Rosa By Any Other Name (YA historical fiction)

     Hailey Alcaraz's Rosa By Any Other Name begins with the unusual juxtaposition of two quotes--one famous and one much less well known. 

"Some shall be pardoned and some punished. 

For never was a story of more woe 

Than this of Juliet and her Romeo. 

--William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet. 

Our stories are important. 

They give us strength; they give us power. 

                          --Sandra Cisneros"

     They give the reader two important clues. There are star crossed lovers involved; Latinx stories are also present. 

     Rosa By Any Other Name is set in Phoenix, Arizona in 1955. As readers meet Rosa she's getting ready for her last high school first day of school. Her school life and home life are in two different worlds. 

     "What we were doing--what I was doing--was dangerous. Integration was happening, sure. The courts told us that it had to, but it wasn't nearly as quick or easy as those folks in Washington seemed to think it was. Race mixing was messy business, no matter how you looked at it.

     Just because I was allowed to go to school at North Phoenix High didn't mean I was welcome."

     So Rosa, going by the more Anglicized Rosie, must pass as white in order to attend a school with academics that will prepare her for college. The high school for Latinx students is basically vocational. She has her mind set on going to college and majoring in journalism. She only has one year to go. 

     What she is blind sided by is her best friend from home (Ramon) and a white classmate from a prominent family (Julianne) meeting and falling in love. When they get fed up with keeping their feelings secret they decide to go to a school dance as a couple as a plea for tolerance and acceptance.

     Only they never get to the dance. As Rosa and Julianne get ready for the dance at Julianne's house and their dates wait downstairs Julianne's Sheriff father...

     ...a white supremacist with anger management problems...

     ...arrives and becomes enraged. Julianne and Ramon end up dead...

     ...The sheriff, who is planning to run for Governor, doesn't want his plan foiled. He's spin doctoring the murders so he looks innocent. Local activists want Rosa to foil his plans by coming forward with the truth. 

     ...But is she willing to jeopardize the future she's working so hard and sacrificing so much for?

     Rosa By Any Other Name is Alcaraz's sophomore novel. (I'm going to do my best to acquire her first to acquire her first by inter library loan.) She started it during the pandemic to explore a question that was haunting her. 

     "It is inspiring to watch people be moved into action. And yet I couldn't help but feel unsurprised when our collective interest and energy began to wane. We live in a complex world, and we are, unfortunately, barraged with a variety of crises every single day. It is challenging and draining to maintain such concerted energy for every single cause that demands action--no matter how worthy these causes are.

     But how do we create change otherwise?"

     Rosa By Any Other Name is highly engaging and thought and emotion provoking. Alcaraz's unique voice brings characters and situations vividly to life. It would be very hard, I believe, not to care about them.

     Although the book and its characters are fictional, they represent mid twentieth century racist reality, a reality the history deniers and white washers don't want kids exposed to. Books like this one belong not only in libraries but in curriculum and classroom. Students should be helped to think critically about the ethical dimensions of the 1950s and their bearing on our time.

On a purrrsonal note, I had a really wonderful birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊 Monday. I heard from family and friends. I got myself a beautiful birthday tattoo. Eugene took me out to Texas Roadhouse for dinner and to Goodwill where he paid for my purchases. I got to read near my flowers 💐. Tobago was her sweet snuggly self. Who could ask for more?

A great big shout out goes out to all who remembered and celebrated my birthday and to Stephen King who who was born the same day a few years earlier. 

Jules Hathaway 

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Dabbling

This is one of my favorite recent dabbling projects. The kit was a truly fortunate yard sale find. What's obvious is the 450 knots it required me to tie. What isn't obvious was the harder part. It required my brain to translate printed instructions into hand actions. I think you'll agree that the result more than justified the challenge. My next picture post will be my current and future dabbling and my gorgeous birthday tattoo which I know you're eager to see. 

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Dabbling

The summer after the stroke I found a package of wood button like critters and I decided to decorate the denim jacket Eugene had just bought me. It took 2 whole morning til night days to complete. Time well spent. Now I'm really into decorating denim. 

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Dabbling

My first semester back in grad school Student Wellness acquired a lot of old records. They had an event where people could paint on them. My first reaction was nope. People were doing these elaborate pictures they found on social media. I couldn't do anything that perfect. Even before the stroke the idea of painting intimidated me. And with my diminished fine motor skills...forget it. But I couldn't because I'd be setting a bad example for the undergrads. Finally I tried something simple. I liked it and, much to my amazement, so did everyone else. I'm including the rock which I painted about a year later. I made a mistake and was about to give up on it. But then I painted the turtle over it.

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Dabbling

I made this key chain about 1 1/2 years after the stroke. The tiny charms were so adorable I was able to have the patience to put it all together the way I envisioned it. I was so proud when I finished. It's one of my most prized possessions. 

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In Defense of Dabbling (adult nonfiction)

   A few years ago I was running a table at the Student Wellness Fair on campus. I had a lot of amusing pictures and was inviting students to create memes by writing captions. Much to my surprise, they were backing off, saying "I can't do that!" They weren't smart enough, clever enough... They seemed to fear being judged on something nobody else would even see.

     It's a trend I've been seeing with alarming frequency for awhile now and not just among college students. Trying something new that might be fun suddenly seems like risky business--not worth bothering unless you can be perfect on the first try or monetize it on social media. When people adopt this mindset they miss out on so much!

     With me if something sounds like fun (and doesn't incur the risk of physical injury or death, legal liability, or a felony record) it's game on. Whether it's accepting an invitation to appear in my first drag show at 63, being the audience member at a Renaissance Festival to try belly dancing on stage while hugely great with child, starting this book review blog 15 years ago, or applying to graduate school at 65, decades after graduating college, it was heck yeah!!! And I gained so much from those experiences!

     So you can imagine how excited I was when I discovered Karen Walrond's In Defense of Dabbling: The Brilliance of Being A Total Amateur. Walrond had similar concerns about the insistent demands for constant productivity, professionalism, and perfectionism of the world we live in. So she embarked on a bold experiment: exploring potential interests, not for mastery or commodification, but for joy. Her candid discussion of these ventures makes for some pretty good reading. 

     And there's also a lot of research based wisdom in this slim volume. Walrond spells out all the ways that trying new things with an open heart and mind is good for you. 

     Don't know what to try? In the back there's a very diverse seven page list of possibilities. There's something there for just there for just about everyone. I'm sure you can find something affordable, accessible, and joy inducing. 

     Happy dabbling!!!

On a purrrsonal note, after the stroke in the fall of '23 I became very much a dabbler. My occupational therapy exercises were dull as fuck. I mean chaining safety pins, stacking quarters... I wanted something fun and creative. If these were what adult stuff was, which they kept telling me, I wanted something childish. Amber understood. She got me kids Christmas ornament kits which were more challenging than the adult stuff and actually fun. And being able to hang them on the Christmas tree gave me a real sense of accomplishment that stacking coins to infinity and beyond couldn't. I became addicted to children's crafts kits which I can get at yard sales and thrift shops. I also took advantage of crafting events at UMaine. I made a really beautiful key chain with tiny charms that I am inordinately proud of. Labor Day weekend Eugene bought me a Squishmallow blanket kit that required tying 450 knots. It took me a week. I have a soft, warm lap quilt size blanket that will be purrrfect for cold weather reading. This morning before I head to Brewer for a birthday tattoo (a purrrfect way to celebrate) I'm going to fake stained glass (paint) 2 bottles. And my prizes from the Orono Public Library summer reading challenge include what I need to try water colors. Viva dabbling!!!

A great big shout goes out to all who dare to dabble in today's world. 

Jules Hathaway 

     

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Visiting Katie

Katie and me. I'm very proud of my younger daughter who is not only a successful professional, but a genuinely nice person. 

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