A reflection on friendship in books from 2016

Friends for 34 years, way before the "selfie" was invented!

My favorite part of the New York Times Style Magazine is the back page.  That's where they ask someone famous to draw the answers to everyday questions.  Every once in awhile I have a minute to scan through it to see if anything else draws my attention.  Today, as I was just about to recycle the November magazine, I happened upon an article that touched me so deeply, about the old friends we can't let go of, whether they are gone from our lives or not:  http://nyti.ms/2glYGoV

There are many that I think about that have left:

• After third grade, one of my very best friends, Allison Zeith, moved to Staten Island from our haven in Briarwood, Queens.  We saw each other a few times after that and then never again.  I always wonder what happened to her.  I have vivid memories of hanging out in her apartment, and watching old, black and white King Kong movies together.

• Thanks to FaceBook, I am "friends" with dozens of my early childhood friends (ie, PS 117,  JHS 217), so many of whom I haven't seen face to face in 30+ years and would love to meet for coffee some day to catch up. If you are reading this, can we make it happen in 2017?  I don't make resolutions, but if I did this could certainly qualify.

• There are many from Cardozo HS, Bayside, Queens I would love to see, too.  Our 30th HS reunion is this year (oh my!) so if something is organized, maybe I will actually have the opportunity to do this.  A lot has happened since big hair and Reaganomics.

• What about my orchestra mates at SUNY-Binghamton.  Would I even recognize you 25 years later?

• I had a couple of housemates in graduate school that would be fun to connect with.  It's a problem because I can't remember how to spell Matt K's last name so there is no way I can look him up.  He owned the house but goodness knows those checkbooks with his name in it are long gone.  Rick Mitchell, with a common enough name, makes him challenging to look up on social media.

But, I do have one true friend who I met at Camp Ramah in the Berkshires in 1982 and who has not left my side since.  Back then Queens to New Jersey felt like an eternity apart.  We counted long distant minutes on our rotary phones and mailed each other long tomes of who we liked but who didn't like us back (mostly me) and what crushes crushed us that week (again me).  Today, in spite of the now 3000 miles separating us, we still remain very close. This post is dedicated to my BFF, Beth.

But because this is a library blog, I'm not just writing about my friends, but tying it all together by giving you a taste of five books published this year that I love, with a strong friendship theme:

Booked by Kwame Alexander

Two friends, Nick and Coby.  They play some serious soccer.  Throw some family issues in there and a girl, and this book touches it all--perfect for anyone from 9-99.

Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart

Screenshot from Overdrive

Two eighth graders you would never imagine to become friends, do, in a backdrop of Dunkin Donuts, plastic pink flamingoes, a special tree and family members you want to hug one day and shake up the next.  A must read for every middle schooler.

Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo

The Three Rancheros meet at baton twirling lessons.  All have a different reason for wanting to win the "Little Miss Central Florida Tire Contest."  When the friendship becomes solidified, you can't help but feel happy.  People are wondering if boys will like this book.  I can attest that they do as I had several in my book group who, not only liked it, but who were quite engaged in our discussions at our group meetings.

Save Me a Seat by Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan

A giant book cover from our MOST event

From the alternating point of view Joe and Ravi, two fifth graders, this is their story of how they became friends after a week of school lunches. A must read for every upper elementary school class, even as young as third grade.  

Towers Falling by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Three kids, three different stories, coming together in fifth grade while learning about 9/11 during the 2016-17 school year on the fifteenth anniversary and beyond.

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown

If you doubt that a book about a robot getting stranded on an island could have such strong themes about friendship, family and the environment, then you need to get a copy of The Wild Robot today. We are all surprised at how much we like the book, but the truth is, we do!

My "Wild Robot" book group with arcs thanks to Little, Brown

We Found a Hat by Jon Klassen

Yes, it's a picture book but that doesn't mean it can't belong here. I can't get enough of it--Two turtles, one hat.  It could end up badly but the bond of friendship keeps it from going that way.  Simple illustrations with a short but meaningful story.

Just a few where old friends were left behind when family came first...

Counting Thyme by Melanie Conklin

Thyme moves across the country for her brother's health and struggles with missing her old friends and making new ones in the city.

Ghosts by Raina Telgeimer

Similar to Counting Thyme, in Ghosts, Cat and her family move down the coast of California to protect her sister's health.  Little do they know that the new friends they make could be harmful.

Hour of the Bees by Lindsay Eager

Boy is it hard to be away for the summer, discover things about your family and roots that you never knew and then go back home and start middle school with friends you haven't seen all summer. 

Speaking of friends, here's a text from one after she read "Hour of the Bees."

Here's hoping you have a wonderful holiday season filled with lots of time with family and FRIENDS and maybe even a connection or two with ones that may be gone from your life but never forgotten.

Princeton Book Festival #PPLBookFest

Previously in my life....(last weekend)

It's hard to explain to anyone who isn't a book person what it is like to walk into a book festival or the floor of the ALA or AASL exhibit hall and see swarms of your idols, your rockstars, your people. That happened to me again yesterday at the Princeton Book Festival.  Yes, it is nearly 200 miles away. Yes, yesterday in particular, it was a little challenging getting down there because the thruway was actually closed for one whole exit and we had to take a detour but it is only 20 minutes from my grandmother's home and close enough for my son to meet up with a camp friend.  That all said, it is a win-Win-WIN situation.  I like that very much.

The first person we met was Denis Markell.  A debut novelist (you know I like my debut people) whose book I recognized thanks to Junior Library Guild.  I am always telling authors how lucky they are to get on JLG's list because for people like me who don't have an assistant in the library, I heavily rely on JLG for collection development.

A little further down in the tent was a woman who gave me goosebumps.  I was SO nervous, I couldn't speak intelligently.  NEWBERY winner, Rebecca Stead.  I actually knew she would be there so I "broke in and entered" Mrs. Kelliher's 5th grade classroom and "stole" her copies of When You Reach Me and Liar and Spy so Rebecca could sign them. I was in awe and couldn't speak coherently. One year a 4th grade teacher used her Scholastic points to purchase multiple copies of Liar and Spy so I could run a book group with her students.  I love that book. LOL I love that book so much that now I have TWO copies.  I had no idea that I already had my own copy back at school that I bought another one for Rebecca to sign. It's all good...

OMG! OMG! OMG!

  

Meeting Melanie Conklin and Gita Varadarajan was like meeting old friends.  Even though we hadn't met before we were already connected.

I told Chris Grabenstein that we were coming so he had a present set aside for me!  Woohoo!  The audio of Welcome to Wonderland: Home, Sweet Motel.  Zack and I started listening to it and it is super fun!  Book birthday:  October 4!

Leaping with Newbery honor winner, Joan Bauer! I read Soar in Ocean City, MD this summer.

I bought two copies of Kelly Barnhill's book (one for me and one for Zack) because it's definitely on my short list for Newbery. 

 

This guy, Brian Biggs, was fun!  He's got a whole series of board books and community helper books based on "Tinyville Town" (the newest one not out yet is about a librarian!).  I bought this one thinking I might share it at one of our assemblies this year.  We had fun leaping, especially since Zack was not in the mood to be photographer anymore.

Ahhh...the incomparable Caldecott honor Lauren Castillo!  I nearly scared her off her seat when we first met but have never leapt together!  We finally got our first leap in at the festival!  So fun!  I'm looking forward to more in the future! Lauren must have been practicing because look at the air on that one!

So I haven't read this book yet but want to!  I have been recommending it to sixth graders, though! And I've been following Karen Romano Young on Instagram so it was fun to meet. I bought the book and added it to my forever growing TBR pile!

A series of leap pictures with Ame Dyckman, Zachariah O'Hora and Adam Lehrhaupt! So fun!  I had prepped Ame through Twitter since we had leaped together once before at the Meltdown in Northhampton.

After we said goodbye to Zack's friend, the festival was winding down but I wasn't ready to say ciao to Princeton yet.

Wait! Didn't my friend Rachel from the Northshire Bookstore in Saratoga, tell me about these new books:

Check it out! I spied them at the Bookhouse in Albany!

Yes!  And she loves them!  Well, John Marciano and I got talking first about Madeline (and Madeline's says Merci) and then about so much more--Middle grade fiction, emerging and new readers, Troy, NY, book camps, focus groups...we probably could have talked for longer but Zack was getting a little impatient with me, especially when he had to take ONE more leaping picture of his mother.  Oh, the life of a leaping librarian's son.

It was another well worth visit south in spite of the thruway being closed for an exit.  But we made the best of it with our nice detour through the small towns of Sullivan County, only sadly arriving to the festival over an hour after we had anticipated.  That's ok.  Many books purchased later and new friends made, we are happy and looking forward to our third annual trip down in September 2017.

Save Me a Seat coming May 2016

Save yourself an afternoon, grab your favorite school lunch and a bowl of blue peanut M&Ms and then open up this wonderful collaboration between Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan because you won't want to get up from your seat before it's finished.  Kudos to these two authors for demonstrating to all of us how  "teamwork does make the dream work"  (that just happens to be our school wide theme this year) YES! Proof it works!

Ravi (pronounced rah-VEE) just moved to Hamilton, NJ from India with his parents and grandparents. On the first day of school, Ravi notices Dillon Samreen immediately as someone who is also Indian and thinks they will become fast friends. Little does Ravi know that even if it's only the first week of fifth grade, a lot can happen between Monday's chicken nuggets and Friday's pizza.

Then there's Joe. Not only has Joe had his fill of being bullied over the years, especially from Dillon, he now has to deal with his Mom being the new lunch monitor. Life is not easy for Joe but that doesn't stop him for sticking up for Ravi. When no one else pronounces Ravi's name correctly, Joe does in his head.  He even tries to get others to do the same. As a reader, I wanted to make sure I was saying it right, also, so when Joe kept practicing it in his head I noticed that I was, too. rah-VEE. rah-VEE. rah-VEE.

I caught myself biting my nails and screaming inside for Ravi to discover the true Dillon and a friend in Joe.  To the end, I was cheering hopelessly for our zebra heroes to outsmart the crocodile with thoughts that nothing could be worse than chili day, or can it?

Each chapter bounces back between Ravi's and Joe's voice, making this a truly awe-SOME, don't-want-to-let-go, read.

I want to:

1. Eat some Indian food (glad there is a recipe in the back of the book) and peanut M&Ms
2. Call up Sarah and Gita and say, "Great book.  Your collaboration worked!"
3. Go out and get a copy for my library and all my young Sarah Weeks fans

But here is what I do instead:

1. Sit on my hands and drum up some patience since the book doesn't come out till May 10, 2016
2. Write this up and make note to remind folks in May to pick it up

I have been a Sarah Weeks fan since the Oggie Cooder days.  Now, not only am I a Weeks fan but a Varadarajan fan, too.  I look forward to seeing what they both could be dreaming up for the future.  Until then, I'll be in my kitchen whipping up some naan khatais with a side of apple crisp.