40 Forever

The Academy Awards of Children's Literature

2012-01-23T21:06:00.018-05:00

Here are a few of the big winners of the ALA Youth Media Awards which were announced this morning:

Sweet, Melissa. Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2011. Print.

Caldecott Medal:

Raschka, Christopher. A Ball for Daisy.
New York: Schwartz & Wade Books, 2011. Print.

Newbery Medal:

Gantos, Jack. Dead End in Norvelt. New York:
Farrar Straus Giroux, 2011. Print.

Belpré Medals:

McCall, Guadalupe G. Under the Mesquite. New York: Lee & Low Books, 2011. Print.

Tonatiuh, Duncan, and Diego Rivera. Diego Rivera: His World and Ours. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2011. Print.

King Medals:

Nelson, Kadir. Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans.
New York: Balzer + Bray, 2011. Print.

Evans, Shane. Underground. New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2011. Print.

Geisel Medal:

Schneider, Josh. Tales for Very Picky Eaters. New York: Clarion Books, 2011. Print.

Unbroken

2012-01-13T20:41:00.011-05:00

You don't have to be a history buff to get lost in this incredible story about the life of Olympic track star and World War II Veteran, Louis Zamperini. The History Channel bores me to death, but I was fascinated by this book and finished it in two long sittings.

"Zamperini's story — and Hillenbrand's unforgettable new book — deserve pride of place alongside the best works of literature that chart the complications and the hard-won triumphs of so-called ordinary Americans and their extraordinary time." --Maureen Corrigan, NPR.

Hillenbrand, Laura. Unbroken: A World War Ii Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption.
New York: Random House, 2010. Print.

Record Covers

2011-12-03T07:16:00.042-05:00

Here's a great gift for your favorite Crumb . . . it's the latest anthology of record cover artwork by cartoonist R. Crumb!

Crumb, R. R. Crumb: The Complete Record Cover Collection.
New York, N.Y: W. W. Norton & Co., Inc, 2011. Print.

And speaking of record covers . . . have you seen Alfra Martini's reproductions of iconic album covers? The series is called The Kitten Covers. Take a look!

Simon, Paul, and Art Garfunkel. Bridge Over Troubled Water.
New York: Columbia, 1970. Sound recording.

U2.War. New York: Island, 1991. Sound recording.

Clash: London Calling. 1979. Sound recording.

Beatles. Let it Be. London: Apple, 1970. Sound recording.

Morrison, Van. Moondance. Burbank, Calif: Warner Bros, 1970. Sound recording.

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

2011-11-13T18:20:00.009-05:00

The critics absolutely loved the newest book by Pulitzer Prize winning author, Jeffrey Eugenides. Publisher's Weekly put it at the top of their Best Books of 2011 list.

Eugenides, Jeffrey. The Marriage Plot. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011. Print.

If you went to college in the 1980's, you will especially like this book. It brings back memories of all those silly comp lit discussions about semiotics, deconstruction, and "coming to voice."

"Mr. Eugenides brings the period into bright detail—the brands of beer, the music, the affectations—and his send-ups of the pretensions of chic undergraduate subcultures are hilarious and charmingly rendered" --Sam Sacks, Wall Street Journal

“No one’s more adept at channeling teenage angst than Jeffrey Eugenides. Not even J. D. Salinger . . . " --Michiko Kakutani, New York Times

And speaking of Teen Angst . . .

To learn more about The Marriage Plot, check out NPR's interview with the author.

Support your local retailers

2011-11-07T11:51:00.026-05:00

One fun way to help the economy is to shop locally. A hand-wrapped holiday gift from a local boutique (sent via US Mail to support your local letter carrier) is much more meaningful than something bought online from a huge corporation. It's also good for your community.

American Independent Business Alliance

Here are some great picture books about shops and shopping:

Rylant, Cynthia. The Bookshop Dog. New York: Blue Sky Press/Scholastic, 1996. Print.

Wells, Rosemary. Bunny Money. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1997. Print.

Dodds, Dayle A, and Jill McElmurry. The Kettles Get New Clothes. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 2002. Print.

Lewin, Ted. Market!New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1996. Print.

Lobel, Anita, and Arnold Lobel. On Market Street. New York: Greenwillow Books, 1981. Print.

Shaw, Nancy, and Margot Apple. Sheep in a Shop. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1991. Print.

ps. For more information on why it's important to shop locally, visit The American Independent Business Alliance, The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, and Sustainable Table.

A book to match your costume

2011-10-28T23:44:00.020-04:00

Myers, Christopher. Black Cat. New York: Scholastic Press, 1999. Print.

Lots of parents come to the library this time of year searching for books to match their children's costumes. Here are a few of my favorite pairings:

For the Egyptian princess:

costumeworld.com

Climo, Shirley, and Ruth Heller. The Egyptian Cinderella. New York: Crowell, 1989. Print.

For the Tin Man:

costumeworld.com

Baum, Frank J, and W W. Denslow. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. George M. Hill Company, 1900.Print.

For the fairy princess:

costumeworld.com

Owen, Robert. The Golden Book of Peter Pan. Newnes, 1965. Print.
(Visit ProjectGutenburg.org for a free e-book of the unabridged, original story by J.M. Barrie.)

For Ben Franklin:

costumeworld.com

Schanzer, Rosalyn. How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning. New York: HarperCollins, 2003. Print.

The possibilities are endless! Of course, we also get parents who ask us for last minute costume ideas. A ghost is pretty easy:

Bridwell, Norman. Clifford's Halloween. New York: Scholastic

Stitches by David Small

2011-10-19T19:04:00.036-04:00

National Book Award Finalist

Small, David. Stitches: A Memoir. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2009. Print.

"David Small evokes the mad scientific world of the 1950s beautifully, a time when everyone believed that science could fix everything . . . Capturing body language and facial expressions subtly, Stitches becomes in Small's skillful hands a powerful story, an emotionally charged autobiography." --R. Crumb

"Small, in a style of dry menace, draws us a boy's life that you wouldn't want to live but you can't put down. From its first line four pages in, 'Mama had her little cough', we know that we are in the hands of a master." --Jules Feiffer

Judging by the bright, cheerful children's book illustrations David Small is most famous for, you would never guess that his own childhood was so dark. All families are a bit dysfunctional, but David Small's family was criminally insane. His grandmother, who used to discipline him with scalding hot water, was institutionalized after she locked her husband in the basement, set the house on fire, and celebrated by dancing around naked in the front yard. David Small's father, a radiologist, used extremely high levels of radiation on his son in an attempt to cure his minor sinusitis. These treatments were likely the cause of the cancerous growth that appeared on David's neck. The growth grew and grew, and David's mother put off taking him to a pediatrician for years because she didn't want to throw away good money. Years later, when David's growth finally became too big to ignore, he was operated on, and awoke to discover that one of his vocal chords had been removed along with the growth. He could no longer speak above a whisper.

Thankfully, David and his brother developed creative ways to escape the abuse. David turned to art and became an award-winning children's author. His brother turned to music and became a professional classical percussionist.

This is the most compelling graphic novel/memoir I've read since Art Spiegelman's Breakdowns.

Spiegelman, Art. Breakdowns. London: Viking, 2008. Print.

Here are just a few of David Small's wonderful books for children:

Small, David. Imogene's Antlers. New York: Crown Publishers, 1985. Print.

Stewart, Sarah, and David Small. The Library. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1995. Print.

Caldecott Medalist
George, Judith S, and David Small. So You Want to Be President. New York: Philomel Books, 2000. Print.

Broach, Elise, and David Small. When Dinosaurs Came with Everything. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2007. Print.

October is Adopt a Shelter Dog Month

2011-10-16T09:34:00.015-04:00

Orlean, Susan. Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011. Print.

Susan Orlean's book about Hollywood's most celebrated rescue dog is not your ordinary dog story. It's about the impact of moving pictures (There were more canine roles during the silent film era), the use of dogs in the military, the social history of dog ownership (obedience classes are a fairly new concept), and much more. Learn more about this great tale and listen to an interview (with the author, not the dog) on npr.com.

ps. October is Adopt a Shelter Dog Month. Visit your local Humane Society and adopt a friend for life.

pps. Patti Page recently rerecorded "Doggie in the Window" to "Doggie in the Shelter." 59 years later, she still sounds amazing.

Red Palms

2011-10-05T19:54:00.021-04:00

If you liked Forever by Judy Blume, and The Cay by Theodore Taylor, you will absolutely LOVE Red Palms by Cara Haycak. I did!

Haycak, Cara. Red Palms. New York: Wendy Lamb Books, 2004. Print.

Blume, Judy. Forever: A Novel. Scarsdale, N.Y: Bradbury Press, 1975. Print

Taylor, Theodore. The Cay. Garden City, N.Y: Doubleday, 1969. Print.

Here's what the critics had to say about Cara Haycak's unique coming of age story set in an exotic island off the coast of Ecuador:

"Readers will be enchanted by the exotic, magical qualities of this coming-of-age story. Unique and beautifully written." --Kirkus Reviews.

"Haycak serves up a rich literary stew, like a chef who throws all her ingredients into the pot at once." --Voice of Youth Advocates.

"Haycak writes a captivating, insightful story, and the vividly evoked setting, cultural specifics, and strong characterizations distinguish this inventive, ambitious effort from a talented new author." --Gillian Engberg, Booklist.

By the way, Cara the Author is really fun. I had the pleasure of sitting next to the author at my friend Dib Ziade's 50th birthday party. Cara named a character in Red Palms after Señor Ziade!

Don't point at outlaws

2011-09-23T13:30:00.012-04:00

Langton, Jerry. Showdown: How the Outlaws, Hell Angels and Cops Fought for Control of the Streets. Mississauga, Ont: Wiley, 2010. Print.

The Outlaws Motorcycle Club is one of the oldest and largest riding organizations in the world. It is also one of the most widely feared. "God forgives, Outlaws don't" is the official motto. Members of this "one percenter" club are so scary and have such a strong code of silence that very few people have written about them for fear of retaliation.

When I was in my early twenties, I had a brief encounter with a member of this legendary organization.

We were on a family car trip to Vermont when I spotted a real Outlaw riding behind us on the highway. Like an idiot, I pointed at him and loudly announced to everyone in the car, "Hey! Take a look at this guy! He's a REAL biker not one of those Harley Davidson Weekend Warriors posers." I continued to rudely stare at him as if he was a shark in an aquarium tank.

Two whole months later I was at a Ramones show in Toad's Place when the same guy came up to me and said, "Hey--were you pointing at me in Vermont?"

And speaking of motorcycles . . .

Here are three outstanding novels for kids who like motorcycles:

Bawden, Nina. Granny the Pag. New York: Clarion Books, 1996. Print.

Cleary, Beverly, and Louis Darling. Runaway Ralph. New York: Morrow, 1970. Print.

Cleary, Beverly, and Louis Darling. The Mouse and the Motorcycle. New York: W. Morrow, 1965. Print.

ps. I suppose I should mention Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, but I could never get through it.

The Leftovers

2011-09-12T10:09:00.017-04:00

"Perrotta has delivered a troubling disquisition on how ordinary people react to extraordinary and inexplicable events, the power of family to hurt and to heal, and the unobtrusive ease with which faith can slide into fanaticism." — Stephen King

Perrotta, Tom. The Leftovers. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2011. Print.

Tom Perrotta's latest novel is about how the residents of a small suburban town carry on with their lives after the Rapture has taken away many of their loved ones without warning. For a longer description of the storyline, read this review from the New York Times: nytimes.com.

SPOILER ALERT:

I was disappointed by the book's ending. Like the Rapture itself (or the last episode of The Sopranos), it happened abruptly without tying up any loose ends. I had grown attached to the characters and wanted to spend more time with them. If this had been a John Irving book, it would have gone on for another 500 pages and I still wouldn't have wanted it to end. The main characters would have adopted (or shot) a bear and run away to New Hampshire or Austria (or both). The Leftovers could have been a great American classic, had it not ended so soon.

A cumulative tale by David Lowery

2011-08-21T13:40:00.040-04:00

Lowery, David. The Palace Guards. Santa Monica, CA: 429 Records, 2011.
Album cover by Michael Wertz.

My favorite song from David Lowery's solo album is a dreamy waltz called I Sold the Arabs the Moon. What I like so much is that the words sound like the scenes they are describing--even if you just say them aloud. For example, the phrase "English the sea" sounds like a soft wave crashing onto the seashore of Lyme Regis.

Lyme Regis, England

And I was the man who sold the English the sea

They wanted the afternoon breezes it bore

The sweet smell of spices from over the sea

The afternoon showers it brought during tea
-David Lowery

It goes a lot deeper than that. In his blog 300 Songs Lowery explains that the song was inspired by a phrase in a book by Gabriel García Márquez, and a helicopter flight over Iraq.

García, Márquez G, and Gregory Rabassa.
The Autumn of the Patriarch. New York: Harter Row, 1975.

I like the song because it sounds pretty. I also like that it has the same story structure as a lot of children's books. Like The House that Jack Built, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, and Drummer Hoff, I Sold the Arabs the Moon features a list of actions that builds and repeats. In the first verse he sells the Arabs the moon, next the English the sea, and finally the Yankees the sky.

Emberley, Barbara, and Ed Emberley. Drummer Hoff. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall, 1967.

David Lowery has a blog called 300 Songs where he explains the stories behind the hundreds of songs he has written. Even if you aren't familiar with his music, you will like reading his blog. It's full of great stories and insights.

To hear "I Sold the Arabs the Moon" played live, come to CampOut 7. It will be the music festival of a lifetime.

Crackersoul.com.
Artwork by Michael Wertz.

7 best books

2011-08-18T18:36:00.030-04:00

Here are the 7 best books I read over the summer:

Crosley, Sloane. How Did You Get This Number: Essays. New York: Riverhead Books, 2010.

Stead, Rebecca. When You Reach Me. New York: Wendy Lamb Books, 2009.

Gladwell, Malcolm. What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2009.

Haigh, Jennifer. Faith: A Novel. New York: Harper, 2011.

Vanderpool, Clare. Moon Over Manifest. New York: Delacorte Press, 2010.

Maynard, Joyce. Labor Day. New York: William Morrow, 2009.

Weiner, Jennifer. Then Came You: A Novel. New York: Atria Books, 2011.

And speaking of the number 7 . . .

You don't want to miss the 7th annual Cracker/Camper Van Beethoven CampOut.
Buy your tickets today!

A very pleasant beach read

2011-08-15T19:38:00.012-04:00

Hilderbrand, Elin. The Island: A Novel. New York: Little, Brown and Co, 2010. Print.

Magazine editor Chess Cousins calls off her wedding, quits her job, and runs away to spend the summer on a small island near Nantucket with her sister, mother, and aunt.

All of the author's books take place in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

The best MG

2011-08-06T08:36:00.002-04:00

Here are the three best MG (middle grade) fiction books I've read so far this summer:

Stead, Rebecca. When You Reach Me. New York: Wendy Lamb Books, 2009. Print.

When You Reach Me is so amazing that I don't want to write about it. I put off reading this Newbery winner until today because of a review that made me think I wouldn't like it.

Smiley, Jane, and Elaine Clayton. The Georges and the Jewels. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009. Print.

The Georges and the Jewels isn't just a horse book. It's also a story about family dynamics, friendship, and the politics of 7th grade. This is Jane Smiley's first book for young people. Her adult novel A Thousand Acres won the Pulitzer prize in 1992..

Shop Indie Bookstores

Vanderpool, Clare. Moon Over Manifest. New York: Delacorte Press, 2010. Print.

A motherless girl is sent away by her drifter father to spend the summer with a preacher/moonshiner. I don't usually like historical fiction, but this book about small town life in Kansas during the Great Depression had me riveted from the very first page.

Grown-up chick lit

2011-07-24T16:22:00.007-04:00

Shop Indie Bookstores

Weiner, Jennifer. Then Came You: A Novel. New York: Atria Books, 2011. Print.

This page-turner by the author of Good in Bed and In Her Shoes is the best grown-up novel I've read in ages. Here's what the critics had to say:

“Compelling...a page-turner. Enjoy this title for its humor mixed with a sympathetic portrayal of real women’s lives and challenges.” —Library Journal

"Weiner's ability to mix humor, drama and the simplicity of real life makes her newest novel her best to date. The characters are relatable and universal, and readers will remember them long after the last page. With writing that flows like a conversation between best friends - effortless but meaningful - Then Came You is the perfect summer read." —The Houston Chronicle

“The conflicts enmeshing all these characters...are gripping, and Weiner’s elucidation of socio-economic determinism is as sharp as ever.” —Kirkus

Abigail and John

2011-07-04T10:42:00.036-04:00

McCullough, David G. John Adams. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001.

Coatsworth, David, Steven Shareshian, Kirk Ellis, Michelle Ashford, Tom Hooper, Paul Giamatti, Laura Linney, Stephen Dillane, Danny Huston, David Morse, Sarah Polley, Tom Wilkinson, Clancy O'Connor, Rufus Sewell, Justin Theroux, and David G. McCullough. John Adams: Disc One. New York, N.Y.: HBO Video, 2008.

Since I have a horrible cold, I'm spending 4th of July weekend in bed. Thank goodness for television. (My head hurts too much to read.) I've been watching the HBO John Adams series all morning. The program is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by David McCollough. I must have dozed off during U.S. History class because I never really grasped until now the enormous influence John Adams had in the American Revolution.

Harness, Cheryl. The Revolutionary John Adams. Washington, D.C: National Geographic, 2003.

Here are some great children's books about the second president of the United States of America and his brave, outspoken wife, Abigail:

Wallner, Alexandra. Abigail Adams. New York: Holiday House, 2001.

St, George J. John & Abigail Adams: An American Love Story. New York: Holiday House, 2001. Print.

Lukes, Bonnie L. John Adams: Public Servant. Greensboro, N.C: Morgan Reynolds, 2001

Adler, David A, Michael S. Adler, and Ronald Himler. A Picture Book of John and Abigail Adams. New York: Holiday House, 2010.

ps. I love that the last line of the official White House online biography on Abigail Adams has a link to where you can "learn more about Abigail Smith Adams's spouse."

Made in America

2011-06-30T20:16:00.026-04:00

"I do a little bit of framin' plumbin' and a-paintin'
drywall on the side
That's why they call me the construction man"
-Construction Man by The Hickman-Dalton Gang

Here are some great children's books about construction in America:

Weaver, Janice, and Bonnie Shemie. Building America. Plattsburgh, N.Y: Tundra Books, 2002. Print.

Learn about our country's most famous buildings, how they were built, who designed them, and what makes them unique.

Hopkinson, Deborah, and James Ransome. Sky Boys : How They Built the Empire State Building. New York: Schwartz & Wade Books, 2006. Print.

This is a fictional story about a young boy who watches the Empire State Building being constructed brick-by-brick near his neighborhood in Manhattan.

Low, William. Old Penn Station. New York: H. Holt, 2007. Print.

The old Penn Station building was much more attractive than its modern replacement. I'm sad that I never got to the see the original which was demolished in 1963.

Faith

2011-06-24T16:19:00.002-04:00

Haigh, Jennifer. Faith: A Novel. New York: Harper, 2011. Print.

I picked up this book because the cover reminded me of Anna Quindlen's tearjerker Every Last One.

Faith made me cry just as hard, and I finished it in one nearly sleepless night.

Here's what the critics had to say about Jennifer Haigh's latest novel:

“Both riveting and profound. . . . An incredibly suspenseful novel.” -Washington Post

"Indelibly rendered characters, suspenseful pacing, and fearless but sensitive handling of a controversial subject will make this a must-read for book discussion groups.” -Booklist (starred review)

“The narrative is emotionally involving and ethically concise, reminding us that things are not always as they seem." - Library Journal

Recent reads

2011-06-17T12:01:00.019-04:00

Here are a few books I never got around to blogging about:

Maynard, Joyce. Labor Day. New York: William Morrow, 2009. Print.

A young teenage boy and his eccentric mother take in a stranger who turns out to be an escaped convict. I read it in one sitting.

Berg, Elizabeth. Once Upon a Time, There Was You: A Novel. New York: Random House, 2011. Print.

A beautiful teenage girl gets into a car with a stranger who then kidnaps her and locks her up in a shed. Oddly, the book focuses on her mother's dating woes and relationship with her ex-husband.

Lancaster, Jen. My Fair Lazy: One Reality Television Addict's Attempt to Find Out If Not Being a Dumb Ass Is the New Black, or a Culture-Up Manifesto. New York: New American Library, 2010. Print.

I was expecting something more along the lines of Chuck Klosterman's Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto. On the bright side, this middle-aged chick lit memoir made me laugh.

Dog spelled backwards

2011-06-07T20:11:00.000-04:00

Dahl, Roald, and Quentin Blake. The Vicar of Nibbleswicke. London: Century, 1991.

The new vicar in town has a rare case of verbal dyslexia that makes him say words backwards without realizing it. Congregants don't know what to think when he announces that they are not to "krap in front of the church." He talks about "DOG" a lot, too. Dahl wrote this book to benefit the Dyslexia Institute in London (now Dyslexia Action).

Thomas, Rob. Rats Saw God. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1996.

It's been about 14 years since I read this very original coming of age story, so it's probably a bit dated by now. What I remember most is that the main character smokes a lot of pot and he is part of his high school's Dadaist* group, GOD . If you read the title of the book backwards, it spells "dog was star" which is a reference to the dog star constellation, Sirius. This is especially clever because the protagonist is the son of a famous astronaut.

DOG: A Deceptively Simple Shadow Puppet Show by Pablo Cano and Jim Hammond

This unique puppet show features a playful dog who pounces after a red ball which leads him on a journey through art history. It's open to interpretation, but I think the show is at least partly about God. (In this interview, Pablo Cano talks a bit about his views on dadaism.) Like God, every now and then the puppeteer appears on the scene to lend a helping hand and set things on the right course.

Tolle, Eckhart, and Patrick McDonnell. Guardians of Being. Novato, Calif: New World Library, 2009.

According to spiritual writer Eckhart Tolle, dogs are "Guardians of Being" because they remind us to live in the moment. What is special about this self-help picture book is that it actually makes you feel calmer as you are reading it. The ecru pages, sparse text, and even the type design have a very relaxing effect on the eyes. The illustrations by Patrick McDonnell (the creator of the comic strip MUTTS) are a mixture of comic strip art and Japanese woodblock printing. One of my favorite illustrations is of a man looking up at the evening sky and noting that the brightest star, Sirius the Dog Star, is always there to show us the way home.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Ruth!

2011-06-04T08:57:00.040-04:00

Psychologist Dr. Ruth Westheimer is a brave woman. She grew up in a Swiss orphanage after her parents were taken by the Nazis in Germany. At age 17 she moved to Jerusalem and fought in the Israeli War of Independence. (And she's only 4 foot six inches tall!) After the war she moved to Paris to study psychology at the Sorbonne University. After graduating, she moved to New York City, received her doctorate at Columbia, and became the most famous sex therapist alive today.

Here are just a few of the books she has written:

Westheimer, Ruth K, and Groat D. De. Dr. Ruth Talks to Kids:
Where You Came From, How Your Body Changes, and What Sex Is All About. New York: Aladdin, 1993. Print.

Westheimer, Ruth K, and Steven Kaplan. Power: The Ultimate Aphrodisiac. Lanham, Md: Madison Books, 2001. Print.

Westheimer, Ruth K, and Jonathan Mark. Heavenly Sex: Sex in the Jewish Tradition.
New York: New York University Press, 1995. Print.

Westheimer, Ruth K. Sex for Dummies. Foster City, CA: IDG Books Worldwide, 1995. Print.

Westheimer, Ruth, and Gil Sedan. Shifting Sands: Bedouin Women at the Crossroads. New York: Lantern Books, 2009. Print.

Westheimer, Ruth K, and Ben Yagoda. The Value of Family:

A Blueprint for the 21st Century. New York: Warner Books, 1996. Print.

Horses

2011-05-28T13:12:00.021-04:00

Lerner, Sharon, Susan Jeffers, and Anna Sewell. Black Beauty. New York: Random House, 2009.

Thanks to my husband, I have a new hobby--horseback riding! Marc wisely figured that since I care so much about the horse rescue organizations Animal Recovery Mission (ARM) and the South Florida SPCA, I would probably enjoy actually spending time with the animals. He was right.

My teacher Missy Johnson is the best. She is patient and kind which is important because I have absolutely no natural talent for the sport. I've been going for lessons a couple of nights a week, and since I'm the last lesson of the day, I get to hang out and chat while she feeds and puts out the horses. It's weird, but I really love the smell of the barn.

In honor of my new hobby, here are some classic children's books about horses:

Sewell, Anna. Black Beauty. London: Jarrold and Sons, 1877.

Farley, Walter, and Keith Ward. The Black Stallion. New York: Random House, 1941.

Goble, Paul, and Robert L. Egolf. The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses. Scarsdale, N.Y: Bradbury Press, 1978.

Henry, Marguerite, and Wesley Dennis. Misty of Chincoteague. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1947

Boxing

2011-05-13T17:27:00.016-04:00

Boxing is one of the few sports that I like enough to watch on TV. I think it's because I grew up without cable. After Saturday morning cartoons were over, the only show left to watch was ABC's Wide World of Sports which featured the great comedy team of Howard Cosell and Muhammad Ali. I liked Muhammad Ali so much that I sent him a birthday card when I was about 9 years old.

Shange, Ntozake, and Edel Rodriguez. Muhammad Ali, the Man Who Could Float Like a Butterfly and Sting Like a Bee. New York: Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books for Children, 2002

"I just give lip service to being the greatest. He [Joe Louis] was the greatest." -Muhammad Ali

Heavyweight champion Joe Louis was born on this day in 1914. Here are two excellent books about the trailblazer:

Peña, Matt , and Kadir Nelson. A Nation's Hope: The Story of Boxing Legend Joe Louis. New York: Dial Books for young readers, 2011.

Adler, David A, and Terry Widener. Joe Louis: America's Fighter. Orlando: Gulliver Books, 2005.

It's a bit dated, but I remember really liking this novel for teens:

Lipsyte, Robert. The Contender. New York: Harper & Row, 1967.

I like boxing movies, too. So many of them are tearjerkers--The Champ, Million Dollar Baby, etc.

Telling tales

2011-05-03T19:25:00.018-04:00

Brown, Marcia, and Robert L. Egolf. Stone Soup: An Old Tale. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1947.

A couple of weeks ago I read and told folktales to a group of visiting kindergartners. The children really surprised me with their reactions. I started with one of my childhood favorites Stone Soup about three hungry French soldiers who visit a town in search of a bite to eat. I asked the kids how they could tell it was an old story. I was expecting them to mention that the villagers didn't keep their food in a refrigerator, or that the streets were made of stones instead of cement, or that they cooked over a fire instead of an oven. Instead, one of the children shouted out "because there were Nazis!" Next I told the class a story from Ghana about Anansi the Spider, and they thought I said "Nazi" the Spider.

Kimmel, Eric A, and Janet Stevens. Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock. New York: Holiday House, 1988.

It turned out that the children (kindergartners!) had recently learned about the Holocaust. I decided to switch my lesson plans around a bit and told the story of The Three Little Pigs. Afterward, we discussed who was meaner--Anansi the trickster or the Big Bad Wolf. (I left Hitler out of it.)

Galdone, Paul. The Three Little Pigs: A Folk Tale Classic. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011.

The Beauty Killer

2011-04-15T07:50:00.049-04:00

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Cain, Chelsea. The Night Season. New York: Minotaur Books, 2011.

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Cain, Chelsea. Evil at Heart. New York: Minotaur Books, 2009.

The Beauty Killer series takes place in Portland, Oregon where the elusive serial killer Gretchen Lowell has become a celebrity, mostly because of her good looks. Archie Sheridan is a middle-aged police detective who is head of the task force to catch her. In spite of his public marital problems and brief stint in a psychiatric ward, he is a well-respected local hero. An ambitious yet lovable young reporter named Susan Ward tags along after Archie and serves as his sidekick. Susan dresses like Cyndi Lauper, changes her hair color on a daily basis, and is always in trouble with her newspaper editor.

Here's proof that you don't need to read series books in order. I started with Evil at Heart which is #3 in the series. It was a little too gory for my taste, but I liked Detective Sheridan and Reporter Susan Ward so much that I wanted to spend more time with them. I was all set to venture upstairs to the stacks to find the earlier books in the series, but then I spotted The Night Season in the bestseller section and I couldn't resist the shiny, new cover. I ended up liking The Night Season better because it doesn't focus as much on Gretchen Lowell the Beauty Killer. (The series was in danger of jumping the shark when the local amusement park added a Beauty Killer themed ride.) It's also not as gruesome.

The Beauty Killer books are the first detective novels that I've ever fully enjoyed. (I like true crime books, but most mysteries either remind me of boring cop shows, or they're too corny like Rita Mae Brown's Mrs. Murphy series* about a cat lady and her sleuthing pets.) Since I don't usually like fictional detectives, I never would have picked up these books if there had been a sticker of Sherlock Holmes on the spine.

Even though the book trailer makes it seem scary, it's really more of a comedy than a horror story. If I were a movie director, I'd cast Paul Giamatti (Sideways, John Adams) as Detective Archie Sheridan,

Amanda Bynes (Hairspray, The Amanda Show) as his adoring young sidekick,

and the author herself as Gretchen Lowell the Beauty Killer.

*Many of Rita Mae Brown's books take place in Crozet, Virginia which is hosting the amazing Campout East musical festival this summer.

It's National Bookmobile Day!

2011-04-13T19:07:00.006-04:00

"Libraries exist to serve readers, and bookmobiles are a terrific example of library service. If you are very old or very young, if you live off the beaten track, if you just can't make it to your local library, bookmobiles are for you. A good bookmobile warms the cockles of my heart; it is a movable community, bringing books to the readers."

- Audrey Niffenegger, Honorary Chair, National Bookmobile Day 2011

Audrey Niffenegger is an artist and author. She has a really, really cool graphic novel series called The Night Bookmobile. It appears in installments in the Guardian newspaper. Audrey Niffenegger also wrote the novel The Time Traveler's Wife which is about a girl who falls in love with a time-traveling librarian. The book was a bit too odd for my taste, but most people loved it. The story was made into a movie starring the stunning actress Rachel McAdams. The talented actress also starred in the comedies Mean Girls and Wedding Crashers.

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Niffenegger, Audrey. The Time Traveler's Wife: A Novel. San Francisco, CA: MacAdam/Cage, 2003.

Communication Breakdown

2011-04-09T17:08:00.016-04:00

The band Communication Breakdown rocked the Autism Speaks event on the NSU Sherman Library lawn today. I was very impressed with their musicianship and professionalism--especially since they are still in high school.

As you probably guessed by the name of the band, Communication Breakdown plays lots of Led Zeppelin songs, and they play them well. Even Robert Plant himself can't hit high notes like their lead singer can.

I tried to record some of the set on my iPhone, but failed miserably. I look forward to the unveiling of their official website to hear more great music from this up and coming Florida rock band.

To learn about the library's services and resources available to people seeking more information about Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) please visit nova.campusguides.com.

ps. I'm not sure whether or not it's just a coincidence, but isn't Communication Breakdown a great name for a band playing at an autism awareness event?

40 Watt Idol

2011-04-08T11:01:00.010-04:00

Secret: I have a little crush on American Idol contestant, Paul McDonald. Doesn't he look dreamy in his 40 Watt Club shirt?

I think Paul McDonald sounds best when he sings his own songs. Here's a video of him playing with his band The Grand Magnolias:

The Hans

2011-04-06T16:02:00.002-04:00

Danish author Hans Christian Andersen created some of the world's most enchanting and suspenseful fairy tales for children. I highly recommend visiting Project Gutenberg to read the original versions of his stories which are a bit macabre and all the more thrilling. There are many, many adaptations of Andersen's stories. Here are a few of the best:

Andersen, H C, and Virginia L. Burton. The Emperor's New Clothes. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1949.

(Virginia L. Burton also created the classic picture books Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, The Little House, and Katy and the Big Snow.)

Andersen, H C, and Rachel Isadora. The Little Match Girl. New York: Putnam, 1987. Child, Lauren, Polly Borland, and H C. Andersen. The Princess and the Pea in Miniature: After the Fairy Tale by Hans Christian Andersen. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 2006.

Pinkney, Jerry, and H C. Andersen. The Ugly Duckling. New York: Morrow Junior Books, 1999.

ps. Did you know that Hans Christian Andersen was a talented paper cutter, too?

Brust, Beth W. The Amazing Paper Cuttings of Hans Christian Andersen. New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1994.

Emily and Einstein

2011-03-22T22:00:00.005-04:00

I love this silly book:

Lee, Linda F. Emily and Einstein. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2011.

Moments before he is about to break his wife's heart by telling her he wants a divorce, Sandy Portman gets hit by a car and turns into a dog. His widow Emily, a smart young woman in the publishing industry, is left with nothing because he had already written her out of his will without her knowledge. In the form of a dog, Sandy must help Emily get her life back on track before he is allowed to enter heaven.

This book is loaded with stock characters and it will probably be made into a Lifetime movie. If I were director I'd cast Reese Witherspoon as Emily the young widow, Rob Lowe as Sandy the heartbreaker, Meryl Streep as Emily's mean boss, Jane Fonda as Emily's snobby mother-in-law, Adrian Grenier as the bachelor next door, and Jake as the dog.

Jake

World Down Syndrome Day

2011-03-21T21:05:00.001-04:00

World Down Syndrome Day takes place every year on March 21st. This date (3/21) represents the 3 copies of chromosome 21 which is unique to people with Down syndrome. The purpose of the holiday is to promote acceptance and to celebrate the achievements, talents, and abilities of people with Down syndrome.

Here are three great children's novels that feature characters who happen to have Down syndrome:

Galante, Cecilia. Willowood. New York: Aladdin, 2010.

Christopher, Matt, and Karen Lidbeck. Fighting Tackle. Boston: Little, Brown, 1995.

Hobbs, Valerie. The Last Best Days of Summer. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010.

Three great books about courageous girls

2011-03-18T22:37:00.013-04:00

Fitzhugh, Louise. Harriet, the Spy. New York: Harper & Row, 1964.

Kathleen T. Hornig wrote a fascinating (and brave!) essay about the impact Louise Fitzhugh's classic novel had on her life, On Spies and Purple Socks. Kathleen also wrote From Cover to Cover which is the definitive book on reviewing children's literature. I follow her excellent guidelines when I write reviews for School Library Journal, but I'm a bit lazy in my blog entries.

Blume, Judy. Are You There God?: It's Me, Margaret. New York: Dell, 1970.

Growing up isn't easy, but then neither is being a grown-up. (It's an endless battle of the hormones. Once the cramps go away, in march the hot flashes. I don't even want to know what's going to happen a decade from now.) If you want a laugh, read Chelsea Handler's memoir Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea.

Dahl, Roald, and Quentin Blake. Matilda. New York, N.Y: Viking Kestrel, 1988.

The movie is pretty good, but the book is AWESOME! (See what I mean about being lazy?)

The Last Snake of Ireland

2011-03-16T19:40:00.001-04:00

Did you know that the Loch Ness Monster used to live in Ireland?

MacGill-Callahan, Sheila, and Will Hillenbrand. The Last Snake in Ireland: A Story About St. Patrick. New York: Holiday House, 1999.

It takes two

2011-03-09T22:27:00.003-05:00

Here are three great children's books about cranky couples:

Isadora, Rachel, Jacob Grimm, and Wilhelm Grimm. The Fisherman and His Wife. New York, NY: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2008.

The fisherman's greedy wife is never satisfied with the wishes granted her by an enchanted fish.

Marshall, James, and James Marshall. George and Martha Back in Town. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1984.

Though their friendship is often tested, George and Martha survive with a sense of humor.

Dahl, Roald, and Quentin Blake. The Twits. New York: Knopf, 1980.

The misadventures of two terrible old people who enjoy playing nasty tricks and are finally outwitted by a family of monkeys.

Happy Birthday, George Thorogood!

2011-02-24T07:44:00.006-05:00

Thorogood, George. Bad to the Bone. Hollywood, Calif: EMI Manhattan, 1982.

He sure does stutter a lot in that song! Here are some m-m-m-m-more great stuttering songs:

* Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes by David Bowie.

Bowie, David. Hunky Dory. New York, N.Y.: RCA, 1971.

* B-B-B-Benny and the Jets by Elton John.

John, Elton, and Bernie Taupin. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. NYC: Rocket, 1973.

*[B-B-B-Baby] You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet by Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

Bachman Turner Overdrive (Musical group). Not Fragile. [Chicago, Ill.]: Mercury, 1974.

* T-T-T-Time Machine by Cracker.

Cracker (Musical group). Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey . Santa Monica, CA: 429 Records, 2009.

*Lo-Lo-Lo-Lo-Lola by The Kinks.

Kinks (Musical group), and Ray Davies. One for the road. New York, N.Y.: Konk Records, 1999.

Who (Musical group). My Generation. London: IBC Studios, 1965

And talking about my generation . . .

Here's my karaoke version of the Cracker hit, I Hate My Generation:

And here's the real deal:

Now why would anyone want to die before getting old?

Happy Library Lovers' Month!

2011-02-24T07:42:00.000-05:00

Here are just a few of my favorite picture books about libraries:

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Stewart, Sarah, and David Small. The Library. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1999.
There isn't enough room in the house for Elizabeth and her books, so she starts a public library!

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Cousins, Lucy. Maisy Goes to the Library. Cambridge, Mass: Candlewick Press, 2005.
This book is a tiny tot storytime hit.

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González, Lucía M, and Lulu Delacre. The Storyteller's Candle. San Francisco, Calif: Children's Book Press, 2008.
My friend Lucía González won a Pura Belpré Honor Award for this touching story about the New York Public Library's first Latina librarian.

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Mora, Pat, and Raúl Colón. Tomás and the Library Lady. New York: Knopf, 1997.
This true story about the power of libraries was written by Pat Mora, the founder of El día de los niños/El día de los libros=Children's Day/Book Day. (You can call it "Día" for short.)

Happy Birthday, Smokey Robinson!

2011-02-19T10:58:00.003-05:00

Smokey Robinson's singing is so smooth and distinct that other singers sing about his singing in their songs. (Say that five times fast.)

"When Smokey sings, I hear violins. When Smokey sings, I forget everything . . . " --ABC

"No one can sing, quite like Smokey, Smokey Robinson . . . " --Tom Tom Club

Smokey Robinson is also a great songwriter. He wrote My Guy for Mary Wells, The Way You Do the Things You Do for The Temptations,

Don't Mess with Bill for The Marvelettes,

and many, many more.

Thank you, Smokey!

M is for Motown

2011-02-06T18:21:00.013-05:00

Aronson, Virginia. The History of Motown. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2000.

It's fun to read about what rock stars were like back in their younger years. Stevie Wonder was a prankster and master mimic. Marvin Gaye was painfully shy, and Martha Reeves got her foot in the door by working as a secretary at the Motown office.

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Troupe, Quincy, and Lisa Cohen. Little Stevie Wonder. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2005.

ps. I named this blog after a Motown compilation album, 40 Forever.

pps. Here is my karaoke version of the Motown hit, Mustang Sally. If you dare to listen carefully, you can hear my dogs playing percussion in the background.

And speaking of Michael Wertz . . .

2011-01-25T20:41:00.004-05:00

Michael Wertz also designed the cover of David Lowery's new CD, The Palace Guards. (Spin Magazine gave it a rave review.) The album hits the racks on February 1st, but you can pre-order your copy today. I did.

Best Dog Book of the Year

2011-01-24T21:45:00.003-05:00

Woof! Michael Wertz's newest book hits the shelves tomorrow morning!

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Franco, Betsy and Michael Wertz. A Dazzling Display of Dogs. Berkeley, CA: Tricycle Press, 2011.

The critics say it's doggone terrific!

Starred review, School Library Journal, January 1, 2011:
"This follow up to A Curious Collection of Cats (Tricycle, 2009) is dazzling indeed ... a delight for kids, their adults, and maybe even their beloved canine companions."

Review, Horn Book Magazine, January/February 2011:
"The combination of the funny poems and the goofy dogs will make this a great gift book and a sneaky way to inject a little poetry into someone's life."

Review, Publishers Weekly, November 29, 2010:
"Franco and Wertz persuasively convey canine behavior ... as well as the trials and treasured moments familiar to many owners. Dog lovers won't want to miss this clever, jubilant gem."

Review, Roxxy and Jake, my dogs:
"Best dog book of the year!"

Princesses

2011-01-24T21:38:00.000-05:00

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Cohen, Della. Walt Disney's Cinderella: A Read-Aloud Storybook. New York: Mouse Works, 1999.

Who is your favorite princess? I like Cinderella. Although there are many, many different versions of the classic tale, I have to admit that I like Disney's rendition the best.

Here are some wonderfully illustrated children's books about princesses:

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Perrault, Charles, and Marcia Brown. Cinderella Or, the Little Glass Slipper. New York: Scribners, 1964.

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In this story, the girl actually becomes a queen.
Steptoe, John. Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1987.

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Zelinsky, Paul O. Rapunzel. New York: Puffin Books, 2002.

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Grimm, Jarrell, Burkert. Snow-white and the Seven Dwarfs: A Tale from the Brothers Grimm ; Translated by Randall Jarrell ; Pictures by Nancy Ekholm Burkert. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1987.

I also really like the Princess Diaries series of teen books by Meg Cabot.

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Cabot, Meg. The Princess Diaries. New York: Harper Avon, 2000.

Happy Birthday, Richie Havens!

2011-01-21T07:00:00.002-05:00

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As you probably already know, Richie Havens was the opening performer at the Woodstock Festival in the summer of 1969. Many years later, my mom and I bumped into the legendary musician while we were strolling around the Guilford Green one summer afternoon. I said "hi" and he gave us a HUGE smile and said "hello" back. It was awesome.

In my opinion, nobody covers the Beatles better than Richie Havens. Check out his rendition of Here Comes the Sun. You can buy it on the official Richie Havens website RichieHavens.com.

Happy Birthday to A.A. Milne, the creator of Winnie the Pooh

2011-01-18T22:46:00.005-05:00

If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you.

--A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh.

A.A. Milne and the real Christopher Robin

Who doesn't love Winnie the Pooh? Well, when I was about 5 years old, I thought Disney's Winnie the Pooh character was a bit too babyish. I had a 4 year old friend who always talked about "Pooh Bear this" and "Pooh Bear that" and I would think to myself, "Oh, grow up already!" A few years later, however, I changed my tune when I discovered the philosophical novels of A.A. Milne with delicately drawn "decorations" by Ernest H. Shepard.

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ps. Here is an interesting article about how Disney ruined Winnie the Pooh: Who killed Christopher Robin? Disney, that's who.

pps. The title of the article is a reference to the true crime book about the murder of Brian Jones.

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ppps. The name of the book is a reference to the fact that Brian Jones lived in Cotchford Farm, the former home of A.A. Milne.

pppps. I never read the book about Brian Jones, but I absolutely LOVED the Keith Richards autobiography, Life.

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Happy Birthday to Michelle O

2011-01-17T19:53:00.004-05:00

Here are three great children's books that feature the most fashionable First Lady since Jackie O, and the most inspirational since Hillary Clinton:

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Isn't she lovely?

Putting the "FUN" in funeral

2011-01-14T18:23:00.036-05:00

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Klise, Kate. Grounded. New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2010. Fiction. Grades 3-6. 196 pages.

Twelve-year-old Daralynn is alive because she was grounded. Her father, brother, and sister died in a plane crash. Daralynn wasn't allowed to go on the trip because she was being punished for going fishing without permission. She and her remaining relatives have different reactions to the tragedy. Her mother gets extra grumpy, her flamboyant aunt falls in love with a handsome stranger, and her already senile grandmother takes to playing with dolls.

This novel is an excellent portrayal of what it is like to deal with an unexpected death:

"I knew I should have cried, but I couldn't. I didn't feel sad. That's the other thing about funerals: Sometimes you don't feel sad. You don't feel anything at all other than a sense of floating about yourself and looking down on the scene, thinking: That's not really me. That's not really them."

After the deaths, Daralynn's mother gets a job fixing hair at the local funeral parlor. When a crematorium opens in town, she worries about losing customers. Daralynn and her mother drum up extra business by throwing fun "living funeral" parties at the funeral home for people who want to enjoy their funerals while they are still alive.

In spite of the subject matter, this is a joy to read because of all the eccentric townspeople. It's a really quick read--I recommend it to anyone who has to do a book report in a short amount of time. Klise's most famous novel, Regarding the Fountain, is even faster because it is written in letters.

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Klise, Kate, and M S. Klise. Regarding the Fountain: A Tale, in Letters, of Liars and Leaks. New York: Avon Books, 1998. Fiction. Grades 3-5. 138 pages.

If you like Grounded, you will also like:

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Bartek, Mary. Funerals & Fly Fishing. New York: Henry Holt, 2004. Fiction. Grades 4-7. 148 pages.

And speaking of funerals . . .

I hope I don't offend my family, but here are couple of my own funeral stories:

At my great aunt Louise's funeral, my great grandmother's hearing aid was giving her problems because it was buzzing in her ear. Great Grandma got frustrated, took out her hearing aid and loudly said to it, "Oh, shut up." And the priest did.

At a summer funeral in Southeast Texas, I got locked in the limo at the burial site. It was blazing hot, and I couldn't get the windows or the door to open. I kept knocking on the window trying to get someone's attention, but no one noticed me for about five minutes. When I asked people later why no one opened the door, I was told that they thought I needed a moment alone. Likely story.

At a burial ceremony in Louisiana, we couldn't find a shovel to put dirt on the coffin. We ended up just sprinkling dirt that we'd dug up with our bare hands. When someone finally located a shovel, a four-year-old child got a hold of it and had so much fun dumping the dirt that he got carried away and did three or four big shovelfuls before an adult noticed and made him stop.

The Academy Awards of Children's Literature

2011-01-12T20:30:00.025-05:00

Here are the winners of the 2011 ALA Youth Media Awards:

John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature:

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Vanderpool, Clare. 2010. Moon over Manifest. New York: Delacorte Press.

Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children:

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Stead, Philip Christian, and Erin E. Stead. 2010. A sick day for Amos McGee. New York: Roaring Brook.

Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award recognizing an African American author of outstanding books for children and young adults:

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Williams-Garcia, Rita. 2010. One crazy summer. New York: Amistad.

Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award recognizing an African American illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults:

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Hill, Laban Carrick, and Bryan Collier. 2010. Dave the potter: artist, poet, slave. New York: Little, Brown.

Pura Belpré (Author) Award honoring a Latino writer whose children’s books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience:

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Ryan, Pam Muñoz, and Peter Sís. 2010. The dreamer. New York: Scholastic Press.

Pura Belpré (Illustrator) Award honoring a Latino illustrator whose children’s books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience:

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Velasquez, Eric. 2010. Grandma's gift. New York: Walker.

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the most distinguished beginning reader book:

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DiCamillo, Kate, Alison McGhee, and Tony Fucile. 2010. Bink & Gollie. Somerville, Mass: Candlewick Press.

Check them out at your local library and/or buy a copy at your local bookstore. Amazon has enough business. Let's improve the economy by supporting our local retailers.

Man's Search for Meaning

2011-01-06T17:30:00.002-05:00

"A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He knows the why for his existence, and will be able to bear almost any how."
-Viktor E. Frankl

Frankl, Viktor E. Man's Search for Meaning. Boston: Beacon Press, 1956. Print.

Psychiatrist Dr. Viktor E. Frankl was a Holocaust survivor who used his time in concentration camp to study the reasons why some prisoners were miraculously able to maintain a glimmer of hope, while others (understandably) lost their will to live. In spite of the horrific subject matter, this book is strangely uplifting. It's sort of a cross between Maus: A Survivor's Tale and The Little Prince.

10 best books of 2010

2010-12-26T13:20:00.022-05:00

In no particular order, here are my 10 favorite books that were published in 2010:

Franzen, Jonathan. Freedom. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010.

Quindlen, Anna. Every Last One: A Novel. New York: Random House, 2010.

Richards, Keith, and James Fox. Life. New York: Little, Brown and Co, 2010.

Steinberg, Avi. Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian. New York: Nan A. Talese, 2010.

Cole, Henry. A Nest for Celeste: A Story About Art, Inspiration, and the Meaning of Home. New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2010.

Waters, John. Role Models. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010.

Dickens, Charles, Chuck Fischer, and Bruce Foster. A Christmas Carol: A Pop-Up Book. New York: Little Brown, 2010.

(Yes, I know that the original edition was published back in 1843.)

Schwartz, John. Short: Walking Tall When You're Not Tall at All. New York: Rb Flash Point, 2010.

Wood, Maryrose, and J. Klassen. The Mysterious Howling. New York: Balzer + Bray, 2010.

Thomas, Marlo. Growing Up Laughing: My Story and the Story of Funny. New York: Hyperion, 2010.

Have a very happy and healthy New Year's celebration.

Love,
Rebecca

A Christmas Carol

2010-12-23T20:24:00.004-05:00

“Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childhood days, recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth, and transport the traveler back to his own fireside and quiet home!” -Charles Dickens

Here's a great story to read this week:

Dickens, Charles, Chuck Fischer, and Bruce Foster. A Christmas Carol: A Pop-Up Book. New York: Little Brown, 2010. Print.

I highly recommend Chuck Fischer's pop-up edition of A Christmas Carol. Not only is the book visually stunning, but it also contains the entire text of the Dickens classic. Here's a great article about Chuck and his latest creation: palmbeachdailynews.com.

ps. Have a happy Christmas.

Christmas books aren't just for kids

2010-12-15T22:36:00.023-05:00

Sedaris, David. Holidays on Ice. New York [u.a.: Little, Brown, 1997. Print.

Yesterday afternoon a woman came to the desk looking for some good books for her daughters to read over Christmas vacation. Once we were all set with books for the girls, the mother confided that she wished she had time to read. I told her that she should treat herself and read Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris. It's under 200 pages long. Holidays on Ice is a collection of hilarious true stories that you don't have to read all at once. The best and most famous story in the book is The Santaland Diaries which is about the author's experience working as an elf at Macy's in New York.

Here are some more classic, quick reads about Christmas. Treat yourself.

Thomas, Dylan. A Child's Christmas in Wales. New York: New Directions, 1954. Print.

Capote, Truman. The Thanksgiving Visitor: One Christmas ; & a Christmas Memory. New York: Modern Library, 1996. Print.

Henry, o. Gift of the Magi and Other Short Stories. Mineola, NY: Dover, 2009. Print.

Lamb, Wally. Wishin' and Hopin': A Christmas Story. New York: Harper, 2009. Print.

Burroughs, Augusten. You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2009. Print.

"Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about."

2010-12-09T21:31:00.027-05:00

Schulz, Charles M, Bill Melendez, and Vince Guaraldi. A Charlie Brown Christmas. Burbank, Calif: Warner Home Video, 1965.

Here are some great children's books about the birth of Christ:

Hughes, Langston, and Ashley Bryan. Carol of the Brown King: Nativity Poems. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 1998. Print.

The Christmas Story: From the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2009. Print.

Crossley-Holland, Kevin, and Peter Malone. How Many Miles to Bethlehem?New York: Arthur A. Levine Books, 2004. Print.

Ringgold, Faith. O Holy Night: Christmas with the Boys Choir of Harlem. United States: HarperCollins/Amistad, 2004. Print.

Brown, Rachel W. N, and Giuliano Ferri. Small Camel Follows the Star. Morton Grove, Ill: Albert Whitman, 2007. Print.

Ryan, Pam M, and Dennis Nolan. There Was No Snow on Christmas Eve. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 2005. Print.

Grimes, Nikki, and Eric Velasquez. Voices of Christmas. Grand Rapids, Mich: Zonderkidz, 2009. Print.

A Nest for Celeste: A Story About Art, Inspiration, and the Meaning of Home

2010-12-06T17:04:00.012-05:00

A Nest for Celeste is simply the best chapter book I read all year. Wrap it up in a basket along with a pair of binoculars, a drawing pad, pencils, a copy of The Sibley Guide for Birds, a subscription to Audubon magazine, and you have the perfect holiday gift package for a nature lover of any age!

Cole, Henry. A Nest for Celeste: A Story About Art, Inspiration, and the Meaning of Home. New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2010. Print.

ps. Visit HenryCole.net to see a beautiful video preview of A Nest for Celeste.

Adventures from an Accidental Prison Librarian

2010-11-26T17:18:00.022-05:00

Steinberg, Avi. Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian. New York: Nan A. Talese, 2010. Print.

"Inside [The Boston Public Library], I discovered a crowd that was somehow similar to me from prison and was suddenly struck by the universal culture of daytime libraries, both those in prison and in the free world: they are havens for all variety of loners and outcasts." -Avi Steinberg

Fresh out of Harvard University, freelance writer Avi Steinberg stumbles upon a job opening for a late shift prison librarian and decides to give it a shot. (Although he never mentions it, I imagine that he was also looking for work that would give him good writing material.) The anecdotes he tells about the inmates and guards are intriguing, but the most riveting parts of the book are when he talks about his own life story as an ex-Yeshiva student.

At first I was a little offended that someone without a Master of Library Science degree would dare to call himself a librarian. However, Avi Steinberg quickly won me over because he shows such respect for the profession.

This is a quick, entertaining, and thought-provoking read.

A Few of My Favorite Songwriters

2010-11-24T08:02:00.028-05:00

I stole this idea from the lovely Miss Trixie:

King, Carole. Tapestry. S.l.: Epic, 1971. Sound recording.

Here are fifteen of my favorite songwriters and songwriting teams in no particular order:

1. Joni Mitchell
2. Johnny Hickman & David Lowery (as a team and as solo writers)

3. Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II

4. John Lennon & Paul McCartney
5. Freddie Mercury & David Bowie (as a team and as solo writers)

6. Mick Jagger & Keith Richards
7. Chris LeRoy

8. John Prine

9. Irving Berlin
10. Carole King

11. Willie Nelson

12. Dolly Parton

13. George and Ira Gershwin

14. Neil Sedaka

(Sedaka wrote this song about Carole King.)

15. Burt Bacharach

Life

2010-11-12T09:22:00.021-05:00

Richards, Keith, and James Fox. Life. New York: Little, Brown and Co, 2010. Print.

"Mr. Richards’s prose is like his guitar playing: intense, elemental, utterly distinctive and achingly, emotionally direct."--Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times.

"It’s like being button-holed by a piratical ancient mariner with amazing tales to tell."--Charles Spencer, The Telegraph.

"It's funny, gossipy, profane and moving and by the time you finish it you feel like you're friends with Keith Richards." Will Dana, Rolling Stone.

"Delicious. I devoured it in one sitting."--Jake, my dog.

Architecture for kids

2010-11-05T10:05:00.052-04:00

Macaulay, David. Building Big. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. Print.

Whenever I visited New York as a kid, I would try my hardest not to look up at the buildings. I didn't want to be mistaken for a tourist. As if stepping out of Grand Central Station on a Saturday afternoon wasn't a dead giveaway. It was really embarrassing to visit the city with my mom because she would unfold a map right in the middle of the sidewalk and ask street cops for directions!

Vila, Laura. Building Manhattan. New York: Viking, 2008. Print.

Now that I'm a middle-aged adult, I don't even attempt to look cool, and I know that I would never pass as a New Yorker. When I finally did live in New York, my friends would tease that I was "soooooo Connecticut."

Gerstein, Mordicai. The Man Who Walked between the Towers. Brookfield, Conn: Roaring Brook Press, 2003. Print.

A couple of years ago my mother and I spent a weekend together playing tourist in NYC, and it was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. We even rode a double-decker bus and got a close up view of architecture that I'd never noticed before. (Did you know that in the old days, stores would dress up their 3rd floor windows to attract riders on the el?)

Fischer, Chuck. Christmas in New York: A Pop-Up Book. New York: Bulfinch Press, 2005. Print.

I wish I'd paid more attention to architecture when I was younger. Aside from learning about ionic, Doric, and Corinthian columns, it's a subject that usually isn't covered in school. (Or it's entirely possible that I daydreamed straight through that lesson.)

Here are some more great books about architecture for kids:

Anno, Mitsumasa. Anno's Spain. New York: Philomel Books, 2004. Print.

Simon, Seymour. Bridges. San Francisco: SeaStar Books, 2005. Print.

Macaulay, David. Cathedral: the Story of Its Construction. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1973. Print.

Levy, Janey. The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright: Understanding the Concepts of Parallel and Perpendicular. PowerMath. New York: PowerKids Press, 2005. Print.

Greenberg, Jan, and Sandra Jordan. Frank O. Gehry: Outside in. New York: DK Ink, 2000. Print.

Munro, Roxie. The Inside-Outside Book of New York City. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1985. Print.

Doherty, Craig A, and Katherine M. Doherty. The Sears Tower. Woodbridge, Conn: Blackbirch Press, 1995. Print.

Hopkinson, Deborah, and James Ransome. Sky Boys : How They Built the Empire State Building. New York: Schwartz & Wade Books, 2006. Print.

Tomorrow we kick off the Charles P. Ferro Foundation Presents: Live at the Sherman Library! An Interactive Fine Arts Series for Youth with a hands-on building workshop. Master architect Margi Nothard is going to to show samples of her work and lead children in an exploration of beauty and structure. The event will include hands-on art activities for children and their families.

El día de los muertos

2010-10-28T08:44:00.003-04:00

My husband and I recently celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. Six years ago today, we were honeymooning in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico as the town was getting ready for the día de los muertos/Day of the Dead holiday. Marc and I were in a cab headed to a nearby beach, when we passed by a beautiful cemetery all decked out in marigolds and other traditional Day of the Dead decorations.

Then we saw something strange . . .

A young woman was crossing the street carrying a human head under her arm.

Luckily, it turned out to be just a mannequin head. She was on her way to the neighborhood beauty school.

Like the mannequin head, the Day of the Dead holiday isn't half as scary as it seems at first glance. It is simply a time to remember and honor loved ones who have passed away. There is even a sense of whimsy to the holiday, almost like our Halloween. One of the most popular symbols of the holiday is the calavera, or skull.

And speaking of The Day of the Dead . . .

Here are some great children's books that celebrate the fun side of the Mexican holiday:

San Vicente, Luis. The Festival of Bones = El Festival De Las Calaveras. El Paso, Tex: Cinco Puntos Press 2002.

Morales, Yuyi. Just a minute: a trickster tale and counting book. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2003.

Da Coll, Ivar. El Día de Muertos.
[New York, NY]: Lectorum, 2003.

Winter, Jeanette. Calavera Abecedario: A Day of the Dead Alphabet Book. Orlando: Harcourt, 2004.

Ancona, George. Pablo recuerda: la fiesta del Día de los Muertos. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1993.

Freedom

2010-10-23T09:50:00.005-04:00

Franzen, Jonathan. Freedom. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010.

This is the best book I've read since John Irving's Last Night in Twisted River. Since there is probably a long waiting list for it at your library, I recommend that you buy your own copy and then donate it to your local library. New York Times critic Stan Tanenhaus calls it a masterpiece of American fiction and compares Franzen to Updike, Dickens, Tolstoy, Bellow, and Mann. I like him better.

The White House

2010-10-16T08:18:00.059-04:00

N.C. Wyeth: George Washington and James Hoban. Smithsonian.
(After all his hard work, George Washington was the only president who didn't get to live in the White House.)

In honor of the traveling exhibit James Hoban: Architect of the White House that will be at our library through the end of November, we are having lots of events to make the display more meaningful for children. Every week we host at least 2 school field trips to the exhibit, and this Sunday afternoon we are having an old-fashioned White House tea party for elementary school age children. Thanks to a generous donation from the Charles P. Ferro Foundation, next month the wonderful architect Margi Nothard Glavovic will present a building workshop for kids of all ages.

Tea at the Kennedy's private home in Georgetown, 1960. (Tea parties aren't just for girls.) AP photo/file.

There are lots of fun facts about White House history. President Taft was so big that he had to have a special bathtub installed. It could fit at least 4 normal-sized men. (Oh my!)

Installing the super-size bathtub in 1911. (It looks like there's enough room for the 5th guy.) White House Museum

President Truman ordered an immediate renovation when the leg of his daughter's piano fell through the ceiling. (Nixon and Truman were both excellent pianists.)

Nixon accompanying Pearl Bailey in the East Room. National Archives.

The Secret Service uses code names for the First Family. Amy Carter's name was Dynamo, Jackie Kennedy was Lace, and Ronald Reagan was Rawhide. President Obama is Renegade, Michelle Obama is Renaissance, Malia is Radiance, and Sasha is Rosebud. G.W. Bush had two different code names--Tumbler and Trailblazer.

Radiance takes Bo for a run. AP photo/file.

Horses have played a big role in the history of the White House. In addition to lugging building supplies and providing transportation, they have served as wonderful pets. Theodore Roosevelt's children once sneaked their pony Algonquin upstairs in the elevator.

President Kennedy, John Jr., Caroline, and Macaroni. JFK Presidential Library.

I have enjoyed researching family life in the White House. Here is where I found most of my information:

Non-fiction books:

Roberts, Cokie. Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation. New York: William Morrow, 2004.

Without women, there would be no great presidents.

St, George J, and David Small. So You Want to Be President. New York: Philomel Books, 2000.

This hilarious history book is one of the few non-fiction titles to ever win the Caldecott Medal.

Roosevelt, Curtis. Too Close to the Sun: Growing Up in the Shadow of My Grandparents, Franklin and Eleanor. New York: PublicAffairs, 2008.
See last week's post.

Fischer, Chuck. White House Pop-Up Book. New York: Rizzoli, 2004.

Kids go ape over this amazing 3-D book by one of my favorite artists, Chuck Fischer.

Websites:
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum: jfklibrary.org
Library of Congress: loc.gov
The White House Historical Association: whitehousehistory.org
The White House: whitehouse.gov

Here are three fun novels about White House kids:

Cabot, Meg. All-American Girl. Paw Prints Press, 2008.
Teen chick lit at its best.

Freeman, Martha. The Case of the Rock 'n' Roll Dog. New York: Holiday House, 2010
In this story the kids' mom is the president.

DeVillers, Julia, and Paige Pooler. Liberty Porter, First Daughter. New York: Aladdin, 2009.

Nine year old Liberty Porter wants to the be the best First Daughter ever.

Meet the Roosevelts

2010-10-06T08:50:00.013-04:00

Roosevelt, Curtis. Too Close to the Sun: Growing Up in the Shadow of My Grandparents, Franklin and Eleanor. New York: Public Affairs, 2008.

FDR's grandson Curtis Roosevelt wasn't merely a frequent visitor to the White House; he actually lived there for years. At the time, he and his sister were as famous as Shirley Temple. There were plenty of elephants in the rooms of the White House during FDR's 12 years in office. For instance, family members didn't talk about the president's physical disability, and the reason the grandchildren lived in the White House was because their mother was going through a divorce during the days when divorce was still considered a scandal. While Curtis Roosevelt reveals some family secrets, he does so while maintaining everyone's dignity. This is one of the most elegantly written and educational memoirs I have ever read. Highly recommended.

October is National Pizza Month

2010-09-30T08:54:00.013-04:00

Although I'm not a big fan of the food, I do like these books about pizza:

Barbour, Karen. Little Nino's Pizzeria. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1987.

I love Karen Barbour's artwork. She also illustrated the covers of Armistead Maupin's series, Tales of the City.

Khalsa, Dayal K. How Pizza Came to Queens. New York: C.N. Potter Publishers, 1989

How Pizza Came to Queens was a big hit at the Queens Public Library where I had my very first job as a children's librarian. The book has its flaws, but the title is simply irresistible.

Steig, William. Pete's a Pizza. New York, N.Y.: HarperCollins Publishers, 1998.

Pete's in a bad mood. Just when he's about to go out and play ball with his friends, it decides to rain. Pete's dad thinks it might cheer Pete up to be made into a pizza. This silly story of filial cannibalism was written and illustrated by Shrek! creator William Steig. The Weston Woods short film version is a hoot, too. Chevy Chase is the narrator.

Meet Cherry

2010-09-26T21:18:00.007-04:00

Guess what???!!!

I just bought a new car!

Cherry

I named her Cherry after my favorite Pee Wee Herman character.

Chairy

Belinda Carlisle

2010-09-19T20:01:00.028-04:00

Shop Indie Bookstores
Carlisle, Belinda. Lips Unsealed: A Memoir. New York: Crown, 2010.

Like many teenage girls in the early 80's, I adored The Go-Go's and tried to dress like them. As they were the first all-female band to top the Billboard charts and earn a double-platinum album, they were certainly worthy of our admiration. The Go-Go's played their own instruments, wrote their own songs, and had a female manager.

Back then, there weren't all that many female musicians to look up to. I didn't like Pat Benatar's songs or her style. I hadn't yet developed a taste for Kate Bush's operatic voice, and I didn't like Stevie Nicks because I thought her Fleetwood Mac bandmate Christine McVie* was more deserving of stardom. I tried to sing like Chrissie Hynde, but I didn't have the figure to dress like her. I loved Blondie and Bow Wow Wow's music, but their female lead singers were a bit too beautiful.

The Go-Go's were just right. Even a chubby girl like me could dress like a Go-Go!

Belinda Carlisle's memoir Lips Unsealed is titled after the Go-Go's hit song Our Lips Are Sealed. The first half of the book is lots of fun. She writes about touring with Madness, kissing Jim Hutchence, partying with John Belushi, and getting drunk with Tim Finn from Split Enz.

Like her solo career, the second half of Belinda Carlisle's memoir isn't very exciting at all. It's mostly a confessional about her escalating addiction to cocaine. She is so brutally honest, that she comes across as being unlikeable. She admits to feeling undeserving of her fame, and in doing so, she makes the reader agree with her.

*Christine McVie takes the lead in this Fleetwood Mac performance:

Room

2010-09-15T21:52:00.018-04:00

Donoghue, Emma. Room: A Novel. New York: Little, Brown and Co, 2010.

Room is a novel about the relationship between a five year old boy and his mother. The mother was abducted when she was a college student, and her captor is the boy's father. The boy has spent his entire life hidden away in a backyard shed/prison.

This book is unique in that the entire story is told from the point of view of the boy. Since he has never experienced life outside the shed, he does not know what he has been missing. Amazingly, the mother has provided him with a structured, educational, and loving life inside their backyard cocoon. When he and his mother finally manage to escape, the boy has great difficulty learning to share his mother with other people.

In my opinion, Room is a bit overrated. I'm sorry to admit that I found it to be boring and claustrophobic. I am in the minority, though. Here's what other readers had to say:

"Room is that rarest of entities, an entirely original work of art. I mean it as the highest possible praise when I tell you that I can't compare it to any other book. Suffice to say that it's potent, darkly beautiful, and revelatory."
--Michael Cunningham, author of The Hours and By Nightfall

"I loved Room. Such incredible imagination, and dazzling use of language. And with all this, an entirely credible, endearing little boy. It's unlike anything I've ever read before."
--Anita Shreve, author of The Pilot's Wife * and A Change in Altitude

"Gripping, riveting, and close to the bone, this story grabs you and doesn't let go. Donoghue skillfully builds a suspenseful narrative evoking fear and hate and hope--but most of all, the triumph of a mother's ferocious love. Highly recommended for readers of popular fiction." --Susanne Wells for Library Journal

If you liked A Child Called It, you will probably like this book, too. While I have great respect and admiration for David Pelzer, I didn't like his book, either.

Pelzer, David J. A Child Called "it": An Abused Child's Journey from Victim to Victor. Deerfield Beach, Fla: Health Communications, 1995

*I didn't like The Pilot's Wife, either.

Praise

2010-09-11T09:51:00.021-04:00

video by Spike Jonze

Here are a few of my favorite pop/rock songs that have a religious theme:

Let it Be by The Beatles

Whenever God Shines His Light by Van Morrison
It's really fun to sing along with Cliff Richard's back up vocals.

Morrison, Van. Avalon Sunset. S.l.: Exile Productions, 2008

Praise You by Fat Boy Slim

Fatboy, Slim. You've Come a Long Way, Baby. NY: Astralwerks/Skint, 1998.

Gloria by U2
When I met Bono back in 1982, I was so starstruck that all I could say to him was, "Gloria is my favorite song ever." He asked why, and I was too tongue-tied to elaborate.

Serve Somebody by Bob Dylan

Dylan, Bob. Slow Train Coming. New York, N.Y: Columbia, 1979.

My Sweet Lord by George Harrison

I Can't Wait to Meetchu by Macy Gray

Sally Ride

2010-09-05T11:50:00.004-04:00

Nichols, Catherine. Sally Ride. New York: Children's Press, 2005.

Rosh Hashanah

2010-09-03T18:15:00.018-04:00

The Jewish High Holy Days are right around the corner.* Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, starts at sundown on September 8th. Here are three great children's books about the holiday:

Kimmel, Eric A, Isaac L. Peretz, and Jill Weber. Even Higher!: A Rosh Hashanah Story. New York: Holiday House, 2009.

Author Eric Kimmel uses an old Ukranian drinking song to help retell a famous Yiddish short story about a rabbi who skips town every year right before the holidays.

Gerstein, Mordicai. The White Ram: A Story of Abraham and Isaac. New York: Holiday House, 2006.

Caldecott award-winning author/illustrator Mordicai Gerstein retells one of the scariest and most puzzling stories of the Bible.

Wayland, April H, and Stéphane Jorisch. New Year at the Pier: A Rosh Hashanah Story. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 2009.

This wonderful picture book about celebrating Rosh Hashanah in Los Angeles won the 2010 Sydney Taylor Book Award. I had the pleasure of sitting next to the author at an ALA function a couple of years ago. She was very bubbly.

*Literally--we live about 3 blocks away from a major Chabad center.

The Last Exorcism

2010-08-29T14:29:00.016-04:00

About the theater experience:

Marc and I went to see The Last Exorcism last night. (It was funny, but not all that scary.) We are not big horror fans--we chose to see it because it was playing at the fancy theater. Tickets are $22 each, but you get free popcorn, valet parking, and a reserved sofa or a really big comfy chair. Since they serve alcohol, you have to be at least 21 to get in. It's usually a very mellow affair, but last night's crowd was a bit rowdy.

When the show started, one couple was having a noisy conversation that had nothing to do with the movie. When an old guy shushed them, one of the talkers replied, "you white people are so retarded." The old guy said, "What did you say to me?" The old guy's wife wisely told everyone to knock it off and watch the movie. So everyone did. Until the end when there was some booing. One person started cursing and complaining about the movie before it was even over. The main complaint was the ending. It was abrupt and it came about too soon. (When you pay $22 for a ticket, you want to get at least 2 hours worth of entertainment.)

About the movie:

The Last Exorcism is a fake documentary about a Louisiana preacher who earns extra cash doing fake exorcisms. The acting is excellent. I predict that Caleb Landry Jones will win some "Best Supporting Actor" awards. (Until I looked him up on IMDb, I would have sworn that he was a real local, not an actor.)

As I mentioned earlier, the movie is more funny than scary. Since it's short and the ending is disappointing, I would not recommend seeing it for full price. Try to catch a bargain matinee or wait for the DVD.

If you want to see a really good movie about a Louisiana preacher, check out The Apostle. It stars Robert Duvall, Farrah Fawcett, Billy Bob Thornton (he's an idiot, but a pretty good actor), and June Carter Cash. My cousin Nicholas Anderson has a part in it, too!

Nicholas Anderson

Connecticut Country

2010-08-26T15:30:00.003-04:00

I don't know very much about country music, but every now and then I like to listen and sing along to Patsy Cline.

New comedy from Vanessa Hollingshead

2010-08-25T15:40:00.005-04:00

My friend Vanessa Hollingshead has a new comedy DVD called Because I'm a Lady. Here's a preview:

Here's an old post about Vanessa. We were roommates in Queens.

More about Greenland

2010-08-23T17:14:00.017-04:00

Greenland coast

As I've mentioned before, one of my favorite Cracker albums is Greenland. I love it for its subtlety, cryptic lyrics, and quiet harmonies. Greenland is definitely a headphones kind of album. (It's not always quiet, though. Sometimes it just plain rocks, so you might want to watch the volume.)

Thanks to David Lowery's new blog, 300 Songs, Greenland is just a little bit less puzzling to me now. In today's post Lowery tells the story behind the song Where Have Those Days Gone and he also hints at the meaning of the album:

"If anything this song and much of the album Greenland are a portrait of 'The Lost Coast' of California."

Oregon coast (photo from traveloregon.com)

When I was little, I visited the Oregon side of The Lost Coast. It really did feel like another world with its jagged cliffs, cold summer temperatures, and massive sand dunes. I imagine that Greenland feels like another world, too. I will probably never be brave enough to travel to Greenland, though. I get nervous whenever I'm too far away from a major metropolis.

ps. Visit 300songs.com tomorrow to learn more about Cracker's Greenland.

It's hot!

2010-08-15T15:49:00.010-04:00

Here are some hot books:

Layton, Neal. Hot, Hot, Hot. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 2004.

What's a woolly mammoth to do when caught in a heat wave? Start a new fashion trend, of course!

Hesse, Karen, and Jon J. Muth. Come On, Rain. New York: Scholastic Press, 1999.

Sometimes a little rain is all it takes to break the heat.

Spinelli, Eileen, and Betsy Lewin. Heat Wave. Orlando, Fla: Harcourt, 2007.

This book nails the feeling of summer in the city when the fire escape is the coolest room in the apartment . . .

Perry, Elizabeth, and Linda Bronson. Think Cool Thoughts. New York: Clarion Books, 2005.

. . . and the rooftop is the coolest place to hang out at night.

And speaking of heat, check out my karaoke version of Peggy Lee's hit song, Fever:

Library Love

2010-08-13T21:55:00.013-04:00

ilovelibraries.org

Click here to vote for your favorite librarian. He or she really deserves a prize.* We literally have to put up with a lot of crap at work.** Nevertheless, we keep on trucking along because we sincerely believe that access to information and literature is a right and not a privilege. Click on this link to find your closest library.

*Here's a post about some of my weirdest library experiences.

**I found a human turd in the middle of the library floor on Thursday.

Red Hook Road

2010-08-07T13:48:00.020-04:00

Waldman, Ayelet. Red Hook Road: A Novel. New York: Doubleday, 2010.

Reading Red Hook Road is like watching a train wreck (or in this case, a car wreck). You know something really bad is going to happen, but it's hard to look away. The novel begins with a horrible tragedy, and the remaining 333 pages describe in detail how the victims' families deal (and don't deal) with the acute pain of losing a loved one. Unless you are desperate for something to keep you occupied during an airplane trip or a long wait at the doctor's office, it's not worth buying. Red Hook Road is depressing, but it probably won't make you cry like a good tearjerker should. What it offers is more like a dull, long-lasting headache.