Quick. What did your last two podcasts discuss? Mine? Comedian Kevin Hart talking with Jerry Seinfeld and the other? An interview with Bono and the Edge. Kevin and Jerry spent some time talking about the brotherhood/sisterhood of the comedian world. Reminded me of my book people. Lifelong friendships gained almost instantly. Hence the brethren. And well, today, was just a "beautiful day" connecting with my book people family.
My Sibert honor winning co-host, Steve. I knew Fallout would get a sticker today. My good friend, Alicia, chair of the Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults committee. Proud to call you my friend and co-presenter extraordinaire. My Sibert Smackdown mentor and now honor winner, Melissa. Former fifth grade now retired teacher, Mr. Reischer, who texted me at 4 in the morning sending me positive #ALAyma vibes. Jayce from Fort Worth who texted when Too Bright to See won Newbery honor reminding me that I called that early on. Jacquelyn from Alabama who was thrilled for Watercress and extra excited for Starfish because she knew it could be YA. Val, the stranger I met 15 years ago who suggested I get my school library degree, and texted tonight asking if I liked the Newbery winner. Newbery honor Rajani who has been on Author Fan Face-off, had a virtual visit with our Red, White and Whole book group and just has the most infectious smile and laugh (I imagine she has a beautiful permagrin happening now). My teachers and colleagues who know today is "my day." From getting excited themselves (and making posters and t-shirts) to helping me sticker the ice cream sandwiches to being photographers and videographers, they may not all be book people but they my brethren. My mom, who read and adored Fallout and watched the awards live this morning. And the latest member of my sisterhood, 4th grade teacher Galiah from Queens, who I met over Twitter and now are classes are meeting virtually tomorrow to debrief the Sibert awards.
Now that the sun has set over this beautiful day I need to make a reading decision for the after. A 2022 book I missed or a January 2023 contender?
Today is a premium book birthday day! AND my first day back in the building! May I request chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting with a side of a whole bunch of candles?
Here's what I've been waiting to celebrate today. Some I've read. Some I haven't. All are worth adding to your TBR list and your next book order.
Before the EverAfter by Jacqueline Woodson
I read this back in June and I am still thinking about it and not just because I listen to football podcasts with my son. In my mind, Jacqueline Woodson's verse can do no wrong and this book is no exception. It's 1999-2000 and ZJs dad, a tight end for an unnamed football team (I think the Giants) is not his hero but his "every single thing."When his dad's head is just "not right anymore" ZJ's world as he knows it comes to an end. I really haven't read a book like this before. The topic is unique and so important. It's easily accessible and will spark many conversations among the young and not so young. My husband always says that football will not look the same in our 14 year old Giants fan lifetime. This book will get us all talking while Earth, Wind and Fire's "September" plays in the background and Sugar Hill Gang is queued up next.
I am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes and Gordon C. James
I have been waiting for this book for months! I would check back on Netgalley and Edelweiss impatiently refreshing hoping the arc would be loaded up in the time I hit the curved arrow but alas it never happened. Today is my day! I look forward to cozying up and escaping into this graphic young adult novel memoir asap.
Millionaires for a Month by Stacy McAnulty
Even though Stacy lives in North Carolina now, I still consider her a local girl having grown up in a zip code only a few miles from Castleton. She likes her numbers and writing about math. I'm excited for this one and to attend this crowdcast event this evening. Stacy has already agreed to be a part of our #AuthorFanFaceOff on her book, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl. Yay!
Punching the Air by Ibi Zboi and Yusef Salaam
This book almost makes me want to teach high school. The discussions we could have. The documentaries we could watch. The poems we could write. The artwork and artists we could analyze. The difference we could make. Read. Share. Talk. Check out Salaam's website. Ken Burns's documentary. Ava Duvernay's miniseries. (Check out my friend Alicia's blog post about the book here.) As an aside, it was definitely cool to read about Picasso's Guernica after just seeing it in person while I was in Madrid.
Plus a new one by David Wiesner (Robobaby) and one I'm excited to share with my music teacher, Wild Symphony by Dan Brown.
So, yeah, worth getting the candles out for sure. I'll be having my cake (and cake and cake) and eating (and eating and eating) it, too. It's a book birthday bonanza! 🎂
The company we used for the Airbnb. Could it BE more appropriate for me and this trip?!
File this one under: #travel #Madrid #Spain #RutaSepetys #TheFountainsOfSilence #BestFebruaryBreakEver
I might have finally figured out what I want to do when I grow up: A book travel agent. To borrow from our Airbnb host in Madrid, I will call my company "Book In..." Read something awesome and then travel to where it takes place. It will make the book and the trip both more meaningful and unforgettable. Believe me, I am speaking from experience.
My family and I just returned from Madrid last night. Yes, it is 3 am in Spain right now. This was our fourth time outside of the US with our good friends and "international traveling companions", Jason, Riele, John and Natalia. Our last trip was to Dublin in August 2017. While there we made friends with Alberto and Ruth, a lovely young couple from Madrid. The luck of the Irish couldn't have been any luckier. ☘ Alberto and Ruth love their city so much and were so proud to show it off to us (and humor me when I wanted to find places from "my book").
My book? The Fountains of Silence by Ruth Sepetys. Madrid 1957. The novel is a magnificent package of history, love, hope, perseverance, art, photography, hardship, family, mystery, friendship. Wrap it all up and you get perfection, with a side of Tom Collins on the rocks. A book, that when I began, Alicia texted me, "Soooooo jealous. That book..." Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. I read it. I listened to it. When I finished I wanted to start all over. And I kind of did with my Madrid 2020.
While there, I tried to go to as many places mentioned in the book as possible.
First stop? An unexpected stroll by Lhardy. No time to pop in and never went by it again. I was hoping to buy some violet candy there. We ended up doing that later in the week at a famous candy store instead.
The Prado was the first of many museums we visited. I learned so much about Spanish art. This is Velazquez outside the Prado. We also went to the Thyssen, Reina Sofia and the Sorolla as well as the Liria Palace and Royal Palace, all filled with magnificent works of art. The Sorolla wasn't on our itinerary but since it was in mentioned in the book, Ruth, Tari and I walked the few blocks over after the hotel. And we loved it. Ruth says it is one of her favorite places. I can see why. The art was just so happy and sunny.
Museums stay open late in Madrid every night. We were at the Sorolla till almost 8pm.
This photography display at the Reina Sofia that made me think of Daniel and Ben.
I had to find the cover photo and I did at Gran Via.
Alberto told me that the cover is not a continuous setting. Is that the hotel on the right?
I didn't carry the print book with me, although I wish I did for photo purposes. Instead, I showed everyone the cover from my Audible account.
We walked everywhere. The one and only time we took city transportation was to get up to the hotel. When we got there, Ruth kindly explained in Spanish to the doorman why we were there and he let us in. The concierge shared that the lobby and fountain were all original.
We took a day trip to Escorial and the Valley of the Fallen. It was tough to visit the Valley of the Fallen, especially after talking to Alberto and reading the book, but nonetheless we still went and it sparked conversation among our group.
I am now hooked. Thank you, Alberto and Ruth (and Ruta). Please, if after reading this blog post, you, too, want to discover the sites of Madrid through the eyes of Daniel, Ana, Nick, Ben, Puri, Rafa and the others, I'm available and would be very happy to be your guide. DM me immediately ;-)
Who is that handsome guy in the middle is? My cousin, Robert!
He is doing a semester abroad in Barcelona and came out to hang with us for a few days!
Churros at San Gines on our last night with Ruth and Alberto
Epilogue
This blog only scratches the surface of what we did and ate. Want to see more? Zack and John vlogged during our whole trip. Got about 7 minutes? Videos of Day 1 and 2-3 are uploaded. Check them out! Warning: You may start craving churros and chocolate. Yum.
Day 2-3
Epilogue Part 2: Book in DC
Ruta and I met at a Penguin event during ALA in June. At that point, I had NO idea I would be going to Spain eight months later!
FINALLY: Book in Albany
Alicia met me today while I was shopping at our local food Co-Op. She was doing a photo friendship tour this week and wanted to get one with me 😊 I planned ahead and brought a prop for the pic.
Today is the day of the "luck of the Irish." Green is everywhere and I'm feeling lucky.
If you have the good fortune, like I do, to have a friend who recommends books that are so perfect for you that they are unputdownable, make you cry, smile, laugh, scream and leap, then, you too, are lucky.
Oh, Alicia. Sometimes I just wish I didn't listen to her. Why does she know me so well? Her book recommendations get in my way! They make everything I do come to a complete halt. And they make me do what I thought was the impossible. Like today. (And skip ahead if this is too much TMI) I brought my wireless speaker into the bathroom so I could continue listening to my book while I was in the shower?! What?! My 11 year old does that with the audio from TV shows but me?! And for a book?!
The book that I am currently obsessed with is Dumplin' by Julie Murphy. It's TEXAS people! How could I not love this book. Everything is big in Texas and this book has taken over my heart in a BIG way. Honestly, I can't believe I stopped listening to write this? Huh?! To be fair, I'm supposed to be working on something else, so this is a distraction.
My daughter is on her way to the city right now. Tomorrow she will come back via Metro North, which means my husband or I have to drive an hour and a half to pick her up. I'm eagerly going to volunteer because there's not enough water in our system to get me through to the final chapter.
So yeah. Alicia knows me so well and I am lucky. Move over green beer and shamrocks. I've got my own personal "Reader's Advisor" and that's all the luck I need. ☘☘☘☘☘
That was a great 7.25 mile run. Not because I revel in humidity and live for the times when sweat just drips off my forehead as I untie my shoes, but because I had some time with Lina, Andrius, Joana, Jonas and all the rest of Ruta Sepetys's vivid characters. While I should be listening to a middle grade novel from my Newbery contender reading list, I am secretly not. All fingers point towards my friend and YA lit mentor, Alicia Abdul, on why that isn't happening. It's Alicia's fault I bawled in the middle seat on the way to TLA while reading Jeff Zentner's The Serpent King. It's her fault this is my second Ruta book. And her fault I read every Jason Reynolds book last summer. What I am to elementary, Alicia is exponentially more to High School. She is amazing. She knows her literature. She understands her audience and she is so perfectly organized. Me? I feel so scattered and overwhelmed when I am with her. She loves cute dresses and always looks adorably professional in them. Me? I love my converse, headbands and frequently do not even match when I dress for school. No surprise that my favorite spirit week day is "Mismatch Day." Twice Alicia and I have presented back to back about new books. I'm up there literally doing a chicken dance and racing through my presentation while Alicia has hers down to a science. In my humble opinion she's a Mary Poppins of secondary librarians.
So when she asked me to write a guest post on her blog you can only imagine the heart palpitations. What would I write about? After several failed attempts I finally put it to rest to take a day off. I started to write about a dream I had a few nights ago where I was offered a significant pay raise to move to a public library position. Boy did I struggle. I love my job but it's always nice to have a little extra cash. I woke up in a pool of sweat before I made my final decision. However, as much as I love all libraries, I'll tell you now that I haven't finished making even a dent on the difference in the lives of my students at Castleton Elementary School. So if that dream becomes recurring, I know what number door to pick.
Then last night on our way home from New York City, I began to read aloud essays written by successful candidates to Hamilton College. I awoke this morning with an idea for a post and you can read it all here:
I may not have thought to put those words down on paper if it had not been for Alicia. I could have said no to Alicia--it is summer and a busy time for me personally and professionally. But I'm not good at saying "No" (possible future blog post topic?). I also could have gone the safe route and written a review or again, just said "no." But like Joe Pucci, I reflected on myself, took the leap, said "yes" to a superstar colleague and went for it.
Side note: Between Shades of Gray is so good. I have both the audio and print versions so I can read it anytime I have a moment to spare. Alicia and Ruta are buds and I was thrilled to fangirl her at TLA in April.
