Well this is as good as it gets. We wish you a safe and happy New Year.
Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone
Friday, December 31, 2021
Fauci: Expect The Unexpected
Fauci: Expect The Unexpected
Adult Inspirational
"A life well lived is to have made a contribution to society,
leaving what you've touched better off than before you had anything to
do with it."
It was balmy out today. Well, balmy for Penobscot County,
Maine on the last day of December. It was climbing into the upper
thirties with no wind chill to make it feel colder. I was doing a
Goodwill run. Somewhere between waiting for the Bangor bus and
getting off the Mt. Hope one I fell head over heels in love.
Not with a person or a even a cat, but with a book--a slim
volume that condenses a world of information and inspiration into
ninety-five pages. I now energized, on fire, and ready to leap into
a world of 2022 possibilities.
Fauci: Expect The Unexpected: Ten Lessons on Truth, Service, and
the Way Forward was compiled by National Geographic from interviews
with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease specialist who is
shepherding our nation through the current COVID crisis. This isn't
his first rodeo, BTW. He's had a hand in developing vaccines,
treatments, and methods of prevention for other killer illnesses
including HIV, Zika, and Ebola.
The book lets readers get to know Fauci as a human being--the
man who is neither the pandemic savior greatly admired by the pro
science crowd or the villain despised by those convinced that mandates
are trashing their constitutional rights. We get it all: the highs
and lows, successes and frustrations, and hopes and fears of his
work. All this is narrated in an amazing format. It's organized
around ten of the guiding principles that guide him through life.
"You must be prepared at any moment to enter uncharted
territory, to expect the unexpected. And where possible, seize the
opportunities."
I think that, as we slog through the COVID morass, with
adminitions to upgrade our masks in the face of more easily
transmisable new strains, at a point where many people had expected us
to be out of the woods, this is the Fauci principal most of us are
familiar with. We learn about two pivotal moments in his life. In
1968 when the surgeons general were telling Congress that we'd won the
war against infectious diseases and it was time to move on already he
stuck with his chosen specialty even though there were times when, "I
sort of felt as if I were going to Miami to become a ski instructor."
And in 1981 he was among the first to realize that AIDS was a brand
new infectious disease rather than a fluke or series of unfortunate
coincidences.
"I always try to look for the positive in people. That may not
work for everybody, but one of my guiding principles is empathy."
My favorite principle is the one entitled Above All Empathize.
Fauci was almost five when America bombed Hiroshima. Just like
probably most kids back then he'd played war games in which the
Japanese were the bad guys. So, seeing the front page picture of the
devastation he had thought, "Wow, hey, that's great."...
...until he saw his mother's sadness. He learned that he could
feel empathy for people who are very different from himself and even
be considered enemy. He also talks about how anger about homophobia
made him "a defender of others' rights to be who they are."
Despite surges, new strains, and many people's angry refusal to
take scientifically proven precautions, Fauci seems optimistic about
COVID getting cut down to size. He even voices a fear that when we're
far enough past the pandemic we'll start forgetting the hard won
lessons we wrested from it.
I urge you to read the book. I think just about all of us can
glean at least a few seeds of hope and inspiration from Fauci's open,
honest, and jargon free words at a time when we need all the hope and
inspiration we can nurture our minds, hearts, and souls with.
On a purrrsonal note, Fauci has given me a second New Years
resolution. (Recall my first is do more of what brings me joy without
feeling guilt?) I'd just hit the point where my memoir project was
bogging down. AGAIN. It felt clunky and wordy. No matter what
format in prose or poetry I tried to utilize I couldn't get past the
awkwardness of chronological ordering. So this way of organizing
gives me renewed hope. I plan to scrap the whole thing and start over
tomorrow because my favorite feline friend and I have some partying to
do tonight. (Jules)
Oh, YASSS!!!, we haz some partying to do!!! Bring on the cat
treats!!! (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to Anthony Fauci and National
Geographic for this amazing book which is a must acquire for all
public and higher education libraries.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Adult Inspirational
"A life well lived is to have made a contribution to society,
leaving what you've touched better off than before you had anything to
do with it."
It was balmy out today. Well, balmy for Penobscot County,
Maine on the last day of December. It was climbing into the upper
thirties with no wind chill to make it feel colder. I was doing a
Goodwill run. Somewhere between waiting for the Bangor bus and
getting off the Mt. Hope one I fell head over heels in love.
Not with a person or a even a cat, but with a book--a slim
volume that condenses a world of information and inspiration into
ninety-five pages. I now energized, on fire, and ready to leap into
a world of 2022 possibilities.
Fauci: Expect The Unexpected: Ten Lessons on Truth, Service, and
the Way Forward was compiled by National Geographic from interviews
with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease specialist who is
shepherding our nation through the current COVID crisis. This isn't
his first rodeo, BTW. He's had a hand in developing vaccines,
treatments, and methods of prevention for other killer illnesses
including HIV, Zika, and Ebola.
The book lets readers get to know Fauci as a human being--the
man who is neither the pandemic savior greatly admired by the pro
science crowd or the villain despised by those convinced that mandates
are trashing their constitutional rights. We get it all: the highs
and lows, successes and frustrations, and hopes and fears of his
work. All this is narrated in an amazing format. It's organized
around ten of the guiding principles that guide him through life.
"You must be prepared at any moment to enter uncharted
territory, to expect the unexpected. And where possible, seize the
opportunities."
I think that, as we slog through the COVID morass, with
adminitions to upgrade our masks in the face of more easily
transmisable new strains, at a point where many people had expected us
to be out of the woods, this is the Fauci principal most of us are
familiar with. We learn about two pivotal moments in his life. In
1968 when the surgeons general were telling Congress that we'd won the
war against infectious diseases and it was time to move on already he
stuck with his chosen specialty even though there were times when, "I
sort of felt as if I were going to Miami to become a ski instructor."
And in 1981 he was among the first to realize that AIDS was a brand
new infectious disease rather than a fluke or series of unfortunate
coincidences.
"I always try to look for the positive in people. That may not
work for everybody, but one of my guiding principles is empathy."
My favorite principle is the one entitled Above All Empathize.
Fauci was almost five when America bombed Hiroshima. Just like
probably most kids back then he'd played war games in which the
Japanese were the bad guys. So, seeing the front page picture of the
devastation he had thought, "Wow, hey, that's great."...
...until he saw his mother's sadness. He learned that he could
feel empathy for people who are very different from himself and even
be considered enemy. He also talks about how anger about homophobia
made him "a defender of others' rights to be who they are."
Despite surges, new strains, and many people's angry refusal to
take scientifically proven precautions, Fauci seems optimistic about
COVID getting cut down to size. He even voices a fear that when we're
far enough past the pandemic we'll start forgetting the hard won
lessons we wrested from it.
I urge you to read the book. I think just about all of us can
glean at least a few seeds of hope and inspiration from Fauci's open,
honest, and jargon free words at a time when we need all the hope and
inspiration we can nurture our minds, hearts, and souls with.
On a purrrsonal note, Fauci has given me a second New Years
resolution. (Recall my first is do more of what brings me joy without
feeling guilt?) I'd just hit the point where my memoir project was
bogging down. AGAIN. It felt clunky and wordy. No matter what
format in prose or poetry I tried to utilize I couldn't get past the
awkwardness of chronological ordering. So this way of organizing
gives me renewed hope. I plan to scrap the whole thing and start over
tomorrow because my favorite feline friend and I have some partying to
do tonight. (Jules)
Oh, YASSS!!!, we haz some partying to do!!! Bring on the cat
treats!!! (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to Anthony Fauci and National
Geographic for this amazing book which is a must acquire for all
public and higher education libraries.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Thursday, December 30, 2021
The Three Lucys
The Three Lucys
Picture book
Hayan Charara's The Three Lucys packs some pretty complex
concepts--war and death--into a narrative that will engage both child
and parent.
Luli has three cats named Lucy: Lucy the Fat, Lucy the Skinny,
and Lucy Lucy. Although they share the same name they are distinct
individuals. When Luli comes home from school Lucy the Fat flops down
for a belly rub (just like Tobago); Lucy the Skinny makes eye contact;
and Lucy Lucy rubs and meows. They also have different favorite foods.
When Luli and his parents go to visit his aunt and uncle it's
supposed to be just for a weekend. But after a lovely visit when the
family is going home bombs start falling. They return to the aunt and
uncle where they live in the basement while war ranges around them.
As days and weeks go by Luli worries about his beloved Lucys.
"...I want to ask Mama and Baba who will feed them. Who will
keep them safe? Who will pet them and tell them everything will be
okay?..."
Charara based the story on his family's experiences. His little
brother Luli was only six and living in Lebanon during the July War
when 150 soldiers and over 1,000 civilians (including his grandfather)
lost their lives.
Charara believed his Luli was too young to have gone through the
loss and grief of war. "This story is for him and all the children of
the world who, in the midst of all larger conflicts, have lost people,
places, and animals they love."
On a purrrsonal note, the geektastic event I went to with my friend
Emily from work had a lot to do with children and other people who
lost people, places, and animal companions during one of the largest
conflicts in world history. The Bangor Public Library hosted an
exhibit entitled Americans And The Holocaust. There were huge panels
with pictures and information Americans received from the beginning of
Hitler's campaign to the end of the war, attitudes toward what was
going on, and the actions this nation took and failed to take. There
were also stations with video exhibits and period newspapers and well
informed docents who acted as tour guides. A lot of it was
heartbreaking. At one point there was a campaign to allow 10,000 more
Jewish children into this country. While a vast majority of citizens
polled disproved of what Hitler was doing, almost as large a majority
didn't want us to accept the CHILDREN. And then Americans were
determined to follow an isolationist policy about the war until
America was bombed by Japan. And in addition to going to war we
rounded up citizens of Japanese ancestry and put them in internment
camps under inhumane conditions while we never did that to people of
German ancestry. I think what scared me the most was how similar some
attitudes then were to current ones. Charles Lindbergh, a famous
aviator, would have fit right in with the Proud Boys. He didn't want
the United States getting into the war because in his mind it was just
the Jews stirring up trouble. And Hitler and Trump followed similar
logics, just differing on what non Christian religion to scapegoat.
All in all the exhibit was very informative and thought provoking. If
you can't get to Bangor there's an upcoming zoom tied in with the
exhibit. Through A Glass Darkly is about how hard it was for even
prominent Jewish people to find refuge in America. It's January 10 at
5:30 eastern time. Registration is required. www.bangorpubliclibrary.org
And people claim to be the superior species? (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to Bangor Public Library for hosting
this exhibit.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Picture book
Hayan Charara's The Three Lucys packs some pretty complex
concepts--war and death--into a narrative that will engage both child
and parent.
Luli has three cats named Lucy: Lucy the Fat, Lucy the Skinny,
and Lucy Lucy. Although they share the same name they are distinct
individuals. When Luli comes home from school Lucy the Fat flops down
for a belly rub (just like Tobago); Lucy the Skinny makes eye contact;
and Lucy Lucy rubs and meows. They also have different favorite foods.
When Luli and his parents go to visit his aunt and uncle it's
supposed to be just for a weekend. But after a lovely visit when the
family is going home bombs start falling. They return to the aunt and
uncle where they live in the basement while war ranges around them.
As days and weeks go by Luli worries about his beloved Lucys.
"...I want to ask Mama and Baba who will feed them. Who will
keep them safe? Who will pet them and tell them everything will be
okay?..."
Charara based the story on his family's experiences. His little
brother Luli was only six and living in Lebanon during the July War
when 150 soldiers and over 1,000 civilians (including his grandfather)
lost their lives.
Charara believed his Luli was too young to have gone through the
loss and grief of war. "This story is for him and all the children of
the world who, in the midst of all larger conflicts, have lost people,
places, and animals they love."
On a purrrsonal note, the geektastic event I went to with my friend
Emily from work had a lot to do with children and other people who
lost people, places, and animal companions during one of the largest
conflicts in world history. The Bangor Public Library hosted an
exhibit entitled Americans And The Holocaust. There were huge panels
with pictures and information Americans received from the beginning of
Hitler's campaign to the end of the war, attitudes toward what was
going on, and the actions this nation took and failed to take. There
were also stations with video exhibits and period newspapers and well
informed docents who acted as tour guides. A lot of it was
heartbreaking. At one point there was a campaign to allow 10,000 more
Jewish children into this country. While a vast majority of citizens
polled disproved of what Hitler was doing, almost as large a majority
didn't want us to accept the CHILDREN. And then Americans were
determined to follow an isolationist policy about the war until
America was bombed by Japan. And in addition to going to war we
rounded up citizens of Japanese ancestry and put them in internment
camps under inhumane conditions while we never did that to people of
German ancestry. I think what scared me the most was how similar some
attitudes then were to current ones. Charles Lindbergh, a famous
aviator, would have fit right in with the Proud Boys. He didn't want
the United States getting into the war because in his mind it was just
the Jews stirring up trouble. And Hitler and Trump followed similar
logics, just differing on what non Christian religion to scapegoat.
All in all the exhibit was very informative and thought provoking. If
you can't get to Bangor there's an upcoming zoom tied in with the
exhibit. Through A Glass Darkly is about how hard it was for even
prominent Jewish people to find refuge in America. It's January 10 at
5:30 eastern time. Registration is required. www.bangorpubliclibrary.org
And people claim to be the superior species? (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to Bangor Public Library for hosting
this exhibit.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Wednesday, December 29, 2021
Rise Up!
Rise Up!
YA nonfiction
We're on the countdown to New Years Eve. Got that resolution
ready? Lose fifty pounds? Go to the gym five times a week? Run the
next marathon even if walking Fido winds you?
How's that going to work for you?
How about if, instead of entering the new year burdened by
strenuous (and often impossible) regimens of self improvement, we saw
a dawning new year as opportunity for learning, growth, and engaging
with the larger world, individually and collectively, to help make it
a better place? Whether as a read for self, a gift for a teen, or a
family read and discuss, Dr. Crystal M. Fleming's Rise Up! How You Can
Join The Fight Against White Supremacy is a good place to start.
Although Fleming is African American and race issues are her
field of study, she didn't learn a whole lot about racism until she
was in college. She wrote the book to share the fruits of her
research with younger readers. It's probably the book she wishes
someone had written when she was a kid.
Fleming defines white supremacy as "a system in which people who
are labelled as White receive benefits, privileges, and power." She
compares it to a table supported by the four legs of colonization,
Indigenous genocide, capitalism, and transatlantic slavery.
Condensing a wide range of time up to and including the present, she
shows how they impact areas ranging from crime and punishment through
media images and sports to higher COVID mortality for non whites.
There is a wealth of information packed into concise chapters.
Fortunately Fleming believes that there is a lot that can be
done to uproot and eradicate the white supremacy that infests nearly
every aspect of life. She has suggestions that can empower and
encourage all of us. We can tailor them into resolutions that involve
engagement with the world around us rather than stressful solitary
striving.
On a purrrsonal note, yesterday was a good day. I volunteered at
Orono Public Library. I plan to shelf read the whole juvenile wing
before spring semester starts. I was also able to drop some stuff at
the Orono Thrift donation bin and deposit Tobago's Christmas money in
her credit union savings account.
Today, in contrast was a let down. A friend was going to help me cash
in a car load of Tobago's returnables. Only she came down with
something and decided to stay home. It was a very wise decision,
especially now. It just left me frustrated that I can't drive.
Adam's old room which the kids and I plan to turn into a man cave for
Eugene is nearly full of Tobago's returnable cans and bottles and
stuff I need to transport to thrift shops. If I had a car or truck it
would be all cleared out.
But tomorrow if all works out I am going with a friend to a geektastic
destination. (Jules)
More money in the credit union. YASSS! You never know when an
emergency will happen. Take it from one who ended up in a shelter.
(Tobago)
A great big shout out goes you to you, dear readers. Hope you have
the chance to enjoy a safe and happy New Years Eve. Go easy on
yourself resolution wise.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
YA nonfiction
We're on the countdown to New Years Eve. Got that resolution
ready? Lose fifty pounds? Go to the gym five times a week? Run the
next marathon even if walking Fido winds you?
How's that going to work for you?
How about if, instead of entering the new year burdened by
strenuous (and often impossible) regimens of self improvement, we saw
a dawning new year as opportunity for learning, growth, and engaging
with the larger world, individually and collectively, to help make it
a better place? Whether as a read for self, a gift for a teen, or a
family read and discuss, Dr. Crystal M. Fleming's Rise Up! How You Can
Join The Fight Against White Supremacy is a good place to start.
Although Fleming is African American and race issues are her
field of study, she didn't learn a whole lot about racism until she
was in college. She wrote the book to share the fruits of her
research with younger readers. It's probably the book she wishes
someone had written when she was a kid.
Fleming defines white supremacy as "a system in which people who
are labelled as White receive benefits, privileges, and power." She
compares it to a table supported by the four legs of colonization,
Indigenous genocide, capitalism, and transatlantic slavery.
Condensing a wide range of time up to and including the present, she
shows how they impact areas ranging from crime and punishment through
media images and sports to higher COVID mortality for non whites.
There is a wealth of information packed into concise chapters.
Fortunately Fleming believes that there is a lot that can be
done to uproot and eradicate the white supremacy that infests nearly
every aspect of life. She has suggestions that can empower and
encourage all of us. We can tailor them into resolutions that involve
engagement with the world around us rather than stressful solitary
striving.
On a purrrsonal note, yesterday was a good day. I volunteered at
Orono Public Library. I plan to shelf read the whole juvenile wing
before spring semester starts. I was also able to drop some stuff at
the Orono Thrift donation bin and deposit Tobago's Christmas money in
her credit union savings account.
Today, in contrast was a let down. A friend was going to help me cash
in a car load of Tobago's returnables. Only she came down with
something and decided to stay home. It was a very wise decision,
especially now. It just left me frustrated that I can't drive.
Adam's old room which the kids and I plan to turn into a man cave for
Eugene is nearly full of Tobago's returnable cans and bottles and
stuff I need to transport to thrift shops. If I had a car or truck it
would be all cleared out.
But tomorrow if all works out I am going with a friend to a geektastic
destination. (Jules)
More money in the credit union. YASSS! You never know when an
emergency will happen. Take it from one who ended up in a shelter.
(Tobago)
A great big shout out goes you to you, dear readers. Hope you have
the chance to enjoy a safe and happy New Years Eve. Go easy on
yourself resolution wise.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Tuesday, December 28, 2021
YA Books in Verse
YA Books in Verse
Concrete Kids
"This is for the concrete kids.
The kids with a melonin kiss. The kids drenched in poverty.
The kids who are told to cut their hair, to tame their tone.
The kids who are told to shorten their names
And disappear their tongues."
Amyra Leon's memoir in verse, Concrete Kids, is the best proof
ever that good things come in small packages. Actually amazing things
come in small packages. In a book the size of my hand and as thick as
a pencil Leon shares the tumultuous story of her childhood.
There's a lot of sadness. Early on Leon is taken from her
mother and put into foster care.
"I have long forgotten what home feels like and have stopped dreaming
of the day my birth mother will take me home..."
There's the gentrification that tears close knit neighborhoods
apart.
"Depending on the day, you can find
Harlem somewhere
Between Eden and a war zone."
There is the day she sees a boy shot and is afraid the killer
will come back to snuff out any witnesses.
"I can hear his mother screaming.
It sounds like she is bleeding from her throat.
Her cries are long, her breath is short.
I am in my room crying with her."
But there is a great deal of resilience shown throughout the
narrative and Leon has the amazing ability to find hope in often bleak
circumstances.
"Today I woke again
In my holy, in my black skin
Knowing liberation."
When The Stars Wrote Back
"I don't care if they're too loud.
I don't care if they're too truthful.
My poems are shouts disguised as kisses.
My poems are angry and they have a right to be."
In When The Stars Wrote Back Trista Mateer, Instagram star poet,
intersperses fan favorites with new material. The book is a bit too
angry and controversial for some people. But if you like your poetry
truthful this is a must read book.
Her Things My Mother Taught Me will resonate with a lot of girls
and women. It includes gems such as:
"4. people can treat you like shit
and you will still love them.
5. You are not pretty enough
young enough or thin enough;
you will never be enough.
6. boys will be boys
and there's nothing you can do
about it."
There are also candid descriptions of friendship loss
"There are weeks I don't think about her but then I remember the sound
of her laugh and it ruins me."
and poems about dreams, desires, lonliness, eating disorders, rape,
abuse, and tragedy. Her eloquent verses are coupled with striking
illustrations in black, white, and shades of purple.
I think this is a great book for anyone going through life
changes, transitions, or a period of introspection. Who knows? Maybe
it can wake up the poet in you.
Chlorine Sky
"And I think I want my friend back.
But not like that
Just want to be able to talk to the only one
Who cares how I look when I leave the house."
Whether it comes in the form of an explosion or a gradual
unraveling, the loss of a trusted and treasured friend is
heartbreaking, especially if you continuously see this person hanging
out with new friends and acting like you don't exist or matter.
Sometimes it cuts deeper than a romantic break up. If this has ever
happened to you you owe it to yourself to read Mahogany L. Browne's
Chlorine Sky.
Sky has always been Lay Li's best friend, the silent moon
reflecting her chum's outgoing, center stage persona. Now suddenly
she can't do anything right. Lay Li has said, "You ruin everything."
Home isn't that much of a haven. Sky's father is in prison.
Her mother has to work too much as sole provider. At home she's
basically the enforcer of rules.
"No fighting in the house.
No running from fights.
That school better not call my home."
Sky's only sister, Essa, seems to hate her.
On the basketball court, though, Sky is a stand out--more than a
match for the boys in play and talk. In this poignant and powerful
coming of age narrative she learns to shine in her own right.
But you don't have to take my work on the greatness of this
book. Elizabeth Acevedo considers it to be "an absolute masterpiece."
Nic Stone describes it as "a profound reminder that sometimes the most
revolutionary thing a girl can do is to be herself."
On a purrrsonal note, the rest of the three day weekend was good. The
highlight for me was my church's zoom/in person pajama Sunday
service. I wore my red Snoopy pajamas. The ministers ditched their
clergy garb for pjs. But most people wore their regular church
clothes. One woman said she couldn't imagine wearing pajamas to a
church service, even zooming from her home. How sad! I cooked the
ham Eugene got from work on Sunday. Thankfully I don't like it that
much. It is loaded with sodium. (Jules)
I was wearing my pajamas. (Tobago).
A great big shout out goes out to pastors Malcolm and Mariah for
coming up with pajamas Sunday. I hope they offer it often.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Concrete Kids
"This is for the concrete kids.
The kids with a melonin kiss. The kids drenched in poverty.
The kids who are told to cut their hair, to tame their tone.
The kids who are told to shorten their names
And disappear their tongues."
Amyra Leon's memoir in verse, Concrete Kids, is the best proof
ever that good things come in small packages. Actually amazing things
come in small packages. In a book the size of my hand and as thick as
a pencil Leon shares the tumultuous story of her childhood.
There's a lot of sadness. Early on Leon is taken from her
mother and put into foster care.
"I have long forgotten what home feels like and have stopped dreaming
of the day my birth mother will take me home..."
There's the gentrification that tears close knit neighborhoods
apart.
"Depending on the day, you can find
Harlem somewhere
Between Eden and a war zone."
There is the day she sees a boy shot and is afraid the killer
will come back to snuff out any witnesses.
"I can hear his mother screaming.
It sounds like she is bleeding from her throat.
Her cries are long, her breath is short.
I am in my room crying with her."
But there is a great deal of resilience shown throughout the
narrative and Leon has the amazing ability to find hope in often bleak
circumstances.
"Today I woke again
In my holy, in my black skin
Knowing liberation."
When The Stars Wrote Back
"I don't care if they're too loud.
I don't care if they're too truthful.
My poems are shouts disguised as kisses.
My poems are angry and they have a right to be."
In When The Stars Wrote Back Trista Mateer, Instagram star poet,
intersperses fan favorites with new material. The book is a bit too
angry and controversial for some people. But if you like your poetry
truthful this is a must read book.
Her Things My Mother Taught Me will resonate with a lot of girls
and women. It includes gems such as:
"4. people can treat you like shit
and you will still love them.
5. You are not pretty enough
young enough or thin enough;
you will never be enough.
6. boys will be boys
and there's nothing you can do
about it."
There are also candid descriptions of friendship loss
"There are weeks I don't think about her but then I remember the sound
of her laugh and it ruins me."
and poems about dreams, desires, lonliness, eating disorders, rape,
abuse, and tragedy. Her eloquent verses are coupled with striking
illustrations in black, white, and shades of purple.
I think this is a great book for anyone going through life
changes, transitions, or a period of introspection. Who knows? Maybe
it can wake up the poet in you.
Chlorine Sky
"And I think I want my friend back.
But not like that
Just want to be able to talk to the only one
Who cares how I look when I leave the house."
Whether it comes in the form of an explosion or a gradual
unraveling, the loss of a trusted and treasured friend is
heartbreaking, especially if you continuously see this person hanging
out with new friends and acting like you don't exist or matter.
Sometimes it cuts deeper than a romantic break up. If this has ever
happened to you you owe it to yourself to read Mahogany L. Browne's
Chlorine Sky.
Sky has always been Lay Li's best friend, the silent moon
reflecting her chum's outgoing, center stage persona. Now suddenly
she can't do anything right. Lay Li has said, "You ruin everything."
Home isn't that much of a haven. Sky's father is in prison.
Her mother has to work too much as sole provider. At home she's
basically the enforcer of rules.
"No fighting in the house.
No running from fights.
That school better not call my home."
Sky's only sister, Essa, seems to hate her.
On the basketball court, though, Sky is a stand out--more than a
match for the boys in play and talk. In this poignant and powerful
coming of age narrative she learns to shine in her own right.
But you don't have to take my work on the greatness of this
book. Elizabeth Acevedo considers it to be "an absolute masterpiece."
Nic Stone describes it as "a profound reminder that sometimes the most
revolutionary thing a girl can do is to be herself."
On a purrrsonal note, the rest of the three day weekend was good. The
highlight for me was my church's zoom/in person pajama Sunday
service. I wore my red Snoopy pajamas. The ministers ditched their
clergy garb for pjs. But most people wore their regular church
clothes. One woman said she couldn't imagine wearing pajamas to a
church service, even zooming from her home. How sad! I cooked the
ham Eugene got from work on Sunday. Thankfully I don't like it that
much. It is loaded with sodium. (Jules)
I was wearing my pajamas. (Tobago).
A great big shout out goes out to pastors Malcolm and Mariah for
coming up with pajamas Sunday. I hope they offer it often.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
YA Books in Verse
YA Books in Verse
Concrete Kids
"This is for the concrete kids.
The kids with a melonin kiss. The kids drenched in poverty.
The kids who are told to cut their hair, to tame their tone.
The kids who are told to shorten their names
And disappear their tongues."
Amyra Leon's memoir in verse, Concrete Kids, is the best proof
ever that good things come in small packages. Actually amazing things
come in small packages. In a book the size of my hand and as thick as
a pencil Leon shares the tumultuous story of her childhood.
There's a lot of sadness. Early on Leon is taken from her
mother and put into foster care.
"I have long forgotten what home feels like and have stopped dreaming
of the day my birth mother will take me home..."
There's the gentrification that tears close knit neighborhoods
apart.
"Depending on the day, you can find
Harlem somewhere
Between Eden and a war zone."
There is the day she sees a boy shot and is afraid the killer
will come back to snuff out any witnesses.
"I can hear his mother screaming.
It sounds like she is bleeding from her throat.
Her cries are long, her breath is short.
I am in my room crying with her."
But there is a great deal of resilience shown throughout the
narrative and Leon has the amazing ability to find hope in often bleak
circumstances.
"Today I woke again
In my holy, in my black skin
Knowing liberation."
When The Stars Wrote Back
"I don't care if they're too loud.
I don't care if they're too truthful.
My poems are shouts disguised as kisses.
My poems are angry and they have a right to be."
In When The Stars Wrote Back Trista Mateer, Instagram star poet,
intersperses fan favorites with new material. The book is a bit too
angry and controversial for some people. But if you like your poetry
truthful this is a must read book.
Her Things My Mother Taught Me will resonate with a lot of girls
and women. It includes gems such as:
"4. people can treat you like shit
and you will still love them.
5. You are not pretty enough
young enough or thin enough;
you will never be enough.
6. boys will be boys
and there's nothing you can do
about it."
There are also candid descriptions of friendship loss
"There are weeks I don't think about her but then I remember the sound
of her laugh and it ruins me."
and poems about dreams, desires, lonliness, eating disorders, rape,
abuse, and tragedy. Her eloquent verses are coupled with striking
illustrations in black, white, and shades of purple.
I think this is a great book for anyone going through life
changes, transitions, or a period of introspection. Who knows? Maybe
it can wake up the poet in you.
Chlorine Sky
"And I think I want my friend back.
But not like that
Just want to be able to talk to the only one
Who cares how I look when I leave the house."
Whether it comes in the form of an explosion or a gradual
unraveling, the loss of a trusted and treasured friend is
heartbreaking, especially if you continuously see this person hanging
out with new friends and acting like you don't exist or matter.
Sometimes it cuts deeper than a romantic break up. If this has ever
happened to you you owe it to yourself to read Mahogany L. Browne's
Chlorine Sky.
Sky has always been Lay Li's best friend, the silent moon
reflecting her chum's outgoing, center stage persona. Now suddenly
she can't do anything right. Lay Li has said, "You ruin everything."
Home isn't that much of a haven. Sky's father is in prison.
Her mother has to work too much as sole provider. At home she's
basically the enforcer of rules.
"No fighting in the house.
No running from fights.
That school better not call my home."
Sky's only sister, Essa, seems to hate her.
On the basketball court, though, Sky is a stand out--more than a
match for the boys in play and talk. In this poignant and powerful
coming of age narrative she learns to shine in her own right.
But you don't have to take my work on the greatness of this
book. Elizabeth Acevedo considers it to be "an absolute masterpiece."
Nic Stone describes it as "a profound reminder that sometimes the most
revolutionary thing a girl can do is to be herself."
On a purrrsonal note, the rest of the three day weekend was good. The
highlight for me was my church's zoom/in person pajama Sunday
service. I wore my red Snoopy pajamas. The ministers ditched their
clergy garb for pjs. But most people wore their regular church
clothes. One woman said she couldn't imagine wearing pajamas to a
church service, even zooming from her home. How sad! I cooked the
ham Eugene got from work on Sunday. Thankfully I don't like it that
much. It is loaded with sodium. (Jules)
I was wearing my pajamas. (Tobago).
A great big shout out goes out to pastors Malcolm and Mariah for
coming up with pajamas Sunday. I hope they offer it often.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Concrete Kids
"This is for the concrete kids.
The kids with a melonin kiss. The kids drenched in poverty.
The kids who are told to cut their hair, to tame their tone.
The kids who are told to shorten their names
And disappear their tongues."
Amyra Leon's memoir in verse, Concrete Kids, is the best proof
ever that good things come in small packages. Actually amazing things
come in small packages. In a book the size of my hand and as thick as
a pencil Leon shares the tumultuous story of her childhood.
There's a lot of sadness. Early on Leon is taken from her
mother and put into foster care.
"I have long forgotten what home feels like and have stopped dreaming
of the day my birth mother will take me home..."
There's the gentrification that tears close knit neighborhoods
apart.
"Depending on the day, you can find
Harlem somewhere
Between Eden and a war zone."
There is the day she sees a boy shot and is afraid the killer
will come back to snuff out any witnesses.
"I can hear his mother screaming.
It sounds like she is bleeding from her throat.
Her cries are long, her breath is short.
I am in my room crying with her."
But there is a great deal of resilience shown throughout the
narrative and Leon has the amazing ability to find hope in often bleak
circumstances.
"Today I woke again
In my holy, in my black skin
Knowing liberation."
When The Stars Wrote Back
"I don't care if they're too loud.
I don't care if they're too truthful.
My poems are shouts disguised as kisses.
My poems are angry and they have a right to be."
In When The Stars Wrote Back Trista Mateer, Instagram star poet,
intersperses fan favorites with new material. The book is a bit too
angry and controversial for some people. But if you like your poetry
truthful this is a must read book.
Her Things My Mother Taught Me will resonate with a lot of girls
and women. It includes gems such as:
"4. people can treat you like shit
and you will still love them.
5. You are not pretty enough
young enough or thin enough;
you will never be enough.
6. boys will be boys
and there's nothing you can do
about it."
There are also candid descriptions of friendship loss
"There are weeks I don't think about her but then I remember the sound
of her laugh and it ruins me."
and poems about dreams, desires, lonliness, eating disorders, rape,
abuse, and tragedy. Her eloquent verses are coupled with striking
illustrations in black, white, and shades of purple.
I think this is a great book for anyone going through life
changes, transitions, or a period of introspection. Who knows? Maybe
it can wake up the poet in you.
Chlorine Sky
"And I think I want my friend back.
But not like that
Just want to be able to talk to the only one
Who cares how I look when I leave the house."
Whether it comes in the form of an explosion or a gradual
unraveling, the loss of a trusted and treasured friend is
heartbreaking, especially if you continuously see this person hanging
out with new friends and acting like you don't exist or matter.
Sometimes it cuts deeper than a romantic break up. If this has ever
happened to you you owe it to yourself to read Mahogany L. Browne's
Chlorine Sky.
Sky has always been Lay Li's best friend, the silent moon
reflecting her chum's outgoing, center stage persona. Now suddenly
she can't do anything right. Lay Li has said, "You ruin everything."
Home isn't that much of a haven. Sky's father is in prison.
Her mother has to work too much as sole provider. At home she's
basically the enforcer of rules.
"No fighting in the house.
No running from fights.
That school better not call my home."
Sky's only sister, Essa, seems to hate her.
On the basketball court, though, Sky is a stand out--more than a
match for the boys in play and talk. In this poignant and powerful
coming of age narrative she learns to shine in her own right.
But you don't have to take my work on the greatness of this
book. Elizabeth Acevedo considers it to be "an absolute masterpiece."
Nic Stone describes it as "a profound reminder that sometimes the most
revolutionary thing a girl can do is to be herself."
On a purrrsonal note, the rest of the three day weekend was good. The
highlight for me was my church's zoom/in person pajama Sunday
service. I wore my red Snoopy pajamas. The ministers ditched their
clergy garb for pjs. But most people wore their regular church
clothes. One woman said she couldn't imagine wearing pajamas to a
church service, even zooming from her home. How sad! I cooked the
ham Eugene got from work on Sunday. Thankfully I don't like it that
much. It is loaded with sodium. (Jules)
I was wearing my pajamas. (Tobago).
A great big shout out goes out to pastors Malcolm and Mariah for
coming up with pajamas Sunday. I hope they offer it often.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Saturday, December 25, 2021
Wish You Were Here
Wish You Were Here
Adult fiction
Diana, protagonist of Jodi Picoult's Wish You Were Here, is one
of those people who chart a life plan and follow it relentlessly.
Professionally she's doing just fine in the dog eat dog world of art
auctions, rising in the ranks at no less than Sotheby's. She's sure
her boyfriend, Finn, is about to pop the question that will lead to
marriage, exactly two kids, and a perfect house in a prime location.
After all he's hiding a ring in his underwear drawer. And they're
about to go on a dream vacation in the Galapagos--the perfect location
to pop the question. What could possibly go wrong?
Well the year is 2020. Finn is a surgical resident at a New
York hospital. A new virus has arrived from China. Although there
have only been a few cases in New York City the hospital he works at
goes all hands on deck.
Finn encourages Diana to go by herself. It would reassure him
of her safety. He wouldn't have to worry about what work acquired
germs he'd be exposing her to.
Only even in the Galapagos Diana can't get away from the
ramifications of the new pandemic. The island isolates itself from
the rest of the world just as she arrives. The hotel she has
reservations at is in the process of shutting down. Her luggage has
been lost. She only gets food and shelter through the kindness of
island residents with whom she develops a relationship.
To say that the Internet is spotty would be charitable. But
when it actually works she gets anguished emails from Finn. He's
working inhumanely long shifts, up against a foe that defies all that
he's been taught in medical school. He's losing patients right and
left with no idea when or even if things will get better.
Is this something Diana can go back to, especially since she's
been furloughed from her job? With nothing but time for the first
time in ages she's critically examining her relationship, life
trajectory, and values.
Where Picoult has asthma she took shelter in place "very
seriously". Anxiety left her initially unable to focus enough to
write or even read. When she was able to start a novel she kept
thinking "...How are we going to chronicle this pandemic? Who will do
it? How do we tell the tale of how the world shut down, and why, and
what we learned."
Wish You Were Here is her masterful tackling of these
questions. As it challenges readers to think of the insights we're
gained, it validates our wide range of very human and understandable
reactions to a truly crappy situation. It encourages us to treat
ourselves and each other with compassion and kindness.
So I'd recommend the book to all adults living through this
evolving pandemic. It's a must read for book clubs in person or online.
On a purrrsonal note, even though today was a quiet Christmas it was
an unexpectedly joyous one. Tobago woke Eugene and me up early.
While we ate a fast breakfast she kept trying to open the gifts under
the tree. Don't tell me she didn't know what day it was. We opened
the presents. I lay around near the tree reading and eating candy
with Christmas music playing in the background. In the afternoon
Eugene and I went to visit his mom and sister. I had a special
seasonal mask. During the day I was able to talk on the phone to all
my children. I wanted to post this review as my holiday gift to you,
my readers. Then I'll change into warm pajamas and go back to
reading. (Jules)
Santa came while I was sleeping. I got cat treats. YASSS!!! I knew
I was on the nice list. (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to our family.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Adult fiction
Diana, protagonist of Jodi Picoult's Wish You Were Here, is one
of those people who chart a life plan and follow it relentlessly.
Professionally she's doing just fine in the dog eat dog world of art
auctions, rising in the ranks at no less than Sotheby's. She's sure
her boyfriend, Finn, is about to pop the question that will lead to
marriage, exactly two kids, and a perfect house in a prime location.
After all he's hiding a ring in his underwear drawer. And they're
about to go on a dream vacation in the Galapagos--the perfect location
to pop the question. What could possibly go wrong?
Well the year is 2020. Finn is a surgical resident at a New
York hospital. A new virus has arrived from China. Although there
have only been a few cases in New York City the hospital he works at
goes all hands on deck.
Finn encourages Diana to go by herself. It would reassure him
of her safety. He wouldn't have to worry about what work acquired
germs he'd be exposing her to.
Only even in the Galapagos Diana can't get away from the
ramifications of the new pandemic. The island isolates itself from
the rest of the world just as she arrives. The hotel she has
reservations at is in the process of shutting down. Her luggage has
been lost. She only gets food and shelter through the kindness of
island residents with whom she develops a relationship.
To say that the Internet is spotty would be charitable. But
when it actually works she gets anguished emails from Finn. He's
working inhumanely long shifts, up against a foe that defies all that
he's been taught in medical school. He's losing patients right and
left with no idea when or even if things will get better.
Is this something Diana can go back to, especially since she's
been furloughed from her job? With nothing but time for the first
time in ages she's critically examining her relationship, life
trajectory, and values.
Where Picoult has asthma she took shelter in place "very
seriously". Anxiety left her initially unable to focus enough to
write or even read. When she was able to start a novel she kept
thinking "...How are we going to chronicle this pandemic? Who will do
it? How do we tell the tale of how the world shut down, and why, and
what we learned."
Wish You Were Here is her masterful tackling of these
questions. As it challenges readers to think of the insights we're
gained, it validates our wide range of very human and understandable
reactions to a truly crappy situation. It encourages us to treat
ourselves and each other with compassion and kindness.
So I'd recommend the book to all adults living through this
evolving pandemic. It's a must read for book clubs in person or online.
On a purrrsonal note, even though today was a quiet Christmas it was
an unexpectedly joyous one. Tobago woke Eugene and me up early.
While we ate a fast breakfast she kept trying to open the gifts under
the tree. Don't tell me she didn't know what day it was. We opened
the presents. I lay around near the tree reading and eating candy
with Christmas music playing in the background. In the afternoon
Eugene and I went to visit his mom and sister. I had a special
seasonal mask. During the day I was able to talk on the phone to all
my children. I wanted to post this review as my holiday gift to you,
my readers. Then I'll change into warm pajamas and go back to
reading. (Jules)
Santa came while I was sleeping. I got cat treats. YASSS!!! I knew
I was on the nice list. (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to our family.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
The Magic Arrives
The Magic Arrives
The morning before Christmas
I received the gift
That I'd really been wanting:
The feelings of joy
And anticipation
For the coming day.
Although I pretty much accepted
My not getting into the spirit
As an understandable reaction
To a creepy ass pandemic,
In one corner of my soul
Stumbling through Christmas
Totally anaesthetized
Felt like drowning kittens...
...It didn't happen dramatically
Like when the Grinches heart
Grew two sizes bigger...
...One year Eugene
Brought in a tree
That was frozen literally
Into a scraggly skinniness,
Saying it had to thaw
Before we put anything on it.
Joey cat and I kept hearing
These little snapping sounds
As thinned ice snapped
From branches breaking loose.
In the end we had a tree
As full as any other...
...My heart feels like that tree...
...And I'm treasuring the feeling.
Knowing it's not only
Opening my soul to bliss
(Which in itself would be enough)
But helping me bring joy to
My family and friends
Who won't have to worry about me...
...Who knows why it happened?
I think not pushing myself,
Not faking til I made it,
Made that door swing open.
But that wand on my bureau,
Like Frosty the snowman's hat,
May have worked some magic,
Even if it was only
That I believed it could...
...Who cares?
The joy and anticipation
Have finally arrived
And I am treasuring them
In my heart and soul.
Sent from my iPod
The morning before Christmas
I received the gift
That I'd really been wanting:
The feelings of joy
And anticipation
For the coming day.
Although I pretty much accepted
My not getting into the spirit
As an understandable reaction
To a creepy ass pandemic,
In one corner of my soul
Stumbling through Christmas
Totally anaesthetized
Felt like drowning kittens...
...It didn't happen dramatically
Like when the Grinches heart
Grew two sizes bigger...
...One year Eugene
Brought in a tree
That was frozen literally
Into a scraggly skinniness,
Saying it had to thaw
Before we put anything on it.
Joey cat and I kept hearing
These little snapping sounds
As thinned ice snapped
From branches breaking loose.
In the end we had a tree
As full as any other...
...My heart feels like that tree...
...And I'm treasuring the feeling.
Knowing it's not only
Opening my soul to bliss
(Which in itself would be enough)
But helping me bring joy to
My family and friends
Who won't have to worry about me...
...Who knows why it happened?
I think not pushing myself,
Not faking til I made it,
Made that door swing open.
But that wand on my bureau,
Like Frosty the snowman's hat,
May have worked some magic,
Even if it was only
That I believed it could...
...Who cares?
The joy and anticipation
Have finally arrived
And I am treasuring them
In my heart and soul.
Sent from my iPod
Friday, December 24, 2021
Well looked who stopped by to deliver gifts! Adam and Asia who are looking well. Luckily Eugene got off work early so we all (and, of course, Tobago) had a lovely visit. This morning I started getting the Christmas spirit. Spending time with my son and his fiancee ramped that up exponentially.
Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone
A Christmas Classic Revisited
A Christmas Classic Revisited
(Jules) Tis the day before Christmas
And all through the house
Tobago has prowled
On alert for a mouse...
...(Tobago) No critters are gnawing
From inside the wall.
When it comes to vermin
I eliminate all...
...(Jules) We've got seventeen hours
Like well over a day
Before Santa pulls up
From the North Pole way
Bringing those presents
All stashed in his sleigh...
...(Tobago) I'm all snuggled up
In my little kitty bed
With visions of cat treats
Dancing through my head.
I've been such a good kitty,
So very very good
He's put me on the nice list
As well he should...
...(Jules) The vista outside
Is a glistening white
Bringing to many
A sense of delight.
My decorated tree
Is a vision to see
Of lovliness of course
According to me.
But Eugene would be
The first to disagree.
He thinks matchy match balls
Are the way to go
When the unique and homemade
Delight me so...
...(Tobago) Well who did he leave
To carry out the job,
Knowing you aren't
A seasonal snob...
...(Jules) I've wrapped my gifts
Which wasn't so hard
Money can fit
Right into a card.
Some would criticize me
For being impersonal
But shopping can be
Downright impossible
Because I still
Am unable to drive,
Frostbite not being something
For which I should strive.
What did I forget?
What did I forget?
Something tells me I haven't
Covered all the bases yet...
...(Tobago) Get the oven fired up
And be baking some cookies
Show Santa you're a pro
And not just a rookie.
And ditch the pajamas
Your son's on his way
To deliver some gifts
In a car, not a sleigh...
...(Jules) I'll get that all done.
You know I always do...
...(Tobago) Well then maybe stop
Feeling so blue.
Your soul is so frosty
It's making me shiver...
...(Jules) What would thaw my soul
Santa just can't deliver.
I can only be feeling
Some hope and good cheer
In reminding myself
Maybe next year
The family will be
Together at last
With fears of contagion
A nightmarish past
I hope that the magic
Returns by tomorrow:
The presence of joy
Rather than sorrow
Or nothing at all
Which seems to be even worse...
...(Tobago) I feel that we should
Be ending this verse.
Let's close with a message
For friends far and near...
...May your Christmas be full
Of joy and good cheer
And, if safe, the presence
Of those you hold dear.
Sent from my iPod
(Jules) Tis the day before Christmas
And all through the house
Tobago has prowled
On alert for a mouse...
...(Tobago) No critters are gnawing
From inside the wall.
When it comes to vermin
I eliminate all...
...(Jules) We've got seventeen hours
Like well over a day
Before Santa pulls up
From the North Pole way
Bringing those presents
All stashed in his sleigh...
...(Tobago) I'm all snuggled up
In my little kitty bed
With visions of cat treats
Dancing through my head.
I've been such a good kitty,
So very very good
He's put me on the nice list
As well he should...
...(Jules) The vista outside
Is a glistening white
Bringing to many
A sense of delight.
My decorated tree
Is a vision to see
Of lovliness of course
According to me.
But Eugene would be
The first to disagree.
He thinks matchy match balls
Are the way to go
When the unique and homemade
Delight me so...
...(Tobago) Well who did he leave
To carry out the job,
Knowing you aren't
A seasonal snob...
...(Jules) I've wrapped my gifts
Which wasn't so hard
Money can fit
Right into a card.
Some would criticize me
For being impersonal
But shopping can be
Downright impossible
Because I still
Am unable to drive,
Frostbite not being something
For which I should strive.
What did I forget?
What did I forget?
Something tells me I haven't
Covered all the bases yet...
...(Tobago) Get the oven fired up
And be baking some cookies
Show Santa you're a pro
And not just a rookie.
And ditch the pajamas
Your son's on his way
To deliver some gifts
In a car, not a sleigh...
...(Jules) I'll get that all done.
You know I always do...
...(Tobago) Well then maybe stop
Feeling so blue.
Your soul is so frosty
It's making me shiver...
...(Jules) What would thaw my soul
Santa just can't deliver.
I can only be feeling
Some hope and good cheer
In reminding myself
Maybe next year
The family will be
Together at last
With fears of contagion
A nightmarish past
I hope that the magic
Returns by tomorrow:
The presence of joy
Rather than sorrow
Or nothing at all
Which seems to be even worse...
...(Tobago) I feel that we should
Be ending this verse.
Let's close with a message
For friends far and near...
...May your Christmas be full
Of joy and good cheer
And, if safe, the presence
Of those you hold dear.
Sent from my iPod
Thursday, December 23, 2021
And here is our little birthday girl. She's five today. It's also her second adoption anniversary. We're celebrating with tuna and plenty of cat treats. Tobago suggests that a fun new year project would be to find out what your local animal shelter is in need of and collect it. After all she found her furever family through Waterville Humane Society.
Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone
Toiletries are a big help. And they can get pricey. Here's a fun project for the new year. Find a food pantry, homeless shelter, or other organization and do a toiletries collection for them at your school, workplace, place of worship. Don't forget menstrual supplies. The drives and collections that are so popular during the holiday season drop off right after. But the need remains constant.
Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone
Refugee High
Refugee High
Adult nonfiction
In 2017 newly sworn in president Donald Trump people across this
nation gathered to protest his travel reatrictions and the nativist
agenda they represented. Elly Fishman was in the crowd at Chicago's
O'Hare Airport. Her mind was full of questions.
"...What does this political shift mean for those refugees and
immigrants who made it off the plane?What kind of America will they
inhabit? What kind of America will they help build? And how will
America take shape around them?"
Unlike most of us, as a journalist and editor, Fishman had the
sources and clout to pursue her questions. She chose Sullivan High
(the Chicago school with the most refugee students) as her site of
interest. She spent years getting to know the school and students
intimately.
Refugee High: Coming Of Age In America is the fruit of her due
dilligence. It follows four students over the course of the 2017
school year. She spent time with students and families in their homes
and other spaces they frequented as well as school and interviewed
students and parents.
Fishman balances the uniqueness and universality of the
students' experiences. They had to deal with some uniquely horrific
challenges. A close friend of Belenge (Congo) is shot, probably by
gang members. Alejandro awaits the court date that may result in his
deportation to almost certain death in Guatamala. Shahina was taken
to Atlanta by a man ten years older and barely escaped parent arranged
marriage to him. But they're also kids for whom fashion, make up,
popular music, and video games are important.
If you're anything like me what will grab you the most is
portraits of teens' and parents' pre Chicago lives. The story of
Tobias (Belenge's father) is totally heartbreaking. Can you imagine
losing all five of your first children before the age of six and then
your first wife?
Despite the tragedies and challenges there are also joys and
triumphs. Fishman ends the narrative on a note of hope.
"No matter what shape America takes in the coming years,
Sullivan will continue to carry forward this country's long tradition
of welcoming newcomers. The story of Sullivan School reflects a
better America, one that offers sanctuary and second chances to those
who need them most."
On a purrrsonal note, Eugene and the meteorologists predicted really
treacherous travel for Wednesday. I took their prognostications with
a grain of salt. During the morning at least hardly anything fell
from the sky. My trip to the Black Bear Exchange was very fruitful.
In addition to great food and drink I scored two pairs of well made
(and pricey) shoes for the summer. BBE had a special Christmas gift
for clients. (Jules)
Tuna! My compliments to the corporation! (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to the BBE crew for all the amazing
work they do.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Adult nonfiction
In 2017 newly sworn in president Donald Trump people across this
nation gathered to protest his travel reatrictions and the nativist
agenda they represented. Elly Fishman was in the crowd at Chicago's
O'Hare Airport. Her mind was full of questions.
"...What does this political shift mean for those refugees and
immigrants who made it off the plane?What kind of America will they
inhabit? What kind of America will they help build? And how will
America take shape around them?"
Unlike most of us, as a journalist and editor, Fishman had the
sources and clout to pursue her questions. She chose Sullivan High
(the Chicago school with the most refugee students) as her site of
interest. She spent years getting to know the school and students
intimately.
Refugee High: Coming Of Age In America is the fruit of her due
dilligence. It follows four students over the course of the 2017
school year. She spent time with students and families in their homes
and other spaces they frequented as well as school and interviewed
students and parents.
Fishman balances the uniqueness and universality of the
students' experiences. They had to deal with some uniquely horrific
challenges. A close friend of Belenge (Congo) is shot, probably by
gang members. Alejandro awaits the court date that may result in his
deportation to almost certain death in Guatamala. Shahina was taken
to Atlanta by a man ten years older and barely escaped parent arranged
marriage to him. But they're also kids for whom fashion, make up,
popular music, and video games are important.
If you're anything like me what will grab you the most is
portraits of teens' and parents' pre Chicago lives. The story of
Tobias (Belenge's father) is totally heartbreaking. Can you imagine
losing all five of your first children before the age of six and then
your first wife?
Despite the tragedies and challenges there are also joys and
triumphs. Fishman ends the narrative on a note of hope.
"No matter what shape America takes in the coming years,
Sullivan will continue to carry forward this country's long tradition
of welcoming newcomers. The story of Sullivan School reflects a
better America, one that offers sanctuary and second chances to those
who need them most."
On a purrrsonal note, Eugene and the meteorologists predicted really
treacherous travel for Wednesday. I took their prognostications with
a grain of salt. During the morning at least hardly anything fell
from the sky. My trip to the Black Bear Exchange was very fruitful.
In addition to great food and drink I scored two pairs of well made
(and pricey) shoes for the summer. BBE had a special Christmas gift
for clients. (Jules)
Tuna! My compliments to the corporation! (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to the BBE crew for all the amazing
work they do.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Wednesday, December 22, 2021
Why We Fly
Why We Fly
YA fiction
"...I stare at the side of his face, willing him to say, Go
ahead, Leni. Make an appointment with Dr. Ratliff so he can give you
medical clearance to cheer senior year. So you don't have to sit out
your last year on the team, and your final memories of the class of
2019 aren't limited to a physical therapist's office. So you don't
lose your shot at cheering in college."
Leni had been injured in a collapsing cheer formation during her
junior year. Coming back from her second and more serious concussion,
she's had to sit out about a year. She's put a lot of effort into
physical therapy. Now she wants it to pay off already.
"When Coach Tarasenko calls for a volunteer, my hand shoots into
the air faster than anyone else's. They don't even stand a chance.
Because this is my chance to show a legendary cheer choreographer what
I'm capable of..."
While Leni waits anxiously on a doctor's verdict her best
friend, Nelly, is at an elite cheer camp learning from Olympic
coaches. She has her whole life mapped out. She and Leni will go to
a college that has both competitive business programs and elite cheer
squads...
...or maybe not. Leni's grades are not so hot. She's counting
on cheering to differentiate her from her competition. And the
forever friendship is starting to fray. Nelly has counted on being
elected team captain. She's devastated when Leni is chosen even after
having to sit out a year.
Then there's a guy situation. Leni has caught the eye of Three,
a football at the girls' school. Now she's flying high on what seems
to be a budding romance. Nelly fears the relationship will derail her
from a focus on the future.
But what really comes between them is a the fallout from a
student protest. The cheer team takes a knee when the national anthem
is played before a football game. The next week they're joined by
other organizations including a large part of the band. That's when
the administration puts its collective foot down. But, although a
huge number of students were involved only one, Nelly, is punished.
Not coincidentally she's the only Black on the cheer squad. Her nine
day suspension has the potential to put her carefully crafted college
plans in jeopardy.
Will the girls' friendship stand the tests of some pretty
formidable challenges?
There's only one way to find out. Pick up Kimberly Jones and
Gilly Segal's Why We Fly and I predict you won't be able to put it down.
On a purrrsonal note, Monday I realized I had a bunch of interlibrary
loan books I needed to return on time. So I had myself a little
reading and review writing marathon, most of it on the sofa near the
lovely tree. I was gunning for the 2:00 bus to Orono. I finished the
last review with just minutes to dress and pack. I was still in my
pajamas. I made the bus. I returned the books. Of course I borrowed
more. I also stopped by the gift bins at my church. I picked out
some books for a toddler. Then in the last bin I saw a slender box.
I was thinking, it can't be! But it was something I've been trying to
find for years. Now I have my own magic wand. I know I can't wave it
and intone a spell and get results. But it has already started
helping me tap into the magic that is in me. Just holding it makes me
feel stronger and more focussed. It's extra special because it found
me not vice versa and I acquired it on Winter Solstice. (Jules)
I don't need a wand. Cats are born endowed with magic. (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to Orono Public Library. They're
collecting food for Black Bear Exchange. It's yet another way in
which they serve the public.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
YA fiction
"...I stare at the side of his face, willing him to say, Go
ahead, Leni. Make an appointment with Dr. Ratliff so he can give you
medical clearance to cheer senior year. So you don't have to sit out
your last year on the team, and your final memories of the class of
2019 aren't limited to a physical therapist's office. So you don't
lose your shot at cheering in college."
Leni had been injured in a collapsing cheer formation during her
junior year. Coming back from her second and more serious concussion,
she's had to sit out about a year. She's put a lot of effort into
physical therapy. Now she wants it to pay off already.
"When Coach Tarasenko calls for a volunteer, my hand shoots into
the air faster than anyone else's. They don't even stand a chance.
Because this is my chance to show a legendary cheer choreographer what
I'm capable of..."
While Leni waits anxiously on a doctor's verdict her best
friend, Nelly, is at an elite cheer camp learning from Olympic
coaches. She has her whole life mapped out. She and Leni will go to
a college that has both competitive business programs and elite cheer
squads...
...or maybe not. Leni's grades are not so hot. She's counting
on cheering to differentiate her from her competition. And the
forever friendship is starting to fray. Nelly has counted on being
elected team captain. She's devastated when Leni is chosen even after
having to sit out a year.
Then there's a guy situation. Leni has caught the eye of Three,
a football at the girls' school. Now she's flying high on what seems
to be a budding romance. Nelly fears the relationship will derail her
from a focus on the future.
But what really comes between them is a the fallout from a
student protest. The cheer team takes a knee when the national anthem
is played before a football game. The next week they're joined by
other organizations including a large part of the band. That's when
the administration puts its collective foot down. But, although a
huge number of students were involved only one, Nelly, is punished.
Not coincidentally she's the only Black on the cheer squad. Her nine
day suspension has the potential to put her carefully crafted college
plans in jeopardy.
Will the girls' friendship stand the tests of some pretty
formidable challenges?
There's only one way to find out. Pick up Kimberly Jones and
Gilly Segal's Why We Fly and I predict you won't be able to put it down.
On a purrrsonal note, Monday I realized I had a bunch of interlibrary
loan books I needed to return on time. So I had myself a little
reading and review writing marathon, most of it on the sofa near the
lovely tree. I was gunning for the 2:00 bus to Orono. I finished the
last review with just minutes to dress and pack. I was still in my
pajamas. I made the bus. I returned the books. Of course I borrowed
more. I also stopped by the gift bins at my church. I picked out
some books for a toddler. Then in the last bin I saw a slender box.
I was thinking, it can't be! But it was something I've been trying to
find for years. Now I have my own magic wand. I know I can't wave it
and intone a spell and get results. But it has already started
helping me tap into the magic that is in me. Just holding it makes me
feel stronger and more focussed. It's extra special because it found
me not vice versa and I acquired it on Winter Solstice. (Jules)
I don't need a wand. Cats are born endowed with magic. (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to Orono Public Library. They're
collecting food for Black Bear Exchange. It's yet another way in
which they serve the public.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Tuesday, December 21, 2021
Pregnant Girl
Pregnant Girl
Adult nonfiction
"Things would be different for me, as a pregnant Black teenager,
even with a White mother. Regardless of how smart I was or how hard I
worked, support that could really make a difference for me and my
child would be guarded, and a college degree would be an evasive ever-
moving target, meant for someone else..."
If you're mature enough to tackle a book that will alternately
make your soul soar and royally piss you off, to make yourself aware
of the cumulative effect of centuries of systemic racism on today's
teens, and to see that the time for radical change is now you're ready
for Nicole Lynn Lewis' Pregnant Girl.
Lewis, the daughter of college educated, professional parents,
never envisioned a future that didn't include college. Although her
family lived modestly, she and her older sister, Anika, had their
needs met. The family engaged in intellectual conversations, even on
hot button topics, never treating the girls as too young to understand.
Anika started college right after high school, becoming a
straight A student. Lewis was expected to follow in her high
achieving footsteps. Their parents believed that self discipline and
hard work would lead to higher educational success.
Lewis, however, started her college career under very different
circumstances. Her unexpected pregnancy had been plagued by poverty
and precarity. She and her boyfriend, Rakheim, had been homeless with
very little food. Their relationship was becoming toxic.
Baby Nerissa was several months old when Lewis started her first
year of college, carrying a full course load, parenting an infant, and
making a regular 150 mile round trip commute for access to child
care. There was never enough money or time. Rakheim became
increasingly impulsive and unstable--a danger to his wife and child.
Despite the challenges she faced, Lewis graduated, not only on
time, but with high honors. She never forgot all that she had to
overcome. She created an organization, Generation Hope, to provide
mentoring and support for pregnant and parenting teens in higher
education.
Lewis' candid and insightful memoir has a very strong back story
dimension. Throughout the book readers will find discussions of
historical and current conditions that make getting into and
graduating from colleges and universities so difficult or impossible
for parenting teens, largely those who are Black, Latinx, or indigenous.
I consider Pregnant Girl to be an eye opening must read for all
grad students and practitioners in higher education. I'm going to
recommend it to my professors.
On a personal note, this morning when the first streaks of pink broke
through the predawn greyness I found myself realizing we were four
days away from Christmas and I wasn't feeling anything whatsoever.
For most of my life this was my favorite season of the year. When I
was a kid it was all about Santa even though my Episcopal parents
tried to keep the focus on Baby Jesus. As a parent I found Christmas
even better. It was about sharing the magic with my children. As
they became adults the joy was getting together. Last Christmas was
mostly grief and loss. This year Christmas feels like something I saw
in a National Geographic documentary. Nothing to do with me. Or it's
like when I got local anaesthetics before C sections, losing feeling
from my waist down. I could see that the sheets were not flat. That
was the only way I knew I still had legs. I see my decorated tree
with gifts underneath. That's the only way I know tis the season.
I'm not sure which is worse--grief or emotional numbness. (Jules)
I iz excited. Santa's bringing treats to all the good cats. (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to the kids. Wherever they are
Saturday they'll also be in our hearts.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Adult nonfiction
"Things would be different for me, as a pregnant Black teenager,
even with a White mother. Regardless of how smart I was or how hard I
worked, support that could really make a difference for me and my
child would be guarded, and a college degree would be an evasive ever-
moving target, meant for someone else..."
If you're mature enough to tackle a book that will alternately
make your soul soar and royally piss you off, to make yourself aware
of the cumulative effect of centuries of systemic racism on today's
teens, and to see that the time for radical change is now you're ready
for Nicole Lynn Lewis' Pregnant Girl.
Lewis, the daughter of college educated, professional parents,
never envisioned a future that didn't include college. Although her
family lived modestly, she and her older sister, Anika, had their
needs met. The family engaged in intellectual conversations, even on
hot button topics, never treating the girls as too young to understand.
Anika started college right after high school, becoming a
straight A student. Lewis was expected to follow in her high
achieving footsteps. Their parents believed that self discipline and
hard work would lead to higher educational success.
Lewis, however, started her college career under very different
circumstances. Her unexpected pregnancy had been plagued by poverty
and precarity. She and her boyfriend, Rakheim, had been homeless with
very little food. Their relationship was becoming toxic.
Baby Nerissa was several months old when Lewis started her first
year of college, carrying a full course load, parenting an infant, and
making a regular 150 mile round trip commute for access to child
care. There was never enough money or time. Rakheim became
increasingly impulsive and unstable--a danger to his wife and child.
Despite the challenges she faced, Lewis graduated, not only on
time, but with high honors. She never forgot all that she had to
overcome. She created an organization, Generation Hope, to provide
mentoring and support for pregnant and parenting teens in higher
education.
Lewis' candid and insightful memoir has a very strong back story
dimension. Throughout the book readers will find discussions of
historical and current conditions that make getting into and
graduating from colleges and universities so difficult or impossible
for parenting teens, largely those who are Black, Latinx, or indigenous.
I consider Pregnant Girl to be an eye opening must read for all
grad students and practitioners in higher education. I'm going to
recommend it to my professors.
On a personal note, this morning when the first streaks of pink broke
through the predawn greyness I found myself realizing we were four
days away from Christmas and I wasn't feeling anything whatsoever.
For most of my life this was my favorite season of the year. When I
was a kid it was all about Santa even though my Episcopal parents
tried to keep the focus on Baby Jesus. As a parent I found Christmas
even better. It was about sharing the magic with my children. As
they became adults the joy was getting together. Last Christmas was
mostly grief and loss. This year Christmas feels like something I saw
in a National Geographic documentary. Nothing to do with me. Or it's
like when I got local anaesthetics before C sections, losing feeling
from my waist down. I could see that the sheets were not flat. That
was the only way I knew I still had legs. I see my decorated tree
with gifts underneath. That's the only way I know tis the season.
I'm not sure which is worse--grief or emotional numbness. (Jules)
I iz excited. Santa's bringing treats to all the good cats. (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to the kids. Wherever they are
Saturday they'll also be in our hearts.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Monday, December 20, 2021
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Sunday, December 19, 2021
I also got this good quality journal because the quote on the cover really spoke to me. In grad school I have to conquer a bunch of skills, mostly computer related. I've often gone to bed believing that I'll get it the next day. And this semester with numbers of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths from COVID going in the wrong direction I've manifested courage by sticking with my essential worker job. Essential workers rock courage.
Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone
Four YA treasures By Jennifer Mathieu
Four YA treasures By Jennifer Mathieu
Recently (less than a month--although it feels like an eternity
in COVID time--ago) I was so impressed with the insightfulness and
authenticity of Jennifer Mathieu's Bad Girls Never Say Die I googled
to see if she had any other books. The stars were with me. I found
four--all available from cooperating libraries. The day I picked them
up from my library you'd better believe I did my happy dance. After
reading them I was so impressed with Mathieu's talent. Her characters
face really diverse challenges authentically and engagingly.
"I, Elaine O'Dea, am going to tell you two definite, absolute,
indisputable truths.
1. Alice Franklin slept with two guys in the very same night in a bed
IN MY HOUSE this past summer, just before the start of junior year...
2. Two weeks ago--just after homecoming--one of those guys, Brandon
Fitzsimmons (who was crazy super popular and gorgeous and who yours
truly messed around with more than once) died in a car accident. And
it was all Alice's fault."
Before his untimely demise at the beginning of The Truth About
Alice, Brandon Fitzsimmons was his Texas town high school's
quarterback, their great hope for the first state championship in a
looooong time. Parents say what a shame it is that he had to die so
early in the football season. And in school among her peers Alice is
a pariah and the subject of some very vicious bathroom stall writing.
The truth, of course, is a lot more complex than any of those
almost reflexive assessments.
Elaine is the high school alpha female, the one who hosted the
party that set everything in motion and who had deemed Alice cool
enough for an invite. She was Brandon's on again, off again.
Kelsie is a transplant from Michigan, embarassed by her mother's
extreme religious fundamentalism. Invisible in her former school, she
took the move as a chance to become popular. Alice got her into the
in crowd. But now being Alice's friend may be too much of a social
liability.
Josh, Brandon's teammate and friend, survived the accident.
People act like his prime concern is when he'll heal up enough to
return to the field rather than the sudden needless death of his
closest chum. He knows he contributed to the rumor by what he told
Brandon's mom when she kept pressing him for information right after
he got out of the hospital.
At first Kurt's inclusion seems like a one of these things just
doesn't belong straight out of Sesame Street. An orphan being raised
by his grandparents, he's an academic high achiever who has no
interest in sports or the high school scene. But he was Brandon's
next door neighbor. And he's offered to tutor Alice in math because
even boy geniuses can have crushes.
Told in their alternating voices, this finely crafted narrative
gives a complex and nuanced picture of a girl who was far more than
the school slut and the environment she had to exist within.
Devoted
"...I let myself wonder for a moment about my future husband and
what he will be like, and I try to imagine myself returning to my
parents' house in just a few years [for Sunday dinners] with my own
children. It's meant to be, but when I try to picture it, my head
goes blank and my stomach twists."
Rachel, protagonist of Devoted, is the oldest still to home
daughter in a family of twelve. Her family belongs to an extremely
fundamentalist church. Her future was determined the moment she
emerged from her mother's womb with female genetalia. She would be
trained to be a helper to her future husband, submitting to him in all
things.
Rachel is going through a rigorous apprenticeship. Her mother
has sunk into a deep depression following the miscarriage of what
would have been her eleventh child. The boys closest to her in age
aren't expected to pitch in with anything household related. So she
has the cooking, cleaning, laundry, and nurturing of the littlest five
(including their home schooling--schools in the wicked world are not
to be trusted) to do, aided by younger sister, Ruth.
Rachel is not making the transition towards hausfrau with the
same ease as older married sister, Faith. She treasures a copy of a
book purchased at a thrift shop she's sure her father wouldn't want
her reading. She has many things she'd like to understand. Why did
God give her a questioning mind when her destiny, the future that
terrifies her, will not allow her to use it?
Rachel isn't the first to harbor inconvenient questions and
desires. Youth who don't conform enough are sent to a brutal
fundamentalist camp, Journey of Faith. They come back shadows of
their former selves, but never fully accepted back into the only
community they've ever known.
Rachel lives in terror of being sent there. But when a girl not
much older than her, Lauren, who ran away instead of letting her
parents ship her off, returns to town (although not to her family)
Rachel is curious enough to contact her.
And when Lauren makes a lot of sense Rachel is caught in a
terrible dilemma.
This class of cultures novel is truly captivating, giving
readers a chance to engage with a millieu very different from the one
most of us frequent.
Afterward
"My mother takes the vase from the bookshelf and hurls it, smashing it
to bits by my father's bare feet. My father doesn't even step back as
the tiny pink and white pieces of ceramic skid past him on the
hardwood floor. He just stands there staring.
'Dylan! Dylan, where are you?' My mother shrieks my brother's
name and collapses into the mess she's just made."
Any mom would be upset if her eleven-year-son disappeared.
Dylan's mom has much more reason than most to panic. Her son is low
functioning autistic, unable to communicate his thoughts and
feelings. What if he's been kidnapped by someone who wouldn't
understand?
"It's not one police officer who shows up but four or five.
They have their guns up like on television and in the movies, and the
little kid whose name I don't know and who is who is sitting next to
me on the couch watching me play video games wets himself when they
bust in..."
When Dylan is discovered following the suicide of their
kidnapper he isn't alone in the apartment. Ethan was kidnapped four
years earlier at eleven from the same neighborhood. Being home holds
its own challenges. His parents keep him on a tight leash,
homeschooling him with a tutor to help him catch up after years of
noschooling. His mother needs to keep him in sight or at least with
his phone on him at all times.
Caroline, Ethan's big sister, is sure something terrible must
have happened to him in the four days he was missing. He's behaving
as though trapped in a nightmare. But their parents' coping strategy,
denial, revolves around forgetting that the kidnapping. So she seeks
out the only living person who knows what he went through and might be
able to help her help him...
...He's forgotten a lot himself and is slowly regaining memories
in therapy. But somehow the teens hit it off. Their narrative, told
in alternating voices, gives readers insight into negotiating
relationships under far from ideal circumstances while coping with
fallout from acts of random cruelty.
The Liars Of Mariposa Island
I am always discovering aspects of history my white washed high
school textbooks forgot to mention when I read YA novels. (One of the
many reasons I tend to prefer them to adult adult works). In The
Liars of Mariposa Island I learned about Operation Pedro Pan (Peter
Pan). The Catholic Welfare Bureau basically smuggled 14,000 Cuban
children to the United States, placing them in homes and orphanages,
after Castro came into power.
Teenage Caridad had lived most of her life in what to her was an
island paradise. Her family was among the very well off. Her parents
were successful and rich. She had a maid to wait on her. The focus
of her life was her upcoming lavish quinceanera (15th birthday). Some
families were cancelling them due to rebel attacks. But she was sure
her parents wouldn't let her down.
Ironically her troubles started at that long awaited event. A
bomb went off in the elaborately decorated hotel that was the venue.
The boy she was in love with didn't survive. Goods became rationed.
Her beloved maid was replaced. One day she was on a plane to the
United States to a house that would never feel feel like a home to
her. Her parents died, making their reunion or a return to her
beloved island out of the question. As the story opens she is single
parenting her two teen children on a Texas island.
Her daughter, Elena, feels trapped by her mother's rules and
expectations. Caridad fears that she will morph into a bad girl. She
calls the house frequently from work and punishes Elena if she isn't
there to answer the phone. The only time Elena isn't under what
amounts to house arrest is in the summer when she babysits for a
family, the Callahans, that summers on the island. If the parents get
back before they're expected she is able to spend time with her friends.
Elena's older brother, Joaquinn, has just graduated high
school. He's waiting tables at a restaurant, clueless about what he
wants to do with the rest of his life. He has some vague plans to go
to California where he's been told his father now lives. But he's in
a relationship. He worries about Elena who is creating fictitious
babysitting gigs to spend time with a drug dealer. He has no
delusions about his mother's alcoholism.
The intense narrative, told in their three alternating voices,
covers a summer in their family's life. It's a thought provoking look
at people doing their best within the constraints of life's
circumstances.
On a purrrsonal note, on my first day of winter break (yesterday) I
decided to make a Goodwill run. I got to the bus stop an hour early
and just hung out and read. Some people freaked. But temps were in
the 20s with no wind chill--balmy for winter Maine. I didn't find
much but still had a good time. I actually offered to share my
caramel core ice cream with Eugene. Last night it started snowing.
Eugene was called out to plow. Barring a heat wave that doesn't seem
all that likely it looks like we'll be having a white Christmas. (Jules)
I wonder what Santa will leave in my stocking. (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to you, dear readers. Hope you're
experiencing no glitches in your plans for safe and festive holidays.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Recently (less than a month--although it feels like an eternity
in COVID time--ago) I was so impressed with the insightfulness and
authenticity of Jennifer Mathieu's Bad Girls Never Say Die I googled
to see if she had any other books. The stars were with me. I found
four--all available from cooperating libraries. The day I picked them
up from my library you'd better believe I did my happy dance. After
reading them I was so impressed with Mathieu's talent. Her characters
face really diverse challenges authentically and engagingly.
"I, Elaine O'Dea, am going to tell you two definite, absolute,
indisputable truths.
1. Alice Franklin slept with two guys in the very same night in a bed
IN MY HOUSE this past summer, just before the start of junior year...
2. Two weeks ago--just after homecoming--one of those guys, Brandon
Fitzsimmons (who was crazy super popular and gorgeous and who yours
truly messed around with more than once) died in a car accident. And
it was all Alice's fault."
Before his untimely demise at the beginning of The Truth About
Alice, Brandon Fitzsimmons was his Texas town high school's
quarterback, their great hope for the first state championship in a
looooong time. Parents say what a shame it is that he had to die so
early in the football season. And in school among her peers Alice is
a pariah and the subject of some very vicious bathroom stall writing.
The truth, of course, is a lot more complex than any of those
almost reflexive assessments.
Elaine is the high school alpha female, the one who hosted the
party that set everything in motion and who had deemed Alice cool
enough for an invite. She was Brandon's on again, off again.
Kelsie is a transplant from Michigan, embarassed by her mother's
extreme religious fundamentalism. Invisible in her former school, she
took the move as a chance to become popular. Alice got her into the
in crowd. But now being Alice's friend may be too much of a social
liability.
Josh, Brandon's teammate and friend, survived the accident.
People act like his prime concern is when he'll heal up enough to
return to the field rather than the sudden needless death of his
closest chum. He knows he contributed to the rumor by what he told
Brandon's mom when she kept pressing him for information right after
he got out of the hospital.
At first Kurt's inclusion seems like a one of these things just
doesn't belong straight out of Sesame Street. An orphan being raised
by his grandparents, he's an academic high achiever who has no
interest in sports or the high school scene. But he was Brandon's
next door neighbor. And he's offered to tutor Alice in math because
even boy geniuses can have crushes.
Told in their alternating voices, this finely crafted narrative
gives a complex and nuanced picture of a girl who was far more than
the school slut and the environment she had to exist within.
Devoted
"...I let myself wonder for a moment about my future husband and
what he will be like, and I try to imagine myself returning to my
parents' house in just a few years [for Sunday dinners] with my own
children. It's meant to be, but when I try to picture it, my head
goes blank and my stomach twists."
Rachel, protagonist of Devoted, is the oldest still to home
daughter in a family of twelve. Her family belongs to an extremely
fundamentalist church. Her future was determined the moment she
emerged from her mother's womb with female genetalia. She would be
trained to be a helper to her future husband, submitting to him in all
things.
Rachel is going through a rigorous apprenticeship. Her mother
has sunk into a deep depression following the miscarriage of what
would have been her eleventh child. The boys closest to her in age
aren't expected to pitch in with anything household related. So she
has the cooking, cleaning, laundry, and nurturing of the littlest five
(including their home schooling--schools in the wicked world are not
to be trusted) to do, aided by younger sister, Ruth.
Rachel is not making the transition towards hausfrau with the
same ease as older married sister, Faith. She treasures a copy of a
book purchased at a thrift shop she's sure her father wouldn't want
her reading. She has many things she'd like to understand. Why did
God give her a questioning mind when her destiny, the future that
terrifies her, will not allow her to use it?
Rachel isn't the first to harbor inconvenient questions and
desires. Youth who don't conform enough are sent to a brutal
fundamentalist camp, Journey of Faith. They come back shadows of
their former selves, but never fully accepted back into the only
community they've ever known.
Rachel lives in terror of being sent there. But when a girl not
much older than her, Lauren, who ran away instead of letting her
parents ship her off, returns to town (although not to her family)
Rachel is curious enough to contact her.
And when Lauren makes a lot of sense Rachel is caught in a
terrible dilemma.
This class of cultures novel is truly captivating, giving
readers a chance to engage with a millieu very different from the one
most of us frequent.
Afterward
"My mother takes the vase from the bookshelf and hurls it, smashing it
to bits by my father's bare feet. My father doesn't even step back as
the tiny pink and white pieces of ceramic skid past him on the
hardwood floor. He just stands there staring.
'Dylan! Dylan, where are you?' My mother shrieks my brother's
name and collapses into the mess she's just made."
Any mom would be upset if her eleven-year-son disappeared.
Dylan's mom has much more reason than most to panic. Her son is low
functioning autistic, unable to communicate his thoughts and
feelings. What if he's been kidnapped by someone who wouldn't
understand?
"It's not one police officer who shows up but four or five.
They have their guns up like on television and in the movies, and the
little kid whose name I don't know and who is who is sitting next to
me on the couch watching me play video games wets himself when they
bust in..."
When Dylan is discovered following the suicide of their
kidnapper he isn't alone in the apartment. Ethan was kidnapped four
years earlier at eleven from the same neighborhood. Being home holds
its own challenges. His parents keep him on a tight leash,
homeschooling him with a tutor to help him catch up after years of
noschooling. His mother needs to keep him in sight or at least with
his phone on him at all times.
Caroline, Ethan's big sister, is sure something terrible must
have happened to him in the four days he was missing. He's behaving
as though trapped in a nightmare. But their parents' coping strategy,
denial, revolves around forgetting that the kidnapping. So she seeks
out the only living person who knows what he went through and might be
able to help her help him...
...He's forgotten a lot himself and is slowly regaining memories
in therapy. But somehow the teens hit it off. Their narrative, told
in alternating voices, gives readers insight into negotiating
relationships under far from ideal circumstances while coping with
fallout from acts of random cruelty.
The Liars Of Mariposa Island
I am always discovering aspects of history my white washed high
school textbooks forgot to mention when I read YA novels. (One of the
many reasons I tend to prefer them to adult adult works). In The
Liars of Mariposa Island I learned about Operation Pedro Pan (Peter
Pan). The Catholic Welfare Bureau basically smuggled 14,000 Cuban
children to the United States, placing them in homes and orphanages,
after Castro came into power.
Teenage Caridad had lived most of her life in what to her was an
island paradise. Her family was among the very well off. Her parents
were successful and rich. She had a maid to wait on her. The focus
of her life was her upcoming lavish quinceanera (15th birthday). Some
families were cancelling them due to rebel attacks. But she was sure
her parents wouldn't let her down.
Ironically her troubles started at that long awaited event. A
bomb went off in the elaborately decorated hotel that was the venue.
The boy she was in love with didn't survive. Goods became rationed.
Her beloved maid was replaced. One day she was on a plane to the
United States to a house that would never feel feel like a home to
her. Her parents died, making their reunion or a return to her
beloved island out of the question. As the story opens she is single
parenting her two teen children on a Texas island.
Her daughter, Elena, feels trapped by her mother's rules and
expectations. Caridad fears that she will morph into a bad girl. She
calls the house frequently from work and punishes Elena if she isn't
there to answer the phone. The only time Elena isn't under what
amounts to house arrest is in the summer when she babysits for a
family, the Callahans, that summers on the island. If the parents get
back before they're expected she is able to spend time with her friends.
Elena's older brother, Joaquinn, has just graduated high
school. He's waiting tables at a restaurant, clueless about what he
wants to do with the rest of his life. He has some vague plans to go
to California where he's been told his father now lives. But he's in
a relationship. He worries about Elena who is creating fictitious
babysitting gigs to spend time with a drug dealer. He has no
delusions about his mother's alcoholism.
The intense narrative, told in their three alternating voices,
covers a summer in their family's life. It's a thought provoking look
at people doing their best within the constraints of life's
circumstances.
On a purrrsonal note, on my first day of winter break (yesterday) I
decided to make a Goodwill run. I got to the bus stop an hour early
and just hung out and read. Some people freaked. But temps were in
the 20s with no wind chill--balmy for winter Maine. I didn't find
much but still had a good time. I actually offered to share my
caramel core ice cream with Eugene. Last night it started snowing.
Eugene was called out to plow. Barring a heat wave that doesn't seem
all that likely it looks like we'll be having a white Christmas. (Jules)
I wonder what Santa will leave in my stocking. (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to you, dear readers. Hope you're
experiencing no glitches in your plans for safe and festive holidays.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
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