How You Grow Wings

Rimma Onoseta's How You Grow Wings takes readers to a place, rural Nigeria, most of us will never visit and describes it so vividly it comes to life in our minds. It is a story set in a nation still suffering the lingering effects of colonialism and government corruption.
It's the story of a highly dysfunctional family. The mother, who grew up bearing the scorn of lighter skinned family members, obsessively bleaches her skin and takes her simmering anger out on her two daughters. The father, ashamed of not attaining the power and wealth of his older brother and aware that his wife wishes she was married to his sibling, has become silent—a shadow presence in his household. Older daughter, Chita, meets her mother's hostility with defiance. When she is ten she is hospitalized a week for injuries inflicted by her mother. And it's only the first time. Her younger sister, Zam, adapts by complying with her mother's demands and desperately attempting to stay out of her way.
When their Aunt Sophie requests that Sam come to live in her household the girls' lives go in very different directions. Zam is introduced to a life of privilege and opportunity. Chita flees her abusive mother to a precarious existence in the slums and a struggle for survival.
A voracious reader growing up, Onoseta writes the kind of stories her younger self wanted to read, "stories about young Nigerian girls who are chaotic and fierce and who question what they're taught." I certainly hope she's at work on another one.
The one thing I take issue with is the book's YA designation. YA covers a lot of developmental territory. The book opens with a scene in which Zam returns home to find a relative beating his daughter so severely she'll have to be hospitalized in a living room full of guests including the local priest who do nothing to stop the assault. This is not content for the younger end of the YA spectrum. Maybe could we have a mature YA category? On the other end it's also perfect for post secondary readers. In fact, given higher education's current emphasis on diversity and inclusion and the way in which topics such as colonialism, class, colorism, and intergenerational trauma are embedded in a riveting narrative, How You Grow Wings belongs in college and university classrooms. Maybe writers like Onset can replace some of the long dead white males who are still being inflicted on students.
On a purrrsonal note, the Black Bear Exchange had its official grand opening in the spacious location it moved into last winter. It was well attended and I saw some people I hadn't seen in awhile. People were quite impressed with the place.
A great big shout out goes out to Lisa and the BBE crew.
Jules Hathaway

We Are Not Broken

We Are Not Broken, George M. Johnson's childhood memoir, the sequel to his All Boys Aren't Blue, is a loving and brilliant tribute to the central figure in his life in his growing up years—his grandmother. Along with his older cousins, Rall and Rasul, and his little brother, Garrett, he spent afternoons after school and weekends at her Big Yellow House. It's also a tribute to her peers, the other Black grandmothers who through physical and emotional labor held their families together and taught their grandchildren their worth in a world that was far from welcoming and often downright hostile. Johnson's memories are candid and evocative.
Embedded in the tales of joy and sorrow, love and loss there is pointed criticism of the larger world: its acceptance of harsh physical punishments that left generations of children traumatized, the racism that put Black youth in frequent jeopardy, and the homophobia, sexism, and patriarchal ideologies upheld by the Black church.
Johnson has a poignant message for readers.
"Black boys in society are often seen as adults by the age of twelve. We are viewed as dangerous and more prone to violence, and often left broken. This book is attempt to change our narrative and give voice to our stories through our own eyes. Most importantly, this is an opportunity to disprove any notion that Black boys don't deserve love, affection, care, and the space to be open, vulnerable, emotional, and kind."
On a purrrsonal note, Orono Public Library's Volunteer Appreciation Night was truly special. The refreshments were a sophisticated blend of sweet and savory. The appreciation gifts were flower filled glass vases. The speaker gave us a sneak peek at what the library will look like after its long awaited expansion. Such an exciting prospect!
A great big shout out goes out to librarians for putting on such a fine event.
Jules Hathaway

The Perfect Mother

Ready for an adult mystery? Aimee Malloy's The Perfect Mother blends a captivating narrative with spot on social commentary.
They're the May Mothers, a cadre of new moms who gave birth in the same month, brought together by a questionnaire. Meeting at first on line and then in person, they share their hopes and fears in the new, unpredictable worlds of pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood.
Many members come and go. But there's a regular core group. Collette is an author not writing under her own name. She's ghosting the sequel to the memoir of an egotistical politician. Although the original was hot, the sequel isn't getting off the ground. Nell is returning from maternity leave to her high pressure career in publishing. She's intent on keeping a secret from her past hidden. Francine is married to an architect who left his established firm in Tennessee to start a private practice in New York. When a big contract falls through they aren't sure how they'll manage.
When the moms plan a Fourth of July bar trip that trio, concerned about Winnie, a single mom who seems depressed, make sure that she can go. Nell even provides a babysitter.
Unfortunately Winnie comes home to an empty crib and a sleeping babysitter. So who took baby Midas? Will Winnie ever see him alive again? When the police seem to be nothing but ineptitude the trio takes matters into their own hands.
In addition to delivering a real page turner of a plot The Perfect Mother takes a hard look at the dimensions along which mothers condemn and are encouraged to condemn each other. Breast milk vs formula. Working outside vs staying home. You know—the mommy wars.
On a purrrsonal note, I wore a gold sequined dress today even though the winds were fierce. I'm wearing dresses more because I get so many compliments when I do. Now some of the undergrads are copying me and I'm lovin' it.
A great big shout out goes out to my fellow thrift shop and yard sale fashionistas.
Jules Hathaway

Select (juvenile fiction)

Alex (12), protagonist of Christie Matheson's Select, loves playing soccer. She's been on a team since she was 5 1/2. In the intervening years she's amasses some pretty impressive skills.
One day after a game Alex sees her mother talking to a stranger. He's the coach of Sanfrancisco Select, a prestigious soccer club. He wants her to join, dangling the possibility of a college soccer scholarship. Alex wants to go to college. She knows that her mother, raising two daughters on a low income job, can't make that happen.
When Alex quits her rec league soccer team to become a select her coach tells her not to forget why she loves soccer. On her new team she quickly discovers the reason for this reminder. Playing brings a lot of stress and little pleasure. Her new coach is a sexist who is extremely verbally abusive, not only to his team, bur to woman coaches and referees. And he's never satisfied with his team's performance. Even winning every game they're not good enough. They should have crushed the other team.
Then one day he goes too far.
Unfortunately Select is all too relevant. In today's big money high stakes youth sports world too many coaches forget that their players are children or teens and deserve a developmentally appropriate and enriching experience.
Sports loving kids will enjoy this lively narrative while being reminded of a very important right.
On a purrrsonal note, Maine Day went off really well even though inclement weather drove it inside. The fun activities were conveniently located in the Union.
A great big shout to all who worked so hard to give UMaine students a Maine Day to remember.
Jules Hathaway

Ruby Lost and Found

Ruby (13) was especially close to her Ye-Ye (grandfather). He had so many ways of making their time together special like their frequent trips to their favorite bakery for egg tarts and coconut bread and their elaborate scavenger hunts. Now he is gone and she's missing him terribly. She's also missing her two best friends—one who has moved 3000 miles away and one who is still physically present but switching her friendship loyalties.
As summer vacation begins Ruby has served a two week detention for being caught off campus during school hours. Her parents have deemed her untrustworthy and decided that during the week days while they work, she'll stay with her Nai-Nai (grandmother) who hangs out at a senior rec center. She's sure it will be a long, boring summer…
…until it isn't. Ruby starts developing strong feelings for Nai-Nai and her chums. The senior center turns out to be more fun than she expected. There's even a boy her age with friendship potential who goes with his grandmother. But she's in for two cruel changes. She's noticing that Nai-Nai is experiencing moments of confusion where she forgets people's names, misplaces things, and even gets lost in the city she's lived in for decades. And after over half a century in business the beloved bakery will be shutting down.
Big sister, Viv, is filling her last summer before college with fun and friends. And their parents, preoccupied with starting their own business, are clueless.
Christina Li's Ruby Lost and Found is pitch perfect for its target demographic, kids who are about to be hit with a whole lot of change which often does include loss. And it has the potential to be especially helpful for those who are seeing the frightening and confusing signs of dementia in their own beloved grandparents.
On a purrrsonal note, wouldn't you know it! The picture perfect weather we started the week with has turned ugly just in time for Maine Day, the day of volunteering and free barbecue and all kinds of activities UMaine students look forward to just about all year.
A great big shout out goes to the folks running this MAJOR event.
Jules Hathaway

The Weight Of Blood

A couple of years ago I'd rave reviewed Tiffany D. Jackson's The Weight Of Blood. I Remember thinking it sorta reminded me of Carrie and wasn't surprised when she cited Stephen King as one of her biggest inspirations. When I brought the book back to the library I didn't plan on revisiting it. Certainly not this soon. But two things happened. First I learned that this year Carrie turns 50. Then I was reading in the juvenile wing of the Orono Public Library while waiting for a friend to show up. Looking to the side, I saw Maddy (Jackson's Carrie figure) covered in white paint and blood looking dazed on the cover of her book. Probably coincidence, but I saw an imperative for rereading and added it to my stack of inter library loans.
I am really am glad I did, this time oriented to seeing the parallels between the two books rather than noticing a resemblance in passing. Both books have a central figure who yearns to be accepted by the other teens and has the chances of achieving this modest success of a snowball in Hell. Each is being raised by a domineering parent who sees her as deeply flawed. Physical characteristics come to represent something larger. Carrie's breasts, referred to her mother as dirty pillows, stand for sexuality; Maddy's hair, which her father is constantly straightening, stands for race. In both a very oppressive fundamentalist brand of Christianity is a dominant influence. Both are sent to school with a wardrobe and mindset guaranteed to alienate peers. And in both the prom, the chance for one night of peer acceptance, is warped into a truly horrific event.
Has half a century made a difference? Yes and no. Technologies have advanced plenty just as they have in real life. But the hatred and fear of difference burns just as brightly in the hearts of many of our fellow citizens.
Interesting difference: While Carrie is seen as adult fiction The Weight Of Blood is shelved under YA. I wonder why. Any ideas?
If you like your horror novels based on a keen understanding of human nature both are very good options. It's been way too long since I've picked up Carrie so I'm adding that to my summer reading list.
On a purrrsonal note, I was waiting for Diane and a few others. We met up to distribute flyers about Orono Community Garden and a new food cupboard organized by Orono Health Association to the residents of the two housing complexes for older people.
A great big shout out goes out to the Community Garden's new partner, Food and Medicine. I'm a big fan of their philosophy and greatly looking forward to working with them.
Jules Hathaway

A Work In Progress (juvenile fiction)

When we think of victims of fat shaming we usually visualize teenage girls. We rarely think of younger boys. That's why Jarrett Lerner's A Work In Progress is such an important contribution to juvenile literature.
"Fat people
are never heroes.
If they get
to be anything
at all
fat people
are the stupid sidekicks."
Ever since he was first taunted about his size in fourth grade Will has internalized a fat identity. He's destroyed all his clothes except the baggiest garments. He tries to make himself as invisible as possible—feeling a sense of shame, of guilt, of not fitting in
Three years later Will is in a school full of skinny peers and thin teachers. His clueless parents encourage him to put himself out there. They suggest things like starting a club. Will is sure following their advice would be merely a waste of time. He's sure that the other kids, including the girl he has a crush on, can't see beyond the fat.
But what if he can slim down? Eating less is hard at first. But as it becomes easier Will takes food limitations to dangerous extremes.
The best thing about the book is that it's very visceral. The combination of well chosen words and black and white drawings gives the reader a real sense of what will is thinking and feeling.
On a purrrsonal note, in Mind Spa we got to paint on old 45 records. I came up with some flower designs I was really proud of. People were telling me beautiful and calling me an artist. And to think that less than 7 months ago I couldn't hold a pencil with my right hand!
Agreat big shout out goes out to the amazing Mind Spa crew.
Jules Hathaway

Ginny Off The Map (juvenile fiction)

As a member of a military family Ginny, protagonist of Caroline Hickey's Ginny Off The Map, is used to frequent moves. Whenever her father is reassigned they have to start over in a new town or city. As she finishes fifth grade her family is all packed—ready for another relocation. Moves are easier for her big sister, Allie, who has an easier time making new friends. But as long as Ginny has her dad she can cope.
Only she won't have him to help her settle into the new neighborhood. He's been assigned last minute to a tour of duty in Afghanistan.
Ginny is a STEM magnet school student with a passion for geography. She's a big fan of Marie Tharp, the scientist who first mapped the Atlantic Ocean floor and proved the theory of continental drift. She constantly aggravates Allie with the seemingly inexhaustible supply of geography facts that she finds fascinating. Before he leaves her father enrolls her in a geography camp near her new home so she'll have at least one thing to look forward to.
On what's supposed to be the first day of geography camp Ginny learns that it's been been cancelled. Her mother enrolls her in a jewelry making class in which she has no interest. Meanwhile the kids in their new neighborhood are gravitating to Allie and ignoring her. She feels left out and lonely.
And she's very anxious about her dad being in a war zone.
How does a kid adjust to too many challenges without her most trusted friend there to help her navigate them? Ginny Off The Map is perfect for the many kids who are in that situation.
On a personal note my American Community College is over. There's still a week of classes but Jim wisely reserved the last day as a make up for in case too many classes got cancelled by snow days. It was a really awesome class. It was truly collaborative so we could learn from each other and even tell Jim a thing or two. And we had insightful guest speakers almost every week.
A great big shout out goes out to my classmates, Jim, and the guest speakers.
Jules Hathaway

The Reformatory

Tananarive Due's The Reformatory is the kind of masterpiece Stephan King could write if he was a Black woman. It skillfully blends two genres of horrors: the horrors of the supernatural, the haints, and the spaces they inhabit and the horror created by racist whites in post WWII Florida. The stuff the Chamber of Commerce types positioning the Sunshine State as a vacation and retirement paradise never got to mentioning. It also shows the humanity and dignity of those despised and degraded in every way possible.
Robert is a twelve-year-old who has effectively lost both of his parents, although only his mother to death. His father is a union organizer who aggravated the rich and powerful whites in his town. And they knew how to enlist the lesser whites: claim that he raped a white woman. He barely managed to escape alive and can't return to his children because of the people who would turn out for a lynching party if he as much as set foot in the ironically named Gracetown. All he has left for immediate family is his older sister, Gloria.
One day Robert and Gloria are accosted by Lyle McCormack, the teenage son of the wealthiest and most powerful farmer in town. When Lyle asks why they don't come to the swimming hole any more Robert senses a decidedly sinister undertone to this seemingly casual question, an intuition confirmed when Lyle starts showing a far from innocent interest in Gloria.
"He didn't want Lyle McCormack's hand and eyes on his sister a breath longer. He squeezed himself between Lyle and Gloria.
'Leave her be' Robert said."
When the fully grown Lyle tries to push him out of the way Robert, a scrawny preteen kicks him in the knee.
What under most circumstances would be written off as boys being boys results in a deputy arriving at Robert and Gloria's shack with handcuffs. In a farce of a trial without lawyers or a jury Robert is sentenced to six months in Gracetown School for Boys, a place where boys, some much younger than Robert, are starved, overworked, abused in every way possible, and hunted down and killed if they try to escape.
Gloria and Miz Lottie, the woman their father asked to look after them, start franticly searching for a way for a way to win Robert's freedom. They know as horrific as six months is, his sentence will likely be extended, the authorities using the boy as bait to lure his father back to where they can Lynch him. After pursuing all legal avenues in vain they realize they'll have to break him out.
Meanwhile Robert is experiencing all the horror the reformatory has to offer. His first night there he is beaten so severely he has to go to the infirmary. But his talent for seeing ghosts catches the attention of the very evil warden. The place houses more of the undead—the haints—than the living. They're the boys whose lives were brutally ended. Warden Haddock decides Robert will be his key weapon in ridding the place of these very uneasy spirits.
Due maintains the suspense for over 500 pages. True horror lovers will be hooked right from the beginning.
Fortunately this is not her first rodeo. She has a bunch of previous books. Lucky for you they're now all on my reading list.
On a personal note, I had a really good check up. Even my blood pressure is right where it should be. The only red flag is that my weight is down to 98.
A great big shout out goes out to the friends who will help me figure out how to stop losing weight while cutting down on sodium, fats, sugar, and caffeine.
Jules Hathaway

Caught In A Bad Fauxmance (YA)

At the beginning of Elle Gonzalez Rose's Caught In A Bad Fauxmance Devin is headed with his siblings, his dad, his dad's girlfriend, and her son to spend winter break at the family's lakeside cabin. It's the first time they're going there in four years, the first time since his mother died.
Devin's family and the clan next door, the seo-Cookes, have years of bad blood between them. The Seo-Cookes had gotten wealthy off of a won on a bet robot Devin's father had invented. The animosity had been rekindled every year at the Lake Andreas Winter Games, a local competition that raises money for the community. The Seo-Cookes won so consistently the Baez clan (Devin's family) is sure it's through cheating.
This year the Seo-Cookes want to renew the competition. They have an offer the Baezes, who are financially struggling, can't refuse. If the Baezes win they'll pay off the rest of their mortgage. But if the Seo-Cookes win the Baezes will have to sell them their beloved cottage which they'll raze.
This is all out war. But while Maya, Devin's vengeance-minded twin, is whipping the family into shape to win, an unexpected plot twist is developing. Julian Seo-Cooke wants Devin to pretend to be his boyfriend so he can escape from a stalkerish ex.
While Julian made his proposal Maya was eavesdropping. She's sure this fauxmance will give Devin the chance to spy on the Seo-Cookes and learn their secrets and weaknesses…
…unless the romance turns real. And what are the chances of that happening?
On a purrrsonal note, Last weekend was mostly about writing a big paper for my American Community College class. But I also went to Governors for breakfast and on a road trip with Eugene. I found three cat shirts at the Belfast Goodwill. I am SO looking forward to yard sale season.
Jules Hathaway

The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen (YA)

Although it's summer and most teens are on vacation Hoodie, protagonist of Isaac Blum's The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen, is in school learning about Jewish law. When he looks out a window he sees a girl dancing. Although he isn't supposed to look at gentile girls, he ends up being attracted to Anna-Marie. He starts a conversation with her. It's not long before they're friends, maybe with potential for more.
What can go wrong?
Hoodie is a member of a tight knit Orthodox Jewish community. His people are very observant. He and his family and a large part of their congregation have just moved into the largely non Jewish town of Tregaron. They've just opened a new synagogue and a new school. Hoodie's father is trying to understand why it's taking so long for him to get a permit to build an apartment complex to serve as affordable housing for less affluent congregation members who have been left behind.
Anna-Marie's mother is the reason. Many people in the town are very unhappy about the influx of Orthodox Jews. They claim that the new residents are going to ruin their way of life. They're putting up lawn signs that say "PROTECT TREGARON'S CHARACTER. SAY 'NO' TO DEVELOPMENT." And Anna-Marie's mother, the mayor, is leading the campaign.
An act of antisemitic violence deepens the split. The members of Hoodie's community including his family see Hoodie as a traitor and ostracize him.
With antisemitism on the rise The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen is a very timely read for the YA set.
On a purrrsonal note, my advisor won a Faculty Mentor Impact award. I nominated it her for it and must have written convincingly. She is very pleased with it and I am so glad I had a perfect opportunity to show my gratitude for all she's done for me. The awards luncheon was really special.
A great big shout out goes out to Leah, the best advisor EVAH!!!
Jules Hathaway

The Year We Fell Apart (YA)

Unlike most of the books I review I didn't track down Emily Martin's The Year We Fell Apart by interlibrary loan or spot it on Orono Public Library's new books section. It was what I call a truly fortuitous find. A student group was selling books to raise money for a good cause. It's a slightly older book (2016). So it might not be in stores around you. But I bet you could find a copy on eBay or inter library loan. Believe me it's well worth the effort.
Harper, Cory, and Declan are next door neighbors and long time best friends. They built a tree house when they were eleven that was their hangout. But as sometimes happens with trios, Harper and Declan have become more than friends. They're exploring all the dimensions of their new relationship…
…when Declan's father sends him away to boarding school at the beginning of their junior year. The winter of his sophomore year his mother died in a car accident, killed by a drunk driver. His father claims that it's because he has to travel a lot for work. He doesn't want him home alone for up to a week at a time. But there's a lot more to it than that.
Harper learns that a long distance relationship is a lot harder than she anticipated. Feeling that Declan is slipping away into a world she's never seen, after making a mistake she thinks he won't understand, she preemptively breaks up with him.
Then he returns for the summer. She needs his understanding and support. Her own mother is battling an aggressive form of cancer. But she's also desperate for him not to know about the incident that got her kicked off the swim team and earned her a reputation as a slut.
This deeply engaging coming of age novel sensitively explores the question of whether two confused and hurting people can find the way back to what they once had.
On a purrrsonal note, the second day of the blood drive also went well. The Red Cross collected 136 units. The donors had an awesome time in canteen and were able to take home shirts specially designed for UMaine. And the minions and I made sure nobody fainted.
A great big shout out goes out to everyone who helped make our last blood drive of the school year a great success.

To Die For (adult nonfiction)

We're now aware of some of the downsides to the popular cheap fast fashion: the environmental pollution, the brutal exploitation of garment workers, and its devastating effects on global South nations.
But did you know that what you wear can be incredibly hazardous to your health?
Don't feel bad if this is news to you. Aden Wicker. Author of To Die For, "had no idea that clothing could make people sick."
Flight attendants were Wicker's coal mine canaries. In 2019 she learned of a lawsuit Delta employees were filing against the company that made their uniforms. As the airline began issuing new uniforms in the 2010s many of their employees began reporting mysterious symptoms—enough that the workers drew connections between the new uniforms and the illnesses (which, of course, the corporation denied).
If you're thinking this has nothing to do with you—you probably aren't a flight attendant—Wicker shows that you couldn't be more wrong. She combines vigorous research with personal anecdotes to show that toxic garments can lead to infertility, genetic damage, auto-immune diseases, and other serious health problems. She hopes that we will all join in the fight for toxin free clothing.
In the meantime she gives us ten protective strategies we can use when clothes shopping including my stand by, buying second hand, and seven legislative changes we should push for.
Who should read this ground breaking book? Just anyone who wears clothes.
On a purrrsonal note I dreaded reading that final chapter, sure that it would be an admonition to only buy only certified environmentally safe clothes which I could never afford and I find boring AF. Fortunately Wicker gives a thumbs up to the gently used garments you find in thrift shops and yard sales. The previous owners probably laundered a lot of the chemicals out. We're almost into my favorite shopping time—yard sale season. From late spring through autumn Eugene and I hit the road just about every weekend on the road stopping at every yard and garage sale we see. And in May I'm working Clean Sweep, the giant yard sale made up of all the stuff students left in the dorms. If I can relearn how to include pictures in this blog I'll share my best finds.
A great big shout out to the people who will be offering reasonably priced treasures on their lawns and in their garages!!!
Jules Hathaway

Black Folk

Increasingly when we think of the working class we envision angry white supremacists chomping at the bit to run out and vote for Donald Trump. We tend to forget workers of color. Blair LM Kelley seeks to rectify this omission with her Black Folk: The Roots of The Black Working Class.
Kelley brings an unusual perspective to her work. She is not only a distinguished professor and writer, but a proud descendent of working class Blacks. She intersperses broader scholarship with intimate portraits of individual washerwomen, Pullman porters, and postal workers.
These workers faced a daunting battle to earn a living. Although they were technically free following the Civil War, whites made sure their actual lives stayed as much the same as before the war as possible. Black sharecroppers toiled for whites on the same lands they had worked as slaves. Laws were crafted that allowed the arrest and imprisonment of "vagrant" (not working for whites) Blacks and their forced, unpaid labor on white owned farms and businesses. They were barred from almost all jobs with decent pay and working conditions. "Uppity" Blacks who didn't "know their place" faced extreme racial violence.
But the Blacks persisted against incredible odds and made generation to generation progress. Eventually some had jobs that enabled them to own homes and educate their children.
This book is a for sure eye opener. I had no idea how radical washerwomen were. By working in their own homes as businesswomen instead of in the houses and intrusive supervision of individual white families they were more able to set prices and working hours, tend to their own households and children, work collectively, engage in social activism, and protect themselves from rape.
This insightful and thought provoking book is a valuable for public and college and university libraries.
On a purrrsonal note, we're in the middle of the last UMaine blood drive of the academic year. Of course I've been running the canteen. So far, so good: good numbers, happy donors, no fainters. This time we have special shirts designed for UMaine. I'm wearing one as I post this.
A great big shout out goes out to the donors, my fellow volunteers, and the awesome Red Cross nurses.

American Whitelash

I clearly remember the night when the 2008 election results were announced. I was in a restaurant transformed for the night into a watch party for volunteers. We were excitedly and anxiously watching the numbers come in. When Obama was announced the winner the room erupted in cheers. We were ecstatic, sure that a wonderful post racial America was dawning. I mean we'd just elected a Black man to the nation's highest office. We were forgetting that the mood in other watch parties was far from jubilant. Many people were seeing Obama's win as an end to the world, or at least the nation, as they knew it and determined to remedy this wrong turn by all means necessary—legal or otherwise.
That's the premise behind Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Wesley Lowery's American Whitelash: A Changing Nation and The Cost of Progress. Lowery claims that the wave of racist violence following Obama's election was not a temporary aberration. Rather this reaction to change by people deeply threatened by it, which probably helped set the stage for a Trump presidency, was totally predictable and as American as apple pie. As he explains their fears and grievances he contextualizes them within the history of a nation in which any rights gained by Black have triggered waves of violence on the part of white supremacists.
He also takes a deep, compassionate look at several of these acts that didn't make national new or go viral on the internet, showing their devastating impact on victims and their families and communities These were the chapters I found most compelling.
Lowery warns us there will be serious consequences if America doesn't change this brutal pattern. He knows no one book can make this happen. But he hopes American Whitelash can be the spark to kindle many overdue and very necessary conversations.
On a purrrsonal note, last Thursday we had another blizzard. This time the UMaine mood was much more jubilant because the prez declared a SNOW DAY!!!
A great big shout out goes out to Wesley Lowery for speaking truth to power.
Jules Hathaway

Curlfriends: New In Town

"If you could be anyone in the world, who would you be? An athlete? How about the most popular girl in school? My name is Charlie Harper. I'm twelve years old and today is my first day of middle school.
Charlie, protagonist of Sharee Millar's juvenile graphic novel, Curlfriends: New In Town, is a seasoned veteran of first days. Her dad has been in the Air Force all her life. Constantly having to make new friends and try to fit in hasn't been easy for her. And with this move the stakes are higher. Her dad is finally out of the Air Force and settling the family down in the town where he grew up. The first impression Charlie makes is going to shape her life for quite awhile.
But Charlie has a plan. She's spent the summer curating her wardrobe and persona—making sure there's nothing too babyish in either, ditching garments and interests that don't fit with her new image.
When she meets three potential friends she busies herself with being mature and cool enough to keep their interest. When they go thrift shopping she consults a smuggled in fashion magazine instead of her girls. She makes herself sick drinking boba tea rather that admitting she can't drink it. Before they come to her house she crams her stuffed animals and other "childish" things into her closet.
But what if they'd like her for her true self?
Miller takes a potentially shop worn message and makes it sparkle.
And this is the first volume in a series that will engage and captivate the many series loving readers in its target demographic.
On a purrrsonal note, I can really relate. I had to do my high school years in five different schools. I still have nightmares of standing in a school cafeteria holding a tray and searching desperately for a friendly face.
A great big shout out to new girls and boys in schools and the kind classmates who reach out to them.
Jules Hathaway

This Country

If you're in the mood for a beautiful, very down to earth (in more ways than one), candid, and thought provoking adult graphic memoir, you can't do better than Navied Mahdavian's This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America. Navied and his wife, Emilie, had been living in the San Francisco Bay Area but forced to move further and further out due to rising costs. He really wanted to be a cartoonist. But days spent teaching and driving increasingly long distances left him too exhausted to draw. Having visited rural Idaho the summer before, they ditch city life for six acres in its most remote territory.
Real rural living is a novel experience for the couple. They get the kind of cold weather that makes it hard to start the diesel engines that power both their vehicles. The wood stove, their only source of heat, is tricky to keep up with. When it comes to actually raising their own food eat they have a lot to learn. But they are befriended by kind and friendly neighbors. They fall in love with the natural beauty of the land and its creatures. Without light pollution they can see whole constellations of stars.
In their hearts Navied and Emilie know they're outsiders. He's a Middle Eastern American. They're both liberals and vegetarians. Their neighbors are proud Trump voters, hunters, and conspiracy theory adherents who see nothing wrong in whites using the n word. When a blessed event that they'd just about given up on happens Navied and Emilie must do some real soul searching in deciding where they want their baby to grow up.
On a purrrsonal note, I had an amazing Wednesday. Student Wellness had free journals and lots of beautiful stickers to decorate them with. I decorated both covers of the one and the front of another and they came out so gorgeous. People admired them and I was so proud. And the Commuter Lounge had free Chinese food—all veggies and rice with only thin beef slivers—that was such a wonderful break from Greek yogurt and fruit.
A great shout out goes out to all who had a part in giving me such an amazing day.
Jules Hathaway

Excuse Me Why I Ugly Cry

I hated reaching the end of Joya Goffney's Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry because she's made her protagonist, Quinn, really come to life in my mind. I wanted to know what happened next. That is a sign of a truly engaging narrative.
Quinn, a high school senior, doesn't deal with fears and insecurities. She outsources them by writing them down in a journal of lists. She carries it everywhere. Then after a group project meeting at her house she realizes it's missing, taken by mistake by a classmate, Carter, instead of his own. He promises to bring it to school. But by the time she meets up with him he's lost it.
Quinn imagines (in the form of a list of course) places her journal might be. They don't include in the hands of someone she knows who has an agenda. The mystery person has a condition for returning it. She must complete all the items on her To Do Before I Graduate list. In fact if she doesn't her whole journal will go public.
But this isn't a simple list like my list for my things to do before I get my masters degree. This is a list of things she's most afraid to do. Tell her parents she didn't get into Columbia. That's been their dream for her all her life. She'd even created a fake acceptance letter and they've boasted to all their friends. Visit Grandma Hattie. In other words see a beloved relative who has always been strong diminished by Alzheimers. And there are five more. Now Quinn is between a rock and a hard place. She's terrified of attempting even one. But unless she does all seven her most tightly held secrets will be revealed.
Meanwhile Carter (who has a crush on her) wants to prove to her that he didn't keep the journal and lie about losing it. He offers to be her wingman. And she doesn't have much time to do the seemingly impossible.
Powered by unpredictable but very realistic twists and turns, Excuse Me Why I Ugly Cry is a real roller-coaster of a read, one that will have you captivated right through to the final page.
On a purrrsonal note, I created my list when I was in the hospital able to do very little on my own. I decided since I have to go an extra year it will be spectacular, a fireworks grand finale to my education. I decided on a drag club because drag is beloved on the UMaine campus. I just started recruiting this past week and already have enough members for a school organization. There are other items on my list that will be revealed in due time.
A great shout out goes out to already committed and future club members.
Jules Hathaway aka Gotta Believe We're Magic

The 21: The True Story of the Youth Who Sued the U.S Government Over Climate Change

Elizabeth Rusch's The 21 is probably the most timely book that's in Orono Public Library. Just like Pandora with her legendary box, when humans started over relying on fossil fuels we unleashed a host of evils on our beautiful planet. It's very likely that you personally have experienced at least one of them. How about extreme weather events? In Maine our blizzards are getting nastier and our heat waves hotter and longer. How about floods, drought, melting ice caps, and rising oceans? How about the increasingly common ever more devastating fires? How about disease carrying invertebrates expanding their territory like those pathogen packing ticks we now have to watch out for in Penobscot County? Even if these and other evils haven't arrived on your doorstep, you won't be immune forever.
The world's youth, knowing how quickly we're speeding toward a global point of irreversibility, are taking matters into their own hands. They're organizing protests and demonstrations and going to court. The 21 are the activists who took on the United States government knowing that it is not only not doing enough to prevent to prevent climate change but is facilitating it by cutting deals with fossil fuel industries, even opening up federal lands for extractive exploitation and knowing that they and the yet unborn are the ones who will face the worst effects of a dystopian future. They claimed that climate change deprived them of fundamental rights up to and including life enshrined in the Constitution. They merely wanted the government to acknowledge this and do something about it. What should have been a slam dunk…
…has been anything but with the government doing everything in its power to derail the case. And it's a truly bipartisan malpractice with presidents from both parties contributing to the damage and denial. The 21 covers this ongoing high stakes battle, bringing it vividly to life. One thing that makes it captivating and engaging is that the youth are beautifully portrayed as individuals. You learn about the very personal losses and ongoing threats climate change has brought into their lives. Levi's beloved home, a barrier island, will most likely be engulfed by rising ocean waters. Nathan was very concerned about the melting permafrost in his home state of Alaska. Jacob's family farm is threatened by drought and forest fires. Fires had made the asthma several worse for several of them. You also learn about their dynamics as a group during the years long legal roller coaster they were engaged in.
When Pandora let the evils out there as one thing left. Hope. With climate change it can't be a passive trusting that someone else will solve the problem hope. And those of who are adults must respect and support youth while NOT leaving the fight to them. We need to join them in the trenches. We made the decisions that brought them into this world. We owe them.
For this reason I recommend The 21 to its target demographic and way beyond. It's a must acquire for school and public libraries.
On a personal note, on Easter Eugene and I took a road trip. At lunch time we went to Burger King which is problematic because of my fat and sodium limits. I actually thought to ask if they had kids' meals. It was quite a relief that they do. Fast food is an occasional treat. Now I can indulge without the guilt.
A great big shout out goes out to my older daughter, Amber, and her husband, Brian, for organizing a climate rally and march at UMaine.ju
Jules Hathaway

Bravey

Bravey, the young readers adaptation of Olympic athlete Alexi Pappas's memoir is pitch perfect for the YA set. Whether sports fans or not, most people see elite athletes as existing in a state of perfection, accomplishing extraordinary feats, having nothing to do with the rest of us lesser mortals. The teen years are a time of self consciousness and fear of not measuring up even under the best of conditions. And the current social media mediated society with its constant exposure to carefully curated images of others' lives does not constitute anywhere the best of conditions.
Pappas has faced formidable challenges in her life. She lost her mother to suicide when she was only four. Later on when faced with anxiety or depression she'd wonder if she was too much like her mom, if she was destined for a similar fate. As a child she often felt lonely and out. In puberty she had to deal with the prioritizing of fitness over health for female athletes. And her pursuit of running success was not a straight ascent. She had her share of injuries and set backs. She shares it all—the good, the bad, and the ugly—with readers.
"This book is about glamorous things like going to the Olympics and making movies, and it's also about difficult things like suicide and depression and puberty. For every fun moment of victory in this book, there are uncomfortable humiliating moments, too. I am the sum of all of them."
There are two things I especially like about this book. One is its candid but age appropriate discussion of mental illness. Many kids have at least one parent for whom that's lived reality. Even though he never was diagnosed or helped, I'm sure my father was bipolar. This is rarely reflected in juvenile or YA books. Kudos to Pappas!
The other is that it's not a litany of sacrificing all on the altar of athletic success. Pappas has had times when she reaped the results of pushing through the pain or not taking time for self care. She doesn't want readers to make the same mistake.
On a purrrsonal note, in what was purely coincidence, I read most of the book in the dressing room between rehearsal and the drag show. I am not an athlete by any stretch of the imagination. But in my corner of the world I've enjoyed nine years of being a beloved and respected drag performer. In rehearsal my performance was lackluster. It was my first time onstage since the stroke. During those hours I wondered if that night's performance would be my swan song. But when I was on stage hearing the crowd cheering everything fell into place and I gave one of the best performances of my life. I even got a standing ovation! Drag is where I feel the most free, the most me. I'm so glad I don't have to give it up.
A great big shout out goes out to the other performers, the crew, and the audience, all who were essential elements of the magic that was our drag show.
Jules Hathaway aka Gotta Believe We're Magic

Seven Minutes in Candyland

If I were to to personify (Sweetify?) Brian Wasson's Seven Minutes in Candyland as an actual confection I'd choose those fancy Ferraro Roche foil wrapped goodies that swaddle a hazelnut in rich chocolate goodness. It works well on two levels. There's an elaborate rom com with highly relatable characters and more plot twists than a Shakespeare play. Nestled within it is a sobering high school reality largely forgotten by adults who look back on their teen years through a patina of nostalgia.
Kalvin has a painful secret. His parents, both licensed therapists, are the stars of a hugely successful marital advice podcast built around the slogan: Even in the roughest of seas, you can still right the 'ship! He knows that in reality their own over two decade long relationship is seriously floundering. He's desperate to fix things before they take actions they can't come back from. He's come up with a plan—one that's gonna cost a whole lot of money…
…which is where the candy comes in. With a stash hidden in a supply closet he's set himself up as competition to the student government candy gram monopoly. He's basically putting them out of business and making a very dangerous enemy. But he's still far away from his money goal with the deadline drawing closer.
Then the hugely popular Sterling, his long term crush, asks him for relationship advice. She likes what she hears and starts referring friends with problems to him. Pretty soon his schedule is packed with highly lucrative appointments and a decided conflict of interest. Sterling is one of his steady clients. Her problems center around her very negligent boyfriend who Kalvin secretly years to replace.
My advice: treat yourself to a stash of your favorite candy before diving into this sweet and salty narrative.
On a purrrsonal note, the rain has finally let up for a few days. Tonight is the campus drag show, my first time performing for a huge audience since the stroke. Excitement and terror are battling for the upper hand. Monday I'll be first in my online class to deliver a presentation worth a big part of the final grade. Again with the excitement/terror thing. Could this be why I'm suddenly having trouble falling asleep and staying asleep?
A great big shout out goes out to my fellow performers, the talented crew, and our enthusiastic audience. Hopefully we'll all experience the magic that is drag!
Jules Hathaway aka Gotta Believe We're Magic

How The Boogeyman Became A Poet

How The Boogeyman Became A Poet, Tony Keith's powerful memoir in verse, goes where far too few YA books venture, following him from high school into college. I've always wondered why more YA authors don't set novels in higher ed turf. It's the logical conclusion to that writing rule of thumb: kids want to read about older kids. If tweens want to read about tweens and middle schoolers want to read about high schoolers, why wouldn't high schoolers want to read about college students? They're facing the biggest transition in their lives, one full of unknowns, especially for the many who don't have a family college going tradition.
It's a highly engaging narrative with a fabulous but flawed, in other words, authentic protagonist. Nearing the end of high school Tony hasn't applied to any colleges. His sister had passed up the chance to be the first in the family to attend and gone straight from high school to the work world. Now it's on him. But some pretty formidable obstacles stand in his way. His SAT scores are shall we say on the low side. And then there's the money thing. His parents are separated. His father doesn't pay child support. His mother struggles to make ends meet. He has no idea how she can come up with application fees, let alone tuition.
And then there's his secret. Although he has a girlfriend, for him the relationship is more performative than real. He may actually be attracted to guys. He has no idea how to find out if he is. And there are pretty strong reasons not to confide in even his besties. He's not willing to risk losing their friendships. His church has made it perfectly clear where they stand, equating gayness with spending eternity in a fiery inferno.
Not to mention this boogeyman who's been following him around since he was six.
Fortunately Tony has some pretty formidable strengths. His coming of age narrative is well worth reading.
On a purrrsonal note, it's the second grey, dreary, rainy day in a row here in Penobscot County. At least it's supposed to clear up for the drag show tomorrow and be downright pleasant Sunday for those Easter egg hunts if not the sunrise services.
A great big shout out goes out to you, my readers, with best wishes for a joyous Easter to those of you who celebrate it.
Jules Hathaway

Why We Read

If I'd just seen the main title of Shannon Reed's Why We Read I would not have requested it by inter library loan. It sounded generic, maybe a tad pedantic. The subtitle, however, On Bookworms, Libraries, and Just One More Page Before Lights Out, totally captivated me. I sensed a kindred spirit. I could imagine a much younger Reed curled up in a sleeping bag reading a Nancy Drew mystery by flashlight at summer camp and was thrilled to discover partway through that she was a fan of the girl sleuth. If reading has been a significant part of your life from when you learned how to decode those mysterious letters you're one of us. But if you're not so hooked on books she has perhaps even more to offer you.
Make no mistake about it. Reed is a woman on a mission. She wants us all to enjoy reading. She has major beef with the folks who turn what should be a pleasure into anything but: educators who choke the life out of required reads with dull, predictable assignments and the book snobs who think only the most elite volumes are worth reading. She wants to counteract their messages that all too many of us have internalized. What you read is good. Why you read it is valid whether it's to feel less alone, to shake up your perspectives, for comfort, to be motivated, to conquer fears… Nothing to be ashamed of folks.
Why We Read is a very intimate volume. Reed candidly shares her experiences from childhood through adulthood: the good, the bad, and the semi ugly. She writes from the perspectives of published author, high school teacher, college professor, and, first and foremost, reader. And she has a wicked sense of humor. My favorite chapters are her lists such as Calmed-Down Classics of American Literature for the Anxiety Ridden and Signs You May Be an Adult Character in a YA Novel.
So who should read this book? I think just about everyone. If you're already a reader you'll see so much of yourself in it. If you aren't how about giving her a chance to win you over? You've got nothing to lose and so much to gain.
On a purrrsonal note when I was accepted to grad school I thought I would have to cut down drastically on my reading and possibly give up my blog. But when I actually started school I couldn't. I read to provide content for my blog, to learn, now and then to feel less lonely, for comfort, to shake up my perspectives, to calm down enough to sleep, and for the pure joy of getting lost in a good book.
A great big shout out goes out to my fellow readers, a tribe I'm very proud to be a member of.

Like A Charm

Fantasy is a genre I rarely review, rarely read through to the end, rarely select for that matter. Some is set in outer space. Some is too darn dark and dystopian.
Elle McNicoll's Like A Charm is an exceedingly rare book in this genre. It actually captivated me. As it starts out 5-year-old Ramya is serving refreshments at her parents' Christmas party. She's delighted when her beloved grandfather arrives.
Suddenly Ramya senses that one of the guests is a malevolent being. She refuses to do what the woman orders her to do. Her parents try to force her to apologize to Portia. Her grandfather defends her. It's the last time she sees him alive.
In the second chapter Ramya is seven years older. Her family has moved from London to Edinburgh. Her mother is overcritical, her father distant.
School is torture. Ramya is neurodivergent. She has a disability that affects her coordination, manifesting itself in her penmanship. Her special education exercises are exceedingly boring and ineffective. Her attempts to advocate for herself are considered to be trouble making.
Then Ramya's grandfather dies. He has left her something in his will—a mysterious book with no writing on the pages except the cryptic message: beware the sirens. Ramya can discern magic and the non human creatures such as kelpies who must hide from the neurotypicals who fear them and would destroy them. And Ramya is the only one who can save them all from the merciless sirens.
Like A Charm is a highly enchanting and suspenseful tale that provides literary representation for neurodivergent children. It's a great acquisition for school and public libraries.
On a purrrsonal note, finally I was able to take precious Tobago for her long overdue (another thing we can blame on the pandemic) check up. Emily provided transportation. Tobago's primary care vet (I've never heard this term I but believe it would be for animals what primary care physician is for humans) pronounced her to be the picture of feline health. Much to my relief weight was no longer a concern. Indoor cats, lacking the exercise involved in chasing prey while dodging predators, do have a tendency toward overweight. (But enjoy better health and greater longevity). In her first years with us Tobago had packed on the ounces to the point where I was told to watch her weight. I was terrified of her getting diabetes. But instead of further gain she plateaued and has weighed the same nearly two years. It's quite possible that she came to us underweight. Anyway I am overjoyed that she my beautiful girl is enjoying perfect health.
A great big shout out goes out to:
*Dr. Julie Keene, the cat whisperer, who has tended to Hathaway cats for decades. She's the rare vet skilled in communicating with not only her patients, but the humans who bring them in for her compassionate care;
*Emily who helps me so often and never makes me feel in her debt;
and, of course *precious, beautiful, loving Tobago Anna Hathaway.

Nice Girls

Are you a real chiller lover? A hard core fan of suspense? If so, have I got a book recommendation for you! Catherine Dang's debut novel, Nice Girls, is a roller coaster ride of a read that will leave you wondering if its two word title is an oxymoron.
As the story begins Mary, Dang's narrator, is living the nightmare that used to be her dream. In her senior year, less that two semesters away from an Ivy League diploma, the key to a prestigious career and a bright future, she's been expelled from Cornell for losing control of her temper and assaulting a freshman. As she waits for her father to pick her up word of the incident spreads lightning fast. Blood thirsty texts pile up on her phone. Her former friends have ghosted her.
Home is no safe haven. It's in a town where she was an outcast, a lonely, overweight girl shunned by her peers. Since she lost her mother to cancer early in life her father has been a distant, aloof, far from nurturing presence in her life. Now she's back in the place she vowed to escape, a place she fears she's stuck in forever, a gossipy town that will happily shred her if even one person discovers her secret.
But the town has some dark secrets of its own. The day after Mary returns a childhood frenemy of hers is reported missing. Olivia is a popular girl, a social media rising star, from a prominent family. News of her disappearance rapidly spreads, drawing not only only local but national media. Reward money is offered. Search parties look everywhere.
About a week later a badly mangled human arm is discovered on a beach. Dragging the lake turns up more severed body parts. People think they've discovered at least part of Olivia…
…only they're wrong. They belong to DeMaria, a teen who had disappeared just months earlier, a girl whose absence was deemed much less newsworthy. (Maybe because she was a poor Black single mother rather than a white, well connected social media darling?)
Mary is thinking serial killer. Then, searching social media for clues, she finds a post by DeMaria's mother on Facebook: "Liberty Lake police is full of shit!! My daughter did not run away, she was kidnapped and I'm tired of the news pulling this BS on my child. Police did not take action when I reported her missing this summer. Said she was a runaway, told me to wait…"
When the police refuse to consider that the two disappearances could be related Mary decides to take the matter into her own inexperienced, inept hands. If anything she's stirring up a hornets' nest, making some real enemies…
…perhaps someone with the power to reveal her own secrets or the actual serial killer.
If darkness has fallen when you get to the last chapters I'd advise you to wait til daylight to finish the book. But I suspect you'll be unable to put it down just like I was.
On a purrrsonal note I'm finally, for the first time since the stroke, able to post on a fairly regular basis. Now I'g going to work on rebuilding my numbers. I'm not talking viral or anything close to it. My goals are far more modest. I just want to get books that are diverse and inclusive into the hands of as many readers as possible. I think that's crucial at a time when so many people are trying to limit what we have access to and silence the authors they don't agree with. I'm planning an online and offline campaign. You can be part of it. If you like what you read on my blog please keep reading it, recommend it to your friends, and mention it online. You'll earn my undying gratitude.
A great big shout out goes out to you, my readers for whom I've kept this blog going well over a decade now.
Jules Hathaway

Ageism Unmasked

My first glimpse of ageism happened during a gap year I took after college. My set, the best friends I hung out with, had been in the class below mine. Wanting to remain engaged with them for the last year before we went our separate ways I became a live in companion to a lovely older woman. Her daughter wasted no opportunity to portray her as incompetent. One day when she forgot to shut off the tea kettle her daughter said, "We're lucky she didn't burn down the house" with an exasperated eyeroll. The next weekend I deliberately left the kettle on. The daughter shut it off and said, "Don't worry. I forget things all the time."
SAY WHAT!!!
After my first epiphany I began to see this prejudice everywhere in Hallmark microagressions, demeaning language, the threats of what would happen if women didn't spend outrageous sums of money to pass for young, managers pushing older workers out of jobs…
But when I tried to share what I was learning most people either didn't understand or didn't want to understand. They could see the most superficial things like the over the hill birthday cards. But recognition of ageism as a whole, even into this current decade, is where recognition of sexism was BEFORE Betty Friedan started writing about a problem that had no name.
So imagine how thrilled I was when I started reading Tracey Gendron's Ageisn Unmasked. It's a good thing that Eugene was at work because I has dropping more amens that a fundamentalist at a revival. Tobago was giving me side eye. But I couldn't help myself. FINALLY I saw in print all the things I intuited, only in a much better organized, research based form by someone with a Ph.D. to establish her scholarship credentials.
Gendron not only tells it like it is about one of the last socially acceptable prejudices, although that in itself is MAJOR. She show the harm it does to the physical and emotional health, even longevity, of people who internalize it. She reveals its ugly intersectionality with sexism, racism, classism, homo and transphobia, and especially ableism. And she gives us advice on exorcising it in ourselves and our communities.
But she doesn't settle for the usual last chapter of hopeful tweaks. The woman is calling for no less than revolution: a total revamping of how we view the aging process. Currently we see it as all doom and gloom, a first gradual then accelerating process of unmitigated decline and decay. She sees it as "a slow and steady process of change that ultimately leads to us becoming our unique, individual selves." It's a process of growth as well as decline, gains as well of losses. She describes a whole new life stage she calls elderhood that can be one with purpose, meaning, engagement, and even joy.
So who should read this book? Just anyone who is aging which is basically synonymous with living. It's a must acquire for public libraries.
On a very purrrsonal note, since my stroke last semester I'm on the "wrong" side of age and ability. But fortunately approaching my most recent major life transition, my children becoming independent adults, I didn't just take a job and start nagging my kids to make me a grandmother. I held out for a life that contained engagement, meaning, and purpose apart from my children's reproductive abilities. Volunteering helped me define working with college age students as my best fit. That's why I'm in a masters program in higher education. Because of the stroke it will take an extra year and it currently requires some accommodations. But I'm managing and going for a job in student services. In the future if a paid job becomes too difficult I can still mentor undergrads as a volunteer and pursue other interests like this lovely blog. I'm rocking elderhood.
A great shout out goes out to Tracey Gendron for this landmark achievement in truth telling.

Remember Us

Remember Us is a work of fiction based on historic reality. When Jacqueline Woodson was growing up in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn her neighborhood was the scene of so many house fires it was called the Matchbox. She brings this experience of precariousness alive for younger readers.
For Sage the summer she's twelve it seems that there are always blaring sirens and racing fire engines. There's always the stench of fire in the air where she lives. She knows families who were burned out. She and her mother keep emergency bags packed in case they have to flee their home if it goes up in smoke. She and her friends envy kids who don't have to fear flames or sleep with shoes and robes at the foot of their beds.
But she's not on board with her mother's efforts to move to a safer place. "Yeah, I wanted to be safe. But I wanted to be safe here." She knows here as home, the place she belongs, the site of joy—basketball and block parties—as well as tragedy.
While her mother tries to convince her of all they'd be gaining by moving, Sage is too fully aware of all they'd be leaving behind.
On a purrrsonal note, UMaine and surrounding towns are once again in the midst of a blizzard. Hopefully we won't lose power. Eugene is out plowing, earning more money toward paying bills. Tobago and I are wisely staying in. I have my homework, blogging, writing, and spring cleaning. She has her comfy bed for catnapping.
A great big shout out goes out to Eugene and the other blizzard battlers.
Jules Hathaway

Streetcar to Justice [juvenile literature]

Did you know that a whole century before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, leading to a lengthy boycott and the desegregation of Montgomery public transportation, a Black woman named Elizabeth Jennings got public transportation integrated in New York? On a hot summer day Jennings, a teacher and musician, needed to take a trolley to her church for choir practice. When one pulled up the conductor refused to let her on. In fact he and the driver got physically abusive. She ended up injured and limping home. I bet both men thought they'd defeated her….
... If they did they were very mistaken. When she got home Jennings wrote a statement about what had happened and gave it to her father who spread word of the outrageous incident. A newspaper printed her account. A newly minted white lawyer, Chester Arthur, who later in life would become President, took her case. And the good guys won.
Amy Hill Hearth didn't think it was fair that Jennings was forgotten while Parks was famous. She extensively researched and wrote Streetcar to Justice to remedy this situation.
What I like best about the book is its plethora of drawings and period photographs that let younger readers see for themselves what New York was like a century and a half ago. What I'm not so wild about is the overabundance of sidebars which I think might be a little confusing for them. That is the only flaw in a story eminently worth telling and reading.
On a purrrsonal note, yesterday I gave myself a snow day to concentrate on end of the semester papers, The weather would have made bus commuting dangerous. I got quite a lot accomplished. I'm quite caught up and even a little ahead. Tomorrow, despite the fact that as of yesterday we're officially in spring, the meteorologists say we're going to experience another winter wonderland. That's Maine for you.
A great big shout out goes out to my husband, Eugene, and all the other blizzard battlers.

Black AF History

"When comparing them side by side, the story of the American Revolution ain't got nothin' on the Haitian Revolution. For Black people, Haiti represents the most beautiful story of strength, resistance, and freedom that has ever been told. It is a story of a people who thrust off the chains of bondage and took their liberty from the hands of their oppressors."
Did you learn about the Haitian Revolution in school? I sure AF didn't and I'm pretty sure my kids didn't. I'm guessing you didn't even though you were probably required to sit through American history to get a high school diploma. Now you're probably wondering what the Haitian Revolution had to do with American history. As Michael Harriot explains in Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America, they're deeply interwoven. A few years before Haiti's Blacks won freedom from slavery and wide spread torture and murder America went from colonies to nation by pulling the biggest you are not the boss of me evah on England. But instead of welcoming the island nation to the brotherhood of self emancipated nations we reacted with fear and horror. We were enslaving, torturing, and murdering our own Blacks. We were terrified that they might follow the example set by the Haitians which would totally tank a economy based on free labor. We not only piled on more restrictive laws in our nation but joined with France in demanding that Haiti pay pay France restitution for all the self-liberated slaves, creating a poverty that exists today.
This is just one of the American history inconvenient truths Harriot reveals to readers—the stuff they probably did not teach you in your navigation of the K-12 system. Other chapters include explanations of topics such as separate but equal, the roots of the two party system, how striving for freedom became classified as a mental illness, reconstruction, a true conspiracy involving J. Edgar Hoover's gang, and the Civil Rights movement. The book is a for sure eye opener. If you think you know this nation's history you may be in for quite an awakening.
Black AF History is meticulously researched and has the end notes to prove it. But it is not deadly dull in the way of too many scholarly tomes. Harriot's voice is lively, direct, conversational, and sometimes darkly humorous. He manages to spell out truths that can be difficult to read in a way that entices readers to persist in engaging with them. He fits in candid segments from his own personal life. And you should read the chapters that constitute conversations with Racist Baby.
If you aren't in the crowd that considers the antebellum plantation South to be the pinnacle of America's greatness you really should put this fine book on your summer reading list…
…especially if you teach American history.
On a personal note, this is the book I wish had been around when I was in high school.
A GREAT BIG SHOUT OUT GOES OUT TO HARRIOT FOR SHARING THE UNWHITEWASHED TRUTH!!!
Jules Hathaway

The Fall of Whit Rivera

Crystal Maldonado's The Fall of Whit Rivera is a pitch perfect YA rom com and so much more.
The amazing before senior year summer Whit carefully planned turned out to be anything but amazing. Her boyfriend moved away, becoming distant emotionally as well as physically. And rounds of medical tests led to a diagnosis of polycystic ovarian syndrome, a chronic disease she's afraid to mention to even her best friends.
But now it's fall, Whit's favorite season. Each year her school holds a week long Fall Fest featuring an activity every day and culminating in a dance. Whit is determined to get elected president of the Fall Festival Committee so she can make sure that this year's Fall Festival is the best ever.
An unexpected complication arises. She has to share her presidential duties with the guy who broke her heart back in middle school, the one she now hates with a passion.
Maldonado herself was diagnosed with PCOS at sixteen. She didn't know anyone else who had the syndrome. She has written the book she wished she had access to back then.
On a purrrsonal note. I'm back in school for the second half of the semester. The first day went well. The highlight was submitting a guest piece to the Maine Campus, the UMaine school paper. Before Break a Campus staff member who remembered my pieces from last year suggested that I start writing for them again. Her timing was perfect. I'd just started to feel like I can successfully complete this semester's academics with a little time for extra curricular engagement. And I certainly have plenty to write about. I really hope this works out. It could be a new source of accomplishment and support in this emotional roller coaster of my returning to grad school less than four month after a stroke semester.
A great big shout out goes out to the awesome Maine Campus staff.
Jules Hathaway

Illustrated Black History

Readers, I owe you a big time apology. I haven't posted an adequate amount of content in ages or any content in months. Blame it on the stroke and the amount of work it took to rebuild strength, stamina, balance, and fine motor skills to the point where I could actually return to graduate school less than 4 months after the event. Then when the semester started the work was exponentially harder and more time consuming. But during March Break I've caught up and even gotten a little bit ahead to the point I can add creating and posting content to my schedule. And I'm putting back the features I've been told you like the most: on a personal note and shout out. I know it will take a lot of time and work to rebuild my numbers. But it isn't just a blog; it's a mission—spreading awareness of diverse and inclusive books at a time when so many people are doing all they can to restrict access to them. If you agree with the importance of this mission I hope you will continue to read this blog and tell your friends about it.
George McCalman's Illustrated Black History: Honoring The Iconic and The Unseen (Black author, Black history) is the liveliest and most surprising volume I've ever seen in the historic who's who genre. It does include both the famous and the less well known. There's immense diversity surrounding historic times, gender and sexuality, lineages, fields of endeavor, and just about anything else you can think of. The portraits of the honorees are also quite diverse, created lovingly by the author in a wide range of art styles.
It's also the best volume I've seen in this genre. It doesn't become formulaic. And the subjects' accomplishments do not overshadow their humanity. Through the splendid pairing up of narrative and illustration they really come to life. I came up with a list of folx I plan to learn more about. I wouldn't be surprised if you found at least a few who intrigue you.
Although Illustrated Black History is categorized as adult it doesn't seem too hard a read for older high school students. I think a wonderful assignment would be to have each member of a class choose a particularly interesting character to research, perhaps doing the actual research in small groups, write a report, perhaps including a portrait, and have one class in which to share and critique. It's a great acquisition for high school and college libraries.
On a personal note, I've really enjoyed my not all work March Break. I've gone on a road trip with Eugene. I had lunch with a classmate who will be getting her Masters degree :) and returning to California :(. I made a Goodwill run. Best of all, Eugene had a chance to spend a precious afternoon with our kids. And of course I had some extra time for cat assisted reading.
A great big shout out goes out to Sam, the grad to be, my kids and their significant others, and precious Tobago cat.

Aniana Del Mar Jumps In

Jasmine Mendez's Aniana Del Mar Jumps In is a sensitive and perceptive look at a topic too often overlooked in juvenile literature—chronic illnesses in childhood. It also touches on the further effects that parental attitudes can have.
Aniana sees herself as a dolphin. She lives to swim. She's a medal winning member of a swim team. She and her father have to keep this aspect of her life a secret. Her mother, whose brother drowned in childhood would never allow it.
Aniana begins to experience painful, debilitating symptoms. She tries to hide them. But when she can't get out of bed she's taken to a doctor who can't make a diagnosis. After a long, frustrating round of specialists it's determined that she has an auto-immune disease, juvenile idiopathic arthritis. It can't be cured once and for all. She must learn to manage it.
Meanwhile her mother has learned about the secret. She feels betrayed by her daughter disobeying her and her husband enabling her to do so. She has forbidden swimming even though Aniana's doctor says it would be beneficial. Aniana fears that, in addition to coping with pain and limitations, she'll have to give up the activity that makes her feel most free, most alive.
Mendez herself lives with a chronic auto-immune disease, scleradoma. She remembers the difficult adjustments it forced her to make. She hopes that other people learning to manage a chronic illness or disability will seee themselves in its pages.

Aniana Del Mar Jumps In

   Jasmine Mendez's Aniana Del Mar Jumps In is a sensitive and perceptive look at a topic too often overlooked in juvenile literature—chronic illnesses in childhood.  It also touches on the further effects that parental attitudes can have.
   Aniana sees herself as a dolphin.  She lives to swim.  She's a medal winning member of a swim team.  She and her father have to keep this aspect of her life a secret.  Her mother, whose brother drowned in childhood would never allow it.
   Aniana begins to experience painful, debilitating symptoms.  She tries to hide them.  But when she can't get out of bed she's taken to a doctor who can't make a diagnosis.  After a long, frustrating round of specialists it's determined that she has an auto-immune disease, juvenile idiopathic arthritis.  It can't be cured once and for all.  She must learn to manage it.
   Meanwhile her mother has learned about the secret.  She feels betrayed by her daughter disobeying her and her husband enabling her to do so. She has forbidden swimming even though Aniana's doctor says it would be beneficial.  Aniana fears that, in addition to coping with pain and limitations, she'll have to give up the activity that makes her feel most free, most alive.
   Mendez herself lives with a chronic auto-immune disease, scleradoma.  She remembers the difficult adjustments it forced her to make.  She hopes that other people learning to manage a chronic illness or disability will seee themselves in its pages.