as we
know it.
"In many ways, cash welfare is no longer the way that we support
low income families in the United States. Working or not, poor
families with children have access to in-kind benefits such as food
stamps, now called SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program),
and Medicaid. But the EITC has become central to a new work-based
approach to addressing the needs of the poor."
Edin wanted to know just how the EITC helped and/or failed to
help low income workers. With colleagues she went out in the field,
in this case low income neighborhoods in the Boston area, places where
tax refunds including EITC provide substantial cash infusions. A
preliminary survey yielded 332 names from which 120 were drawn
randomly. Of these qualifiers, 115 people were surveyed in depth in
their homes. This research led to the publication of It's Not Like
I'm Poor: How Working Families Make Ends Meet In A Post-Welfare World,
from which the above quotes were obtained.
The people interviewed were highly enthusiastic about the
program. Many saw the cash infusion as better than Christmas.
Surprisingly little was spent for what most people would consider non
essentials, usually modest treats for children such as an outfit or a
trip to the movies. A significant amount was devoted to future
oriented purchases (i.e. a stand up freezer to allow money saving bulk
meat purchases) and savings (i.e., for home ownership). The
recipients felt good about the money because they had earned it. They
received their refunds in the same way as other people. There was not
the marginilization and stigma associated with receiving welfare.
These positive notes occur within am alarming context. The
biggest category of EITC expenditures is the paying down of debt or
bills. Not only do the jobs the interview subjects hold pay well
below a lifting-out-of poverty wage, they are precarious. Many have
irregular and unpredictable schedules. Others are seasonal. Still
others are here today, gone tomorrow. So a pattern is created in
which three months of relative financial stability are alternated with
nine in which even the most basics can't be counted on.
Additionally the shift from welfare to tax credit leaves a lot
of families out in the cold. "...This includes the 1.46 million
households with children who, in any given month, have fallen
completely through the cracks, living with virtually no income from
work or welfare, on little more than in-kind benefits--if that. The
EITC may rescue over three million children from poverty each year,
but in any given month about the same number of children are living in
households with incomes of less than $2 per person per day--a common
metric used by the World Bank to measure Third World poverty."
And we, as a society, are supposed to be proud of this?
It's Not Like I'm Poor, like Edin's other books, is eminently
readable, beautifully interweaving theory and background with the
narratives of people who greatly personalize the bigger picture. I
think all social workers, social work students, nurses, teachers, and
others in the helping professions should add this volume to their
summer reading lists. Additionally it is very enlightening for
citizens like me who are troubled by the great gap between the wealthy
and the poor in today's America.
On a personal note, two additional aspects of the EITC as it is now
delivered bother me. One is the additional public subsidy (in
addition to the SNAP and Medicaid huge numbers of their workers need
to get by) given to large corporations like WalMart that enable them
to increasingly make wages and working conditions a race to the
bottom, give them an edge over small businesses, and provide a huge
pool of potential wage slaves to be used and discarded. The other is
the deepening of the split between the "deserving" (workers) and "non
deserving" (welfare recipient) poor. It's one of the faces of the
divide and conquer strategy that gubmint uses so well to keep the 98%
fighting each other instead of uniting in solidarity to change the
practices and policies that endanger us all.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Adult nonfiction
I was very happy recently when Internet research revealed the
existence of more books coauthored by Kathryn Edin. Needless to say,
I was off to the Orono Public Library to order them by Inter Library
Loan.
For most of our nation's history our leaders have at least paid
lip service to the idea that workers should have, in the words of
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, "the right to earn enough to provide
adequate food and clothing and recreation." The reality, however, has
often been a lot less rosier. The shift from a manufacturing to a
service economy, with its weakening of unions and outsourcing of
decently paying jobs, has resulted in a lot of exploitive gigs that
often can't even provide shelter.
In 1972 the earned income tax credit was created. Unlike the
greatly despised (by policy makers) welfare, it rewarded, rather than
penalized, reported income. Legislators on both sides of the aisle
sang its praises since it couldn't be seen as rewarding idleness. In
1996 expansion of this program was coupled with ending welfare as we
know it.
"In many ways, cash welfare is no longer the way that we support
low income families in the United States. Working or not, poor
families with children have access to in-kind benefits such as food
stamps, now called SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program),
and Medicaid. But the EITC has become central to a new work-based
approach to addressing the needs of the poor."
Edin wanted to know just how the EITC helped and/or failed to
help low income workers. With colleagues she went out in the field,
in this case low income neighborhoods in the Boston area, places where
tax refunds including EITC provide substantial cash infusions. A
preliminary survey yielded 332 names from which 120 were drawn
randomly. Of these qualifiers, 115 people were surveyed in depth in
their homes. This research led to the publication of It's Not Like
I'm Poor: How Working Families Make Ends Meet In A Post-Welfare World,
from which the above quotes were obtained.
The people interviewed were highly enthusiastic about the
program. Many saw the cash infusion as better than Christmas.
Surprisingly little was spent for what most people would consider non
essentials, usually modest treats for children such as an outfit or a
trip to the movies. A significant amount was devoted to future
oriented purchases (i.e. a stand up freezer to allow money saving bulk
meat purchases) and savings (i.e., for home ownership). The
recipients felt good about the money because they had earned it. They
received their refunds in the same way as other people. There was not
the marginilization and stigma associated with receiving welfare.
These positive notes occur within am alarming context. The
biggest category of EITC expenditures is the paying down of debt or
bills. Not only do the jobs the interview subjects hold pay well
below a lifting-out-of poverty wage, they are precarious. Many have
irregular and unpredictable schedules. Others are seasonal. Still
others are here today, gone tomorrow. So a pattern is created in
which three months of relative financial stability are alternated with
nine in which even the most basics can't be counted on.
Additionally the shift from welfare to tax credit leaves a lot
of families out in the cold. "...This includes the 1.46 million
households with children who, in any given month, have fallen
completely through the cracks, living with virtually no income from
work or welfare, on little more than in-kind benefits--if that. The
EITC may rescue over three million children from poverty each year,
but in any given month about the same number of children are living in
households with incomes of less than $2 per person per day--a common
metric used by the World Bank to measure Third World poverty."
And we, as a society, are supposed to be proud of this?
It's Not Like I'm Poor, like Edin's other books, is eminently
readable, beautifully interweaving theory and background with the
narratives of people who greatly personalize the bigger picture. I
think all social workers, social work students, nurses, teachers, and
others in the helping professions should add this volume to their
summer reading lists. Additionally it is very enlightening for
citizens like me who are troubled by the great gap between the wealthy
and the poor in today's America.
On a personal note, two additional aspects of the EITC as it is now
delivered bother me. One is the additional public subsidy (in
addition to the SNAP and Medicaid huge numbers of their workers need
to get by) given to large corporations like WalMart that enable them
to increasingly make wages and working conditions a race to the
bottom, give them an edge over small businesses, and provide a huge
pool of potential wage slaves to be used and discarded. The other is
the deepening of the split between the "deserving" (workers) and "non
deserving" (welfare recipient) poor. It's one of the faces of the
divide and conquer strategy that gubmint uses so well to keep the 98%
fighting each other instead of uniting in solidarity to change the
practices and policies that endanger us all.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
The Great Monkey Rescue
The Great Monkey Rescue
Picture book
Anyone--child or adult--who enjoys a suspenseful real life
animal story with a happy ending will find Sandra Markle's The Great
Monkey Rescue: Saving the Golden Lion Tamarins fascinating.
Golden lion tamarins are adorable, big eyed, squirel sized,
blaze furred monkeys native only to Brazil where they reside in rain
forests. The trees provide predator protection. Plants capture water
that they can drink without touching the ground. They, in turn,
benefit their habitat by eating insects and spreading plant seeds by
eating fruit. They have a complex social order.
Things were going fine for the species until people got in the
way, cutting down trees and growing crops. The only habitat they
could survive in in the wild was systematically destroyed. In
response their population shrunk to the point of being in danger of
extinction.
The process of saving golden lion tamarins is a suspenseful
story involving trial and error and a lot of learning on the part of
humans. It makes a good way to introduce kids to the serious issues
of habitat destruction and series extinction that their generation
will be called on to tackle. Maybe future naturalists will be inspired.
Plus you gotta love the photos!
On a personal note, after the Veazie family breakfast and egg hunt on
Easter Eve Katie came all the way home from Portland. We stopped by
Orono Thrift Shop and then went to Amber and Brian's apartment to hang
with Amber. It was just so wonderful spending a day with my
daughters. Brian kept us well fed with taco soup and homemade bread
for lunch and tacos for supper.
A great big shout out goes out to my children and their significant
others who are simply the best!
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Picture book
Anyone--child or adult--who enjoys a suspenseful real life
animal story with a happy ending will find Sandra Markle's The Great
Monkey Rescue: Saving the Golden Lion Tamarins fascinating.
Golden lion tamarins are adorable, big eyed, squirel sized,
blaze furred monkeys native only to Brazil where they reside in rain
forests. The trees provide predator protection. Plants capture water
that they can drink without touching the ground. They, in turn,
benefit their habitat by eating insects and spreading plant seeds by
eating fruit. They have a complex social order.
Things were going fine for the species until people got in the
way, cutting down trees and growing crops. The only habitat they
could survive in in the wild was systematically destroyed. In
response their population shrunk to the point of being in danger of
extinction.
The process of saving golden lion tamarins is a suspenseful
story involving trial and error and a lot of learning on the part of
humans. It makes a good way to introduce kids to the serious issues
of habitat destruction and series extinction that their generation
will be called on to tackle. Maybe future naturalists will be inspired.
Plus you gotta love the photos!
On a personal note, after the Veazie family breakfast and egg hunt on
Easter Eve Katie came all the way home from Portland. We stopped by
Orono Thrift Shop and then went to Amber and Brian's apartment to hang
with Amber. It was just so wonderful spending a day with my
daughters. Brian kept us well fed with taco soup and homemade bread
for lunch and tacos for supper.
A great big shout out goes out to my children and their significant
others who are simply the best!
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Monster
Monster
YA graphic novel
"Most people in our community are decent, hard working citizens
who pursue their own interests legally and without infringing on the
rights of others...But there are also monsters in our
communities...people who are willing to steal and to kill...people who
disregard the rights of others..."
The same library visit during which I found Drowned City I also
discovered Monster, the graphic novel adaptation of Walter Dean Myers'
prize winning Monster. I'd read the original novel ages ago and been
very deeply impressed. I wondered how this version would stack up. I
was a little skeptical that a slimmer volume with less word space
could carry the power of the original.
Let me be the first to say I was wrong.
Monster is centered around the trial of a juvenile, Steve, for
armed robbery and murder. In the course of a robbery for which he was
the alleged look out the well liked and respected owner of the drug
store being hit up was fatally shot. Even if he did not pull the
trigger, because the murder occurred during the commitment of a
felony, he could get a heavy sentence. Sandra Pettrocelli, the
prosecuter, from whose opening statement the quote that starts this
review is taken, is determined to put him away for a long time. Kathy
O'Brien, the defense attorney, is determined to win her case, but
seemingly ambivolent about her client's innocence. In a very telling
panel, when she answers his question, "You think we're gonna win?",
she replies, "It probably depends on what you mean by win," while
looking away.
You see the trial coverage in a movie like format (how Steve,
who studies film making, sees it) from when Steve receives
instructions from his lawyer til a verdict is reached. But it is far
from the slicked up version you get in many movies. There are
complications. For some reason I never completely understand the
lawyer for one of the other accused guys is in on the questioning.
Moments of drama are interspersed with more mundane ones. One person
is shown on the verge of falling asleep.
Flashbacks are incorporated very neatly to show, rather than
tell, the backstories mentioned in incidents alluded to during the
trial. However, the most powerful segues from chronological narrative
involve Steve's experiences in prison and his feelings about them.
His father talks about his hopes for him and breaks down in tears.
It's the first time Steve has ever seen him cry. His mother tells
him, despite what anyone else might say, she believes in his innocence.
In short, I believe that, in addition to bringing Monster to a
lot of people who would not have the patience to read the original,
this version is a fine piece of literature in its own right. In fact,
in one regard, raising questions about the American legal system, it
surpasses the all script version.
On a far more pleasant personal note, the morning before Easter the
Veazie Community school held the annual family breakfast and egg
hunt. Very wisely (considering recent roller coaster weather) the
eggs were hidden in the gym. Our police officers and fire fighters
were working the event. A Kodak moment was our town manager serving
up food.
A great big shout out goes out to the Veazie fire and police
departments and out town manager, Mark Leonard, who runs just about
everything in this town. I don't see how he does it.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
YA graphic novel
"Most people in our community are decent, hard working citizens
who pursue their own interests legally and without infringing on the
rights of others...But there are also monsters in our
communities...people who are willing to steal and to kill...people who
disregard the rights of others..."
The same library visit during which I found Drowned City I also
discovered Monster, the graphic novel adaptation of Walter Dean Myers'
prize winning Monster. I'd read the original novel ages ago and been
very deeply impressed. I wondered how this version would stack up. I
was a little skeptical that a slimmer volume with less word space
could carry the power of the original.
Let me be the first to say I was wrong.
Monster is centered around the trial of a juvenile, Steve, for
armed robbery and murder. In the course of a robbery for which he was
the alleged look out the well liked and respected owner of the drug
store being hit up was fatally shot. Even if he did not pull the
trigger, because the murder occurred during the commitment of a
felony, he could get a heavy sentence. Sandra Pettrocelli, the
prosecuter, from whose opening statement the quote that starts this
review is taken, is determined to put him away for a long time. Kathy
O'Brien, the defense attorney, is determined to win her case, but
seemingly ambivolent about her client's innocence. In a very telling
panel, when she answers his question, "You think we're gonna win?",
she replies, "It probably depends on what you mean by win," while
looking away.
You see the trial coverage in a movie like format (how Steve,
who studies film making, sees it) from when Steve receives
instructions from his lawyer til a verdict is reached. But it is far
from the slicked up version you get in many movies. There are
complications. For some reason I never completely understand the
lawyer for one of the other accused guys is in on the questioning.
Moments of drama are interspersed with more mundane ones. One person
is shown on the verge of falling asleep.
Flashbacks are incorporated very neatly to show, rather than
tell, the backstories mentioned in incidents alluded to during the
trial. However, the most powerful segues from chronological narrative
involve Steve's experiences in prison and his feelings about them.
His father talks about his hopes for him and breaks down in tears.
It's the first time Steve has ever seen him cry. His mother tells
him, despite what anyone else might say, she believes in his innocence.
In short, I believe that, in addition to bringing Monster to a
lot of people who would not have the patience to read the original,
this version is a fine piece of literature in its own right. In fact,
in one regard, raising questions about the American legal system, it
surpasses the all script version.
On a far more pleasant personal note, the morning before Easter the
Veazie Community school held the annual family breakfast and egg
hunt. Very wisely (considering recent roller coaster weather) the
eggs were hidden in the gym. Our police officers and fire fighters
were working the event. A Kodak moment was our town manager serving
up food.
A great big shout out goes out to the Veazie fire and police
departments and out town manager, Mark Leonard, who runs just about
everything in this town. I don't see how he does it.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Saturday, April 2, 2016
Drowned City
Drowned City
YA graphic novel
A little over a decade ago Hurricane Katrina slammed into New
Orleans. People who had cars had evacuated in a traffic jam snarl.
This left twenty percent of the population, disproportionately blacks
and the poor, to face nature's fury. This is the story eloquently
told in Don Brown's Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina & New Orleans.
The graphic novel format gives a you are there quality to the
narrative. It adds an immediacy and urgency many people wouldn't get
from just blocks of words. Some of the pictures, such as the one
where the storm surge waters break down the levees, are vividly
frightening. Some of them, such as the one where a man is forced at
gunpoint to abandon his dog before he can get on a bus to safety, are
heartbreaking. Then President Bush is shown as being disturbingly
clueless.
Drowned City not only tells an important part of American
history vividly, but should raise a number of questions for readers
young and old.
*Why did black and/or poor residents face the greatest danger and bear
the greatest losses of life and property?
*Why did so much go wrong in the government rescue efforts?
*Is my town/city/state prepared to handle a catastrophe such as a
hurricane?
The latter is not just a rhetorical query. With extreme weather
events on the rise many of us might not be as safe as we'd like to
think.
On a personal note, I'm up for reelection to Veazie School Committee
in June. I've taken out my papers and am collecting signatures. I
have to get at least twenty-five to get on the ballot. That shouldn't
be too hard. I'm finishing my eleventh year. If I get reelected I'll
get three more.
A great big shout out goes out to the Veazie voters who will hopefully
will reelect me for three more years.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
YA graphic novel
A little over a decade ago Hurricane Katrina slammed into New
Orleans. People who had cars had evacuated in a traffic jam snarl.
This left twenty percent of the population, disproportionately blacks
and the poor, to face nature's fury. This is the story eloquently
told in Don Brown's Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina & New Orleans.
The graphic novel format gives a you are there quality to the
narrative. It adds an immediacy and urgency many people wouldn't get
from just blocks of words. Some of the pictures, such as the one
where the storm surge waters break down the levees, are vividly
frightening. Some of them, such as the one where a man is forced at
gunpoint to abandon his dog before he can get on a bus to safety, are
heartbreaking. Then President Bush is shown as being disturbingly
clueless.
Drowned City not only tells an important part of American
history vividly, but should raise a number of questions for readers
young and old.
*Why did black and/or poor residents face the greatest danger and bear
the greatest losses of life and property?
*Why did so much go wrong in the government rescue efforts?
*Is my town/city/state prepared to handle a catastrophe such as a
hurricane?
The latter is not just a rhetorical query. With extreme weather
events on the rise many of us might not be as safe as we'd like to
think.
On a personal note, I'm up for reelection to Veazie School Committee
in June. I've taken out my papers and am collecting signatures. I
have to get at least twenty-five to get on the ballot. That shouldn't
be too hard. I'm finishing my eleventh year. If I get reelected I'll
get three more.
A great big shout out goes out to the Veazie voters who will hopefully
will reelect me for three more years.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Tag, Toss, & Run
Tag, Toss, & Run
Juvenile non fiction
When I was a child my peers and I spent many blissful hours
playing games handed down in an oral tradition, usually by the bigger
kids. We captured flags, dodged balls, jumped rope, threw frisbees,
and followed the leader--all without certified coaches laying down the
rules and arbitrating disputes. I have very fond memories of softball
games where sticks replaced bats and borrowed or discarded sofa
cushions marked bases. But my favorite game was a walking one. At
every intersection we flipped a coin to see which direction to take.
If we passed a corner store (they were ubiquitous then) we had to go
in and buy penny candy. Our most memorable excursions involved rides
home in police cruisers. It's amazing how far from home kids can get.
These days too many children get less time outside than
prisoners in correctional institutions. Sad but true. The more well
off tend to be shuttled from supervised activity to supervised
activity. I've seen second graders with schedules that would exhaust
grad students. Of course there are also too many kids spending all
unscheduled time indoors in virtual worlds. We are now realizing
unintended consequences: everything from obesity and type two
diabestes in the young to kids lacking negotiation skills by having
all disputes adult settled.
It's time to change things so kids can play outside. Tag, Toss,
& Run can be a wonderful asset. In very readable prose with ample
illustrations it introduces readers to forty games passed down through
generations. These are activities that require no adult supervision,
no special fields, and very little in the way of equipment. Among the
ones described are:
*ghost in the graveyard--a nighttime version of hide and seek with the
eeriness of flashlight illumination;
*kickball--a base/softball version that requires only a softball and
agreed upon base markers;
*scavenger hunt--a hunt for a list of objects that can be collected or
photographed (maybe at night using flashlights);
*capture the flag, double Dutch jumprope, and so many more.
When I was a child we would get so caught up in our games it
would startle us when parents started calling us in for baths and
bed. We'd look up to see sunset fading into dusk. Those unstructured
evenings feature prominently in my generations favorite memories.
Don't today's kids deserve the magic and enchantment of just being kids?
On a personal note, the Wednesday before Easter we had a delicious
dinner and fascinating program. We learned to dye eggs a very special
way. It involves layers of wax and multiple dye dips to create
multicolored works of art. I messed up trying to copy a geometric
pattern. Not surprisingly. Then I realized what I was doing looked
like amoebas under a microscope. That's what I went with. When we
were almost done a friend's egg broke. I gave him mine to finish and
take home. His smile was much more precious than the egg.
A great big shout out to all my Wilson Center friends. We are family.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Juvenile non fiction
When I was a child my peers and I spent many blissful hours
playing games handed down in an oral tradition, usually by the bigger
kids. We captured flags, dodged balls, jumped rope, threw frisbees,
and followed the leader--all without certified coaches laying down the
rules and arbitrating disputes. I have very fond memories of softball
games where sticks replaced bats and borrowed or discarded sofa
cushions marked bases. But my favorite game was a walking one. At
every intersection we flipped a coin to see which direction to take.
If we passed a corner store (they were ubiquitous then) we had to go
in and buy penny candy. Our most memorable excursions involved rides
home in police cruisers. It's amazing how far from home kids can get.
These days too many children get less time outside than
prisoners in correctional institutions. Sad but true. The more well
off tend to be shuttled from supervised activity to supervised
activity. I've seen second graders with schedules that would exhaust
grad students. Of course there are also too many kids spending all
unscheduled time indoors in virtual worlds. We are now realizing
unintended consequences: everything from obesity and type two
diabestes in the young to kids lacking negotiation skills by having
all disputes adult settled.
It's time to change things so kids can play outside. Tag, Toss,
& Run can be a wonderful asset. In very readable prose with ample
illustrations it introduces readers to forty games passed down through
generations. These are activities that require no adult supervision,
no special fields, and very little in the way of equipment. Among the
ones described are:
*ghost in the graveyard--a nighttime version of hide and seek with the
eeriness of flashlight illumination;
*kickball--a base/softball version that requires only a softball and
agreed upon base markers;
*scavenger hunt--a hunt for a list of objects that can be collected or
photographed (maybe at night using flashlights);
*capture the flag, double Dutch jumprope, and so many more.
When I was a child we would get so caught up in our games it
would startle us when parents started calling us in for baths and
bed. We'd look up to see sunset fading into dusk. Those unstructured
evenings feature prominently in my generations favorite memories.
Don't today's kids deserve the magic and enchantment of just being kids?
On a personal note, the Wednesday before Easter we had a delicious
dinner and fascinating program. We learned to dye eggs a very special
way. It involves layers of wax and multiple dye dips to create
multicolored works of art. I messed up trying to copy a geometric
pattern. Not surprisingly. Then I realized what I was doing looked
like amoebas under a microscope. That's what I went with. When we
were almost done a friend's egg broke. I gave him mine to finish and
take home. His smile was much more precious than the egg.
A great big shout out to all my Wilson Center friends. We are family.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
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