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.

My Ode to the Debut Novelist

I love that I have the luxury on this Sunday morning to sit with my coffee, enjoy some chocolate chip banana bread that my daughter baked yesterday and actually read the fine script of the Sunday New York Times.  This is one of my vices, when I have the time.  We actually get it delivered on Sunday...Ahhh...it brings me back to my Queens childhood.

In the back of the Book Review, the first section I pull out so I can see what beloved books and authors have made it to the bestseller list albeit a few weeks old, is a column I like to read called, "Bookends."  There's always a question with two authors offering differing opinions.  Today's topic completely struck me--

Why do debut novels command so much attention?

I am a huge fan of the middle grade debut novelist.  In fact, I get a little jolt when I read the biography that says, "This is _____ first book."  Yes!  I don't know if it is because I feel that I, and I alone, can help this author's career.  Hardly, but I love a good book for kids and boy do I love promoting that book, sharing reader enthusiasm with the debut author and just waiting to see how the future unfolds.

Did you know that there are Twitter accounts and hashtags for the middle grade debut writer community?  This year it is 

The Sweet Sixteens

@TheSweet16s

I'm embarrassed that I've only read five of these so far MG novels but I've heard great things about more of them! I loved all of the ones I read--I actually think I blogged about all of them--Paper Wishes, Fenway and Hattie, Counting Thyme, The Adventurer's Guide to Successful Escapes, Hour of the Bees and The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary School. In fact, my students read The Adventurer's Guide and loved it so much they read way ahead for book group. We had a blast in early August with our summer book group chatting with Last Fifth Grade's Laura Shovan.  I don't think a non-debut novelist would do this, but she offered to Skype with us only a day or two before and we were able to make it happen!  It's a win-win situation for both of us--my students are thrilled with the opportunity to meet an author and the new author gets to experience enthusiastic readers first hand.

 

 

Here's the link for the debut novelists from last year:

Fearless Fifteeners

We loved a bunch of those, too!  Circus Mirandus was one of our top Newbery 2016 books, winning an honor from our Newbery Consensus club and we loved Skyping with Cassie!  We also loved Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman and Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer by Kelly Jones.  Both of those were book groups for Newbery and we had the wonderful opportunity to Skype with those fabulous debut women, too. On a side note, I hear there is a Book Scavenger hiding in NYC right now--I keep saying I'm going to hide one in Albany. I have to make that happen.

And I can't let this go without talking about Kwame Alexander.  Even though The Crossover wasn't his debut novel and he had been writing poetry (and prose) for 20 years before, The Crossover is what introduced this incredible poet novelist to the world. I got on board with the book from the beginning, got my students to love it and him and the rest, as they say, is history.

All in all, I love how Leslie Jamison put it in the "Bookends" column.  

"Part of the thrill of watching the [NBA] draft is the possibility of watching the future before it happens, which is also the thrill of of the debut novelist:  the chance to read an author before she has become a legacy, before she has become part of the canon.  It's a chance to imagine yourself, as a reader, inside the greater wingspan of literary history:  Witnessing the ascendance of a debut novelist means witnessing a career when it's just beginning, being part of a moment that will ultimately matter."

-Leslie Jamison

I couldn't have said it any better.  I thrive on being part of history and being "one of the firsts."  Now off to read to be part of history...

ps-Looking ahead, here is the link for next year's debut MG and YA novelists:

The Swanky Seventeens

Counting Thyme

Seriously, as soon as this book gets in your hands (or ears) you will need to make TIME and clear your calendar.  Nothing else is going to get done until you finish, or unless you are a good multitasker.  For example, today I ran over 6 miles in the heat and humidity and was almost late for an appointment.  Then I cleaned a junk cabinet with the book playing.  I even took my phone in the bathroom with me so I could listen while I showered.  It's that good and that riveting.

Coming of age and being in sixth grade is hard enough but imagine if you now have to deal with all that while your brother battles cancer, your family moves across country, you have a new school, have to make new friends, miss your old best friend back home and you're starting to get some tingling feelings around one certain boy.  This is Thyme, with a "TH" she says when she introduces herself.

Right around Thanksgiving, Thyme's family moves to NYC for her little brother Val, who is fighting a rare cancer.  Leaving her best friend, Shawny and her life in San Diego behind is not as easy for Thyme as it seems to be for her older sister, Cori, who appears to be embracing the freedom and excitement of NYC a bit more than Thyme.  Even with the thought that this is just temporary, Thyme can't help but make friends, join the drama club and perhaps even succumb to her feelings for Jake?

So now the rest of my day seems shot, too, since I want to go out and watch "The Wizard of Oz", ride the 4, 5 or 6 train (I have plans to go to the city on Wednesday so I will try and make it to the East side just for Val), listen to Simon and Garfunkel and Stevie Ray Vaughan, eat some kugel and play some classic board games.

With strong characters you'll love, an unputdownable plot, my favorite city as the backdrop, this book is a winner. You heard it from me--do not be left in the wings on this one.  I promise you, you will not be disappointed as long as you book yourself several hours of TIME for this one!