Here's a photo I wanted to share with you with a story behind it.  At dining we are so low on student workers it makes everyone's job more challenging.  For example, we have to use all paper dishes and plastic utensils because we don't have enough people for a full dish room.  Today was my one day off.  I'd run my errands and was ready to head home when I saw that dining had a recruiting table with nobody behind it.  I decided to volunteer an hour sitting there to engage students walking by.  I emailed my manager but didn't wait for an answer because I doubted I'd get in trouble for telling other students how wonderful dining jobs are.  Just as I suspected my manager was all in favor of my student initiative.

The Star Outside My Window

YA fiction 

     "I never knew what a foster mum was until two nights ago.  I had a real mum until then, so I guess I never needed to know.  But when Mum left, two policemen and a tall woman in a black suit came and said we had to go to a foster home so we could meet our new foster mum."

     Aniyah (10), protagonist of Onjali Q. Rauf's The Star Outside My Window, and her little brother, Noah, who is only five, have had their world turned upside down.  The new, very strange place they find themselves in feels tenuous to Aniyah.  One serious misstep could have her and Noah separated.  But she believes that the people with the brightest hearts become stars.  It's only a matter of locating her mom among the constellations.

     One day Aniyah learns of a new star that has defied the laws of physics to come close to Earth.  There's a contest to name it.  Aniyah is sure it's her mom.  But how can she make sure it will get the right name when the name will be picked by computer and tens of thousands of people are entering?  

     How about a perilous journey undertaken by a motley crew of foster siblings?

     Many of the characters in the book have been victims of domestic violence.  Rauf, herself, lost a dear family member, her Aunt Ruma, to it.

     "She was just twenty-nine at the time.  It is with my aunt and the injustices she faced in her lifetime that this book was written."

On a purrrsonal note, I don't feel like Aniyah is far off in her belief.  When Eugene and I buried precious Joey cat after 16 years of love and loyalty I was heartbroken.  But the next year when I visited his grave it felt different, like the essentialness of Joey was gone.  I have no idea what happens--heaven, reincarnation, or something we can't imagine.  But I am convinced that the soul doesn't perish.

A great big shout out goes out to all who believe in the immortality of the soul.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

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In the Wild Light

YA fiction 

"The human eye can discern more shades of green than any other.  My friend Delaney told me that.  She said it's an adaptation from when ancient humans lived in forests.  Our eyes evolved that way as a survival mechanism to spot predators hiding in the vegetation.

     There are as many tinges of understanding as there are hues of green in a forest."

     In In the Wild Light narrator Cash and his best friend Delaney have to discover many tinges of understanding and feeling.  They're growing up in a small town in Tennessee surrounded by great natural beauty and unnatural tragedy.  Both have, in one way or another, lost their mothers to drugs.  Cash's mom died of an overdose in the bathroom of their trailer.  Delaney's mom lives to score drugs and boyfriends, totally lacking the bandwidth to parent.

     Delaney is brilliant in science despite the sad condition of their school's lab equipment.  In a nearby cave she discovers a kind of mold with amazing antibiotic properties.  It can kill bacteria totally resistant to other medicines.  

     Not surprisingly Delaney is offered a full ride scholarship at a prestigious New England private school.  When she says she won't go unless they give Cash the same offer they do.  So he's confronted with an opportunity extremely rare for poor small teens.  When he tells his grandparents who are his family:

     "I thought he'd [Papaw] laugh with me. Who knows what goes on in Tess's head? Tell her that that's mighty kind of her but you're needed at home."

     Only both grandparents want him to accept the school's offer.  His Mamaw sees it as something they never could give him despite their best efforts.  When he tells her he doesn't deserve the opportunity she replies:

     "No, you didn't deserve to lose your mama.  Plenty's fallen in your lap you didn't deserve.  This isn't one of those things.  Let the Lord bless you with one good thing to make up for all the rest."

     Cash has worries beyond not fitting in at the new school, flunking out, and disappointing his beloved grandparents.  His grandfather has emphysema.  Papaw has had to give up most of his favorite activities, is tethered to oxygen tanks, and is rapidly going downhill.  So Cash has to decide between keeping his brilliant best friend from achieving her potential by not being there for her and not being able to support his beloved Papaw in what could be his final days by not being there period.  It's a decision many adults would struggle with.

     In the Wild Light is one of the most authentic, poignant, and powerful coming of age narratives I've ever read.  I highly recommend it to readers in its target demographics and way beyond.

On a purrrsonal note, yesterday I was really aware of how short we are at Hilltop on student workers (not unexpectedly since the school year is just starting).  I was the only student in dish room which made it a two person operation.  I felt so in awe of the classified employee who had to do everything else while I grabbed garbage off the accumulator.  I'm also aware of how close we are to Wednesday afternoon.  Lisa Morin has said she'll help me restore my laptop to zoom access if I come in early.  Then it will be on to the next crisis.  (Jules)

Thank God for Lisa Morin!  She is a treasured friend to this family. (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to the student workers who have signed on and those who hopefully will soon join the Hilltop family.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

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Lifting As We Climb

YA nonfiction 

     "The history of suffrage in the United States remains pertinent beyond the centennial milestone.  I hope this book serves as an introduction to the overlooked and forgotten Black women who helped permanently reshape America.  It celebrates their triumphs, honors their sacrifices, and gives them the stickers and flowers they've long deserved."

     Last year during the pandemic we hit the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage.  As celebration worthy as this was, it's not something we can just acknowledge and move on from.  As Evette Dionne tells us in Lifting As We Climb: Black Women Battle For The Ballot Box, we haven't been given the whole story about suffrage or the sobering truth that for a sizable number of Black women voting remains aspirational or tenuous rather than a done deal.  She presents readers with three inconvenient truths.

     Inconvenient truth 1: the history of women's suffrage has been whitewashed.  The suffragists we're taught about were white.  Some pretty awesome Black women were also in the fight.  You can read about them in the book.

     Inconvenient truth 2: the fight for suffrage wasn't all us against the world.  White and Black suffragists were often not on the same page.  Some white suffragists were also incredibly racist.  As Kate Gordon said in 1901,

     "The question of white supremacy is one that will be decided by giving the right of the ballot to the educated, intelligent white women of the south...Their vote will eliminate the question of the Negro in politics and it will be a glad, free day for the south when the ballot is placed in the hands of its intelligent, cultured, pure and noble womanhood."

It seems like some of the white women back then were more than willing to throw Black women under the horse and buggy.  Dionne gives us a much more nuanced and complicated analysis of suffrage dynamics than we usually get.

     Inconvenient truth 3: Suffrage for all women is not a done deal.  Suppression of Black votes is sadly on the rise once again.

     If women's suffrage is important to you you'll find Lifting As We Climb to be a must read.

On a purrrsonal note, Eugene went to Winterport both yesterday and today.  I stayed home with Tobago.  I had two big tasks I wanted to achieve.  I did fine on the first which was getting my studio organized for fall semester.  It's almost exactly the way I want it.  I bombed the second which is getting a little ahead on homework for the class that is the academic component of internship.  Computer skills are my Achilles heel.  The syllabus is jam packed with computer tasks, nearly all of which are sadly missing from my skill set.  The only thing I was sure I could handle was getting on zoom for the first class and telling people about my internship.  Only when I tried to go to zoom church my laptop told me to install a new edition which I totally couldn't.  Unless I can get someone to help me I'll be blowing off the first class which is not the way to make a good impression. (Jules)

She'll pass the class.  Lots of people will be more than happy to help. (Tobago)

A great big shout out to the people who hopefully show up to help me pass the class.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

     

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Wolfpack

Juvenile nonfiction 

     "I loved being part of something bigger than myself.

     I loved the shared joy, suffering, failure, and success...

     I loved how my teammates and I cared for each other, and respected each other no matter what."

     Abby Wambach, Olympic soccer gold medalist, found her identity as a team member, as part of a wolf pack.  In Wolfpack she brings younger readers a message that delightfully contradicts America's overvaluing of sink or swim individualism.  She urges them to find their pack.

     "Whether you're a soccer player, math whiz, poet, ballet dancer, debater--whatever you are--you need a brave and honest crew to support you.  You need them to hold you accountable to your greatness, remind you of who you are, and join you to change the world."

     YESSSSS!!!

     And that's not the only Conventional wisdom Wambach shatters.  In each chapter of her book she succinctly turns an outdated adage on its head.

     Readers are to create a path rather than stay on one.

     Readers are supposed to turn failure into fuel for success.

     Rather than always competing with one another, readers are to champion each other.

     And there's so much more.  Wolfpack is full of insightful and helpful words to live by.  That's why it's a great acquisition for school and public libraries.

On a purrrsonal note, the biggest event of my week was my return to working dining.  Since Wells had been shut down I'm in Hilltop.  I really feel at home there.  I get along great with the non student workers.  Managers give me respect that I know what I'm doing and agency.  Like Friday was first year move in day.  I was allowed to take the time to talk to new students and assure the parents, as a Black Bear parent, that they're leaving their kids in a good place.  And you wouldn't believe how many of the students who had dined at Wells were quite relieved to learn they hadn't lost me when it shut down. (Jules)

Well of course they were relieved not to lose her. (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to our new first year students and the parents who are entrusting these precious people to us.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

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Birthright Citizenship

     "In October 2018, President Donald Trump revealed in a television interview that he planned to end birthright citizenship.  Trump stated, "We're the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States...with all those benefits.  It's ridiculous.  It's ridiculous.  And it has to end.

     I don't have to tell you that immigration is a controversial issue.  Our nation is deeply divided over who does and doesn't belong.  Birthright citizenship is one of its contentious points with its defenders claiming it's a matter of justice and a way of maintaining a richly diverse population and its detractors fearing that too many people from away could destroy America's character and culture.  

     Tony Allman's Birthright Citizenship traces the history of this issue from the writing of the Constitution through the adoption of the fourteenth amendment and the Chinese Exclusionary Acts to Trump's regime.  It presents both sides of the issue.   Although written for children,  it contains information that will be new to many adults.  I was horrified to learn that while agencies put much time and effort into preventing Mexicans and Central Americans from giving birth on American turf, affluent people from other countries, about 36,000 a year, can come into America to deliver their babies in what is called birth tourism.  That just isn't right!

     Birthright Citizenship is a good read for kids (and some adults) who want a clear understanding of this facet of the immigration controversy.

On a purrrsonal note, classes start next week and I am so not ready.  This semester I have the academic component of my internship.  It's asynchronous which I hate with a passion.  It's worse than zoom.  At least with zoom you see people on your laptop.  With asynchronous it's like you're in a solo space ship orbiting your professor.  Also there are about a gazillion assignments, most of them requiring computer skills I don't have.  To make things worse I still have this kidney stone and stent after almost four months with no clue when they'll be removed.  I'm afraid the stent will stop working and I'll end up in the hospital and flunk the class after putting 277 hours (52 more than required) into the work component of my internship.

Plus once again it will be a challenge to balance all the facets of my life when commuting alone takes up 10-12 hours a week. (Jules)

Being a human sounds exhausting.  So glad I'm a cat. (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to the other students getting ready for fall semester.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

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Presumed Guilty

Adult nonfiction 

     "Today in the United States, much attention is focused on the enormous problems of police violence and racism in law enforcement, but too often that attention fails to place the blame where much of it belongs: on the Supreme Court.  The Framers of the Constitution intended many of its provisions to constrain police, to limit what police can do and to protect the rights of us all, including those who are suspected and accused of crimes.  Yet throughout American history, the court has done an ineffective and indeed a poor job of enforcing those provisions.  On the contrary, it has consistently empowered police and legitimized the racialized policing that especially harms people of color."

     That's the thesis statement of Erwin Chemerinsky's Presumed Guilty: How The Supreme Court Empowered The Police And Subverted Civil Rights.  The man cuts right to the heart  of the matter.  And, in addition to being an excellent no nonsense writer, he's the dean of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law.  

      Basically Chemerinsky is saying the ways we count on remedying police violence and racist behaviors are not enough.  Public outrage doesn't work because it's counterbalanced by all the people pushing for tougher law enforcement.  Even when commissions are formed following especially egregious incidents few of their recommendations  are followed.  The political process is ineffective because police violence is usually directed against people of color whose needs aren't prioritized.  So trying to stop police violence and racist behaviors without taking the Supreme Court's complicity into account is like trying to cure a cancer with bandages and salves.

     Chemerinsky illustrates this dynamic with a chapter on the repugnant police practice of chokeholds.  Recall Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes while Floyd begged for his life.  Floyd is far from the only unarmed person who died in agony and terror from this procedure.  But we can't outlaw it because of City of Los Angeles v. Lyons.  Adolph Lyons was seriously injured when police officers put him in a chokehold.  The Supreme Court ruled that Lyons couldn't sue, despite suffering harm, because he couldn't prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was likely to be put in a chokehold in the future.

     Most of the text is devoted to historical analysis of the Supreme Court's role in aiding and abetting police misconduct.  It's divided into five periods: the decades before 1953 during which the Supreme Court played a minimal role; the Warren years (1953-69) during which the Supreme Court actually favored constitutional protections; the Burger years during which the Supreme Court limited them, and the Rehnquist and Roberts times when the Supreme Court was and is all about empowering police officers.  Themes are illustrated through relevant cases.  But you don't need a law degree to comprehend the material and be totally outraged.

     The last chapter Presumed Guilty contains a ray of hope.  Chemerinsky describes some ways that policing can be really reformed with entities such as Congress overriding the nation's Supreme Court.

     If, like me, you're angered by police violence and convinced that Black lives really need to matter on the streets and in the courts of America you'll find Presumed Guilty to be a must read.

On a purrrsonal note, the heirloom tomatoes that were given to the garden are so good!!! I had BLTs for lunch and supper today.  Since Eugene won't eat tomatoes I gave him eggs to go with his bacon. (Jules)

Those are some strange looking tomatoes.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to the people who grew and donated the tomatoes.  Seed biodiversity is so important, especially under the dramatically evolving growing conditions brought about by climate change.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

     

    

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Baseball's Leading Lady

YA nonfiction 

     "Effa loved baseball, to be sure, but it was more than just the crack of the bat and the thrill of triumph that drew her to the game.  She saw the Negro Leagues as a vehicle to transport the Black community to a position of equality in American society, to provide jobs and financial stability where they were sorely lacking, and to give Black boys and girls regular opportunities to witness victory when so much of their lives was mired in defeat."

     Have I got a shero for us!  I say us because I just learned about Effa Manley by reading Andrea Williams' Baseball's Leading Lady.  Not only the book, but the story of how it came into being are fascinating.

     I'm sure most of us know about Jackie Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier by being the first Black on a major league team.  The role of Blacks in America's pastime before that historic signing is a footnote, if even that.  Well it's about time that sports fans learn more about the Negro Leagues.

     Actually Blacks weren't specifically excluded from white baseball until 1887.  That didn't stop them from forming teams of their own.  The players had an exhausting lifestyle.  They traveled by car, often playing daily against whatever team would take them on.   Many hotels and restaurants wouldn't admit them and even facilities as basic as public restrooms and water fountains were labeled whites only.

     Blacks realized that their baseball couldn't continue in that way forever.  The Negro National League was formed in 1920.  Circuits became organized, boosting attendance and revenues.

     "The formation of the NNL had been a boon for Black baseball, serving as proof that Black men could do more than hit, throw, and field.  They could, in fact, run their own teams and leagues too."

     In Harlem in 1934 the L. M. Blumstein department store, despite depending largely on revenue from the Black community, refused to hire any Blacks for positions higher than janitors and elevator operators.  Effa Manley wanted them to hire Black sales clerks.

     "'You know, Mr. Blumstein, we think just as much of our young colored girls as you think of your young white girls, and there's just no work for them,' she said.  'The only thing they can find to do is work in someone's home as a maid or become prostitutes.'"

When all other measures failed she organized a successful boycott.

     Effa's husband, Abe, acquired the Brooklyn Eagles.  He could run the on the field stuff like strategies easily.  But managerial matters like publicity and contract negotiation eluded him.

     "He'd failed miserably in the business of baseball before, but Abe had a feeling his fortunes might be on the upswing.  Effa's civic involvement had given her a crash course in reading a room, asserting herself, and effecting change.  Even better, she was on Abe's team."

     Williams tells readers that Baseball's Leading Lady was "more than fifteen years in the making." In 2004 she became a marketing assistant for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.  It was here that she learned about Effa.  Suddenly her own goal (managing a Major League baseball team) seemed possible.

     "Instead, my goal (in writing the book) was to lay all the facts on the table, unnerving as they may be, and to encourage you to have tough conversations about tough situations.  At the same time, I wanted to introduce you to a story that I desperately needed when I was your age.  It is a story of heartbreak and broken promises, sure.  But more than that, it is a story of grit and ingenuity, courage and victory."

On a purrrsonal note, last night's gathering at community garden was idyllic.  There was a mist in the air, keeping temperatures comfortable.  We had a bounty to harvest and give away including two boxes of genuine heirloom tomatoes donated by a farm.  We had a highly engaged, convivial crowd including our good garden dog.  We had melon and dates all the way from Algeria (much sweeter and plumper than American  dates) to snack on.  Couldn't have asked for more. (Jules)

She had a late night but she came home to me.  I could smell dog on her before she took a shower.  As long as she doesn't bring one home.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to the community garden family.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

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Tobago tending to her babies.  She snuggles them, grooms them, and sets them up to eat from her cat bowl.  I know she won't be happy with her new diet.  But I can't take the risk of setting her up for diabetes.

Beyond The Sand And Sea

Adult nonfiction 

     "So many futures were more likely than making it to a university of any kind: recruitment into an extremist group, a dangerous sea crossing in search of work, death at the hands of Kenyan security forces who have killed and disappeared thousands of Somalis.  These were paths followed by many of Asad's classmates and friends.  He is the only person born in Dadaab ever to be admitted to Princeton University."

     Asad Hussein was born in Dadaab, a huge refugee camp in Kenya.  His parents and older siblings, including a newborn sister who died of measles and acute malnutrition en route, had to flee war torn Somalia.  They were sure they would return when the fighting was over.  Dadaab was temporary.

     Temporary would turn out to be decades.

     Housing was makeshift and crowded.  Can you imagine a large family doing everything in a shack made of twigs and plastic scraps smaller than the smallest bedroom in your house?  Food was grossly insufficient, education and medical care rudimentary.

     "Perhaps nowhere else on earth have so many people placed so much faith in a country they have never visited and are unlikely ever to reach."

     Forced to exist under abysmal conditions, it's no wonder the refugees stuck in Dadaab were desperate to immigrate to America.  Rules for resettlement were complex and had to be followed to the letter.  Low level bureaucrats could expedite people who bribed them with money or sex.

     Complicating matters, America elected Donald Trump.

     "And perhaps nowhere else on earth have the results of a distant presidential election proved so utterly devastating."

     Although Asad's older sister was relocated, the rest of his family, including his medically frail father, remained in limbo with no explanation for the delay.

     How could he get them out of Dadaab in the context of a system that has made millions into permanent exiles, people without a country?

On a purrrsonal note, I know that I am incredibly privileged to have this problem, but Tobago has put on a little too much weight.  Tanna told me this at Tobago's last week check up.  Nobody mentioned it in 2021.  Dr. Keene agreed that cutting down on her food from 2 to 1 1/2 cans a day might be a good start.  Ultimately I may have to switch her to diet cat food.  Cats who pack on too many pounds are at risk for diabetes.  I can't let that happen.  (Jules)

Not my fault.  You keep a cat inside without all the exercise of catching prey while avoiding becoming prey or roadkill.  What do you expect?  Tubby tabbies. (Tobago)

But indoor cats live longer, healthier lives. (Jules)

True that. ( Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to Tanna.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

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Most Powerful Words About Civil Rights

Juvenile nonfiction

      "She [Fannie Lou Hamer] was known for her deeply honest speeches, which addressed issues head on.  'Is this America,' Hamer said, ' the land of the free and the home of the brave, where...our lives be threatened daily, because we want to live as decent human beings?'"

     Most spoken or written speech has a very short life span.  But there are some pieces that capture people's attention and sometimes outlive their authors.

     "'I have a dream,' King said, 'that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.'"

     Sarah Smykowski's Most Powerful Words About Civil Rights shows younger readers the activism of the 50s and 60s through a different lens.  From Rosa Parks whose refusal to give up her bus seat led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott ("People always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired, but that wasn't true...No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.") to Black Congresswomen Shirley Chisholm ("I want to be remembered as a woman...who dared to be a catalyst of change.") portraits of leaders are focused around some of their most well known quotes.

     At the end of the book readers are reminded that the work carried out by these courageous leaders is far from complete.  They too can make a difference.

On a purrrsonal note, even though classes don't start until next week I started working today.  I'm at Hilltop since Wells is shut down.  I know a lot of the non student workers including my BFFs Kristina and Jen and a bunch of the students including the football team.  Yeah, I like it there.  Not so thrilled with the commute though. (Jules)

As long as her new manager and supervisors treat her right... (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to the Hilltop team.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

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This is a picture I took at a scenic overlook.  The mountain in the background is Kathadin.

Farmers Unite!

Juvenile nonfiction

     "Whispers spread over morning coffee about father-son operations that folded.  About newspapers advertising six farm auctions at a time.

     If this kept up, who would be left to feed the nation?"

     Those of us fortunate enough to be food secure tend to not give much thought to where it comes from before it ends up on the shelves at Hannaford or Walmart.  We may kvetch if prices go up.  But for the most part farm crises fly under our collective radar.  Kansas farmer's daughter, Lindsay H. Metcalf, brings a severe farm crisis to life for young readers in Farmers Unite!: Planting A Protest For Fair Prices.

     In 1977 things were looking very bad for farmers.  Prices of all they needed to grow crops were soaring at the same time as their revenue was going in the opposite direction.

     "'When a bushel of wheat costs me $3.20 to raise and the selling price is around $2.40, something is wrong,' said Fred Bartels, a Colorado farmer.'"

     Farmers wanted to hold on to a vocation that was also a way of life.  Seeing friends and neighbors driven out of business made them desperate.  Government was refusing to do anything to ease their plight.

     Well what if farmers from all over the country drove their tractors to DC and parked in inconvenient locations?

     Farmers Unite! presents a lively, engaging narrative brought to life by an abundance of photographs.  It will give both kids and parents much food for thought.

On a purrrsonal note, I had a great weekend.  Saturday we drove up to Island Falls which is in the Kathaden region.  We saw some great scenery and had a riverside picnic.  We saw foxes.  Today we drove to Winterport.  On the way we saw a bunch of turkeys foraging in a field.  We still have a week til classes start.  But I go back to dining, only working at Hilltop instead of Wells.  Noooooooo!!! So not ready. (Jules)

So not ready.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to Eugene.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

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These are a few of the filled backpacks I was able to distribute.

These are just a few of the supplies that turned the livingroom into a backpack production zone.

Witches of Brooklyn

Middle grade graphic novel series 

     Middle grade kids have a real affinity for series books, sometimes to the dismay of parents and teachers who tend not to view them as real literature.  It's easy to see why.  Kids that age want more agency in their lives.  And peers are beginning to supplant family in social life.  But real life peer relationships can be unpredictable, messy, and complicated.

     I vividly recall my daydreams of riding around with Nancy Drew, George, and Bess in Nancy's roadster solving mysteries.  Some of my classmates preferred the Bobsey Twins.  My daughters went through a Babysitters Club phase.  They would have loved Witches of Brooklyn which has the added charm of graphic novel format.

     Effie, the perky protagonist of Sophie Escabasse's Witches of Brooklyn books, is an orphan who was dropped off in the middle of the night to live with her two seriously older aunts.  These are not ladies who would get the children's protective services stamp of approval.  They're witches.  It turns out that in their home young Effie has magical powers, powers she has to learn and grow her way into.

     In the first volume, Witches of Brooklyn, the singer Effie considers " the biggest artist of the century!!" turns up at Effie's home with her full entourage.  After Tily Shoo tried a facial cream given her by a fan her face turned red and didn't return to its normal tone.  The witches are her last hope.  And she has to do a big concert in two days.

     In the second volume, What The Hex?  Effie meets the very diverse group of witches that use their powers to troubleshoot in their communities.  One has disturbing news.  One corner of her turf is seeing a lot of drama: car crashes, fights, fainting, falling tree branches, and even people going unexpectedly into labor.  Could someone have roused up a sleeping dragon?

     Meanwhile Effie has problems of her own.  Best friend Berrit has ignored her all Christmas break.  It turned out she's been hanging out with Garance, a new girl from France in their class.  Effie feels invisible and maybe replaced.

     In the third volume, S'more Magic, Effie's aunts send her to summer camp.  It's not like any camp you attended unless your camp was for witches in training and there was a sleeping dragon under the lake where you had swimming lessons.  Those sleeping dragons can get pretty ugly when roused, you know.

     Meanwhile Effie is aghast at all the scheduled swimming time.  She's determined not to go into the water.  She has her reason which she's not about to share.  But how long can she make excuses before someone deduces the truth.

     Lively dialogue and illustrations that perfectly capture plot and characters' emotions and relationships make this trilogy a gem for middle grade readers.  Its graphic novel format will appeal to readers not fond of more traditional ones.

     Heck!  I'm not so patiently waiting for the next volume in the series, hoping I'll get a review copy hot off the press when it comes out.

On a purrrsonal note, well I've just about wrapped up the backpack project for this year.  Other than one family I haven't managed to meet up with yet I've equipped the kids in my trailer park with back to school supplies with a lot of help from my amazing friends.  I have their packs ready.  So now I can have a stash of stuff for when kids run out and start working on backpacks for next year which will be our fourth year.  (Jules)

Oh, no, school is starting much too soon.  I am so not ready to supervise homework and remember all the stuff Jules needs for school and get her to bed and up on time.  A cat's work is never done. (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to all the friends who provided money and supplies to once again make the Backpack Project a reality and all the kids heading off to school well supplied.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

     

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I just had to take a picture of a couple of pages to show the dynamic nature of narrative and illustrations.

This is the book.  Isn't it gorgeous?

Everybody Belongs

Picture book 

     The moment--literally the moment--I received my review copy of Heather Avis' Everybody Belongs I dropped everything to read and review it right away.  It's that good.  The rhymes are lively.  The illustrations are gorgeous.  And Avis and illustrator Sarah Mensinga team up to convey a very important message.

     Sisters Macy and Tru decide that they want to put on a show.  They gather up costumes, props, and a mic and head for the stage in the park.

     A very diverse group of kids is attracted to the venue.  Many aren't sure they'll be accepted, let alone welcome.  But with the refrain "Exactly who you are is exactly who we pick" the sisters find a way to integrate everyone into their production.

     Then a kid in a wheelchair showd up.  The stage has no ramp, just stairs.  

" The group became quiet; no one made a sound.

'The space is the problem, not how he gets around.'"

     One sentence perfectly captures one of the perpetual problems of the society we live in.  Challenges people face are framed in terms of their differences rather than society's limitations that need to be overcome.  A too bad, so sad attitude gets the people who should be making changes off the hook.

     The kids are willing to make the changes that allow their friend to participate.  Hopefully someday the adults will catch up with them.

     Everybody Belongs is such a wonderful book that my review copy is going to be the gift from my older daughter and me to a friend of hers who is having her first baby.  Nothing but the best for Tanna and her new little person!

On a purrrsonal note, this is a problem I've been dealing with all my life.  Because of blindness in one eye with poor peripheral vision and petit mal epilepsy I can't drive.  There are a lot of times I can't go to places I want to go to. The problem doesn't lie in me, but in a totally inadequate public transportation system.  In the early twentieth century car companies bought up and demolished trolley lines to eliminate competition.  Reversing this travesty would help not only people with disabilities, but those who can't afford car acquisition and maintenance.  It would also cut down on pollution big time. (Jules)

It's a rainy day, just purrrfect for a cat nap. (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to Avis and Mensinga for putting together a charming children's book that carries a serious and necessary challenge for adults.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

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A Face For Picasso

YA memoir 

"I am ugly.  There's a mathematical equation to prove it.  Or so I was told by the boy who sat behind me the first day of seventh grade art class.

     'I'm going to stick a pencil through the back of your eye,' he told me laughing.  "It's not like you could get much uglier.  Even the teacher thinks so.'

     Ariel Henley, author of A Face For Picasso, and her twin sister, Zan, were born with Crouzon syndrome.  Basically the bones in their heads fused too early in infancy.  There was no room for normal brain growth.  So the girls' growing up years were full of painful surgeries and recoveries.  So they could survive they had to have their skulls broken and reconfigured on a regular basis.  Memories of past surgeries made anticipation of future ones torture.  Plus, because of being twins, Ariel also had to witness the helplessness and suffering of someone she loved dearly.

     "Though the physical aspect of our condition was sometimes painful, it was nothing compared to the emotional toll of navigating life with a facial difference.  The everyday stares, comments, and subhuman treatment were constant reminders of our painful medical history and perceived shortcomings.  We were treated as less attractive, less intelligent, and less worthy of basic respect."

     You're probably thinking that kids can be so cruel.  And one of the things Ariel and Zan had to regularly face was peers excluding them, making cutting remarks, and being mean in a myriad of ways.  But the adults were worse.  Even those who should have known better such as teachers believed and acted on stereotypes.

     An episode that shows this especially well is what happens when Zan becomes cheerleading homecoming princess.  The girl who had assumed that she'd win started loudly insisting that the votes had been changed and started harassing Zan.  It was, however, her coach mother who supported and promoted her daughter's campaign to get her "acknowledged as the real winner" to the point of quitting in protest.  The director of the organization had to intervene.

     In her author's note Ariel tells readers "Writing this book was my way of dealing with the trauma that fueled my childhood and young adulthood...It was my way of letting go and moving on.  Of choosing to continue loving a world even when it didn't always love me back."

     I highly recommend A Face For Picasso to readers at the higher end of the age and reading comprehension YA spectrum.  I even more highly recommend it to college students, especially those headed into fields like teaching and coaching where they'll be influencing children and teens.

     But the group I most strongly recommend it to is parents.  We have a unique role in influencing our children's perceptions.  From the moment their eyes focus they watch and pick up on how we view others.

     When I was a child racism flew under the radar.  Now many moms and dads curate the messages they send in this regard.  But most of us still subscribe to and convey our society's revulsion at all that does not align with our commercialized and usually aspirational concepts of beauty.

     Let me give one small example.  As an adult I had a sebaceous cyst under my right arm that was only visible when I wore a bathing suit or sleeveless top.  Given my family's financial status I wasn't going to incur the costs of purely cosmetic surgery.  Kids sometimes asked me about it and I was fine answering their questions.

     One day a little girl asked me about it.  I'd started answering her when her mother stormed over, grabbed her arm, and pulled her away, loudly whispering, "We do not call attention to other people's deformities."

     I'm giving the mother the benefit of doubt.  Once kids start walking and talking we're sometimes caught off guard, scrambling to figure out what to say and do when they inadvertently embarrass us or we're afraid of looking like bad parents.  But the admonition that asking questions about visible differences was not OK, the use of the word deformities, the whisper shout, and the act of pulling her away as if I was contagious or in other ways dangerous...

     ...that was sending quite a message.

     It sent me a message too.  I didn't swim for nearly a decade, partly out of self consciousness, but also a desire not to be the object of another child receiving a similar message.  I finally can swim since last summer my primary care provider pitched the operation as cancer prevention, something I can fiscally get behind.

     And the thought that went through my head when I stepped out of the dressing room into the pool area: now I'm as undeformed as anyone else.

     I couldn't imagine what it would be like to receive this kind of message on a daily basis from a wide range of people until I had the privilege of reading A Face For Picasso.  Ultimately I recommend this book for everyone able to get its message who interacts with other human beings.

On a purrrsonal note, I am so thrilled because I got Tobago to her check up and back home before the first drop of rain.  Dr. Keene declared her to be the picture of feline health.  Julie Keene has been my family vet for quite awhile and took really good care of my medical special needs Joey cat in the 16 years we were blessed with his loving presence.

I had a wonderful surprise.  The vet tech was someone I hadn't seen in well over a decade.  She went to school with my younger daughter and was one of the kindest and most authentic and least peer judgemental of all the kids in their class.  Veazie Vet was quite smart to hire her. (Jules)

I don't have to go through that again for a year.  Someone remind me what a year is. (Tobago)

Great big shout outs go out to Dr. Julie Keene who has just celebrated her 18th anniversary with Veazie Vet and rising star vet tech Tanna.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

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Swish!

Juvenile nonfiction 

"It all started with those boys 

thump-thumping basketballs 

up and down Chicago's South Side 

in alleys, driveways, and parking lots."

     When I was a teenager the Harlem Globetrotters were larger than life.  It took a lot of grit for them to become a presence in major league basketball.  Suzanne Slade tells their amazing story in Swish! The Slam-dunking, Alley-ooping, High Flying Harlem Globetrotters.  

     In the 1920s top basketball teams only accepted white players.  Exceptional Black players were relegated to traveling teams.  One, the Globetrotters, traveled in a model T Ford.  They played every day in all kinds of spaces that were not arenas.  Because of Jim Crow they were excluded from most restaurants and hotels.  Even facilities as basic as water fountains and bathrooms were whites only.  Whites showed a lot of hostility when those talented players whipped their teams.

     I don't know about you, but I probably wouldn't have persisted under those conditions.  Amazingly they did.

     And the rest is history.  Swish!, told in verse, is a wonderful read aloud.  It has the cadence of a lively ball game.  It's also a great way to win over sports loving kids who think poetry is dull as dirt and irrelevant.

On a purrrsonal note, in less than a half hour I'll have to wrangle Tobago into her cat carrier and walk her down Route 2 to the veterinarian for her check up.  It hasn't started raining yet, yet being the operational word.  The sky is looking nothing if not ominous.  The odds of me getting her there and back before the day long rain: not good.  I'll be very relieved when I get this errand accomplished. (Jules)

I don't see why we can't forget about this errand.  I'm perfectly healthy.  ( Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to all who persist through the challenges created and perpetuated through racism.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

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Powerful picture books

Dreamers

Freedom Soup 

Bodega Cat 

     A mother and her infant son cross the bridge into America.  On the other side they are immigrants, homesick in a strange place.  The mother wonders if it will ever feel like home.

     Then one day they discover an amazing place "where we didn't need to speak, we only needed to trust."

     Yuyi Morales shares her immigrant story in lyrical prose that begs to be read aloud and vibrant illustrations.  If you look carefully you'll find a monarch butterfly ( a very beloved immigrant) on each two page spread.

"Today is New Years Day.  This year, I get to help make Freedom Soup.  Ti Gran says I've got a heart made for cooking, and it's time I learn how."

     Belle, narrator of Tami Charles' Freedom Soup, and her Ti Gran may be able to see snow falling outside their kitchen window.  But their hearts and minds are in a far warmer place.  It's Belle's turn to learn how to prepare a recipe that's been passed down from generation to generation in her family and many others.

     As they cook together Ti Gran tells the story behind the soup.  It's a story of slaves in Haiti having to serve a soup they could never eat to their abusive white masters.  After a successful revolution eating the special soup became part of the annual freedom celebration.

     Charles makes this soup with her own son every New Years Day.  (She includes a child friendly recipe).  In her author's note she tells readers, "It's been several years since Ti Gran left us, and I continue to be thankful for the lessons she taught me: that freedom comes at a price, that the price you pay is the work you put in, and that the ultimate reward is tasting the sweet freedom that you craved all along.  This book is an homage to Ti Gran and to the bravery of the Haitian people who have endured so much, in fighting their revolution, in the face of an earthquake, and in the face of continual oppression..."

     If my mother was still alive she would have loved this book.  She was a college English professor.  Way before multiculturalism was a thing she created a class called America's Heritage in Literature.  Everyone's favorite part of the class was the dinner where each student brought a food from her family's history and shared the story behind it.

     I have two suggestions for any parents sharing this book.

1) Prepare the soup together as you share the book.

2) Are there any special foods in your family's history?  What are the stories behind them?  Start or continue your own family tradition.

     "What's up?

     My name is Chip.

And I'm the boss of this bodega."

     Cat loving kids (and parents) are going to adore Louie Chin's Bodega Cat.  It's the story of a day in the life of a bodega narrated by the real owner, a feline named Chip.  Chip knows all the regulars.

"The guy with the beard? 

I knew him before

he was old enough

to have a beard."

Chip does everything: inventory, customer service, working the register, and even navigating on bike deliveries.

     I highly recommend this book to read aloud families.  It's a story kids will want to hear again and again and parents won't tire of quickly.

     I read the story aloud to Tobago.  I don't know what she thinks of it.  But she did sniff the pages attentively.

On a purrrsonal note, in at least parts of Maine we're under drought conditions.  Blame the recent heat wave coupled with not enough snow last winter and not enough rain now.  In other words, blame climate change.  People are laboring heroically to save the veggies and fruits we need.  People who rely on wells, which is a big percentage of this state's population, are running dry or about to run dry.  My smartphone and the channel 5 meteorologist are in agreement that the much needed rain will come Wednesday.  I'm rooting for the rain as much as anyone else, just hoping it starts after 10:00 in the morning.  Tobago has to go to her veterinarian for a check up.  I can't reschedule with school starting soon.  To get to the veterinary practice I have to walk down sidewalkless busy route two.  With the rain visibility would be crappy.  Just another reason I envy people who can actually drive. ( Jules)

She could always cancel that visit to the veterinarian.  I am in purrrfect health.  ( Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to all people who are education about and fighting climate change.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

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Peeps: not just for Easter anymore!!!

Two Sheroes For Our Kids

Sylvia Mendez: Education Equality Activist 

Epic Athletes: Simone Biles 

     When she was eight, Sylvia Mendez and her parents and brothers moved to a farm in California.  For her father, a naturalized citizen, being his own boss was a big step up from being a field worker.

        There were two schools near Sylvia's home.  She yearned to go to the nice one with the playground.  But because she was Hispanic she was relegated to the separate and far from equal one.

     Her father, Gonzalo Mendez, wasn't going to accept inferior educations for his beloved children.  When talking to the principal and school board didn't work he took the school board to court...

     ...and that was only the beginning.

     Parents and children will be inspired by Jim Klein's fine narrative.

     Simone Biles was born into a precarious household.  Both of her parents were drug users.  When she was three she and her siblings were reported to child protective services and put up into foster care.

     Fortunately when it was decided that Simone's mother could not regain custody her grandparents were able to adopt her and her little sister.  Her grandmother enrolled her in gymnastics as an outlet for her boundless energy...

     ...never guessing that this was her first step on the path to Olympic gold.  

     Kids who are really into gymnastics will enjoy and be inspired by Simone's story.

On a purrrsonal note, I had an amazing weekend.  We spent it at camp.  It was sunny and breezy out with hardly any mosquitoes.  I spent most of my time in the rocking chair on the porch.  I read 2 1/2 books.  Heavenly.  Eugene and I also did some walking.  We found delicious wild blueberries.  Eugene grilled hamburgers for supper.  On the way back we stopped at his mother's house where I visited and crocheted.  We also stopped at the Hampden Hannaford where I found Halloween ghost marshmallow Peeps.  You know how much I enjoy them.  I've also heard rumors of Christmas and Valentine's Day Peeps.  Life is sweet. (Jules)

And now my people are home.  Life is sweet. ( Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to Eugene.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

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Primo picture books

How To Read A Book 

Crown: An Ode To The Fresh Cut 

A Is For Audra

     In our still standardized test as benchmark obsessed schools, reading instruction often focuses on quantifiables such as speed, phonetic accuracy, and ability to fill in bubbles.  True engagement becomes collateral damage in this war for recognition and resources.

     Kwame Alexander, who writes beautifully for children at all stages of development, teams up with award winning artist Melissa Sweet to present a much more natural way of reading starting with the all important step of finding a comfortable place.  Readers at all stages stand to gain from his wisdom including those most set in their ways...

     ...adults.

"You come in as a lump of clay

A blank canvas, a slab of marble.

But when my man is done with you,

They'll want to post you up in a museum!"

     Derrick Barnes wrote Crown: An Ode To The Fresh Cut in the very unusual second person.  That's because he's directly addressing the reader.  He's conveying the pride building magic of a visit to a barbershop for a Black boy based on his own growing up experiences.  

"...That fresh cut made you more handsome.  It made you smarter, more visible, and more aware of every great thing that could happen in your world."

     This lively read aloud makes for great parent child sharing.

"W's the wondrous 

Ms. Lillias White 

Whose riffs, runs, and scats 

Sound so wonderfully right."

      Every time I think I've seen all there is to see in alphabet books I'm proven wrong.  John Robert Allman's A Is For Audra is the latest abecedarian volume to set me straight.  It's a celebration of Broadway's leading ladies past and present.

     The pictures are full on glamorous.  The artist represents a wide range of races, body types, facial features, and musical styles, allowing many children to see themselves in at least one star.

     Who knows?  As they learn their letters maybe a few kids will start dreaming big dreams.

On a purrrsonal note, last school year I really enjoyed working in Wells Dining Commons.  Over the summer I learned it will be shut down 2022-23 because of declining enrollment.  It was no secret that other venues had been trying to steal me.  Skills and work ethic.  So I went free agent like the major league baseball players.  Hilltop gave me an offer I couldn't refuse.  So I've signed with them. (Jules)

Food is so important.  ( Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to you, dear readers, with best wishes for a fabulous weekend.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

     

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This is the scarf I just finished last Saturday.  I get most of my yarn from thrift stores, yard sales, other people's unfinished projects, and dumpsters.  It's much more fun than deciding what I want and looking for it in a store.

Here's Tobago putting in a request for nip in the garden next summer.

My full bag of dumpster yarn.  Did I luck out or did I luck out?

Home made coleslaw is a great no cook veggie dish for hot summer days.

This is my long time gardening friend, Diane.  We do so love our veggies!

I took some Giving Garden pictures to share with you. 

I love this work of art in children's wing of the Orono Public Library.

Juvenile social justice nonfiction

The Cat Man Of Aleppo 

Unspeakable 

All Of A Sudden And Forever 

     "On his way home from work, Alaa stops the ambulance.  Two cats call to him from the branches of an ancient olive tree.  Three more peek from a Syrian juniper tree.  Alaa's  big heart swells with love for them.  Bombs may still fall, and his loved ones may never come back to Aleppo.  But there is something he can do: he can look after the cats."

     In 2012 many people had to flee for their lives from Aleppo due to the arrival of the Syrian Civil War.  Refugee families could take only the most basic possessions.  Many beloved cats were suddenly homeless.

     Alaa Aljaleel, an ambulance driver, loved his home city and was heartbroken when the war arrived.  Despite the danger, despite missing his loved ones who fled, he stayed to help his fellow citizens.  One day he found a purrrfect way.  His story, told in Irene Latham and Karim Shamsi-Basha's The Cat Man Of Aleppo, will touch the hearts of cat loving children and parents.

     "...Telling the story of the effects of war on people needs to be done, but on animals?  They, too, suffer and caring for them illuminates what it means to be human..."

     Karim grew up in Damascus and attended college in Aleppo.  He can remember its beauty and historical richness.  He hopes that Alaa's story can help readers become more compassionate.

     I believe that this fine book will help children and adults who bond extremely closely with animal companions to more fully comprehend the horrors of war.  It also gives us ways to help.

"Once upon a time on Black Wall Street there were dozens of restaurants and grocery stores.

There were furriers, a pool hall, a bus system, and an auto shop--

nearly two hundreds of businesses in all."

     Tulsa, Oklahoma's Greenwood District also had churches, a library, and a school system.  It was a place where its Black residents could do anything they needed to do without going beyond its boundaries, a place apart from the indignities and dangers of Jim Crow America.

     In Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre Carole Boston Weatherford's eloquent text and Floyd Cooper's vivid illustrations take readers back to this thriving community and its deliberate destruction.  They show how a mob of enraged whites went on an orgy of shooting, looting, and arson--leaving hundreds of people dead and injured and thousands homeless--and how the police stood aside, not doing a thing to intervene.

     For decades there was a serious cover up started by people who felt that the 1921 massacre was not good for Tulsa's image.  It was only in this century that the truth began to come out.  There's still a lot unknown.

     This speaking truth to power narrative is a must acquire for school and public libraries.

     One of the challenges of 21st century parenting is the inability to shelter even our youngest children from knowledge of horrific events.  I learned this after 9/11.  Eugene and I kept the TV news off.  I talked to Amber and Katie about what had happened.  They were in public school.  I was sure though that it would be possible to keep Adam in the dark.  He was only four--much too young to be confronted with that kind of real life horror.

     The next morning when I picked Adam up at nursery school his teachers told me that he had built two elaborate block towers, crashed a toy plane into them, and explained to his classmates that that was what had happened the day before.  

     I'm sure that most parents want their children to feel safe and secure.  How can they meet this important need while acknowledging the terrible realities they can't shelter them from?

     Chris Barton's All Of A Sudden And Forever is a good conversation starter.  It talks about the Oklahoma City Bombing, a tragedy that took the lives of 168 people.  It acknowledges the awfulness of the event but reminds readers that it was not the end of the story.  As he did research for the book Barton talked to survivors, family members of victims, and first responders.  He discusses the complexities of their paths forward.  

     Barton's narrative, however, is rooted in a story of a tree, an elm that had been injured by the bomb.  That tree and its descendants, nurtured carefully from seeds collected every spring, have become symbols of healing and hope.

     If you want to know how read the book.

On a purrrsonal note, I am now able to volunteer at Orono Public Library and our Community Garden, now known as the Giving Garden, for the first time this summer.  I did both on Tuesday.  The garden was especially fun.  A new recipient family included a little boy who was astounded to see that carrots and beets come out of the ground.  We had a great crew.  I met someone who is just starting on her PhD in my higher ed program.  I brought home some really good veggies.  I so prefer fresh to canned.  The weather was perfect.  We could hear the concert from the library amphitheatre.  And,  as if that wasn't enough, in the thrift shop dumpster I found over $50 worth of the fancy yarn I prefer to crochet with.  Maybe karma?  I've started visiting my mother-in-law so she won't be as isolated.  She likes to watch me crochet Christmas scarves. (Jules)

I gotta put in a request for the gardeners to put in some nip next summer.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to the Giving Garden crew.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

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Unpregnant

YA fiction

    "...I'd spend the night in a cell that stank of urine with a crazy woman called Drunk Marge and then in the morning my parents would show up to bail me out.  They'd find out what I planned and I'd lose my scholarship and have to live with my parents as an unwed mother for the rest of my life.  The highlight of my week would be finding my favorite frozen dinners half off at the grocery store.  The grocery store I probably worked at.  And all because Bailey wanted to climb a stupid pink elephant."

     Veronica, protagonist of Jenni Hendriks  and Ted Caplan's Unpregnant, has a life a lot of teens would envy.  She's slaying her courses to the extent that she's class valedictorian.  She's been accepted at an ivy league school.  She has a crew of pretty, popular besties.  And there's that ultra hot, uber popular boyfriend, Kevin.  What could possibly go wrong?

     How about two lines on a pregnancy test?  How about Kevin's admission that he intentionally sabotaged the condoms?  His plan for them to marry, settle down, and start a family which would derail all she's worked so hard for?  How about the fact that the nearest place that would allow her to get an abortion is over 900 miles away and she doesn't have transportation?

     How is Veronica going to terminate her very unplanned pregnancy without destroying the image all the important people in her life have of her?  

     "Bailey looked at my outstretched hand and cocked an eyebrow.  ' I see you're still wearing your purity ring.  Just keeping up appearances?  Or is this some sort of virgin birth thing?...'"

     Veronica and Bailey had been best friends before high school had sorted them into very different social groups.  While Veronica has soared with the elite, Bailey has been the school pariah.  She's sarcastic, unpredictable, and not exactly felony aversive.  

     But she has a car and is willing to make the trip as long as they include a stop in Roswell.  So what could go wrong now?  

     How about Kevin turning stalker, still determined to get Veronica to go along with his plan, and showing up at all the worst times--like when she and Bailey are trying to get away from a stripper and her husband who are anti abortion religious fanatics?

     How about being chased by the dogs they're supposed to beware of when Bailey insists on climbing a huge elephant statue on land clearly marked no trespassing?

     How about having Bailey's car, which she'd actually stolen, trashed by some teenage boys whose advances she and Veronica had spurned at a diner?

     Unpregnant deals with some very important issues such as the difficulty, if not impossibility, of teenage girls getting abortions, the cruelty of high school caste like social segregation, and the pressure to be no less  than perfect that many girls face.  I think  it would be a great mother-daughter book club read.

On a purrrsonal note, since it's August it's Backpack Project season.  It's our third year.  I've made a really big delivery improvement.  The first two years I delivered all the packs in one night which made for stress and serious backaches.  So over the school year I bought stuff ahead at thrift shops and when regular stores had sales with donated money.  I set aside enough that with beginning donations I've made over half the deliveries.  As donations ramp up I'll fill and deliver the rest of this summer's packs and set stuff aside for kids running out of things, new kids moving in, and next summer which will be year four. (Jules)

She is smart.  And she has opposable thumbs.  What I could do with opposable thumbs! (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to all who have donated supplies and money.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

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