Earth Year

     This past week when I was pushing myself to get everything done on time I received a lovely box of books for younger readers and listeners on Earth Day related topics.  Well Earth Week may have come and gone.  But this fragile planet that we call home--the only one that we know has all that is required to sustain life--requires more than seasonal celebrations.  It requires year round dedication.  And it needs us to teach our children and grandchildren well.

     I think very few of us didn't either read our children about or hear the story of that very hungry caterpillar who ate its way through everything en route to becoming a butterfly.  In the Very Hungry Caterpillar's Garden Friends textured pages add to the fun of accompanying the miniature protagonist on a morning stroll.  A very sturdy board book, it's designed to survive the affection of the toddler set.  BTW you don't have to be a kid to identify with the very hungry one.  As a graduate student I'm chowing down on every bit of knowledge and experience I can get in my quest to become a beautiful professional butterfly.

     Eric Loves Animals (Just Like You) is a feast for true Carle fans.  This coffee table sized tome is a treasure chest of his illustrations of a menagerie of the creatures great and small that fly, swim, crawl, and race across the face of our home planet.  This gorgeous, colorful volume even includes some previously unpublished artwork.  It's sprinkled with Carle's thoughts

     "I've come to realize that The Very Hungry Caterpillar is about hope.  You, like the little caterpillar, will grow up, unfold your wings, and fly off into the future."

     "When you are making art, you are meant to be free and open to paint whatever you like."

     Those are two of my favorites.  

     The reasons that Carle and Maine's own Ashley Bryan are my favorite artists is that their art is both amazing and not distancing.  You go to a museum or church in somewhere in France and you think Whoa!  GENIUS!  But you're less likely to draw or paint because you aren't good enough.  It's like the only people who deserve to create art are the professionals.  But it isn't rocket science or brain surgery.  When I look at these artists' work at the same time I'm admiring their brilliance I'm getting ideas for something I want to draw or paint or create in other ways. 

     So that is why, with my kids grown and flown and no grands on the horizon, I'm keeping the book rather than donating it to the library.

     BTW Carle and I have the same favorite animal--the cat!!!

     Amazing Insects Around the World and Amazing Animals Around the World are must acquire picture books for critter loving kids and school and public libraries.  Did you know that out planet hosts over a million known species of insects and 8.7 million animal species?  Both lavishly illustrated books celebrate the incredible diversity of non human beings and their really clever evolutionary adaptations.  

     Ensuring the survival of these incredible species and also our own will require a lot of scientists determined to advance knowledge in the face of ignorance and prejudice.  Chelsea Clinton's She Persisted in Science celebrates remarkable women scientists who had to overcome sexism in addition to a host of other biases.  Each biography includes a special quote.  And the women are a diverse group.  Budding scientists will learn about:

*Zaha Hadid, the first woman to win Britain's top architectural prize;

*Temple Grandin who made a career of improving life for animals;

*Grace Hopper, an early computer innovator;

And so many other intriguing innovators.

     Last but not least is Aimee Isaac's The Planet We Call Home is a sweet adaptation of the classic House that Jack built.  Starting with "This is our Earth, the planet we call home" it builds on with snippets about the sun, a stream, a farm, a river...ending with "the children who cherish the Earth."  This inspiring picture book includes a list of ways that children and families can help prevent pollution.

On a purrrsonal note, Wednesday was the day of my grand finale Commuter Lounge event.  We had a table of adoptable stuffed animals and birth certificates from Black Bear Animal Shelter; a table where people could turn unwanted tee shirts into dog toys for the Waterville Humane Society, and a table of adult coloring pages.  We had so many people chilling and enjoying all we had to offer.  My internship supervisor stopped by and was so happy to see the place come to life.  A lot of people thanked me for creating the event.  Some came on campus specifically to attend it.  (Jules)

Carle is right.  Cats rule!  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to all who participated.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

A Year to the Day

YA fiction

"On the morning of the first anniversary of her older sister Nina's death, Leo wakes up. looks at her mussed, tangled bedsheets, and bursts into tears."

     Bad things can happen on the most ordinary of days.  You're drifting along and something goes terribly wrong.  Life is suddenly split into before and after.  You'd give anything to cross the abyss, return to the innocence of before. But that's so not going to happen.

     That's the plight of Leo, protagonist of Robin Benway's A Year to the Day.  She, Nina, and East, Nina's boyfriend, had gone to a late summer party, Leo's first.   Nina has laid down the law on Leo drinking.

     "Are you kidding?  If you get drunk or if Mom smells beer on you, I'm a dead person.  She'll ground me until I'm until I'm thirty-five years old and basically a decrepit crone that lives in the den."

     They're on the way home when it happens:  "The world explodes and shatters into pieces that Leo will never be able to put together, no matter how hard she tries."

     Suddenly Leo has lost not only her only sibling, but her closest companion.  Her mother huddles in Nina's bed, not even showering.  Although they don't know it at the time, her remarried father and his wife are about to welcome their first baby, a girl.  At school the teachers respond weirdly to her and the other kids, not knowing what to say, often ignore her.  Grief books from well meaning but clueless relatives pile up, unread.

     Only one person gets how Leo is feeling, the one who also was there when they lost Nina.

     A Year to the Day covers the first year after Nina's death, only in reverse order, starting with a memorial event and ending right before the accident that took her life.  Leo's candid narrative gives incredible insight into how the unexpected loss of a beloved girl poised to take off to wider horizons effects a sibling, a family, a community.  I highly recommend it, especially to those who have lived through tragedy and those who love them.

On a purrrsonal note, I was about four years younger than Leo when my world shattered into before and after--when my sister, Harriet, was an ordinary, sometimes quite aggravating sibling and when she returned from the hospital after a bout with spinal meningitis, a shell of her former self.  Technically she is still alive in a group home in North Carolina.  But when I was eleven it was like the pod people movies they'd later produce.  It felt like my sister had died and some other entity had taken possession of her body.  And while Dad mentally checked out, Mom became determined to bring Harriet back to normal, church people said all the wrong things about God's will, and lots of people, not knowing what to say, said nothing, I was in many ways on my own too soon.

I'm sending a shout out to my many readers whose lives were at some point, including the pandemic, shattered into befores and afters.

Jules Hathaway 

     

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

A Long String of Bad Days

YA chiller 

" I don't mind living in a small town; I just don't want to die in one.

     I also am not interested in serving time in one, either, but that possibility is growing exponentially, as I seriously consider murdering the guidance counselor's secretary."

     If you're a chiller affecianado I'm betting those first few lines from Mindy McGuinnis' A Long Stretch of Bad Days will catch your attention.  Especially after I tell you that the whole book lives up to their promise.

     Lydia Chass comes from one of the best families in her small town.  They must always live up to a certain image.  Any slip on the part of one of its members would be a public relations nightmare.  For instance,

     "Dad inherited the three-story brick mansion on what's known as the 'nice street' in Henley.  He makes enough money so that we get to live the American dream:  two-car garage, a stay-at-home mom, and a cat.  But we're not as well off as some people would believe.  My car is leased, the deck on the back of the house needs to be replaced, and Mom and Dad have been leaning on me a little more heavily about applying for scholarships--state and national, of course.  Not local.  That would be embarrassing."

     Bristol Jamison comes from a family that's as far from the Chass clan as possible on the Henley social status scale.  They inhabit the wrong side of the tracks part of town.  There's a saying that there's always a Jamison in the high school...

     ...and she's pregnant.  For the record Bristol is not in the family way.  In fact she's on track to be the first in her clan to earn a high school diploma.

     So what could a Chass and a Jamison have in common?

     How about a alcoholic guidance counselor who screwed them over.  As he's being fired it's discovered that both girls are short one history credit they need to graduate.  

     Lydia has clout and isn't afraid to use it.

     "'But being sorry doesn't put me any closer to what I need,' I say, keeping my voice calm.  "So, before I go home and tell my parents that the guidance department at Henley High has ruined any chance I have of getting into a first-class journalism school, why don't you tell me how this is going to be fixed?'"

     Lydia is told that an independent study project can fill in for the missing credit.  She has a podcast: On the Ground in Flyover Country.  She decides that she'll cover her town's long stretch of bad days.  It's a week in Henley in 1994 during which a tornado created a swath of destruction, a flash flood killed all the inhabitants of the dog pound, and the body of the only murder victim in the town's history was discovered.  And she decides to bring Bristol along for the ride.

     So the academic odd couple will go through old records, distill their findings into podcast content, and walk at their graduation?

     Well that's far from a done deal.  To walk you have to not die.  As I've said before, small towns can have very dark secrets and people willing to do whatever it takes to make sure they don't see the light of day.

     So if you're a chiller affecianado, make sure to join Lydia and Bristol on their pursuit of dangerous truths.

On a purrrsonal note, Monday at UMaine was pajamas day.  When I explained that to Eugene he asked me why in the world I'd want to do that.  He seemed kind of skeptical when I said it would be so much fun.  I can see how on a construction job it would go over like a lead balloon.  Then he said I'm an adult meaning I should be "above"  such "nonsense".  Bull crap.  It's possible to be responsible and trustworthy without being fun aversive.  That's like the best of both worlds.  So I wore my best (cat, of course) pajamas and matching slippers, got lots of compliments, and had a wonderful time.  (Jules)

Nothing wrong with pajama day.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to the people who decided to have a pajamas day.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

Missing Clarissa

YA mystery 

     "We didn't think about much of anything that summer, except where to find the next party.

     Until the night Clarissa vanished from the forest.  After that, all we thought about was Clarissa.  The whole country thought about Clarissa."

     When it comes to best friend pairs, Cam and Blair are certainly an odd couple.  Cam is the confident, headstrong high scholastic achiever whose book smarts aren't matched by common sense.  Cam is the sensible daughter of a boringly conservative family, the one who wonders if there's anything special about herself.  If they were incorporated into a car, Cam would be the gas pedal and Blair would be the brakes.

     "Everyone from Oreville knows the story of Clarissa.  Her living ghost haunts the long rain-dark winters alongside the looming specters of Washington's grim army of infamous serial killers and litany of missing girls.  Clarissa Campbell: the prettiest, most popular cheerleader to spring from the soil of Oroville, who disappeared one flawless August night twenty years ago from a party in the middle of the woods outside of town."

     Cam has decided that breaking an unsolved case will look good on her and Blair's college applications.  They can do it through a podcast.  Everyone loves podcasts.  Of course they've never created one before in their lives.  But how hard can it be?

     "The odds of Blair Johnson and Cameron Munoz, Teen Podcasters, succeeding where hundreds have failed are slim to none, Blair thinks.  But No is not a command the vast machine of Cam's brain is capable of processing."

     Small towns like Oroville can have dark secrets.  Getting too close to the truth can be like stirring up a hornets next.  You're bound to get stung big time.  So will sensible Blair keep impulsive Cam out of trouble?  Will Cam's stubbornness get them both arrested or slain?

     Is there any chance they'll actually solve the decades old cold case?

     Well there's one delightful way to find out.  If you're a YA mystery affecianado you are going to really enjoy Ripley Jones's Missing Clarissa.

On a purrrsonal note, OMG!  It's been six days since my last post!  Chalk it up to last week of the semester.  Between my internship and a huge (as in 42 pages) portfolio I've had to turn in on time and all the usual stuff like commuting and cooking I've been out straight.  The laundry I hung out a week ago is still on hangers in my rocking chair and you don't want to see my studio.  But after I sent my portfolio in and submitted my application for a summer Upward Bound job I was done.  Finals week I'll just to do internship hours.  So I can catch up with my blog and the house.  (Jules)

And spend more time with their best little cat in the world.  (Tobago)

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

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

Rising Class

YA nonfiction 

"Briani stood in the line of students at Hartley Hall, sweating in her oversized button-down shirt and jeans.  Her flight was first thing tomorrow, and her room was only half-packed.

     But this wasn't just anxiety sweat; this was four-alarm-fire sweat."

     In this scenario described in the prologue to Jennifer Miller's Rising Class it's March 2020.  Briani, a first year student, is having to vacate her dorm because her Ivy League college is about to shut down.  If she can't find her college issued moving bin she'll be out $350 she can't afford.  After a desperate day and night she learns that a floor mate had just borrowed it.  Briani is a first generation low income student; the floor mate isn't.  The incident reminds her of how different she is from many of her classmates.  "They all lived on the same campus, but they didn't live in the same world."

     Last summer I did an internship with Upward Bound, a program that helps first generation low income high school students get into and survive in higher education.  The students candidly shared with me the gaps between their experiences and those of their more affluent peers.  Having to work or provide child care for working parents, for instance, often left no time for extracurricular or academic enrichment activities.  I felt that the book might help me understand what could lie in store after making the transition.

     Miller followed three first generstion low income (FLI) students through their first year of college, a year that coincided with the arrival of the pandemic.  Briani, Connor, and Jacklynn grew up in rural Georgia.  While Briani and Connor became dorm students at prestigious Columbia University in New York, Jacklynn, Connor's girlfriend, decided to live at home and commute to local Ozarks Technical Community College.  As their month to month experiences are documented in alternating narratives you see how their experiences are similar to and widely differ from those of their more established and affluent peers.  

     Some of the challenges FLI students face are primarily or totally financial in nature.

     "Problem: The library, including the new FLI lending library, did not carry a lot of course texts.  So if you couldn't afford those books, what were you supposed to do?"

     [Reviewer's note:  if you haven't been in college recently, you'd be surprised how much required texts cost.  Quite a bit of sticker shock at the campus book store.  My kids have purchased some of mine as birthday and Christmas gifts.]

     Some are less tangible.  There's lack of social capital--"connections and the ability to work the system."  There's starting behind in classes where more affluent students have already covered course material and spending a lot of time just catching up.  And there are microaggressions on the part of fellow students, professors, and administrators.

     I think that Rising Class will fly off the shelves of high school and public libraries.  Teens are eager to learn more about the next step many will take in life.  It can help students who are first generation and/or low income feel seen and maybe become less likely to experience impostor syndrome.  Hopefully it can inculcate empathy in more affluent peers.

     It should also be required reading for faculty members, student services professionals, and administrators because what they don't yet perceive often hurts more vulnerable students big time.

On a purrrsonal note, despite this weekend's gorgeous weather, it was an internship and homework weekend.  My big concession was doing as much of it as I could outside in fresh air and sunshine.  I motivate myself by thinking of all the fun things I'll do when I have my semester's work out of the way.  (Jules)

That and a lot of candy.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to the other students working on getting all their work done on time.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

     

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

Breaking The Age Code

Adult nonfiction

    It was nine days after I got out of the hospital last year.  My infection had cleared up.  I was checking in with my urologist.  I asked if I'd be able to get back to my regular life.  She said yes and then confused me by listing stuff like walking around the block and maybe a little light gardening.  I interrupted her, saying, "Whose life are you describing?  It's not mine."  She put down her clipboard, looked me in the eye, and asked me to tell her about my life.  As I described my graduate school program, my job in dining, my volunteering and campus activities, and my passion for performing in drag shows her eyes widened and her polite smile morphed into a grin.

     Becca Levy (PhD), author of Breaking The Age Code, wouldn't have been surprised.

     I don't have to tell you that in America we tend to fear aging and to other older people.  We've been led to believe that from a certain point in life it's all downhill.  We give birthday cards replete with gallows humor.  We tell people that we haven't seen in years that they don't look a day older.  Advertisers prey on fear to sell products they claim will hold of "the ravages of time."

     Levy reminds us that the fallout from ageism goes a lot deeper than that.  Employers fire older workers and refuse to hire older job seekers, sure that they'll be unproductive.  Older people are increasingly segregated in housing.  Doctors deny potentially beneficial treatments on the basis of age.  As for counseling, it is rarely available.  The symptoms of clinical depression are seen as a normal part of aging.

     Based on extensive cross cultural research and anecdotal evidence, Levy debunks the inevitability of the all about decline myth.  People's cognition and beliefs are influenced by those of their society.  In turn their beliefs have an impact on their health and well being.  In fact people with more positive views of aging are more physically fit, less likely to get Alzheimers, and more heart healthy.  We even live longer.

     Luckily personal beliefs about aging aren't set in stone.  Levy gives plenty of advice on individual age liberation.  But she sees societal age liberation as at least equally important.  She frames ageism as a social justice issue much like racism or sexism.  She gives readers ways to join the much needed revolution.

     If you want to have a positive impact on your future self and the world you will age into you owe it to yourself to read this fine book.

On a purrrsonal note, it's been quite a busy and rewarding week.  I just finished fixing Eugene breakfast for supper.  I'd had Ukrainian food with my international student friends before I left school.  The high point for me was the clothes swap.  The data from the 37 people who filled out their surveys was excellent.  It gave clear cut information on how to improve the clothes swap next year.  It's hard to believe just one more week of school and finals.  This weekend will be all about homework and internship work and snuggling with precious Tobago.  (Jules)

I gets to be the snuggle buddy.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to our readers with best wishes for a wonderful weekend.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

The Power Of Fun

Adult nonfiction

     At first glance it might look incongruous, if not downright contradictory, for me to follow a review of Toxic Positivity with one of The Power Of Fun.  Actually they're quite compatible.  The former teaches how to escape from the pressure of performing Don't Worry; Be Happy! 24/7.  The latter instructs us on how to liberate ourselves in another way.

     "When is the last time you had fun?

     I'm serious.  Think about it.  When was the last time you felt exhilarated and lighthearted?  When was the last time you didn't feel judged by yourself or other people?"

     Catherine Price asks readers that question at the beginning of The Power Of Fun:  How To Feel Alive Again.  She advises us not to feel discouraged if we can't answer it.  Many of us feel that we're too grown up to have fun.  Even more of us feel that we're much too busy to take on one more commitment.

     Some of us may be asking what's the big deal if we're missing out on something so seemingly frivolous.

     Price says that it's very big deal.  She shows us how true fun, which she visualizes as happening at the intersection of playfulness, connection (usually with other people), and flow, is essential to our thriving, leading to more happiness, better health, and less stress.  She also helps us to distinguish between true fun and the fake fun alternatives society confuses us with.  Binge watching, anyone?  She sees overuse of devices as an especially prevalent time suck.

     The best part of the book is the extensive instructions on building fun into your life.  Questions and suggestions for reflection can help you seek or create your own peak fun experiences.  The tone is encouraging and non judgmental.  

     If you sometimes feel like you're dead inside or sense that there's something really missing from your life The Power Of Fun will be a really helpful read.

On a purrrsonal note, creating this nearly 12-year-old blog is a peak fun experience for me.  It starts when I find a description of a book that I really want to read and write its name and author in my notebook.  I feel a fizzy sense of excitement when I put in an order for a bunch of books via inter library loan.  I've been known to do my happy dance when I pick them up.  Of course reading with Tobago all snuggled up and finding just the right words for my review combines playfulness, connection with my readers, and a state of flow.  After over a decade it doesn't get old.  I love campus activities and spending time with people who get me and my best little cat in the world.  And following my impulses.  Sometimes in Goodwill or Walmart or another store I hear a good song and start full out dancing like I'm in a movie.  People clap and thank me.  It's great practice for my most peak of peak fun experiences which is performing in drag shows. (Jules)

Fun is playing with catnip toys, bird watching, hide and seek, cat treats, eating, clawing the sofa, snuggling with my people, and getting belly rubs.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to our readers with hopes that you will make time in your lives for fun.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

Toxic Positivity

Adult nonfiction 

     In 2019 Joey, my beloved cat companion of 16 years,  died of lung cancer.  I was devastated.  When I told wonderful friends who love me I just wanted the acknowledgment that, yeah, that sucks, that I had reason to be grief stricken, that maybe they too had lost precious animals.  But most offered platitudes.  I knew they were well meaning attempts to heal or at least help me.  But I wasn't near a place where that was even possible.  I felt obliged to act cheered up.  It was exhausting.

     If you've ever experienced serious loss, hardship, or stress, you've probably been hit with that kind of "uplifting" response.  Therapist Whitney Goodman says that dialogue is just about universal in America.  That's why she coined the term toxic positivity which is also the title of her book.

     Goodman isn't claiming that positivity is always toxic or even bad.  Feeling positivity and gratitude can improve psychological and physical health.  The problem is when it becomes the only acceptable mindset, pushing us to force ourselves and others to always perform it, even in situations in which it's wildly inappropriate such as the death of a beloved spouse.

     In this society we inhabit some emotions are considered acceptable and others anything but.  We start learning which is which very early in life.  As toddlers we're told to stop whining.  As school kids we're punished for expressing anger at siblings.  And how about jealousy being called the green eyed monster?  Then we grow up into a world, both tangible and virtual, where we're bombarded with messages that we only way we can survive, thrive, be happy, and lead meaningful lives is to embody the mantra: don't worry; be happy.

     Goodman explains the many ways that toxic positivity hurts us and our relationships.  She also gives a lot of useful advice on how to become more authentic--removing the mask--when seeking and receiving help.  I think most of us can use some of her ideas.

     Goodman tells us who can benefit from her book.  "It's a book for people who want to know how to support themselves and others.  It's for people who are exhausted from pretending to be happy all the time: at work, at home, with their friends, and on social media.  They're tired of good vibes being forced on them at every turn and being told everything happens for a reason."

     I think that describes most of us at times.

Today was the Green Team and Commuter Lounge clothes swap.  We had a room full of clothes.  People could take all they wanted for free.  As you can imagine, it was a very popular event.  And now I have 37 filled out surveys to analyze to determine how to improve the event next year.  Total success!  (Jules)

Well of course it was a success.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to all who participated.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

Downeast

Adult nonfiction 

     "Here, seasons define that life.  Each summer, the lobstermen glide across a steady sea, and their workdays stretch through endless sunlit hours.  By the time October rolls around, they give the chilling air a knowing nod, and quicken their pace.  As fall succumbs to winter's yawn, they brace their boats against the coming freeze.  Months later, when they feel the ice-blown craters in the roads beneath their pick up trucks, the lobstermen know that, finally, spring has come."

     Living by the seasons?  If you're like me, you'll find that hard to imagine.  Most of us orient ourselves around much more artificial rhythms.  For me in academia it's all about semesters.  This is the hectic tail end of one.  For my daughter, Katie, who works in hedge funds, the year seems to revolve around income tax season.

     This seasonal adherence is only one of the reasons Washington County seems to be a world apart from Maine's more affluent, less isolated regions.  Lost industries are a testimony to the challenges of survival in a place of austere beauty.  This is probably a key reason for its high rates of opioid addiction.

     After Trump was elected there was a lot of talk about the rural Americans who supplied so many of his votes.  They were portrayed as uneducated rubes, easily fooled by tricksters into voting against their own interests.  Gigi Georges believed that such stereotypes oversimplified rural residents and the complex economic and cultural challenges they face.  She also felt that girls and young women--forces for change--were being overlooked.

     "In the case of Downeast, girls are, by and large, surpassing the boys in academics, sports, arts, focus on community, and general ambition and leadership--and are doing so despite big challenges.  What forces are pushing them to thrive and succeed?  How has growing up in the region shaped them? And how are they helping to shape the futures of their hometowns?"

     Downeast: Five Maine Girls and the Unseen Story of Rural America is Georges' attempt to answer these questions.  She sees Willow, Vivian, McKenna, Audrey, and Josie as personifying the challenges and opportunities of time and place experienced by their many peers.  Their lives from preteens to young adulthood are beautifully described.  You get to see the good, the bad, and the sometimes very ugly.

     Georges powerfully brings these girls and their world to life.  You'll grasp the complexities and intersectionalities of really fascinating lives.  

     Now when Eugene and I drive through the towns of Washington County on our way to and from camp I can no longer see their people through the lens of regional bias.

On a purrrsonal note, one skill that I have developed this semester that I'm really proud of is the ability to create surveys on my laptop and send them to the person who can make copies.  My first two I wrote out in longhand and got them photocopied.  They worked but didn't look all that professional.  Ben formatted my next survey and printed it out.  I felt that I should learn how.  Then I realized I could use chrome.  Now I can turn out a very professional looking survey.  I'm gaining so many skills in this internship that I will use the rest of my life.  (Jules)

Drizzly grey day.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to my internship supervisor, Ben, for facilitating an internship that is a huge opportunity to learn and grow as a person and professional.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

     

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

Don't Breathe A Word

YA chiller 

" I see only two ways to cope with the current state of affairs: either get on with your life like a normal person, or spend every waking hour imagining the world being blasted to smithereens--like me."

     The year is 1962.  The cold war between the United States and Russia is getting much too intense.  Children are being taught how to survive an atom bomb being dropped on their schools in much the same way their descendants are put through active shooter drills.

     Connie, one of the protagonists of Jordyn Taylor's Don't Breathe A Word, is a student at Hardwick Preparatory Academy.  While her peers stress about looks and social status she agonizes over the prospect of nuclear annihilation.  When her school decides to test their new fallout shelter by having six students spend four days locked in it she becomes a very apprehensive participant, especially when life below ground becomes more decidedly sinister.

     "Maybe my problem is that I just can't summon the Hardwick Spirit that everyone else seems to have.  You've got the eager beavers, who dash to the front row of every class; the student council members, who make enthusiastic announcements about upcoming social and charity events; the athletes who strut around campus in their special team jackets; the ultra-rich kids, whose last names sound familiar during attendance because they're also the names of buildings around campus...At Hardwick, it's like they're one big happy family, and I'm an intruder barging into the living room with mud on my shoes."

     Eva, Taylor's other protagonist, has been sent by her mother and stepfather to start her junior year at a school most of her classmates have attended since fifth grade.  Cliques are set in stone.  So she's really excited when she's invited to join a secret society and becomes one of a very exclusive group.  

     Then she begins to notice a sinister side to the group.  They regularly attend special meals at the posh home of Dean Allenby where the students tell him about the misdeeds of their classmates.  When one of the group tells him about talk of the shelter he becomes especially alarmed.  

     Maybe because, sixty years earlier, of the six students who entered, only five came out alive.

On a purrrsonal note, I remember those drills.  When we heard a siren we were supposed to duck under our desks and cover our heads with our hands.  I got in big trouble my first one when my classmates and I were taught the drill by informing them and my teacher that school issue desks would not save us from an atom bomb because the whole school would be vaporized.  The drills terrified me because of my precocious understanding of the futility of trying to escape nuclear annihilation.  Maybe also, if it's an innate trait, I had anxiety back then.  The day Kennedy was shot the principal sent all students home without explaining why.  I was sure that the plane with the bomb was on the way and she was making sure we had a chance to say goodbye to our families.  I got home.  Mom explained that Kennedy had been assassinated.  My response: oh, that's all?  She was shocked by my insensitivity.  I was giddy with relief that my loved ones and I would get to stay alive.  (Jules)

Doesn't sound like good times.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to peace activists who work diligently to prevent global annihilation.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

Mirror Girls

YA chiller 

     "Dean forgot how much this world hates love between Black and white.  Those young folks never should've met.  Should have kept an ocean between them."

     In 1935 a wealthy white man and a Black servant were in love.  The woman gave birth to twins--one baby Black and the other white in appearance.  Weeks later, running away to get married, the man and woman were gunned down.

     In 1953 the twins, now nineteen, are living worlds apart.   Charlie lives in Harlem with her grandmother.  She goes to high school and fights for equity and justice.  She goes by Charlie because she believes that Charlene, her birth name, is not tough enough for a community organizer.

     Magnolia has been raised in Georgia as a white southern lady.  She didn't finish high school because her grandmother has convinced her that she doesn't need to be educated.  It's only a matter of time before her best friend's brother proposes.

     But all that is about to change.

     Magnolia is summoned to her grandmother's bed chamber in the middle of the night, only to learn that everything she's been taught about her past is wrong.  Her mother was not a Spanish aristocrat, but a Black housekeeper.

     "Your mother convinced your fool father that he was in love. Can you imagine?...He planned to MARRY HER.  THE TRAITOR!"

     After her grandmother's deathbed revelation Magnolia can no longer see herself in mirrors.  All food smells and tastes too putrid to eat.  Surely a curse has been set in motion.

     The girls are about to meet.  Charlie's grandmother has insisted that they return to Georgia.  She is determined to die where she grew up.  After Grammie Jeanette passes Charlie is left in a place where the veil between the living and the dead is very thin and ghosts are accepted as household residents much the same way our cats and dogs are.  She and a newly met twin sister have to battle a curse that may have grave consequences for both of them.

     If gothic horror is your cup of tea you won't want to miss out on Kelly McWilliams' Mirror Girls.

On a purrrsonal note, my bus didn't show up this morning.  Thinking it had broken down, I set out to walk to school.  I didn't have to walk all the way though.  A fellow grad student driving in gave me a ride.  While I was getting coffee I heard someone mention a holiday only Massachusetts and Maine celebrate.  That was when I realized it was Patriots Day which is a bus holiday.  And my smartphone was indicating afternoon rain.  Well I'm keeping office hours and getting work done.  And I've found a ride home.  (Jules)

Good thing she doesn't have to walk down Route 2 in the rain.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to those generous and kind drivers.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

https://photos.app.goo.gl/TNMfL9wLcjxr44vM9 

My Powerful Hair

Juvenile fiction

      Carole Lindstrom, author of We Are Water Protectors, has created another treasure for young readers, My Powerful Hair.  It packs more Indigenous truths into a picture book than you find in many more sophisticated formats.

     Whites tend to make hair style choices based on factors such as popularity and perceived attractiveness, time available and extent of interest in using it on hair care, and financial limitations or lack thereof.  Over an average life time we will rock a wide range of styles for an equally wide range of reasons.

     The young narrator of My Powerful Hair introduces readers to the concept that for Indigenous Peoples hair has many deep meanings.  It's a source of memories and strength.  It connects them with Mother Nature.  It's source of power and reason to celebrate.  Braiding each other's hair strengthens relationship bonds.

     The narrator also tells us how dominant society has robbed many Indigenous people of the chance to grow their precious hair.  Her mother was taught that hers was unacceptably wild.  And her grandmother had her hair forcibly shorn in the boarding school she was mandated to spend her youth in.

     Although My Powerful Hair is fiction, it is based on Lindstrom's life.  

     This vibrant and gorgeous picture can give children and a parents a meaningful glimpse of a much overlooked aspect of Indigenous culture.

On a purrrsonal note, this weekend Eugene went to camp.  I stayed home with Tobago to do homework and internship work, catch up with household stuff, and go through my clothes to pick out some to donate to Wednesday's clothes swap.  My biggest achievement was rewriting the paper the computer ate and putting it on Brightspace.  When I saw that I'd posted successfully I felt delirious with joy and relief.  That's right.  Delirious.  I threw caution to the winds and partied with Tobago right before bed.  I had mixed berry sherbet, Peeps, a raspberry hard lemonade, and a good book.  She had cat treats and me to snuggle with.

Today I was back to work on my really big paper.  Too much to do and too little time.  End of semester blues.  Right now I'm making lasagna for Eugene who has returned from the wilderness, hopefully with no hitchhiking ticks.  (Jules)

That was some party.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to all the students and professors singing those old end of semester blues.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

Nothing like ice cream for a sweet ending to a school week!

The event was really well received.

Our sundae set up all ready for the public.

Tightrope

Adult nonfiction 

      "...The kids on the bus as it careened toward Yamhill each morning were sure that their world would be better than their parents' had been.  

     Yet these kids ended up riding into a cataclysm, as working-class communities disintegrated across America, felled by lost jobs, broken families, and despair.  About one-fourth of the kids who rode with Nick on the bus are dead from drugs, suicide, alcohol, obesity, reckless accidents, and other pathologies."

     Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, a wife and husband Pulitzer Prize winning writing team, have covered desperate poverty in far away nations.  In Tightrope: Americans Reaching For Hope they have turned their journalistic gaze on America.  But it's even more personal than that.  Yamhill, Oregon, is where Kristof grew up.  It's where his parents' generation experienced upward mobility and his the exact opposite.  Chapters about issues are made up close and personal by glimpses into the shattered lives of people he and his wife know intimately.

     It's important to point out here that Kristof and WuDunn are not painting their subjects solely as victims.  They are candid about the role of poor decisions in their fates.  They also portray people who have come from similar backgrounds and created successful lives.  What they're saying is that America's obsession with personal responsibility obscures the even greater need for social responsibility.  They describe a myriad of forces that were stacked against those bus riding kids as they transitioned into adulthood.

     We tend to think of pushers as disreputable characters dealing illicit drugs on street corners.  A large percentage, however, have medical degrees, enjoy financial security and social prestige, and will never join their patients in prison.  In the 90s Purdue Pharma discovered that opioids could be real money makers and pimped doctors and dentists aggressively.  The path to addiction for so many people starts with an impacted wisdom tooth or a combat injury.  

     Adam probably saved me from this fate.  A dentist aggressively pushed a large quantity of one of those pain meds.  I was pregnant and just saying no to anything that might harm my unborn baby.

     We tend to see holding down a job as a cornerstone of adult personal responsibility.  But what if jobs disappear due to factors such as overseas outsourcing and automation?  People with a high school diploma or less are hit especially hard.  Kevin had two companies he worked for close.  Unable to keep up with child support payments, he lost his driver's license, making job searching much harder.

     But even victims  of major layoffs can be helped by proactive social policies.  Kristof and WuDunn cite the work of sociologist Victor Chen who contrasted the plights of American and Canadian workers laid off by General Motors and Ford.  The Canadiens were better off, and not just because of a more robust safety net.  

     "Within twenty-four hours of a big layoff on the Canadian side, the government set up an 'action center' to help with job searches, government benefits, and access to refocused training programs.  Peer aides would help with preparing resumes and finding solutions."

     Many people tout education as an equalizer.  However, in America it exacerbates inequities.  In other countries there is more spending on disadvantaged children than privileged ones.  America, however, bases school funding on property taxes, ensuring huge educational resource gaps between wealthy and impoverished children.

     And that's only the tip of the iceberg.  But Kristof and Wudunn remain hopeful.  They give advice on ways individuals can make a difference including holding politicians on both sides of the accountable.

     "Wiser policy requires our country to possess a richer understanding of why people fall behind, a deeper comprehension of how many children grow up with the odds stacked against them.  Yes, they make mistakes, but in some cases we fail them before they fail us."

     Tightrope is an essential read for politicians, educators, clergy, social workers, journalists, medical professionals, and everyone who gives a damn about the rapidly increasing number of our fellow citizens who are left far behind in a nation that pays lip service to liberty and justice for all.

On a purrrsonal note, the Commuter Lounge finished off Commuter and Nontraditional Students Week with an ice cream sundae bonanza.  Needless to say, it was very popular and successful.  (Jules)

Well, yeah.  Ice cream is good stuff.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to our readers with best wishes for a great weekend.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

     

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

Different Kinds of Fruit

Juvenile fiction 

     "But I was more excited about the end of sixth grade than the beginning or middle.  I wanted to graduate, and get out.  The Lab was fine, but I was getting tired of fine.  

     Annabelle, narrator of Kyle Lukoff's Different Kinds of Fruit, is resigned to a boring year in her collaborative school.  Only she couldn't be more wrong.  A new sixth grade teacher is replacing the woman who's held that position longer than Anabelle has been alive.

     And then then for the first time in ages there's a new student, Bailey, who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns.  Annabelle thinks Bailey is the most amazing person she's ever met.  She's dismayed when her parents strongly discourage their friendship.

     Meanwhile at school controversy is brewing.  Amy, the new teacher, has decided to create a social studies curriculum centered on topics of student interest.  Dixon, a very conservative student, insists that they need to stick with ancient civilizations.  He gets his overbearing mother to pressure the principal to squash Amy's initiatives.

     The year Annabelle had expected to be boring is turning out to be dramatic and confusing.  She's got a lot to wrap her mind around in her coming of age narrative.  Luckily unexpected allies will be on hand to help.

On a purrrsonal note, this morning I am feeling frustrated.  Not as much so as last night before I had my raspberry hard lemonade.  But still.  It has to do with my sixth and final internship reflection.  I had gotten onto  my class Brightspace (If you have no clue what Brightspace is consider yourself lucky because you've obviously never had to use it) and was about to start a thread only I couldn't get beyond the fifth discussion.  I emailed the professor.  She emailed me that she thought she had fixed the problem.  The word thought should have given me pause.  The sensible thing to do would have been to let Olivia and Sierra, who probably started kindergarten knowing more than I do about computers go first.  I spent the night writing that just under 750 word reflection.  It would not let me post or even save as draft.  I lost the whole thing!!!  But this morning as I talked to friends their empathy and sharing of similar experiences has been making me feel less frustrated.  (Jules)

Computers can be frenemies.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to empathic friends.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

Not exactly a work of art, but it gets its point across.

Cat Wars

Adult nonfiction 

     One of the things that Eugene and I can't agree on is where Tobago cat belongs.  He thinks that keeping a creature wired to hunt indoors is cruel.  I insist that she only go out in her carrier when she has to see her veterinarian.  Letting her loose would be too perilous for her and for the birds.  It turns out that Peter Marra and Chris Santella, authors of Cat Wars: The Devastating Consequences of a Cuddly Killer, are squarely on my side.  They make three highly convincing arguments.

     First there's the toll on wildlife.  It's a problem far bigger than any one feline's preditary prowess.  Carefully calculated estimates show cats killing billions (that's billions with a b) of birds each year in America alone.  Some species have even been driven to extinction.  

     Then there's the problem of disease.  We tend to connect rabies with dogs.  But other domestic animals in contact with infected wild animals can catch the virus and transmit it to humans.  The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says that rabid cats are a public health problem.

     The toxoplasma gondii, a parasite, is a better known danger.  It is transmitted to humans through cat feces.  That's why pregnant women are told not to change litter boxes.  Outdoor cats use sand boxes as litter boxes, endangering toddlers who haven't outgrown the tendency to put everything in their mouths.

     And who knows what other zoonotic diseases may be evolving?

     Finally there's the welfare of the cat itself.  Cats who are outside even part of the time lead shorter, more precarious lives.  Predators include wild animals such as fishers and lynxes, large unleashed dogs, and sadistic humans.  Motor vehicles take a huge toll.  Poisons such as antifreeze, even if ingested in small amounts, cause excruciating (and needless) death.  Is this what you want for your best little cat in the world?

     If, like me, you keep your cat companions inside you're off the hook.  But if you minimize the dangers of a feline indoor/outdoor life style Cat Wars needs to be on your reading list.

On a purrrsonal note things were a little quieter in the Commuter Lounge today.  Our event was a catered lunch with representatives of the Career Center who answered questions about the services they provide.  The weather is amazing.  I think we might hit 70 tomorrow.  It's a good think because I'll be outside chalking information about our ice cream sundae bonanza.  (Jules)

It feels more like spring every day.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out to all the professionals in our Career Center.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

To think I was getting internship hours for drawing on the ground.  I sure know how to pick internships.

Happy adopters filling out birth certificates.

People loved the adoptable stuffies.

How To Become A Planet

Juvenile fiction 

     "When it finally came after one hundred and eighty long days, the first day of summer break didn't matter to Pluto.  The countdown she'd with Meredith still read 34 Days Until Freedom!!! because Pluto hadn't been to school in over a month.  She hadn't had to worry about end-of-the-year pool parties, or endless have a great summers, or Meredith begging her to just be her friend again."

     Pluto, protagonist of Nicole Melleby's How To Become A Planet, missed 34 days of school right before summer vacation.  There were investigations.  Doctors were consulted.  Now she's been diagnosed with depression and anxiety.  Each day starts with medications after Pluto's mom drags her out of bed to go with her to the pizza place she runs.

     "Twelve-year-olds couldn't stay in bed on their own, no matter how much they might need to.  If she was older, an adult, she would stay in bed and no one would force her to do anything, a fixed planet around which everything else moved while she ignored it.  But for now, Pluto was the moon and her mother was the planet she was forced to orbit."

     For Pluto the family restaurant no longer feels like a safe and comfortable haven.  She is determined not to do the catch up assignments and tutoring that will allow her to not repeat seventh grade.  Seeing her former best friend causes panic attacks.  She's terrified of the prospect of returning to middle school in the fall.

     Also her parents are fighting again.  Her father had previously stayed pretty much out of the picture.  Now he's insisting that she move to live with him, claiming that he is better able to access the resources she needs to get better.

     "She was afraid her mom was going to drop her off and leave her there, where her dad could try to fix her, and her mother wouldn't have to keep dealing with the broken pieces."

     With the incidence of anxiety and depression climbing in middle and high schoolers, How To Become A Planet is a very timely coming of age narrative.

On a purrrsonal note, we had the family game night in the Commuter Lounge.  We had board games, art supplies, snacks, and adoptable stuffed animals from the new Black Bear Animal Shelter with birth certificates signed by Dr. Bananas T. Bear.  Nobody wanted to play games or do art.  But the animals were a big hit.  Out of 40 birth certificates only 15 were left when I had to leave to catch the last bus home.  I started doing sidewalk chalk art to advertise events.  So much fun!  And it counts for internship hours! (Jules)

I got a wonderful gift from a family friend, three cases of Fancy Feast (the gourmet stuff) cat food.  Mmm mmm good!!!  Now for weeks I can be a fancy beast!!!  I am living the dream.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to our happy adopters and our friend, Emily, who sent the special treat.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

Pizza and friendship--a winning combination.

Ben is my internship supervisor.  He is fun to work for because he gives me a lot of agency and is enthusiastic about all we're doing in the commuter lounge.

Everything goes better with pizza.

Ya think she looks excited about free pizza?

Ya think she looks excited about free pizza?

Three Insightful Juvenile Novels

Carry Me Home

"The day Lulu's daddy disappeared, was, so far the coldest day of the year."

     Lulu, protagonist of Janet Fox's Carry Me Home, is only twelve.  But she's known more heartbreak than many adults.  Her beloved mother had died.  Not long after that her father had driven from Texas to Montana with Lulu and her little sister, Serena.  Home there is their car with both girls sleeping on the back seat.  Could things possibly get worse?

     Well, yeah.  One day Lulu wakes up to find her father gone.  He's left them very little money.  Now she has to take care of herself and Serena, somehow find them the coats and boots they hadn't needed in Texas, get money for necessities like food, and build an elaborate web of lies to keep the adults from learning that she and Serena have been abandoned...

     ...because if they get involved she may lose her only remaining family member and be truly alone in the world.

     Then Serena gets sick.  What can Lulu do?  She can't leave her little sister alone in the car.  But if they both don't show up at school someone is bound to take notice.

Starfish

"Cannonball into a pool,

drenching everyone,

and wear a whale swimsuit 

to your Under the Sea birthday party 

when you're a chubby kid

who grows up to be a fat tween,

and no one will ever let you live it down.

Ever."

     Ever since her fifth birthday Ellie, protagonist of Lisa Fipps' Starfish, has been bullied about her weight.  Of course some of the kids at her school are relentless.

"I hear someone singing 'Baby Beluga.'

I don't have to turn around to know it's Marissa."

Her mother, continuously posting weight loss articles on the refrigerator, seems to consider her a DIY project rather than a sentient human being.

"'No new clothes for Ellie?' Dad asks Mom.

'She gained more weight this summer.'

I'm afraid if we keep buying her bigger clothes 

She'll just let herself get bigger.'"

Now Mom is even considering bariatric surgery.  All of this negativity is becoming incorporated into Ellie's self image as a series of Fat Girl Rules.

"Fat Girl Rule:

Move slowly so

your fat doesn't jiggle,

drawing attention to your body."

     But change may be on the way.  A new counselor is helping Ellie more fully understand her legitimate needs and wants.  And a new neighbor, Catalina, seems determined to show her that she's wonderful just the way she is.

     Starfish will speak powerfully to kids, especially those who are or love someone who is fat shamed.

Danny Chung Sums It Up 

     Imagine this.  You're an eleven-year-old boy.  Your father gets you a bunk bed.  You're anticipating the fine sleepovers you'll finally be able to have with your best friend...

     ...until your parents inform you that your widowed grandmother, flying in from China, will be occupying the top bunk.

     That's the plight of Danny, protagonist of Maisie Chan's Danny Chung Sums It Up.  His roommate is now his non English speaking Nai Nai.  His parents have a vision of a great intergenerational relationship.  Grammie Dearest is desperate to make up for lost time, even showing up at Danny's school.  When Danny leaves her at Bingo so he can hang out with classmates, even though she loves the game, his parents are aghast.

     Danny is a gifted artist who lives to draw.  His parents who run a take out restaurant, see his passion as a total waste of time.

     "'Son, it's for your own good that you do more constructive things with your spare time.  You can draw in art class at school, but after you come home, you need to focus on getting good grades.  We don't want you to be serving take-out like us when you grow up."

     Math is Danny's nightmare subject.  His Nai Nai was a math champion back in the day.  Perhaps if they can somehow get on the same page...

On a purrrsonal note, the Commuter Lounge is celebrating commuter and nontraditional students week.  We have an activity every weekday this week.  The first was the Family Movie Night at Spotlight Cinemas.  I was exempted from that because it was beyond bus hours.  Today we had a pizza lunch.  I had to distribute and explain a survey and take pictures for social media.  I managed to do both but it was a challenge.  It was quite popular.  (Jules)

Pizza!  Yuck!  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to my friends at the Student Wellness office.  Between the survey I needed and the birth certificates people will get tomorrow they did a lot of photocopying for Commuter Lounge.  They are super friends and allies.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

The Other Family Doctor

Adult nonfiction 

     At Veazie Vet they called Joey a miracle cat.  He was born with a condition that made him prone to urinary tract blockages.  From the age of three when an operation revealed this he'd been a medical special needs cat and a frequent visitor to his primary care provider, Dr. Julie Keene.  But when he wasn't ill he was one of the most robustly joyfully engaged in life, playful, loving cats you can imagine.  On a close to Christmas check up when he was twelve he was given a toy the practice was giving kittens: a little green jingle mouse.

     Before his sixteenth birthday he was diagnosed with lung cancer.  Dr. Keene prescribed an appetite boosting medication that temporarily restored his quality of life and bought us a beautiful last summer.  When he was unable to eat cat food he was able to enjoy baby food.

     We were well into August.  I walked into the kitchen.  Joey was lying on the floor.  He stood up and rubbed his head against my leg before collapsing at my feet.  I treasured this precious love connection, knowing it was the last time, knowing that he was ready to leave me.  My job was letting him know I understood.  I sat on the floor stroking his soft fur, talking about the good life we'd shared, thanking him for all the joy he'd given me, and telling him it was ok to go when living got too hard.  He was gone two days later.  He mostly slept but purred faintly when his people petted him.  One morning he called me and passed over that rainbow bridge with my loving touch being his  last experience.  I thought that at least he had a good death.

     Dr. Karen Fine, author of The Other Family Doctor, would have agreed.  She says that, although animals love life and can battle valiantly against threats, they know when their weakened bodies can no longer go on.  If we can let them go they are ready.  She would have agreed that a long joyous life followed by a short decline and a death surrounded by love was as good as it gets for a cat.  I needed that reassurance because for nearly four years I'd wondered if I'd rationalized my actual experience to be able to live with it.

     Dr. Fine not only is an experienced vet, but shares her home with beloved companion animals and the treasured memories of other.  She's experienced life on both sides of the examination table and generously shares both perspectives.  She candidly lets us in on the lessons she's learned as a professional and a human being.

     One of the most vivid ones for me concerned what she calls the Tuesday cat.  People would bring in a very sick cat with no clue of the seriousness of their condition.  Like me and Joey.  At first she'd chalked it up to human inattentiveness.  She later realized that cats are good at hiding illness symptoms.

     Another that I really appreciate is the idea that when a cat or dog dies of something like cancer there is no need to complicate grief with guilt, with if onlies.  Hindsight, she reminds us, is 20/20.  We did the best we could with what we knew at the time.

     In addition to wisdom on animals and the amazing animal-human bond, Dr. Fine gives us important insights into the challenges and pressures our other family doctors face on a regular, sometimes daily, basis with very little support for seeking help. Burnout, compassion fatigue, depression, and, sadly, suicide are becoming more common in the profession.  I believe that turning this around will require collaboration from vets and their patients' human companions.  

     After the semester I plan to order a copy of the book and donate it to Veazie Vet as a way of showing appreciation.  If you too have a stellar vet or practice you might want to do so.  It's a must acquire for public libraries.

     If you have a companion animal read The Other Family Doctor.  It will probably bring tears to your eyes.  But when things inevitably get tough in the path you and your animal walk together it can be a Godsend.

     A great big shout out goes out to the excellent veterinarians at Veazie Vet with great appreciation for all they've done for the Hathaway cats and humans.

Jules Hathaway 

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

Fire In The Streets

YA fiction 

     Well this is the final selection in our Kekla Magoon retrospective.  Fire In The Streets takes over where The Rock and the River leaves off.  This time the narrator is Sam's crush turned maybe girlfriend, Maxie.

     Maxie's big brother, Raheem, is her protector and for all intents and purposes, guardian.  Her mother, an emotionally unstable alcoholic with a penchant for Mr. Wrongs, can't hold down a job.  Raheem has had to drop out of school to make rent, keep the lights on, and put food on the table.

     Raheem is also a full fledged Black Panther.  He is able to patrol, packing heat.  Maxie yearns to achieve this status.  She volunteers every free minute.  But she's only allowed to do things like babysitting, cleaning the office, and stuffing envelopes.  She feels like they're babying her, unable to recognize her skills, self discipline, and dedication to the cause.  

     Suddenly the cops seem to know too much of the Black Panther secrets.  There must be an informant in their midst.  Maxie sets out to discover who it is, sure that the information will be her key to becoming a fully fledged Panther...

     ...or will it break her heart.

On a purrrsonal note, this is the start of a very busy school week for me.  Today I was only able to put in three hours at the Commuter Lounge.  In the morning I got a ride to deliver a car load of donated clothes to the Upward Bound clothes room.  In the afternoon I had to be social.  First there was the Faculty Mentor Award Appreciation Lunch at Wells.  I was invited because I'd nominated Leah for an award.  It was so fancy people were assigned to tables.  I had a wonderful time.  It was real quality time with Leah.  We had so much to talk about.  And I learned that she's really proud of me and glad to be my advisor.  Oh, yeah, and the food was great too.  Then there was a student employment reception to mark the beginning of student employee week.  Oh, yeah, and I saw the first crocuses of spring.  (Jules)

It's starting to feel like spring.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to Leah, the best advisor EVER!!!

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

 

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone