I have never been prouder of my mom. Every day and when I say every day, I mean EVERY SINGLE DAY (what weekends?) she has been making calls all over the country for her party and candidates. And if you know my mom, she's not like me leaping all over the globe, and yet she feels so passionate about this election and her causes, that as much as talking to strangers every.single.day is out of her comfort zone, she is still doing it.
My daughter's 18th birthday is today. Boy is she glad to have made it to 18 in time. We recently got the text that her absentee ballot was mailed with two stamps on the envelope.#proudparents
The early voting lines have been crazy. Honestly though, when we waited last night I really didn't mind. No civil unrest as people patiently waited over an hour to participate in their civil duty. I was the 2000th voter in our polling place. Wouldn't it have been cool to be two people behind and get Tari's birth year?
I've been sprinkling some Election Day talk into my lessons with K/1. One of my very favorite voting books is Vote for Me by Ben Clanton. A donkey and elephant are vying for your vote and it even gets a bit nasty. When I was in kindergarten I'm sure I couldn't tell you who was president. But these kids are in the know. "We're voting for president and it's Donald Trump vs. Joe Biden," exclaimed one little girl. "Vote for Joe Biden because he tells you to wear a mask," exclaimed another. Ohhh-kay, I nodded and quickly moved the conversation back to being nonpartisan.
Today a first grader asked me who I voted for. "That's very private. You don't have to share that information with anyone." I said. We read Vote for Our Future by Magaret McNamara and illustrated by Micah Player. I had just enough time to hand out, fold and color these thank you cards.
But wait there's more: This summer the YA romcom, The Voting Booth, by Brandy Colbert was released. I rushed listened to it in one day in preparation for a Crowdcast event she was in. Waiting in line to vote and hearing my mom's stories about how she asks people about their plans to vote, I can't help to think back to July when I read this book. It's my kind of romance mixed up with advocacy. Thinking about it now makes me realize I miss my YA character crushes. Who you got for me, Alicia?
A blast into the past: Two years ago, the 4th grade Social Studies teacher and I worked for weeks on an Election Day/Voting project. We researched the Constitution, met elected officials, handed out postcards and made a short video encouraging our community to vote. I found the video and still love it today:
Let your voice be heard. Vote on or before Tuesday. Oh, and if you happen to get a call from a lovely woman asking you for your voting plan, please tell my mom I said hello and I love her. Thanks 😉
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! 🎂
NerdCampMI this past summer. I was SO excited to meet Deborah! OMG! I am wearing the same shirt today!
When I flipped my author birthday calendar page to May, I circled Deborah Wiles's name on today's date. Happy birthday!
Ever since her 2014 Revolution was released, I've been a fan. We bought a class set and the fifth grade social studies teacher read it aloud as the starting block for a project based history project. Honestly, that project began in one enthusiastic direction but after many emails back and forth with Deborah and then hitting some dead ends, it took a different turn. It's all good. We used many primary documents in our research and would have made Tom Bober proud.
and a link to an extensive guide to talking about the civil rights movement.
But today's post is really a belated book birthday (a few weeks late) to Deborah's new book, Kent State. I took time out of my day (birthday present from her to me?) to take in the book. Having a 17 year old activist who we hope will be leaving for college this fall, it hit home. I queued up the playlist and read. It's a short, strong, important book in verse from many perspectives of the events leading up to the tragedy. It really made me think about government then and today, the role it has in keeping us safe and healthy and how protests have evolved (maybe?) over the years.
At a rally protesting the Vietnam War, four students were killed on May 4, 1970 at Kent State. I wasn't quite a year old at the time and never knew the details of the events. This book takes us through that weekend in Ohio from the point of view of many: vocal students, loud townies, members of the BUS (Black United Students), quieter townies, friends of the victims...The book doesn't just end at the conclusion of the story. Just as important is Deborah's afterword. Not only does she go into detail about Kent State but she directs us to websites and sources because she knows we want to learn more.
Although this book will not be finding a place on my elementary shelves, I plan to pass it on to the secondary library for sure. Should I plan a reunion with the class of 2021? The timing couldn't have been better. Fifth grade 1964 Freedom Summer. Six years later 1970 Kent State. So yes to a reunion read aloud. Get your copy now and I'll see you soon.
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.
Love.
Topped with a Levain cookie
a cup of Dream and Bean coffee
to a tune sung by Ben and Lin
(and my own Evan, Noah)
I can't help it. The universe did it to me.
I could almost admit that if this was the last book I ever read, I'd be happy.
I could even accept if this was the last book ever read to me.
Should I hit the rewind button? Can I get a do-over?
I am a hapless, hopeless romantic who lives for stories like this.
Ones that take place in my beloved home of New York City
Where I have eaten the cookies mentioned
Seen the shows and know the tunes
And my daughter already has one of the colleges on her short list
(It's not Yale)
I just want to ship Arthur and Ben and be done with it.
Barthur? Arthurn?
I. am. in. love.
I really want to know how Becky and Adam (Badam? Adamb?) could write so seamlessly together states apart? Such an incredible skill and I am longing for more. Please sir, can I have some more? MORE? You're not going to throw away our shot for more wonderfulness, are you?
Cute Arthur with or without his glasses is in New York for the summer from Georgia. Ben is in the post office about to mail a breakup package to his ex-boyfriend when Arthur sees him and they strike up a conversation. Thank you, hot dog tie. No numbers are exchanged before the universe separates them. But, the universe does get them together and it's unputdownable from there. From there? Really? From paragraph 1 on page 1, really.
This may be a spoiler but I just have to say it.
The epilogue? I wish it were more Harry Potter ish.
My friend, Alicia, offered me the arc in the summer. I declined. The universe wanted me to wait for the audio. I'm glad I listened. So worth the wait.
I have been in the same room as Becky, Adam and Noah. They just didn't know I was a fan. I didn't even know I was a fan. Now I am and I want to have coffee with all of them. Together. Oh and bring Froy Gutierrez, too. Just check the missed connections for the date and time.
At TLA in April 2017--What a STAR studded panel!
💕💕💕 Becky
We saw Dear Evan Hansen in January 2018 with Noah Galvin as our Evan
I have spent a lot of time searching for a picture I know is out there of me with Adam Silvera at our NYS School Librarian conference in May 2015. He was on a panel with Jason Reynolds and others and Randy Enos, the chair of the 2015 Newbery Committee was the facilitator. It seems those photos have disappeared but believe me they are with me in my heart.
I had been in between audio books until late last week. That was causing a big problem in my running routine. Little did I know that listening to a little CAKE would bring me back 25 years to San Francisco. Not really San Francisco, but the life of Armistead Maupin's characters in Tales of the City. Yes, way before I became a librarian, I was addicted to those characters (you know I'm a character girl) and could not put down any of those books circa my life in the early 1990s.
About that same time, I discovered "Cake." Sort of a funk, rock, country band that you may have heard of when they made a remake of "I Will Survive." I loved, still love, their first album from 1994. That was a good year. I had a boyfriend (my husband). I was in graduate school for health education at the University of Maryland. And I was having a ton-o-fun. CDs were the rage and I was listening to my "Motorcade of Generosity" on loop (if you could even do that back then).
I still love those songs but boy has a sea of guilt fell over me my last few runs. I was not listening to a book! How could I just listen to music? I'm always reading, thinking, doing something related to my job. As it was, while I was enjoying my "Cake" I was editing this blog post in my head. Whatever. That's how I roll and I'm still loving that I'm humming these songs days later.
Audiobooks All Around
Today's NYT Book Review reviewed several new audiobooks including Becoming Madeline: A Biography of the Author of A Wrinkle in Time by Her Granddaughters. The book is written by her granddaughters and read by them. Only 2 1/2 hours long, this would be a good choice for a shorter road trip or just a week driving around town.
My friend and colleague, Dr. Jen Cannell, had an article published in the most recent issue of School Library Connection on ebooks and audiobooks. She includes some great tips on how to keep "the reading momentum going throughout the summer." I heavily rely on Overdrive for my audiobooks on my road trips and when I want to read a book "instantly" after midnight and I'm hundreds of miles from home.
My Audiobook Slides
Thursday I presented my love for books at a recent workshop. I couldn't leave out my passion for audiobooks and my crushes on the characters and readers. Have I ever mentioned my crush on Michael Crouch's voice before? I never met a book read by him that I didn't like.
And on that note, I have chores to do and a run to squeeze in before the rain falls again. No more guilt--I have a book to listen to!
*ps-I just realized I titled that slide, "I run to YA" and included Lily and Dunkin on that one. Lily and Dunkin is really middle grade. This slide really was about the readers--I listened to Perks of Being a Wallflower right after we saw Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway and Noah Galvin was our Evan. Noah is the reader for this book. Michael Crouch reads Lily and Dunkin and Simon (see above!) 😉
This morning I realized that my son is nearly the exact same age I was when Lady Diana wed Prince Charles. It was 1981 and I was in Maine spending the summer in Waldoboro. We didn't have a TV so the best I could do was look closely at all the photos in the paper the following day. It satisfied me enough but boy did I feel left out that I didn't see it live.
I loved Diana. I wanted to be her. Even down to her hairstyle. That year in Seventeen magazine there was a how-to on her hairstyle that you could cut out and hand over to your hairdresser. I did it and looked awful. Did my hairdresser know better? Of course. I can still picture her telling me that it wasn't going to work on my curly, thick hair. But I insisted. Thankfully, hair grows.
Today when I have a TV and Internet, I didn't set my alarm or attend any parties (I heard about this one at the Kansas City Public Library on NPR yesterday) but I did tune in when I finally managed to get out of bed. I missed the ceremony but still got my share of the pomp and circumstance. And my tears were flowing. C'mon. Who doesn't cry at weddings?
The news these days is not good so a fairytale royal wedding is medicine for the soul. An escape, even if it's for an hour. That's what reading does for me, too. Plucks me right out of my life for a while. It's cliche but true. Take me to another world, another life, please.
Last week I finished Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee, a perfect lead up to today's event. Englishman Monty, his younger sister, Felicity and his best friend, Percey embark on a year long "Grand Tour" of the continent sometime in the 1700s. There's a stolen box from Versailles pirates, parties, drinking, sex, Monty's love for Percey (unrequited or requited?) and quests...this exciting young adult novel has it all. The adventure, the triplet, the English countryside had me thinking it was a more-than-PG-13-but-less-than-R-rated version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as Monty, Felicity and Percey seek to find a mysterious cure. The sequel from Felicity's point of view, comes out October 2.
Thank you Royal Family for giving me the opportunity to escape to England for the second time this week and congratulations Harry and Meghan from across the pond, up the Hudson River over in Castleton.
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. ☘☘☘☘☘
I should be getting ready for bed right now. My down comforter is whispering my name. It will just have to wait a little longer so I can finish my hot chocolate (with extra whipped cream).
Grab your calendars folks because you are going to want to circle, highlight and star February 6. That's the day to go out for stinky tofu with a side of American Panda by Gloria Chao. Maybe put in for the personal day now. If not, don't say I didn't warn you--I did not accomplish anything on this snow day until I finished this book. I hated that I had to go out and shovel. I considered bribing one of my kids to come out with me, not to shovel, but to read the book aloud while I labored.
17 year old Mei is a freshman at MIT. She is the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants who can't shake their traditions. She's going to be a doctor, married to Harvard educated Eugene. No where in her parents' grand plan is there something that says, "Mei, choose what you want to be. Be who you are." And yet, somehow she manages to do just that.
Only through her love of dance, the realization that a germaphobe who doesn't care for biology shouldn't be a doctor, older brother Xing and Darren, her adorable Californian Japanese suitor, does Mei break out of the mold her parents sculpted for her at birth. But it's certainly not easy.
I laughed.
There's a dinner scene at Chow Chow with Mei's aunt and grandmother that had me laughing out loud until I gasped and held my heart.
That time Mama was in Mei's dorm room and screamed so loud when she found a "candy bar wrapper."
The jabs at Dartmouth. Oh my. I immediately had to share that with my 40 something Dartmouth alum friend who's response was, "Ouch."
I cried.
Darren is so kind. Period. Love always makes me weepy. Weddings make me cry until...
Mama tries. Please be happy, Mama, I pleaded.
I held my breath.
The family. The traditions. Breaking free. How was it all going to play out?
Like a panda this book IS black-and-white. There is no question that it is a one-sitting read with a side of hot chocolate and a whipped cream mustache.
As with most of my YA books, I have my friend Alicia Abdul, to thank for recommending this one. She texted me when she finished and said she wasn't going to begin a new book that night because she wanted American Panda to be the last thing she read in 2017. If that isn't testament to a good book, I'm not sure what is.
Have you put in your paperwork for that personal day yet?
ps-Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to meet Mei before anyone else.
