The Vagrants by Yiyun Li

I saw this book on a display table at Barnes & Noble.  The cover caught my eye--the front of a Chinese jacket/overcoat.  I am very attracted to Asian art--very refined, delicate and it always tells a story.  When I read the inside cover, I wasn't all that impressed, but I thought "I'm still going to buy it.  It might surprise me."  Always work on your instincts when it comes to a book.  This one surprised me.

Although very sad and poignant, it is also quite ordinary in terms of the movements and actions of the people.  This story takes place in 1979, Communist China.  The town was specifically built by the regime and specifically "planted" with people to promote the socialistic cause.  There are also some people who wandered into this village.  It is, on one hand, small and on the other, quite large.  There are distinct disparities amongst the social and economic classes.  There are boundaries that are prescribed and unspoken.  We meet people of the lowest beggar and of the highest government within the town.

The story is about the actions and reactions of a community when faced with, are part of and after the excution of a counterrevolutionary woman.  Some of the stories are excruciatingly ugly.  Some of them, such as her parents, are excruciatingly sad.  Some never had to occur.  Some should have happened and you wonder what if?  In the end, you know that this could have really happened.  All these storylines happened because of the excution of that woman.  She had no knowledge they would happen and couldn't have controlled many of them if she had known.

In 1979 I was 10 years old and I was entering the 4th grade.  I knew about free elections.  I knew I liked to read a lot.  I knew I could go home and have a good dinner and be loved.  I had siblings who laughed and loved.  I had parents who cared and protected.  I live  in the United States, where freedoms are protected--freedom of speech and of press.  Freedom of religion and thought.  Education is valued for the ideas it creates.  I cannot imagine living in China in 1979.

The author is originally from China and lived in this regime.  She now lives in the United States.  The Vagrants by Yiyun Li.

Margaret Peterson Haddix

I'm going to start reading Margaret Peterson Haddix's series.  I think I'll start with the Shadow Children series so I get a feel for her writing.  I noticed if the middle schoolers were not checking out her books, they were into James Patterson.  I have to admit, as an adult writer, Patterson is one of my favorites. 

So, I guess that means his YA books are next on the list.  I have quite a reading list to work.  I also have the last Last Apprentice to read.  I'm waiting on PC Cast's last two books in the teen vamp series to come out in paperback.  I also have to read Sorceress and Necromancer in the Immortal Secrets of Nicholas Flamel series.

I'm also going to add Copper Elephant to the list.  Saw that one in the library today at the high school.

The Hunger Games end

WARNING:  SPOILER AHEAD!!


I finished the last book of The Hunger Games:  Mockingjay.  Have to say it still leaves a lot hanging and questions unanswered.  I really don't like the fact that Prim dies so unnecessarily.  I don't like the fact that Gale doesn't fight harder for Katniss.  I don't like the fact that Peeta seems so easily "cured" with just a few remnants of the torture--come on!  Even Kat still suffers just from the Games and the last battles!  Peeta should be feeling nearly the same or worse given the extra torture and that he was in the last battle too.  I don't like the fact that they go back to District 12 and just start rebuilding.  It's too weird.  The epilogue rings odd too.  Like she had to put it in just because Rowling put something in HP 7.  I also don't like the fact that the mockingjay doesn't come out near the end either.  It was instrumental and should be symbol of new hope beyond the rebellion.

The whole concept of the Games leaves a lot of thinking and pondering on the part of the public however.  What if we were war torn and under a military control?  What if we rose up and rebelled against the government?  What would happen if the US really did fall into different areas and there were Hunger Games?  Would we really allow this to happen?  Would we be as hopeless and scared as most people are in the book?

If this really happened, would some other country step in to stop it as a genocide?  Truly that is what it is, a genocide of a select 24 children.  Children used to control the actions of others. (Just as the child barricade around President Snow's mansion)   Children slaughtered to teach the adults to stay in line.  Children missing from District 13 due to disease and infertility.  Would another country step in and stop it, just as the US has in some countries, or would they be selective as the US has been in some countries (Africa)?

How does a story like this affect the thinking & actions of people?  Do you feel more compassionate?  Do you feel safe?  Do you feel you have a pretty good life?  Do you feel as if more should be done for others in that situation, that you would step up and say, This is wrong?  Would you hunker down and just try to survive?

Did you know that middle and high schoolers are reading these stories with a passion, soaking up the events?

Suzanne Collins:
The Hunger Games
Catching Fire
Mockingjay

Teens turn to libraries for "Books with Beat" | American Libraries Magazine

Teens turn to libraries for "Books with Beat" American Libraries Magazine

The next best week in an ALA year. This time it's the YALSA chapter's turn. We invite teens to read Books With Beat. Audiobooks, books about musicians and music (like Marian Anderson), and other beat-like topics/formats.

BANNED BOOKS WEEK Sept. 25-Oct.2, 2010

Celebrate the freedom to read!  Read a banned book.  Check out the American Libaray Association's website for some awesome reading and let the world know YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO READ!!

Summer Reading

So I've indulged my summer by reading a lot.  Without classes this semester, I've been able to catch up on quite a few paperbacks.  I've finised the Immortal series (City of Ashes et al).  I hear there is a fourth book, so I'm a little excited. I've finished Paolini's trilogy, which will now become a series since he couldn't squish everything into the third book (his own admission).  Looking forward to that fourth book.

I'm still waiting on PC & Kristin Cast to allow their last couple of books to go into paperback for their teen vamp series.  I could check them out from the library, but all those teens are ahead of me on the waiting list!   I'll also have to make sure the Last Apprentice doesn't have another paperback/book in case 6 wasn't enough for me of super scary bogeymen & women!  I have to admit that Joseph Delaney knows how to write a seriously scary story.  The illustrations tend to add to the fright level.

I'm contemplating re-reading the Twilight series.  Not because I liked it.  Truly, Meyer doesn't really know how to write well, still by the 4th book she had improved somewhat.  No, I'd like to re-read it for the literary value (whatever might be found) and see how it fits into the teen scene with other books like Harry Potter, the Last Apprentice and others.   Teens seem to be into supernatural and scary, more so than the sci-fi/fantasy of my teenage years.  It's an interesting trend.  Definitely something to investigate.

At some point I'll also be delving into my past and reading some classics.  Dickens, Hardy, Alcott, Cooper.

The end of school

American schools end this month and next.  We'll be off for the summer--until September.  In Minnesota, we do not start prior to Labor Day in most districts.  This is because of our awesome State Fair.  I, too, am done with university for the semester.  Several of my classmates are graduating this next week and I wish them well.  I will be arranging several clinical experiences for the fall semester and will graduate in December.

I have developed a philosophy of education over the years.  Some of it is based on my education and some is based on my experiences with learning.  I believe that American schools do not run long enough.  Now hear me out.  When our country expanded, we were very much an agricultural society.  We had fields of food that needed to be prepped and planted early--April & May--each year.  Throughout the summer, different crops are put in, depending on the growing season.  Then, in late September the harvests start.  Keep in mind many fruits and vegetables are harvested throughout late summer, so again, depending on the crops, harvest may have started sooner than September.  When we were not automated, we needed all hands on deck to work the prep, planting and harvest.  Even after the harvest, there is further prep for the coming winter.  Our farmers worked well into November.

With the advent of automation and farms growing smaller, we do not need the large families and society has demonstrated that over the generations.  We also do not need to hold up school for the planting and harvest.  Put the kids back in school.  Our future generations have moved from agriculture through industry and into the information age.  Their best ally is education.  Many European and South East Asian countries are passing us by in the way of technology and information usage.  We need to catch up and if possible surpass them in order to reclaim our spot at the top.  I don't think we need to be on top, but we do need to be in line with the other countries or we will sink.

GO EDUCATION!!

Art in Washington

Today I sit in East Wenatchee, Washington. Yesterday I had an opportunity to drive down a major avenue in town. I saw an awesome thing! There is a museum located in two buildings that look as if they could have been government buildings at one time. On the steps of one there sat a man-sized, brushed metal sculpture. It was a dog, dressed in a suit and reading a book. I wonder if the building might have once been a Carnegie library? I didn't get a good look at the building to see if there was a sign--I was too enthraLled with the reader!
Another building, several blocks down, had a 1950's red-and-white car butt sticking out of the roof! I could love this town! So much character and bits of joie de vie exists despite the depressed economy.

School Library Month was April

The AASL or American Association of School Librarians, is a part of ALA and totally dedicated to school librarians and their needs/ideas.  I'm a member, as well as of ALA, along with so many others.  We are dedicated to building information literacy through the schools.

We feel that students, whether they are teachers, faculty, other staff, or "students" in the traditional sense are supported by the services we provide.  We are not just librarians.  We are teachers.  We have STANDARDS and CURRICULA.  We are licensed.  We love teaching, learning and helping.

Support your school libraries & librarians.  We are usually one of the first cuts when budgets are tight and we are one of the least expendable in a school.

Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin

So on the recommendation (you HAVE to take this book and read it!) by a family member, I've started Tales of the City.  It was published in 1978.  I was 9 that year.  Life was pretty good in the Midwest.  This book looks through the eyes of San Francisco residents in the '70's.  I've heard the stories--the drugs, the free lifestyles, the new ideas, karma, finding oneself...this book covers it all and does so in a city that was the most (and still may be) brazen in terms of lifestyles. 

As the characters cross paths, the reader starts to question life.  One man is dying, one women is finding herself, one is losing herself, one man is trying to find a stable relationship and another is defying stability.  As you read this book you know there is one crazy reason all these people are tied together.

I wonder what that might be?

This book certainly explores the idea of a community and the different personalities that make up that community.

What is your favority genre or book?

Let me know what your favorite book or genre is at this time.  Maybe I'll have a few more things to read this summer (like I don't already have a HUGE list!).

ALA | National Library Week, National Library Week 2010, 2010 National Library Week, theme for National Library Week, what is the theme for National Library Week, NLW, NLW 2010, 2010 NLW, future National Library Week dates, National Library Week 2011, National

ALA National Library Week, National Library Week 2010, 2010 National Library Week, theme for National Library Week, what is the theme for National Library Week, NLW, NLW 2010, 2010 NLW, future National Library Week dates, National Library Week 2011, National

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

I recently finished this book--a book that could not be put down.  It's a book within a book.  A story of a family, a fire, of twins.

Margaret Lea works in her father's antiquarian book shop and prefers to read old books.  She does not like contemporary writers and it's even better if the author is dead.  She has written a few essays and short biographies of old authors.  When a living, contemporary author asks her to write a biography, Margaret balks.

Once she meets Vida Winter, she wants to leave.  This is not her world, this is not the type of author she writes about in her essays.  Ms. Winter draws upon her heart--Margaret's lost twin.  In the oral retelling of her life, Ms. Winter reveals she is a twin...or is she? 

In a very popular method of writing, Setterfield tells a tale within a tale and links the two in bizarre ways.  She leads the reader through decades of lives and mysteries.  Ms. Winter states that her tale is "just a sub-plot" in the real story.  We find similar stories in Louise Penny's writing, with Inspector Gamache who says, "Murders really start years and sometimes decades before they really occur."  But, I digress.  We hear of Ms. Winter and her sister Emmeline.  We learn their mother was insane and their brother not far behind.  We learn of a governess and a doctor who try to split the twins with devastating results.  We come full circle with the story of a 60 year old man that crosses paths with Margaret as she investigates the story of Angelfield.

A thoroughly enjoyable book, I was completely drawn into the story and could not put it down.  It held my attention, because as with Margaret, I had questions.  I wanted to hear the rest of the story.  Ms. Winter draws out the tale, as she says, "All good stories have a beginning, a middle and an end."

Social Responbility

When you think of a library, bookshelves lined with tomes comes to mind.  If you are a bit younger, rows of computers may spring in there.  These days, some libraries are so busy, you see more of the people than of the contents--which is good!

Libraries and librarians want to be busy.  Librarians LIVE to serve.  We live to answer questions (maybe not all of us live to answer questions from living people, but instead wish to answer a long standing theoretical question.)  I like to answer people's questions.  I like to dig into something and come up with material.  I like to read.

One of the biggest debates in librarianship is how far do we go in our service to the patron?  Do we simply fulfil their requests or do we promote our services and skills to the public/private sector that may even cross lines into the more controversial areas of life?

I have no problem putting myself out there to provide information (so long as it is sound and factually supported).  I have no problem supporting another's viewpoint, again so long as it can be factually supported.  Ethically, I cannot withhold information when asked for within the context of patron seeking information.  In schools, parents would challenge THAT whole idea and I would have to be prepared to say I will provide it within the bounds of the school board and following the curriculum.

Social responsibility.  Just how far should a library go to aid the public it serves?  It has been well documented that public libraries have served their communities in astounding ways and means.  In MN, we have some very well known libraries.  William Mitchell Law (St Paul Central); Rondo Community Library; Roseville Area (Ramsey County's main); James J. Hill; Mpls/Hennepin County Main; etc.  Our libraries serve a diverse and expanding community of new Americans.  We have East African, Southeast Asian,  Russian, Polish, Egyptian, Middle Eastern and Chicano/Latino communities in full bloom.  They have schools, mosques, temples, churches, clubs, stores, and more.  They are integrated on a daily basis and have taken on the tasks to learn the English language, obtain jobs, utilize services, and contribute.  Some of the populations have reached out asking for the services.  Some have not.  Do we have a responsibility to say, "Hello.  My name is....  I can help you find information/learn skills/apply for a job/apply for aid/take the citizenship test/'fill in your choice here'?"  I think we do.

So MUCH Technology!

Having spent a great deal of the last 2 years in school, I've learned a great deal about libraries and the services they offer.  I was by no means naive about their services, but I do have to say librarians are very savvy in technology!

As you can see below, I've just taught myself to send a mobile post.  It's too bad I prefer full text words because there is a serious limit on the number of characters--less than Twitter sized!  I will not be posting through mobile a great deal because I like to write.  :-)

School starts soon again.  I shall have more to write soon regarding libraries and books.  ALA is just coming out of the mid-winter conference and gearing up for the annual conference in June.  With luck, I shall be able to attend that one.  If not, there is a possibility I can join some other school media conferences and report back.  If nothing else, I shall be writing on social responsibility/justice.  Beware and be prepared!!

A Mobile Post

A mobile post: 2 y in schl. Blog, edit, grfx, jPeg, ppt, BOOKS, ALA, AASL, +MEMO.

Symbolism

So I didn't actually read them, but I did the next best thing--listened to them!  I can't read books while I work, so I use audio books.  I don't get the whole story most of the time and do have to keep going back on the CD's because I miss a lot, often.  [I do have to think sometimes while I work and thinking with listening doesn't always work]. 

What am I talking about?  The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons (still listening to this one).  I find it a little odd that the first book (DVC) is actually the second and is full of symbolism, while the second book (A&D) is really the first, but not so full of symbolism.  Of course we get to hear about the Papal household and the Conclave, which is awesome! 

I find the symbolism tangents to very interesting and enlightening.  However, I also enjoy a good mystery and it's really hard to stick with the mystery when we keep going off on tangents.  Also, if someone doesn't know a whole lot about symbolism or the church for that matter, it's a little hard to keep up.   For those who really enjoy all the secrecy and the scandals revolving around the church, these are the books for you!  If you really enjoy hearing about the landmarks and cultures in ancient cities, again books are for you.

Vamp Novels

So, I said I'd never read "Twilight" and never intended after the required reading in class to finish the saga.  Unfortunately, my inner book worm wouldn't let me walk away from it.  It surprised me that the story line was quite clean in terms of language and sex for a series that was written for teens.  I'm on the Jacob team, only because Edward is too full of himself and Jacob treats Bella with more equality.  Also, I'm a little partial to wolves.

In the interest of YAL research, I found that there are several Vamp authors out there.  I know about Anne Rice (never read her and I don't believe I will ever read her books).  I thought with all the authors, perhaps I should do a little research and read one or two of the books to keep in tune with YA.  Turns out I picked up one of the juiciest series out there (at least, I think so) in terms of teenage love.  I would not recommend it for anyone younger than 16.  I believe the amount of teen romances is overly dramatic and the fact that the main character has not only a human boyfriend, but also teen Vamp and adult Vamp boyfriends.  The story line is not quite up to par for a mystery/horror read, but the romance portion is all there.  Definitely a chic book!

I'm going to finish this series and maybe look at others, but I'm afraid I have a great dislike for the syrup of romance novels.  That's why I've never read Jackie Collins.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

I finally read the book.  This is a book you cannot pick up, flip to a page and start reading just to get an idea if you'll like it.  You have to start at the beginning otherwise the section you go to makes no sense and really sounds quite boring.  However, once you start the book you cannot put it down. 

Edwards writes a poignant story of a doctor who, in making a seemingly intelligent but rash decision, causes his family to fall apart.  25 years later the truth is out and the family is still torn.  For readers, at least this reader, we want the opportunities to tell the truth to blossom to fruition and frequently suffer disappointment.  For those of us with a family member with Down Syndrome, people are truly aggravating (beginning to end) in what they say and do in response to seeing Phoebe.  This includes the father and the mother. 

Kudos to Edwards for hitting on some of the pertinent issues that have come up in the last 4 decades.  She skims over mainstreaming education, medical issues, institutionalization, quality of life, pity, empathy, fear, family dynamics, needs/desires of the person with DS, and support groups.  While she doesn't go into depth (book is way too short), as an outsider, it seems normal.  In the end there are still unresolved issues.  Birth Mom goes away without resolving her feelings or her wants.  Big Brother acts like a guardian without any knowledge of guardianship, and Phoebe's ideal of marrying and having kids is never truly addressed.  Also, the title is not explained, and it takes a little thought to determine it's probably Caroline Gill, although she doesn't have as much angst as Birth Dad and Birth Mom.

A fast read, this book can put people on the path to past history regarding Down Syndrome, but leaves the reader without the current knowledge of Down Syndrome.  It also strongly suggests Down Syndrome is an inherited birth defect.  It also does not delve into the full range of medical issues that can arise, but only mentions some of the most common, thus misleading the reader into believing most with DS have heart issues and low capabilities, making Phoebe unusual.