Just in time for the school year, we've got new copies of some of the American Girl advice books. These are really great books, and I'm very glad to have them. As a bonus, the nonfiction books don't actually advertise for American Girl at all, which makes it much easier to review them with a clear conscience.
School Rules! tips, tricks, shortcuts, and secrets to make you a super student
American Girl nonfiction/advice books
Emma MacLaren Henke, illustrated by Stacy Peterson
ISBN: 9781609587437
A generalized preparatory handbook of habits, with a few "quizzes" to show basic tendencies.
This book is a very straightforward school prep guide. It addresses mental and physical habits to drop and to pick up, talks about procrastination and perfectionism, about the value of appearances vs content, and gives information about study habits and how to best learn new topics. It also talks about how to request help when needed, and how to handle the stress when projects or topics are difficult to master.
Basic, clear, straightforward, and science-based. An excellent book that balances excitement about school and learning with clear reassuring facts and advice.
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Monday, August 29, 2016
Nonfiction: Becoming Nicole: Amy Ellis Nutt
Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family
Amy Ellis Nutt
ISBN: 9780812995411
Read August 21
The only downside to this book is that while it's about Nicole and her journey, the majority of the book is told from the perspectives of her relatives: her mother and father, and her identical twin brother. I found that less disturbing during the narration of their early lives, but once Nicole was into the 5th grade, it was odd to read snippets from her journal, but have the bulk of the narrative driven by the experiences of her parents, or from case-notes from a therapist. I really didn't feel like I ever got to hear Nicole's story, just the story of her family. Which, ok, that's the title, I know. But I somehow thought it would be both. I was interested to see how her family developed and coped (especially her dad, who was portrayed as sensitively as possible, but was still massively hung-up on his ideals and his pre-determined thoughts about what was appropriate for a really long-ass time) and her brother, who had what seems like a fairly normal bout of teenaged/college "what is life really all about" slump, made worse by all the attention paid to his suddenly-famous sibling.
Regardless, it was a very moving and interesting story, and I still hope that perhaps Nicole will take some time from college and theatre to work with another ghostwriter and tell HER version of the story we got here. I'd love to hear her words.
Amy Ellis Nutt
ISBN: 9780812995411
Read August 21
The only downside to this book is that while it's about Nicole and her journey, the majority of the book is told from the perspectives of her relatives: her mother and father, and her identical twin brother. I found that less disturbing during the narration of their early lives, but once Nicole was into the 5th grade, it was odd to read snippets from her journal, but have the bulk of the narrative driven by the experiences of her parents, or from case-notes from a therapist. I really didn't feel like I ever got to hear Nicole's story, just the story of her family. Which, ok, that's the title, I know. But I somehow thought it would be both. I was interested to see how her family developed and coped (especially her dad, who was portrayed as sensitively as possible, but was still massively hung-up on his ideals and his pre-determined thoughts about what was appropriate for a really long-ass time) and her brother, who had what seems like a fairly normal bout of teenaged/college "what is life really all about" slump, made worse by all the attention paid to his suddenly-famous sibling.
Regardless, it was a very moving and interesting story, and I still hope that perhaps Nicole will take some time from college and theatre to work with another ghostwriter and tell HER version of the story we got here. I'd love to hear her words.
Saturday, August 27, 2016
YA Novel/Graphic: Draw the Line, by Laurent Linn
Written and drawn in sections by Laurent Linn, this isn't as solidly half-and-half graphic novel and book like The Adventures of Hugo Cabret or the more recent Miles Taylor and the Golden Cape. Still, there's a decent amount of illustrated material, which really adds something to the story.
Draw the Line
written and illustrated by Laurent Linn
ISBN: 9781481452809
Read August 20
Adrian has a lot of talent, but he's also a pragmatist (perhaps a pessimist) - he knows that artsy gay online comic creators aren't really the power players at school, so he's WAY into the closet, about everything. His wardrobe is made of muted greys and taupes, he keeps his head down, and no one besides his two similarly-marginalized friends has any idea what sort of ideas and passions make him tick. But all that changes dramatically when Adrian watches a flamboyantly gay classmate get savagely beaten at a local diner, and Adrian makes a terrified stand that puts him in the spotlight, and into the sights of school bullies.
It was a little heavy-handed at times, and the progression was a bit quick, and the ending a bit pat, but I forgive those in the interests of having a mostly upbeat and positive story, despite the focus on some tough issues.
I don't know if there's anywhere more for Adrian's story to go, but it might be interesting to see Linn tackle a slant-wise sequel that focuses on one of the other characters involved, several of whom have really strong potential for a powerful story of their own.
Draw the Line
written and illustrated by Laurent Linn
ISBN: 9781481452809
Read August 20
Adrian has a lot of talent, but he's also a pragmatist (perhaps a pessimist) - he knows that artsy gay online comic creators aren't really the power players at school, so he's WAY into the closet, about everything. His wardrobe is made of muted greys and taupes, he keeps his head down, and no one besides his two similarly-marginalized friends has any idea what sort of ideas and passions make him tick. But all that changes dramatically when Adrian watches a flamboyantly gay classmate get savagely beaten at a local diner, and Adrian makes a terrified stand that puts him in the spotlight, and into the sights of school bullies.
It was a little heavy-handed at times, and the progression was a bit quick, and the ending a bit pat, but I forgive those in the interests of having a mostly upbeat and positive story, despite the focus on some tough issues.
I don't know if there's anywhere more for Adrian's story to go, but it might be interesting to see Linn tackle a slant-wise sequel that focuses on one of the other characters involved, several of whom have really strong potential for a powerful story of their own.
Friday, August 26, 2016
Picture Book: Elliot, Julie Pearson, illustrated by Manon Gauthier
I don't know that I've seen a book directly about foster care and adoption that addressed the actual realities so specifically before. It's unsettling, but very well done, and very needed.
Elliot
Julie Pearson, illustrated by Manon Gauthier
ISBN: 9781927485859
Read August 2016
Elliot is a small bunny who has parents who don't know how to care for him, so he lives with different families instead.
In scratchy drawings and minimalist backgrounds, we learn about Elliot. "His mother and father loved him very much. BUT... When Elliot cried, his mother and father did not understand why. When Elliot yelled, his mother and his father did not know what to do. When Elliot misbehaved, his mother and father did not know how to react." So they ask for help from Thomas the social worker, and Elliot goes to stay with other families while his parents try to learn to care for him. He stays with one family for a while, and then goes back home, but then has to go to another family, and eventually Thomas explains that his mother and father will never know how to take care of him, so Thomas will find a forever family for Elliot.
What I really like here is that the text specifically ties Elliot's fears and worries and anticipation into his misbehavior (or desire to misbehave) because that is actually true, and something that normal attached families and children have a hard time understanding. I also like the scratchy informal artwork, that looks like it could have been drawn by a child, and the focus on Elliot and keeping his needs met and making sure he's informed of the process, while very specifically not giving him any power over how the situation unfolds: it's not because Elliot misbehaves or does anything, it's all based on his parents and on the decisions Thomas makes.
Very good resource, and I'm very glad to have it.
Elliot
Julie Pearson, illustrated by Manon Gauthier
ISBN: 9781927485859
Read August 2016
Elliot is a small bunny who has parents who don't know how to care for him, so he lives with different families instead.
In scratchy drawings and minimalist backgrounds, we learn about Elliot. "His mother and father loved him very much. BUT... When Elliot cried, his mother and father did not understand why. When Elliot yelled, his mother and his father did not know what to do. When Elliot misbehaved, his mother and father did not know how to react." So they ask for help from Thomas the social worker, and Elliot goes to stay with other families while his parents try to learn to care for him. He stays with one family for a while, and then goes back home, but then has to go to another family, and eventually Thomas explains that his mother and father will never know how to take care of him, so Thomas will find a forever family for Elliot.
What I really like here is that the text specifically ties Elliot's fears and worries and anticipation into his misbehavior (or desire to misbehave) because that is actually true, and something that normal attached families and children have a hard time understanding. I also like the scratchy informal artwork, that looks like it could have been drawn by a child, and the focus on Elliot and keeping his needs met and making sure he's informed of the process, while very specifically not giving him any power over how the situation unfolds: it's not because Elliot misbehaves or does anything, it's all based on his parents and on the decisions Thomas makes.
Very good resource, and I'm very glad to have it.
Thursday, August 25, 2016
Picture Book: What to Do With a Box, Jane Yolen, illustrated by Chris Sheban
What to Do With a Box
Jane Yolen, illustrated by Chris Sheban
ISBN: 9781568462899
Read August 2016
New arrival! This one is awfully cute. There are a good few "box" books out there, and I think this one adds nicely to the collection. It's a little on the sepia/bland side, so I don't know if it will work for storytime, but I'm thinking about giving it a whirl, just so I can say I did an entire storytime theme around cardboard boxes. The things that give a librarian joy.
So I said earlier that it's a bit sepia/bland - what I should have said is that it's box-colored. Most of the illustrations are of slightly hazy sepia-toned children playing in various quite-lifelike boxes, with their imaginations or drawings fading off the box into a sort of dreamy realm. It's a lovely way to envision the imagination that kids use when they're playing in a box or crate like that.
There isn't much of a story - it basically just asks what a box can be, and then each spread answers it with a different imagined playscape and a different set of children or single child with their own box or boxes. Still, it's sweet and fun and the language is easy and beautiful.
I think I've just convinced myself to do it. :)
Jane Yolen, illustrated by Chris Sheban
ISBN: 9781568462899
Read August 2016
New arrival! This one is awfully cute. There are a good few "box" books out there, and I think this one adds nicely to the collection. It's a little on the sepia/bland side, so I don't know if it will work for storytime, but I'm thinking about giving it a whirl, just so I can say I did an entire storytime theme around cardboard boxes. The things that give a librarian joy.
So I said earlier that it's a bit sepia/bland - what I should have said is that it's box-colored. Most of the illustrations are of slightly hazy sepia-toned children playing in various quite-lifelike boxes, with their imaginations or drawings fading off the box into a sort of dreamy realm. It's a lovely way to envision the imagination that kids use when they're playing in a box or crate like that.
There isn't much of a story - it basically just asks what a box can be, and then each spread answers it with a different imagined playscape and a different set of children or single child with their own box or boxes. Still, it's sweet and fun and the language is easy and beautiful.
I think I've just convinced myself to do it. :)
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Management: Be Our Guest, Disney Institute
Professional development titles should always be so fun and quick to read.
Be Our Guest: Perfecting the Art of Customer Service (revised and updated)
Disney Institute: Theodore Kinni
ISBN: 9781423145844 (2011)
Read August 2016
Basically the same idea as the Coldstone training I had way back when. I wish I could have read this when I was first starting out as a manager, but now there's a lot here that I realize is institutional, and if you don't have the institutional backing and the money/infrastructure/manpower to make it happen, it doesn't really help much at the middle-management level, regardless of how inspiring and motivating it wants to appear.
Not to knock the Disney machine. They've got a great thing going, and they're smart to share it (in fact, at ALA this year, there was a keynote address co-sponsored by one of the vendors that WAS How to Create the Disney Experience, using this very idea. Again, not very helpful unless you have legit and enthusiastic buy-in from all levels of the organization - so I'm glad I read the book and didn't waste my short amount of time at the conference.
Basically, the idea is that the more streamlined, simple, attractive, and coherent you keep your operational "narrative," the happier, more calm, and more appreciative your audience (customers or patrons) will be.
So:
1) focus on the basics first: safety, mission statement, the actual provision of the services.
2) add on set-dressing: make the environment pleasant and use experiential cues to support your basics. Have clear signage, open and attractive areas where things all fit in (branding) and think about other senses to engage: scent, sound, temperature.
3) have a highly trained cast: make sure your employees are very good at their jobs by training them on the SPECIFICS of how to interact with people, down to hand-gestures and facial expressions. (This is the part that Coldstone was very big on.) You want friendly interchangeable motivated and helpful blank-slates that project the personality of the company, not of their own person. (Honestly, this bit is really questionable from a HR perspective, but you gotta admit that they're right and it works!)
4) behind-the-scenes control: there has to be infrastructure to support all the other points, and if you don't have that institutional and manpower infrastructure, good luck making all the other things stick. Put actual time and energy into developing and adapting processes and policies to keep audience and cast happy and working efficiently together to give the audience what they want. (or even what they don't yet know that they want, but they want it when they see it.)
A fun read, with lots of Disney insider trivia and history, but it really does have to be an all-or-nothing sort of approach.
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Tuesday Storytime: Summer Showers
We've finally had some rain here, so it's time for our Summer Showers storytime - I usually do one in spring and one in late summer after the Summer Reading Program finishes off. In South Carolina, summer is absolutely not over at the end of July - we're just getting started. Last year it didn't cool down til November, and I don't see that changing much this year either.
Thunder-Boomer!
Shutta Crum, illustrated by Carol Thompson
ISBN: 9780618918651
Loose free scribbly lines and washes of color and lots of small panels and vignettes.
The panels and vignettes make this a little less suitable for storytime, but we had a small-ish group today, so it worked out pretty well. I love the loose flowing scribbly lines and the slightly sloppy washes of color everywhere, and the differences between the wide-open outside and the slightly cramped and crowded inside. We start on a hot country afternoon: dad's plowing, mom and kids are cooling by the pond, and a "Thunder-Boomer" rolls in, prompting a scramble: tractor put away, chickens hustled back into the coop, laundry pulled off the line. The bottom falls out, and poor Dad has to run out to rescue a last broody chicken, and then it's just huddling together while the storm rolls through. After the rain and wind and hail die back down, they emerge to a wet and clean world, and a tiny kitten, courtesy of the broody chicken and drenched by the storm.
The Big Storm! A Very Soggy Counting Book
Nancy Tafuri
ISBN: 9781416967958
Oddly paced, but short and sweet: forest animals take refuge one by one in a small cave - surprise bears!
Tafuri's lovely drawings with their vibrant colors and clear lines are perfect for this short and sweet count-up-and-back-down. The frontispieces show a pair of bears heading into a hillside cave, and then the story begins with the smaller woodland creatures swooping in to take refuge from the storm - as the numbers and the animals reveal, they don't know the bears are already there! All ten crowd in for the night of storms and rumbly thunder, but in the morning the sky is clear, but why can they still hear thunder so loudly? A mad scramble for the outdoors makes up the count-back-down, and the bears are left peacefully asleep.
Tap Tap Boom Boom
Elizabeth Bluemle, illustrated by G. Brian Karas
ISBN: 9780763656966
An urban thunderstorm brings umbrella vendors and a retreat into the subway station.
The short choppy rhythms of this book and the syncopated speaking patterns and slant-rhymes (at least for me) make this a challenge to read fluidly, but it's a really great book, especially for my area, which is a lot more familiar with farms and suburbs than with subways and city sidewalks. A Tap Tap Boom Boom rolls in, and as the rain soaks through everything, people retreat to the subway station for refuge and a chance to dry off and socialize for a bit before re-emerging to find a scrubbed-clean city and a nice rainbow. This one also is good for humanizing and normalizing city life, again a challenge for this particular area. For a city-life trio, I'd pair it with Nana in the City and I don't know what else.
Thunder-Boomer!
Shutta Crum, illustrated by Carol Thompson
ISBN: 9780618918651
Loose free scribbly lines and washes of color and lots of small panels and vignettes.
The panels and vignettes make this a little less suitable for storytime, but we had a small-ish group today, so it worked out pretty well. I love the loose flowing scribbly lines and the slightly sloppy washes of color everywhere, and the differences between the wide-open outside and the slightly cramped and crowded inside. We start on a hot country afternoon: dad's plowing, mom and kids are cooling by the pond, and a "Thunder-Boomer" rolls in, prompting a scramble: tractor put away, chickens hustled back into the coop, laundry pulled off the line. The bottom falls out, and poor Dad has to run out to rescue a last broody chicken, and then it's just huddling together while the storm rolls through. After the rain and wind and hail die back down, they emerge to a wet and clean world, and a tiny kitten, courtesy of the broody chicken and drenched by the storm.
The Big Storm! A Very Soggy Counting Book
Nancy Tafuri
ISBN: 9781416967958
Oddly paced, but short and sweet: forest animals take refuge one by one in a small cave - surprise bears!
Tafuri's lovely drawings with their vibrant colors and clear lines are perfect for this short and sweet count-up-and-back-down. The frontispieces show a pair of bears heading into a hillside cave, and then the story begins with the smaller woodland creatures swooping in to take refuge from the storm - as the numbers and the animals reveal, they don't know the bears are already there! All ten crowd in for the night of storms and rumbly thunder, but in the morning the sky is clear, but why can they still hear thunder so loudly? A mad scramble for the outdoors makes up the count-back-down, and the bears are left peacefully asleep.
Tap Tap Boom Boom
Elizabeth Bluemle, illustrated by G. Brian Karas
ISBN: 9780763656966
An urban thunderstorm brings umbrella vendors and a retreat into the subway station.
The short choppy rhythms of this book and the syncopated speaking patterns and slant-rhymes (at least for me) make this a challenge to read fluidly, but it's a really great book, especially for my area, which is a lot more familiar with farms and suburbs than with subways and city sidewalks. A Tap Tap Boom Boom rolls in, and as the rain soaks through everything, people retreat to the subway station for refuge and a chance to dry off and socialize for a bit before re-emerging to find a scrubbed-clean city and a nice rainbow. This one also is good for humanizing and normalizing city life, again a challenge for this particular area. For a city-life trio, I'd pair it with Nana in the City and I don't know what else.
Monday, August 22, 2016
Graphic Novel: The Last Dragon, Jane Yolen, illustrated by Rebecca Guay
The Last Dragon
Jane Yolen, illustrated by Rebecca Guay
ISBN: 9781616558741
Read August 15, 2016
An introduction by Neil Gaiman is sweet, but unnecessary for this sweet and delightfully traditional dragon slaying fairy tale.
Once upon a time there was an island that was plagued by dragons, who just adored eating people. Apparently we taste good. The folk banded together and slayed them all. Now it's hundreds of years later, and dragons are a faded memory - all dead, all gone. Until one final egg hatches, and a new dragon begins to grow up in the woods, all fire and hatred and appetite.
We join a healer's family and a pair of young boys searching for a hero, all desperate to save their town from this re-born threat from the past.
The art is beautiful, the characters are individualized as much as possible given the short length of the story, and a sweet little romance doesn't detract from the plot to destroy the dragon and save the townsfolk.
Jane Yolen, illustrated by Rebecca Guay
ISBN: 9781616558741
Read August 15, 2016
An introduction by Neil Gaiman is sweet, but unnecessary for this sweet and delightfully traditional dragon slaying fairy tale.
Once upon a time there was an island that was plagued by dragons, who just adored eating people. Apparently we taste good. The folk banded together and slayed them all. Now it's hundreds of years later, and dragons are a faded memory - all dead, all gone. Until one final egg hatches, and a new dragon begins to grow up in the woods, all fire and hatred and appetite.
We join a healer's family and a pair of young boys searching for a hero, all desperate to save their town from this re-born threat from the past.
The art is beautiful, the characters are individualized as much as possible given the short length of the story, and a sweet little romance doesn't detract from the plot to destroy the dragon and save the townsfolk.
Saturday, August 20, 2016
Finance: The One-Page Financial Plan, Carl Richards
The One-Page Financial Plan
Carl Richards
ISBN: 9781591847557
A simplified direct approach to counteracting the tendency to do nothing when you can't do the best.
Read August 2016
Richards is very smart. He knows that when faced with difficult decisions, the tendency is to waffle back and forth and to hesitate and not do anything, rather than have to know that you DID do the wrong thing (or even perhaps the not the absolute best thing). This gets really bad when dealing with financial issues, because really, doing SOMETHING is generally better than doing nothing at all.
So he breaks things down into simple (not necessarily easy) suggestions:
Track your daily spending.
Make a budget or use expense-monitoring software and check to see if your ideas about your spending match reality. Adjust either ideas or reality until they match. Don't spend time feeling guilty if it's not a match, just make it match however goes best for you.
Figure out what YOU want money for, and what that looks like to you in 5, 10 years?
Security? Travel? Kids? Retirement? New house?
Keeping your current spending habits and lifestyle in mind, AND what you want for the future, start researching how much money you need to have put aside to make those things happen.
Write a single page that says basically: "We need x $ for our vacation this year. We need y $ for replacing the roof. We need z $ for our retirement fund. We're doing THIS to make it happen."
Automate transfers and deposits and payments as much as possible - so you don't have to constantly think about "sacrificing" to meet your goals.
For emergencies or special-occasions, refer to your actual physical page of goals and needs before deciding. You've really already decided, just be persistent and DON'T CHANGE YOUR MIND.
Remember things change - check your sheet and your plans purpsefully every year (not when you're tempted by a shiny special occasion or flailing in an emergency) and either re-affirm or modify.
Actually invest something. Anything. Find a good financial adviser and follow their directions, or make a 60/40 split in stocks and bonds. Make stocks safe and VERY DIVERSE holdings. Every year, take your gains and losses and redistribute them to keep the split at 60/40, and if possible grow the investments instead of cashing them out. Investing works best long-term. Anything shorter than a few years needs to be CDs instead.
Carl Richards
ISBN: 9781591847557
A simplified direct approach to counteracting the tendency to do nothing when you can't do the best.
Read August 2016
Richards is very smart. He knows that when faced with difficult decisions, the tendency is to waffle back and forth and to hesitate and not do anything, rather than have to know that you DID do the wrong thing (or even perhaps the not the absolute best thing). This gets really bad when dealing with financial issues, because really, doing SOMETHING is generally better than doing nothing at all.
So he breaks things down into simple (not necessarily easy) suggestions:
Track your daily spending.
Make a budget or use expense-monitoring software and check to see if your ideas about your spending match reality. Adjust either ideas or reality until they match. Don't spend time feeling guilty if it's not a match, just make it match however goes best for you.
Figure out what YOU want money for, and what that looks like to you in 5, 10 years?
Security? Travel? Kids? Retirement? New house?
Keeping your current spending habits and lifestyle in mind, AND what you want for the future, start researching how much money you need to have put aside to make those things happen.
Write a single page that says basically: "We need x $ for our vacation this year. We need y $ for replacing the roof. We need z $ for our retirement fund. We're doing THIS to make it happen."
Automate transfers and deposits and payments as much as possible - so you don't have to constantly think about "sacrificing" to meet your goals.
For emergencies or special-occasions, refer to your actual physical page of goals and needs before deciding. You've really already decided, just be persistent and DON'T CHANGE YOUR MIND.
Remember things change - check your sheet and your plans purpsefully every year (not when you're tempted by a shiny special occasion or flailing in an emergency) and either re-affirm or modify.
Actually invest something. Anything. Find a good financial adviser and follow their directions, or make a 60/40 split in stocks and bonds. Make stocks safe and VERY DIVERSE holdings. Every year, take your gains and losses and redistribute them to keep the split at 60/40, and if possible grow the investments instead of cashing them out. Investing works best long-term. Anything shorter than a few years needs to be CDs instead.
Friday, August 19, 2016
Dalma Heyn, 1992, ISBN: 0679413391
I'm not listing the title because I do review mainly children's books, but it's easy to find with the info I provided.
Author: Dalma Heyn
ISBN: 0679413391
Turtle Bay/Random House, 1992
Read August 2016
Inspired by professional and cultural literature presenting affairs as being unrelentingly horrible in outcome for married women, Heyn went out and actually talked to some (white, upperclass, privileged) women who DID have affairs, and when their thoughts and reasons clashed horribly with the literature, she took the brave step of abandoning the established "professional" truth, and simply listened and recorded what the women said, and then compared and contrasted that with psychological and sociological studies.
Basically, Heyn showed that if SOCIALLY KNOWN, (even just to the husband) having an affair was most often quite detrimental to women and their security (emotionally, physically, and fiscally) and to their standing in society, if the affair was private, the women in question often felt that this experience provided them a place to be a full, whole person, rather than the "socialized wife" that they all felt they were expected to be inside of marriage.
It was dated, but interesting, and I'd really like to see someone tackle polyamory and plural marriages, because I think some of the interesting dynamics of self-sacrifice and of being less-than a whole authentic self to make a married relationship work, and of course the idea that most men, and some women have that when married they have ownership or controlling rights over the other partner's sexuality.
Interesting read.
Author: Dalma Heyn
ISBN: 0679413391
Turtle Bay/Random House, 1992
Read August 2016
Inspired by professional and cultural literature presenting affairs as being unrelentingly horrible in outcome for married women, Heyn went out and actually talked to some (white, upperclass, privileged) women who DID have affairs, and when their thoughts and reasons clashed horribly with the literature, she took the brave step of abandoning the established "professional" truth, and simply listened and recorded what the women said, and then compared and contrasted that with psychological and sociological studies.
Basically, Heyn showed that if SOCIALLY KNOWN, (even just to the husband) having an affair was most often quite detrimental to women and their security (emotionally, physically, and fiscally) and to their standing in society, if the affair was private, the women in question often felt that this experience provided them a place to be a full, whole person, rather than the "socialized wife" that they all felt they were expected to be inside of marriage.
It was dated, but interesting, and I'd really like to see someone tackle polyamory and plural marriages, because I think some of the interesting dynamics of self-sacrifice and of being less-than a whole authentic self to make a married relationship work, and of course the idea that most men, and some women have that when married they have ownership or controlling rights over the other partner's sexuality.
Interesting read.
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Graphic Novel Book Club: New Suicide Squad, vol. 1 Pure Insanity, by Sean Ryan et al
Our last graphic novel was intended to tie in with the new Suicide Squad movie, and from what I hear, audiences liked that movie just about as much as our readers liked the New Suicide Squad collection. By which I mean they're not liking it much at all. Interesting how that works out.
Anyway.
New Suicide Squad, Vol. 1: Pure Insanity
collecting New Suicide Squad issues 1-8
ISBN: 9781401252380
writing: Sean Ryan
breakdowns: Tom Derenick
artists: Rob Hunter, Jeremy Roberts, Norm Rapmund, Vicente Cifuentes, Scott Hanna, Trevor Scott, Mark Irwin, Batt
colorist: Blond
letterers: Taylor Esposito, Dave Sharpe
Read August 2016
So the OLD Suicide Squad was disbanded apparently, so Amanda Waller is working with a bull-headed, homicidal, over-achieving Vic Sage (what a name) with his hand-picked new Task Force X (why so many names, y'all?) purposefully picked to cause as much strife and mayhem as possible. Poor Amanda.
So returning from the old team we have Harley, Deadshot, and Black Manta, and Vic drags in Deathstroke and Joker's Daughter (who really isn't, but ok, let's have more crazy women with strange issues about the Joker being the formative male figure in their lives because THAT's totally not sexist and old news already). At some point the Australian dude and Totally Not Evil Flash get dragged into this ridiculousness, just to have more characters involved I guess?
I'm sure there is a plot, I just couldn't find it. The team gets sent to Russia to research something, and explodes it instead (quelle surprise), gets sent to tactically explode something in China, and DOESN'T explode it before a bunch of vat-grown mutant (does DC have mutants?) supers lurches zombie/Doom-like out to pummel them (they eventually explode things). Then there's Chinese Superman, who I think dies because they can't figure out what to do with him... and all the while Vic the dick and Amanda are jousting for position back at HQ.
Anyway - it's a hot mess. The women are simply crazy - no characters there to speak of. Harley's a far cry from the self-possessed crazy but somewhat self-aware character she is in her flagship series (review coming soon for that one), and Joker's Daughter is simply a mess and spends most of the time being useless or unconscious. Characters defect or are invalided out nearly every issue, making it difficult to care about the team. Honestly, the only one I felt anything for was Black Manta, who really just needs to get out of there and find a team of reasonable people to work with. (Good luck, man.) Waller is presented sympathetically, Vic is amazingly cardboard for being the major antagonist, and honestly Waller's assistant has the most "humanizing" moments in the whole thing.
Art was decent, but oddly stretched and warped in places, like the panel layout wasn't finalized before the scenes were drawn, and someone just used the stretch tool in MS Paint to make things fit in their new locations. Lots of red, lots of explosions as backgrounds (saves drawing buildings) lots of cement-bunker environments or nearly-empty cubical farms. The women (save a few moments for Waller and her assistant) are constantly sexualized, even when in the middle of mayhem, or when unconscious. The male characters are differentiated by costumes, and that's about it. Once in their prison/psych uniforms, I had trouble recognizing characters from earlier panels.
Not hugely recommended, but there's a possibility for interesting development for Manta and Waller, so if you're interested in them, it might be worth it. Otherwise, the characters are mostly there to provide a superficial reason for all the explosions.
Anyway.
New Suicide Squad, Vol. 1: Pure Insanity
collecting New Suicide Squad issues 1-8
ISBN: 9781401252380
writing: Sean Ryan
breakdowns: Tom Derenick
artists: Rob Hunter, Jeremy Roberts, Norm Rapmund, Vicente Cifuentes, Scott Hanna, Trevor Scott, Mark Irwin, Batt
colorist: Blond
letterers: Taylor Esposito, Dave Sharpe
Read August 2016
So the OLD Suicide Squad was disbanded apparently, so Amanda Waller is working with a bull-headed, homicidal, over-achieving Vic Sage (what a name) with his hand-picked new Task Force X (why so many names, y'all?) purposefully picked to cause as much strife and mayhem as possible. Poor Amanda.
So returning from the old team we have Harley, Deadshot, and Black Manta, and Vic drags in Deathstroke and Joker's Daughter (who really isn't, but ok, let's have more crazy women with strange issues about the Joker being the formative male figure in their lives because THAT's totally not sexist and old news already). At some point the Australian dude and Totally Not Evil Flash get dragged into this ridiculousness, just to have more characters involved I guess?
I'm sure there is a plot, I just couldn't find it. The team gets sent to Russia to research something, and explodes it instead (quelle surprise), gets sent to tactically explode something in China, and DOESN'T explode it before a bunch of vat-grown mutant (does DC have mutants?) supers lurches zombie/Doom-like out to pummel them (they eventually explode things). Then there's Chinese Superman, who I think dies because they can't figure out what to do with him... and all the while Vic the dick and Amanda are jousting for position back at HQ.
Anyway - it's a hot mess. The women are simply crazy - no characters there to speak of. Harley's a far cry from the self-possessed crazy but somewhat self-aware character she is in her flagship series (review coming soon for that one), and Joker's Daughter is simply a mess and spends most of the time being useless or unconscious. Characters defect or are invalided out nearly every issue, making it difficult to care about the team. Honestly, the only one I felt anything for was Black Manta, who really just needs to get out of there and find a team of reasonable people to work with. (Good luck, man.) Waller is presented sympathetically, Vic is amazingly cardboard for being the major antagonist, and honestly Waller's assistant has the most "humanizing" moments in the whole thing.
Art was decent, but oddly stretched and warped in places, like the panel layout wasn't finalized before the scenes were drawn, and someone just used the stretch tool in MS Paint to make things fit in their new locations. Lots of red, lots of explosions as backgrounds (saves drawing buildings) lots of cement-bunker environments or nearly-empty cubical farms. The women (save a few moments for Waller and her assistant) are constantly sexualized, even when in the middle of mayhem, or when unconscious. The male characters are differentiated by costumes, and that's about it. Once in their prison/psych uniforms, I had trouble recognizing characters from earlier panels.
Not hugely recommended, but there's a possibility for interesting development for Manta and Waller, so if you're interested in them, it might be worth it. Otherwise, the characters are mostly there to provide a superficial reason for all the explosions.
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Tuesday Storytime: Zingy Blingy Rhythm
The Ring Went Zing! a story that ends with a kiss
Sean Taylor, illustrated by Jill Barton
ISBN: 9780803733114
Scratchy colored-pencil and watercolor anthropomorphic animals chase a ring, in growing numbers.
I Got the Rhythm
Connie Schofield-Morrison, illustrated by Frank Morrison
ISBN: 9781619631786
A delightful AA child beat-bops through a park associating rhythms with different senses and sounds.
Dancing Feet!
Lindsay Craig, illustrated by Marc Brown
ISBN: 9780375861819
A series of animal-feet-based "who does this" pages get kids involved, and then a splash page at the end has children and animals all dancing together.
Sean Taylor, illustrated by Jill Barton
ISBN: 9780803733114
Scratchy colored-pencil and watercolor anthropomorphic animals chase a ring, in growing numbers.
I Got the Rhythm
Connie Schofield-Morrison, illustrated by Frank Morrison
ISBN: 9781619631786
A delightful AA child beat-bops through a park associating rhythms with different senses and sounds.
Dancing Feet!
Lindsay Craig, illustrated by Marc Brown
ISBN: 9780375861819
A series of animal-feet-based "who does this" pages get kids involved, and then a splash page at the end has children and animals all dancing together.
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Tuesday Storytime: Splashy Summer
I have such fun picking out themes for storytimes.
All-Weather Friends
Udo Weigelt, illustrated by Nicolas D' Aujourd'hui
ISBN: 0735810486 (library)
A German wives' tale gets Moss the frog into weather forecasting trouble, before a new friend sets him straight.
Moss is flustered when his friend Hedgehog demands that he forecast the weather, and in his panic, he makes up stories. None of his forecasts come true (this book has the record for the weirdest-weather day ever!) and in despair, after ruining his friends' plans for the day, he sets off for the weather frog in the human house to learn forecasting. What he learns instead, is how to be a friend, and how to be truthful, even when people are very demanding.
Down by the Cool of the Pool
Tony Mitton, illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees
ISBN: 0439309158
A lively barnyard song-and-dance sparked by the frog at the farm pond.
This one is quick and lively and super-fast-paced, and the illustrations are likewise loose and bright and vibrant and full of action. The text is incorporated into the illustrations, which makes a couple of pages a bit hard to process in front of an audience, but the words and the escalation of the rhyme is fairly predictable. I do find the ending a bit abrupt, but otherwise it's a bright fun read.
Water in the Park: a book about water and the times of the day
Emily Jenkins, illustrated by Stephanie Graegin
ISBN: 9780375970023
A city park, with pond, playground, sprinklers, and grassy field, sees a full day of visitors.
This is an interesting premise, and it feels just a little bit forced, to be totally honest, but the close focus on individuals (from a child's perspective - so we have the names of children and dogs, but not of any adults) and on the ebb and flow of visitors to the park saves it from being tedious. We start at 6 am, with a quiet park, where turtles enjoy the first rays of sunlight on the rocks. Through the day, various people and animals enjoy the park and interact with water in lots of different ways, from dogs splashing in the pond to kids schlepping water in buckets over to the sandboxes, to babies playing in the sprinklers, to birds bathing in the puddles left over from the workers watering the flowers, until nighttime, when the last dogs finish their walks and a torrential storm soaks everything.
All-Weather Friends
Udo Weigelt, illustrated by Nicolas D' Aujourd'hui
ISBN: 0735810486 (library)
A German wives' tale gets Moss the frog into weather forecasting trouble, before a new friend sets him straight.
Moss is flustered when his friend Hedgehog demands that he forecast the weather, and in his panic, he makes up stories. None of his forecasts come true (this book has the record for the weirdest-weather day ever!) and in despair, after ruining his friends' plans for the day, he sets off for the weather frog in the human house to learn forecasting. What he learns instead, is how to be a friend, and how to be truthful, even when people are very demanding.
Down by the Cool of the Pool
Tony Mitton, illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees
ISBN: 0439309158
A lively barnyard song-and-dance sparked by the frog at the farm pond.
This one is quick and lively and super-fast-paced, and the illustrations are likewise loose and bright and vibrant and full of action. The text is incorporated into the illustrations, which makes a couple of pages a bit hard to process in front of an audience, but the words and the escalation of the rhyme is fairly predictable. I do find the ending a bit abrupt, but otherwise it's a bright fun read.
Water in the Park: a book about water and the times of the day
Emily Jenkins, illustrated by Stephanie Graegin
ISBN: 9780375970023
A city park, with pond, playground, sprinklers, and grassy field, sees a full day of visitors.
This is an interesting premise, and it feels just a little bit forced, to be totally honest, but the close focus on individuals (from a child's perspective - so we have the names of children and dogs, but not of any adults) and on the ebb and flow of visitors to the park saves it from being tedious. We start at 6 am, with a quiet park, where turtles enjoy the first rays of sunlight on the rocks. Through the day, various people and animals enjoy the park and interact with water in lots of different ways, from dogs splashing in the pond to kids schlepping water in buckets over to the sandboxes, to babies playing in the sprinklers, to birds bathing in the puddles left over from the workers watering the flowers, until nighttime, when the last dogs finish their walks and a torrential storm soaks everything.
Tuesday, August 2, 2016
Tuesday Storytime: Gardening
Well, MOSTLY gardening. I thought I had a third gardening book already set aside for this week, but turns out I didn't, so we used a new arrival (Summer Days and Nights) instead, and it worked out fine. Next time around I'd like to have it more specifically gardening, but que sera and all that.
Summer Days and Nights
Wong Herbert Yee
ISBN: 9780805090879
A generic "Asian" family spends an idyllic day and evening with traditional summer activities.
Yee is best known to me because of his sweet and simple Fireman Small, which I use with nearly alarming frequency when I do firefighter or local hero storytime themes. It's just so sweet and kind and endearing. This book is a little more generic, but it's still a lovely story, nice and gentle and just perfect for bedtime. Perhaps a bit too sweet and slow for storytime (especially with the size - this is a SMALL book: 6 inches tall and only about 8.5 wide, and most of the pictures aren't even the whole size of the pages. Our unnamed and un-gendered child wanders through a summer day, with requisite mentions of cats napping in the sunlight, iced lemonade, splashing in pools, picnics in the park, and catching butterflies. What makes it slightly more interesting is the inclusion of nighttime scenes, and here is where the sub-theme of summertime life (most especially insect or small-animal life) is most pointed, as we see a mouse, owl, fireflies, crickets, and frogs outside in the evening before finally it's bedtime.
Lola Plants a Garden
Anna McQuinn, illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw
ISBN: 9781580896948
Lola is a sweet Black child with a new and growing series of books about central child life topics.
McQuinn's Lola and Leo stories are generally very good for topical and child-interest storytimes. As an aside, Lola is Lulu in the UK, where they're originally published. For Lola, we have books about reading, and about interacting with baby siblings, and now about gardening, and we also have two featuring her little brother Leo (Zeki in the UK): Leo Loves Baby Time, and Leo Can Swim, for another set of important kid-friendly subjects. I admit to being biased towards these simply because they feature Black children and families, and there are still too few of those books, and too few done by GOOD storytellers with GOOD illustrators. I want people to know that just like girls and people of color learn to identify with all the millions of little white boys that feature as the heroes of stories, little white boys can do the same with a hero who is a girl, or a person of color. It's a long slow slog, but I really feel like it's important to do as much as I can. Soapbox over. Lola is inspired by the nursery rhyme Mary Mary Quite Contrary, and with the help of her mom and dad, plants a flower garden, waits for it to grow, and then hosts a party for her little friends. Simple, sweet, solid logical realistic activities.
If You Plant a Seed
Kadir Nelson
ISBN: 9780062298898
Previously reviewed here.
It worked out very well for storytime! The little ones loved the bright active vibrant paintings, and the older kids were very intent on the story slowly unfolding with the turns of the pages. I was very satisfied.
Summer Days and Nights
Wong Herbert Yee
ISBN: 9780805090879
A generic "Asian" family spends an idyllic day and evening with traditional summer activities.
Yee is best known to me because of his sweet and simple Fireman Small, which I use with nearly alarming frequency when I do firefighter or local hero storytime themes. It's just so sweet and kind and endearing. This book is a little more generic, but it's still a lovely story, nice and gentle and just perfect for bedtime. Perhaps a bit too sweet and slow for storytime (especially with the size - this is a SMALL book: 6 inches tall and only about 8.5 wide, and most of the pictures aren't even the whole size of the pages. Our unnamed and un-gendered child wanders through a summer day, with requisite mentions of cats napping in the sunlight, iced lemonade, splashing in pools, picnics in the park, and catching butterflies. What makes it slightly more interesting is the inclusion of nighttime scenes, and here is where the sub-theme of summertime life (most especially insect or small-animal life) is most pointed, as we see a mouse, owl, fireflies, crickets, and frogs outside in the evening before finally it's bedtime.
Lola Plants a Garden
Anna McQuinn, illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw
ISBN: 9781580896948
Lola is a sweet Black child with a new and growing series of books about central child life topics.
McQuinn's Lola and Leo stories are generally very good for topical and child-interest storytimes. As an aside, Lola is Lulu in the UK, where they're originally published. For Lola, we have books about reading, and about interacting with baby siblings, and now about gardening, and we also have two featuring her little brother Leo (Zeki in the UK): Leo Loves Baby Time, and Leo Can Swim, for another set of important kid-friendly subjects. I admit to being biased towards these simply because they feature Black children and families, and there are still too few of those books, and too few done by GOOD storytellers with GOOD illustrators. I want people to know that just like girls and people of color learn to identify with all the millions of little white boys that feature as the heroes of stories, little white boys can do the same with a hero who is a girl, or a person of color. It's a long slow slog, but I really feel like it's important to do as much as I can. Soapbox over. Lola is inspired by the nursery rhyme Mary Mary Quite Contrary, and with the help of her mom and dad, plants a flower garden, waits for it to grow, and then hosts a party for her little friends. Simple, sweet, solid logical realistic activities.
If You Plant a Seed
Kadir Nelson
ISBN: 9780062298898
Previously reviewed here.
It worked out very well for storytime! The little ones loved the bright active vibrant paintings, and the older kids were very intent on the story slowly unfolding with the turns of the pages. I was very satisfied.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)