My Monsters Ain't Like Yours (Horror anthology)

     The other birthday book Amber gave me, R. J. Joseph's My Monsters Ain't Like Yours, is an anthology of Black feminist intersectional horror stories, most definitely for an adult audience. 

     I've been thinking about monsters lately as we approach the midterm election. The people who design campaign ads, rather than appealing to our minds with actual relevant information, are taking advantage of our fears,  both the universal ones and the more diverse ones. I think almost all of us consider serial killers and vampires to be monsters. But while I consider a president starting an illegal war and trashing environmental protections a monster one of my neighbors considers undocumented aliens to be the monsters. It bothers me that for the most part we're being manipulated by portrayals of candidates as monsters with doctored photos that resemble trailers for horror flicks rather than respected by being given relevant information on key issues. How many trees were cut down to make those damn flyers that keep flooding our mailboxes?

     Anyway I find the monsters in Joseph's anthology less threatening only because we won't be electing them to the United States Senate. The stories are awesome chillers the perfect length for autumnal campfire sharing. What impresses me the most is her ability to create twenty-five totally diverse narrators, settings, and plot lines and make each spring to vivid life in a minimum of pages.

     Georgia, protagonist of Those Who Teach Pay Knowledge Foward, is the teacher in a one room schoolhouse somewhere in the Midwest. A lot of obstacles stand in the way of youngsters attending: poverty, chores or jobs, parents not seeing the value of education... She is striving to prepare her students to thrive in a world not always decent to people of color. 

      She's especially concerned about Calvin, an especially promising student who aspires to become a doctor. He lives with his grandparents. He's started missing a lot of days. She's afraid that he'll miss too many and not be able to catch up. 

     When she goes to visit his guardians what she discovers isn't covered in any Child's Protective Sseervices handbook. 

     Naomi, protagonist of Where The Horizon Kisses The Sky is afraid that her husband no longer loves her. When she confides in a mysterious stranger she learns the importance of being careful what you wish...

     ...or at least how you phrase your wish.

     In The Heart's Desire Layla seems to be the perfect trad wife, spending all her time tending to the home and kids and entertaining her husband's clients and partners. Some would envy her opulent life style. But it comes with a high price--the loss of everything she desires. 

     "By the time she saw the post for film festival presentations in Europe, she would've taken any avenue that would get her out of the house for a couple of weeks, away from her ugly husband and terrible kids. Just the thought of a ten-hour flight to Germany was a respite from her picture-perfect trappings that only amounted to pretty bondage."

     When her presentation is accepted he tries to prevent her from leaving. When he follows her to Germany to drop the kids off with her he learns why revenge is a dish best served cold.

      Those are only a few of the very original spine tingling blood chilling horror narratives. Hey, we're creeping up on Halloween. My Monsters Ain't Like Yours would be a perfect way to usher in the spooky season. It's a terrific read for real horror affecianados. 

On a purrrsonal note, Monday night I had a real treat. I have a hard time keeping up long distance friendships through email. Which is problematic in a place where people are always graduating and leaving. When I became friends with Catherine early in her two year masters program there was something so special and real about our friendship I WAS NOT GOING TO GIVE UP ON IT. I cemented my vow with a tattoo of a cat picture she'd used to publicize an event: a cat drinking boba. Nothing says permanent commitment like body art. We've been communicating through phone calls and texts. Lots of pictures. Monday I called and we had so much to talk about! When Eugene came back from working overtime I was startled to see that it was almost 8:00. We'd been talking nearly two hours. Sure didn't feel like it. It's working. I don't have to relinquish this very precious friendship. 

A great big shout out goes out to Catherine. Thank you for being my friend. 

Jules Hathaway 

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Hollow (YA chiller)

     This year Amber gave me books for my birthday. No surprise there. From the day I introduced her to literature through the adventures of Ruthie Rabbit at the seashore reading has been an integral part of our relationship. I like to think it's part of the inspiration for her career as an author. Anyway one is a guide to querying agents for my own manuscript. Getting published is so much harder than writing. 

     The other two are fiction. Amber knows just what I like. She has this knack of picking something I never would pick up on my own but once I start reading I totally love. I experienced this recently when she gave me the Asylum trilogy as my prize in the family readathon. And I experienced it again with Taylor Grothe's Hollow.

     Cassie, Grothe's narrator, grew up with three close friends--Jac, Blake, and Mel--in small town Deep Glen. Then four years ago she and her parents had moved to New York City. It hadn't worked out well. Cassie had always struggled to understand the social cues that seemed to come so easily to her peers. Bullies had detected her week spot and attacked, causing her to fall apart in her school cafeteria and be diagnosed with generalized anxiety, trichotillomania, and autism. After her parents divorced Cassie and her mother returned to Deep Glen. When we meet Cassie she's standing in front of Donahue's Donuts.

     "This had been her hangout with her best friends, and her mom had urged her just to go back to how everything had been four years ago. In her heart of hearts, Cassie wasn't so sure that was even possible. But she could at least hold it together, right?

     She wouldn't let a single crack show in her mask."

     Cassie's old crew isn't exactly welcoming. When she didn't keep up enough virtually they felt that she had abandoned them, even Jac with whom there had been the potential for being more than friends. 

     A week long camping trip to work out the issues starts off disastrously. The first night there's too much alcohol, arguments... 

     ...Cassie wakes up the next morning alone, seemingly abandoned in a place with rugged terrain where a bunch of people have gone missing recently, panicking and overwhelmed. The icing on the cake--she gets caught in a terrible storm and injures her ankle...

     ...and suddenly there's someone guiding her to safety in a small cluster of homes. Kaleb makes her tea, and helps her warm up. His mother sets her ankle. The small community welcomes her with food and shelter. As she gets to know them she feels like she is accepted for herself for the first time. Unlike when she is with "normies" she doesn't feel like she has to wear a mask. 

     Of course there are some weird things about the community. Crows are always around in huge numbers, their feathers attached to people's clothes. Creepy ass wooden dolls look down from the eaves. And the people speak a strange secret language. But they don't seem that important...

     ...until Cassie picks up some more ominous red flags like their reluctance to help her find her friends...

     ...Are they altruistic helpers or dangerous cult members? Are they the reason people go missing? Will she be able to find her friends and get home?

     Amber and I highly recommend Hollow. One key reason is that the narrative is woven together so seamlessly. When you create a world/community/realm there are so many elements that have to mesh. One slip up can shatter the reader's belief and engagement. Hollow is the epitome of seamless. The reader stays caught up in the created space right through to the end. 

     We also appreciate Grothe's narrator being autistic and having anxiety. There are not nearly enough neurodivergent protagonists in current literature. In Hollow we see the cluelessness and cruelty neurotypicals can show and how many autistic people struggle to be seen and valued for their authentic selves.

     But we do have one warning. Do not pick Hollow up until you have the time to engage with it. It's so well crafted--so easy to get caught up--in you will not want to put it down. Even with a term paper due tomorrow or a hungry cat whining to be fed.

On a purrrsonal note, Sunday there was another fine event, this time a literary one. It was held in Bangor Beer Co. First Amber and some other local authors did readings. They presented a real diversity of poetry and prose. Amber, of course, did super fantastic. Then there was a costume contest. There were seven of us. I cosplayed as Rizzo from Grease.  Each of us explained our costume. Then there was voting by applause 👏. I had a decisive win. My prize was a shirt that says literate, quite fitting I'd say. I got the chance to do some reading near my flowers. So it was a great day in a great weekend. 

A great big shout out goes out to all who participated in the event, especially my super talented older daughter. 

Jules Hathaway 

     

     

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First Friday Bagels

I cosplayed as Rizzo from Grease? Remember the Pink Ladies? I was reminding people that the Drag Show is only six months away.

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First Friday Bagels

We all enjoyed our morning treat.

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First Friday Bagels

Keeping the chefs quite busy. 

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First Friday Bagels

Quite an enthusiastic crowd showed up.

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Front Desk (juvenile fiction)

"My parents told me that America would be this amazing place where we could live in a house with a dog, do whatever we want, and eat hamburgers till we were red in the face. So far, the only part of that we've achieved is the hamburger part, but I was still holding out hope. And the hamburgers here are pretty good."

     What do you envision when you think of a ten-year-old working? Babysitting? Running errands? A lemonade stand? I bet you never guessed working the front desk of a motel. But Mia, protagonist of Kelly Yang's Front Desk, portrays the reality of the situation.

     Mia and her parents, immigrants from China, have discovered that the reality of America doesn't match the myth. With the kind of jobs the adults have been able to get just putting a roof over their heads and food on the table is a struggle. In fact they've lived in their car.

     When her parents are hired to run a motel with a pool Mia thinks they have it made made in the shade. They'll be living the good life. However their share of the profits is miniscule, the owner is constantly micromanaging, and the work is unending. A lot of the time Mia works the front desk while her parents clean. 

     School is frustrating for Mia. English is a real challenge. Her papers come back covered in corrections. She's bullied by mean kids, especially the hotel owner's son. 

     When Mia and her parents learn about immigrants in more precarious situations they do all they can to help, even hiding them at the motel. If they get caught they'll be out on the street. 

     Mia's parents envision the rest of their lives as a series of poorly paid dead end jobs. But she knows they deserve better. She's determined to make a better life for the family.

     Although Front Desk is a work of fiction it's based on reality. Yang helped her parents manage motels from when she was eight until she was twelve. Incidents in the book are based on her experiences.

    Younger readers will find themselves rooting for Mia. Hopefully they will be bothered by the injustices in the book reflecting those in the world around them. 

On a purrrsonal note, last night Bailey, Cam, and I went to an event in Bangor. Senator Bernie Sanders had come to Maine to speak on behalf of Troy Jackson who is running against incumbent Susan Collins for the United States senate. Troy spoke also. They spoke eloquently and candidly about key issues like the illegal and unconstitutional war in Iraq (which Collins voted in favor of 5 times) and its impact on prices of essentials like food and heating fuel and the "big beautiful" bill (which Collins voted for) and the harm it's doing to working class people. They also discussed the dangerous slide toward authoritarianism that's happening in America. They were very informative and inspiring. So much is at stake in this midterm election! I hope Maine leads the nation in the right direction!

A great big shout out goes out to Bernie and Troy for their most enlightening presentations. 

Jules Hathaway 

     

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