Just the Way You Are

Bruno Mars sings it, he says, "when I see your face, there's not a thing that I would change 'cause you're amazing, just the way you are." The song is a hit, but do we really believe it?  I'm sure all of us, even those of us who don't want to admit it, have sung along at some point or another.  But do we really accept people just the way they are?

Joseph  Krumgold's Onion John wrestles with this very question. Onion John is, for lack of a better term, the village cook.  He's always been there and for the most part people accept his somewhat different lifestyle and his strange antics.  This all changes the day the rotary club decides to build Onion John a real house.  But its more than a house, Onion John has to dress like everyone else and live like everyone else and be respectable.  Andrew who has befriended Onion John sees it this way, "It would've been better for everybody if he didn't try so hard to change. First, he wasn't very good at it.  And second, I didn't see anything wrong with the way he was."

Most rotary club members think they are doing John a great kindness but one sees it differently, "Hasn't it become pretty obvious? What we think i proper and what John thinks is proper, they're two different things. What are we trying to prove to him, that he's wrong?"  Krumgold masterfully weaves a tale of a young boy becoming an adult with the tale of a community's journey to accpetance.  Andrew's father is one fighting to build Onion John a new house and for the first time in his life Andrew finds he wasn't on his father's side. 

Onion John tells Andrew he is grown up because he stops believing in all of Onion Johns fanciful ideas.  How depressing.  Why is it children can have splendid ideas but adults must be practical? The book then leaves you with a very satisfying ending but of course I'm not going to tell you what that is (it's the kind where nothing is spelled out for you but you know exactly what happens-soo good).

Befriending someone just the way they are...that's kids stuff.

Books Should be Read Aloud

In my literacy education classes we have been discussing the importance of reading aloud to students at any age. Most people do this naturally in lower elementary grades but don't realize it still has some amazing benefits for high school students.  And it's just fun.  I love being read to, even now as an "adult."  Case in point some of my favorite memories from college are when my roommate, Alicia, read aloud to me.

Alicia and I at Messiah College (our Alma Mater)

How did this come about you ask?  I would be delighted to tell you.  We were discussing our shared love of children's literature, yes a music major and a biology major can have things in common, and our favorite books from childhood.  I mentioned how we had to read A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle and I hated it.  She freaked out and asked how I could hate such an amazing book.  So to prove to me that I was wrong and A Wrinkle in Time is a book to be loved, not hated, she read the entire book, all 203 pages, aloud to me.  She read a little bit each night, or whenever we had time, and she even had voices for all the characters.  She was right, I loved it.  I loved it so much that she read aloud the remaining two books in the series A Wind in the Door, and A Swiftly Tilting Planet. 

So yes, it turns out this book is indeed excellent and it is a book to be loved.  The story is fantastic and beautifully told, the characters are charming but real, and in the end you fall in love with the book and everything in it. But I wasn't the only one who didn't care for the book originally.  L'Engle had a difficult time getting it published.  "What is it?" I would be asked, "is it fantasy or science fiction" 

"It's a book"

"But who is it for, is it for children or adults?"
"It's for people.  Don't people read books" 

As L'Engle puts it, "The problem wasn't that it was too difficult for children.  It was too difficult for adults." 

I don't want to give away really any of the story because anything I try to say will make the book sound weird. And let me assure you, this book isn't weird, it's brilliant-translation: you need to read this book.  But I will leave you this one realization made by the main character Meg (who's voice Alicia did extremely well) "Maybe I don't like being different," Meg said, "but I don't want to be like everybody else, either." 

Not making things too hard, letting yourself be different...that's kids stuff. 

In the Shadows

A friend of mine who's blog I follow recently posted, "when life happens, blogging doesn't." (you can check out her blog here).  How true that is.  My goal for this blog was to read a book a day and then blog about it.  But it doesn't always work out that way.  Some days, those slow lazy days that I love, I can read 2 or even 3 books so on busy days I still have something to blog about.  I know my life has gotten crazy when I run out of my "cushion" books and still don't have time to read.  This weekend two good friends of mine got married and my boyfriend was the best man so this weekend was filled with wedding festivities. (A big congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Keller-your wedding was beautiful and perfect and I was honored to celebrate with you).This is the week of double classes which means 3 hours in the morning and three in the afternoon plus all of the corresponding readings outside of class.  So unfortunately I have not been able to blog as much as I wanted.

Enough you are saying, get to the book.  Ok here it is.  Maia Wojciechowska's (yes that is her last name, yes I double checked the spelling) Shadow of a Bull is the tale of a young boy whose father was a champion bull fighter named Juan Olivar.  Juan dies when his son, Manolo, is young but Manolo spends his whole life in his fathers shadow.  The entire town is waiting for him to reach the proper age and become a champion bull fighter just like his father, "They talked about him, not behind his back, but all around him, in front and alongside and behind, not caring at all if he was within earshot or even standing and listening to them."  No pressure, right?

What a way for a child to grow up, 'they were waiting for the son to be like his father."  But what if the son is not like the father?  And this is the conflict of the book.  It is Manolo's struggle to find out who he really is, is he a champion bullfighter or does he want something else?  Of course I'm not  going to tell you the answer you will have to read the book to find out.  Does Manolo stay in the shadows or does he step out on his own path?

Learning who you are, even if it's not what people expect...that's kids stuff. 

Learning to Read

This summer I am taking classes in the reading specialist program.  One day it hit me, I will be teaching children how to read.  I realized how much power comes with reading.  What an amazing career to be able to give the power of literacy to people.  William Armstrong's Sounder is a the story of a young boys quest to learn to read. 

The boy in this story understood exactly what it meant to be able to read.  Look at how he describes it, "One day I will learn to read' he said to himself.  He would have a book with some stories in it, then he wouldn't be lonesome even if his mother didn't sing." If you can read you will never be lonely.  When I first moved to Penn State I only knew one person and we had radically different schedules.  I was lonely.  Then I discovered the children's literature section of our library.  I poured myself into stories and I when I was reading I wasn't lonely anymore.  I had stories. 

"He was sure he could learn to read if he had a book."  Sometimes I forget how lucky I am.  The aforementioned library has the second largest collection of childrens literature in the state of Pennsylvania, and I have access to every single one of those books.  And th at is only a small portion of the hundreds of thousands of books available to me. This boy just wanted one. And here is my shameless plug.  With budgets the way that they are give any of your extra books to schools.  Give kids new books to read in a variety of genres.  Books are so important, don't let any kid wish for just one.

Learning to read...that's kids stuff.

Just Like Me!

Every now and then you get an author who wins not one but two Newberry Medals.  E.L. Knigsburg is one of those authors.  If you haven't read From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler you are missing out big time!  Read is as soon as possible-it is FANTASTIC!

Perhaps one of the reasons I thought it was so great is because I am just like the main character Claudia Kincaid.  "Claudia loved the city because it was elegant; it was important and busy" the perfect place to run away to.  But you can't just run away to the park you should run away somewhere good...like the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Don't worry she planned it all out, "planning long and well was one of her special talents."  Just like me!

In the museum you can't just lounge around, "she set for for herself and her brother the task of learning everything about the museum-one thing at a time (Claudia probaby didn't realize that the museum has over 365,000 works of art.  Even if she had she could not have been convinced that learning everything about everything was not possible).  I'm getting a double masters...I still think you can learn everything about everything...or at least get close.

Claudia's struggle throughout the book was wanting to come back different, "I didn't run away to come back the same."  How many times do we do something big and still have the fear that it won't make any difference?  Does Claudia come back the same?  You'll just have to read the book. 

Planning, learning, and coming back different...that's kids stuff.

I Didn't Know That

Like Holes E.L. Konigsburg's The View From Saturday has layers-like an onion.  The plot centers around four students in Mrs. Olinski's 6th grade class who form a team and compete in the academic bowl.  Each of their stories weave together flawlessly and produce a deep rich narrative that is a joy to read.  I have read this book before and what struck me about it was the number of interesting facts that I learned as I read.  So for today's post I decided to make a list of all the things I didn't know before I read this book-aka what I learned (what, learn something, from a book?? radical). 

Facts Found in The View From Saturday

• There are six steps involved in filling a pen with a nib when writing calligraphy.  These steps should not be viewed as preperation but as the beginning itself.
• Baby turtles that are found half in and half out of their shelves are referred to as either live-pipped or dead-pipped.
• POSH is an acronym standing for port outward starboard home.
• TIP is an acronym standing for to insure promptness.
• The dog in Little Orphan Annie was male.
• Tea Time is always at 4 o'clock.

The book is filled with interesting facts and some editions even have a list of questions and answers found in the book at the back.  I chose to share with you the ones I found most interesting and the ones that made me think, "huh, I didn't know that."

I rarely give thought to titles and cover art but when I selected the picture to appear with this post I suddenly understood why this book is titled The View from Saturday and why there are four cups of tea in a window on the cover.  If you read the book it will be incredibly obvious for you, but as this proves I occasionally miss the obvious.

Learning from a book...that's kdis stuff.

Would You Survive

I have an app on my ipod called, "would you survive?"  I got it thinking it would be a hard core survival test and ask all of these tricky questions to see if I had what it takes to live on a deserted island or something like that. Turns out it's kinda lame (shoulda guessed that, i know).  I think apps like these sell because our society is fascinated with survival, we have tv shows, board games, and how to guides all focused on survival.  We all want to know, if the unthinkable happens, would we survive.

I think that's why books like Hatchet, and today's read Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George are so appealing.  These people, these children, survive even in extreme circumstances.  Julie depended on a pack of wolves to survive.  She studied them and learned their language, she learned to think and act like a wolf. She survived alone in the winter in Alaska.  As you read it you forget that she is still just a girl and not a woman with intense survival training.  

What was fascinating about this book was it wasn't just a story of survival.  It was a story of self-discovery that chronicled major changes in the Eskimo lifestyle. It showed that survival is not just battling the elements and finding enough food, it is also finding who you are and how you fit in a changing world. 

Surviving...that's kids stuff. 

Who Gets You?

Have you ever been with a person and no matter how poorly you explain yourself they understand because that person just gets you?  I think this happens a lot with family, especially siblings.  My brother and I understand each other because we were raised the same way, we share countless experiences that shaped who we are today and so even if we get each other.  I can predict how he will react to something, and he can sense how I'm feeling.  We look out for each other, we encourage each other, and we know whenever we're together we're gonna have fun.

Me and my brother

So it came as no surprise to me that Sara in Betsy Byars' The Summer of the Swans understood her brother.  She  knew what he was thinking and she took care of him. Now Sara's brother became very ill when they were younger and never fully recovered.  Many believe he has mental retardation.  So Sara is much more protective of her brother.  The wonderful thing about this book was even though Charlie never spoke, Sara still got him-she understood her brother.  

Yes, this book is about more than just Sara and Charlie.  It is about Sara growing up, her desire to fit in, her rapidly changing moods and tastes and her first little romance.  But in my opinion the thing that makes this book great is the way Sara interacts with Charlie and the way Charlie adores Sara.  Their relationship is so tender and it is a joy to read. It is the way siblings are supposed to be.

Loving your brother...that's kids stuff. 

This is Gonna be Good

I spent the fall semester of my junior year studying abroad in Greece.  I lived and attended classes in Athens and we took several trips exploring the rest of the country.   Needless to say it was amazing.  But no I did not speak Greek before I left and I learned some while I was there but I am far from fluent.  So I understood exactly what Will, from Susan Coper's The Grey One, was feeling when he was sent to his aunt and uncles with this warning, "They all speak Welsh, most of the time."  What was amazing to me and to Will was even though we were in places where we did not understand the language we could still get the gist of conversations.  I always heard that statistic that x amount of communication is non verbal but I never really believed it until I no longer spoke the language of the people I was with.

Me in Athens (Mars Hill right next to the Acropolis)

Speaking of language there are certain things you see in a book that let you know it's going to be good.  As I've mentioned before I love fantasy so when I saw the note in the beginning clarifying, "Although all the characters in this book are fictitious the places are real... The Brenin Llwyd I did not invent," I suspected I would really enjoy this book.  But it was this line that convinced me this book was going to be great, "It is because you are not properly human, but one of the old ones of the Light put here to hold back the terrible power of the Dark.  You are the last of that circle to be born on Earth. And I have been waiting for you."  How can you not want to read more after that?

Will is in face an old one and the story is him battling the dark.  My only complaint is that this is a series but I didn't realize that going in.  I thought the beginning was a little abrupt without a lot of character development but once the story really got going I forgot all of that.  Then on the last page of the book was this line, "Here ends The Grey King, fourth book of the sequence named The Dark is Rising."  What!!  That should be at the beginning so poor unsuspecting people don't jump in the middle.  At least now I know what I'm reading after I finish the Newberry medals. 

Listening to a different language, battling the dark...that's kids stuff. 

Chronicles

As I have previously confessed I am a big fan of fantasy.  I know you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover but juvenille fiction fantasy often has a certain look to it.  I confess I often wandered down rows of books at the library searching for something that looked good.  When you see a whole bunch that look the same that's when you know you've found a series (believe it or not I actually worked in my college library during undergrad, all of the librarians would be aghast if they realized wandering and looking is still my searching method of choice).  And it is by wandering and looking that I found Lloyd Alexander's The Chronicles of Prydain.

Chronicles implies a whole bunch-more than one book-an epic tale told in multiple volumes.  And that's exactly what The Chronicles of Pyrdain are, an epic tale.  The problem is that only the final installment The HIgh King won the newberry medal.  At first I was conflicted-how can you only read the end?  But then when I actually saw the book I breathed a big sigh of relief.  "It's ok," I told myself, "I've read this before." 

But now I have another problem.  As you know I don't like to give away endings.  But this entire book is an ending-and a great one at that. So what can I tell you.  All of the really great parts have 4 books of backstory which I can't possibly hope to summarize here.  Which I guess means you're just going to have to read the entire series.  Five books seems like a lot but it's well worth it.  What are you waiting for?? Get reading!!

Living a life worthy of an epic tale...that's kids stuff

What Can You Get Used To?

In Paula Fox's The Slave Dancer young Jessie is kidnapped and forced to work upon a slave ship.  The conditions are more than unpleasant and when Jessie comments on them one of the older sailors says, "You have no idea how much you can get used to."  And so I started to wonder, how much can you get used to? A new house?  New job?  Poverty?  Riches? The loss of a loved one?  The addition of a child? A teacher you dislike but are stuck with all semester (if any of my teachers are reading this-its not you)? I think sometimes we underestimate ourselves and when it comes right down to it we really do have no idea what we can get used to. 

Jessie had to live in horrible conditions for months.  Jessie had to watch helplessly as people were kidnapped from Africa and crammed aboard the boat to be sold as slaves.  Jessie had to play his fife to make the slaves dance or else he would be whipped.  Jessie endured constant thirst with only the most meager rations of food. Jessie endured storm after storm and the increasingly foul smells of the ship.  Can you get used to this? 

Jessie proved that you can get used to it-enough to survive and not go crazy, but he also proved that you don't have to succumb to the environment you were placed in.  Jessie fully understood the evil of what they were doing and never took the view of the other crew members that it was just another way to earn a living. He held strong to his beliefs and refused to be corrupted.  He got used to it, but he was changed.  In his adulthood he could not bear the sound of music because it reminded him of the evil he was forced to participate in, he was more grateful for everything he had on land, and he worked to get himself and his family out of the south and away from the horrors of slavery.

Changing for the good even as you get used to your new life...that's kids stuff. 

Boys Like Girls

Lets all be real honest for a second.  Nobody likes to say this but I promise you it is true.  Boys like girls (ok so that's not a shocking revelation but stay with me).  More than that boys will do almost anything to please a girl-especially a girl that they like.  In Virginia Hamilton's M.C. Higgings The Great, this point is made abundantly clear when M.C.'s father says, "never try to beat a thirteen year old with a crush." Boys like girls.  M.C. couldn't name the feelings he had for this mystery girl but he knew he wanted to protect her, to teach her things, and to make her laugh.  Boy's like girls.

This book is tricky.  It spends the first several chapters describing the sameness.  Not that everyone acts the same or everyone is the same but that things in the mountains have been done the same way, there are codes for living that have been the same for generations and the first chapters pull you into that sameness.  Then 2 strangers come, one with a tape recorder (a man looking for voices) and the mystery girl that M.C. falls for.  These two strangers disrupt the sameness.  Because of the man with the tape recorder M.C. starts to think maybe one day he could leave the mountain-maybe he won't live here forever.  But the girl changes everything.  She challenges every social norm, daring M.C. to come with her.  Of course he does.  Why?  Because boys like girls.

But the book is tricky, you don't realize what its about until the very end and even then you're left wondering.  This isn't a book for a quick lesson, this is a book to ponder, a book you come back to when your mind is wandering. A book filled with so many layers of meaning but the only one you can quickly grasp and walk away with is boys like girls.  Which they do, but this isn't a book about love.   This is a book about change.

Falling for a girl, letting yourself change...that's kids stuff. 

Up a Road Slowly

Irene Hunt's Up a Road Slowly is different from a lot of books that win the newberry medal.  In virtually every book I've read for this blog the main character is somewhere between the ages of 8 and 14.  The story takes place over a year or two of that  persons life and, if you are lucky, you get a glimpse of their future.  Up a Road Slowly is different.  In this book the reader experiences Julie's life from age 12 until she begins college.  The book chronicles the most formative decade in Julie's life.  What I love about this is that it shows growing up as it really is, up a road slowly.  

When she is still young Julie's uncle gives her this advice, "Accept the fact that this is a man's world and learn to play the game gracefully my sweet."  Up a Road Slowly won the Newberry in 1967.  Can you imagine someone giving a girl this piece of advice today?  It is amazing to me as I read these older books they way society has changed in just the past few decades.  Even though women have more power in today's world there still are games that need to be played and I think we can learn a lot by playing the game gracefully.  

Another thing I loved about this book was that because it chronicled Julie into young adulthood there were things that I could relate to in my current life and not just remember from my childhood.  And the things that speak to me now are universal truths.  Take this quote from when Julie first falls in love, "That was the moment of my greatest security and confidence; it was the time when I realized that love makes one a better person, a kinder, and a gentler person."  I LOVE that!  The best kind of love changes you for the better and it was such a sweet moment in the book when Julie finally experiences that love and through it views her entire childhood differently and manages to get some closure.

Love that makes you better, kinder, and gentler...that's kids stuff. 

Secret Spot

Once a year everyone on my mom's side of the family goes camping.  We rent cabins by a lake in Upstate New York and just enjoy being with each other.  There are 30-40 of us depending on the year so often during the day we split up in to little groups.  My group was always my little brother Josh and my cousin Jen, who being six months older, was the closest to my age.  One year the three of us decided to make a secret spot.  It was a little clearing in the woods between 2 of the cabins...we added more brush around the sides because the woods weren't very thick and it didn't seem secret enough.  We tried to keep it hidden and sneak away so nobody saw us going there but  I don't think we were very good at being sneaky (Yelling across the campsite, "let's go to the secret spot" kinda gives things away).

I think all kids want a secret spot.  A place where nobody watches them, where they can just be kids. There's something cool and daring about having a secret spot.  In Katherine Paterson's Bridge to Terabithia, Leslie understood this.  "You know what we need?  We need a place just for us.  It would be so secret that we would never tell anyone in the whole world about it." So Leslie and Jess made their very own secret spot and they called it Terabithia. In Terabithia Leslie and Jess were Queen and King and had all kinds of amazing adventures.  Leslie tells Jess all kinds of stories from Shakespeare to mythology and Jess becomes Leslie's only true friend.

Of course spending all this time together there are bound to be rumors.  Have you ever been in a small town and tried to sneak away with a person of the opposite gender-even with no thoughts of romance-yeah, people talk.  So it comes as no surprise that people started saying Leslie was Jess' girlfriend.  Jess knew better, "He knew that a girlfriend was someone who chased you on the playground and tried to grab you and kiss you." Leslie would never do such a thing.

But all books can't be secret places, imagination, and wonder.  Tragedy strikes Terabithia but to talk more about that would mean I give away the ending and I can't let that happen.

Taking on the world in your secret spot...that's kids stuff. 


PS This is another book that became a movie recently but I have not seen the film.  Any thoughts?

Anyone up for a game?

I love games.  Anyone who knows me knows that I am constantly begging to play some sort of game and if you are hosting a game night you had better believe I will be there.  Luckily my boyfriend also loves games so when he came to visit me at my parents place we were able to talk everyone into a game of monopoly.  Now of all the games monopoly is a hard one to convince people to play because it is such a commitment.  Also I am known to be competitive so a game like monopoly can get pretty cutthroat. And while our game did have its share of hard bargains it was nothing compared to those in Ellen Raskin's The Westing Game.

Confession time: I tried reading this book as a child and quit.  When reading it this time I found it equally hard to get into.  This time I did finish the book and it was better than anticipated but still not my style.  But that's ok.  I don't have to love every book I read, and I am glad I finished this book (it has one of the most satisfying endings ever!  Raskin takes the time to finish every characters story so you know exactly how everything plays out).

Since I knew I would be blogging about this I tried to think of a concrete reason as to why I didn't like this book. Well, thats not really fair I didn't not like the book, it was hard to get into but satisfying at the end-so overall this book was just ok (for me). The book is written in a unique style and each chapter is divided into tiny little snippets.  There are many many characters and many layers if story.  There is mystery, suspense, intrigue, romance, and humor-and at the end you get all the answers, nothing is left hanging.  It sounds like a book I would love!  But I didn't love it.  Maybe I was clouded by my first attempt all those years ago, but just because I didn't love it doesn't mean you won't.  So read-keep reading, that's the whole point of this little adventure anyways.  All of those characters in The Westing Game didn't always want to play the game-but they kept going.

Playing the game...that's kids stuff. 

Thunder

Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is one of those books where even the title just seems heavy.  And make no mistake, this is a heavy book.  It tackles some big issues and just because this book is for chidren it does not shy away from the truth.  I think we need that in our politically correct society.  Sometimes you need to speak the truth even if its hard.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is the story of an african american family living in Mississippi at the height of the depresion.  And make no mistake even though this book unflinchingly tackles issues of race and poverty it is a book about family.  "By the dawn the house smelled of Sunday...By evening it reeked of Christmas."  Families everywhere regardless of race or status have food that they like to eat.  Even today the smells of certain foods remind me of family and the richness of our traditions. 

What I loved about this book was the way Cassie's family, the Logans, approached life.  They lived in a world filled with injustice and prejudice.  In spite of everything going against them this is the advice Cassie's father gives her, "Cassie, there'll be a whole lot of things you ain't gonna wanna do but you'll have to do in this life just so you can survive...But there are other things, Cassie, that if I'd let be, they'd eat away at me and destroy me in the end..There are things you can't back down on, things you gotta take a stand on.  But it's up to you to decide what them things are."  I just love that attitude because its not raging against society but it's not placidly laying down and taking whatever is thrown at them. 

Deciding what you take a stand on...that's kids stuff.

Information Please

When I was younger one of my favorite books was the Information Please: Kids Almanac.  It was a gift from my aunt and uncle and I LOVED it!  It had sections like weird and wacky laws, the human body, and history.  I read it cover to cover at least a hundred times.  In fact I still own it and occationally crack it open.  I say all that to say this. 



My Kids Almanac well loved and well worn



If Laura Amy Schlitz's Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village had been published when I was a child it would have beat out the kids almanac. This book is a collection of poem, dailogues, and short stories all set in a typical medieval village.  Whats great is that it was written to be performed.  Schlitz was a librarian doing a unit on Medieval England and she wanted her students to have something to perform.  But nobody wants a small part-so monologues and 2-person dialogues were written so each student would have a speaking part. 

Each section represents a different person in the village, the miller, the farmer, the knight, the orphan, the moneylender etc.  But what is really great, especially for nerds like me, is that any jargon is explained on the side of the page and then there are full page write ups explaining the role of that person in the village on the adjacent page.  Its sooo great.  I'm totally nerding out about this book (in case you couldn't tell).

Also Robert Byrd's illustrations add so much to this book.  You have to read it because there is no way this post can capture how great the book is as a whole.

Not settling for a small part and getting something great...that's kids stuff.

Captan Billys

Captian Billy's is this great seafood restaurant near my house.  It's right on the water and the food is fresh and delicious.  It's one of those restaurants where there is butcher paper on the tables with a bucket in the middle for shells.  Honestly its one of the best places in Maryland.  Why am I telling you all this?  Well becase it's I know the setting week and Katherine Paterson's Jacob Have I Loved is set on an island inthe Chesapeake Bay.  One of the characters is Captain Billy. Louise takes the crabs she catches and brings them to Captain Billy to sell on the mainland.  I doubt this Captain Billy is the same as the one from my restaurant-but I like to think it is.


Captain Billy's Crabhouse-Photo taken by my Aunt Holly on her last visit.



From the title I just assumed the book was about a boy Louise was in love with. Really its a story about coming of age and sibling rivalry.  You see Louise is a twin and she feels her twin sister Catherine gets most of the attention.  Years of feeling this way produce this comment from Louise, "she said all of this in tht voice of hers that made me feel slightly nauseated, the one she used when she came home from spending all saturday going to the mainland for her music lessons, where she'd been told for the billionth time how gifted she was."  Can you hear the bitterness in that?  But with the bitterness there is honesty.  Children don't sugar coat things-they speak the truth plain and simple.

But Louise grows up she realizes she does not belong on the island. "the women of my island were not supposed to love the water.  Water was the wild untamed kingdom of our men.. .I suppose I knew that there was no future for me on Rass.  How could I face a lifetime of passive waiting?" So she decides to follow her dreams knowing people on the island will think she's crazy. But, "crazy peole who are judged to be harmless are allowed an enormous amount of freedom odinary people are denied."  I love this line because Louise realizes she is supposed to act a certain way and no longer has the freedom of childhood BUT she also realizes the way she is supposed to act is not for her so she looks for alternatives.

Speaking the truth, taking control of your life, being a little crazy...that's kids stuff.

Does it Ever Get Cold Here?

It seems like the theme for this week is knowing the setting.  Cynthia Voigt's Dicey's Song is set in Crisfield Maryland, not far from where I grew up.  Well, I grew up on the Western Shore or Maryland so to drive to Crisfield would take about 3 and a half hours because you can only cross the Bay in one place. But I completely understood this scene.  Dicey's grandmother is searching the attics for winter coats for the children because winter is coming.  "Dicey doubted that it ever got cold here in Southern Maryland."  Today I drove from State College to Southern Maryland, State College was hot BUT Maryland is way hotter.  Throughout the long summer that stretches through September and sometimes even October you wonder if it will ever get cold.  It does, but State College is colder-I'll take the cold.

This story is one of Dicey coming of age, being told she's too young to walk around without  a shirt, being tricked into shopping for her first bra (clever grandma), and enjoying her first taste of flirting which Dicey described as, "this was a pretty stupid conversation, but she was enjoying it." All of this change didn't matter to Dicey because, as her brother put it, "Dicey doesn't mind as long as she knows what to do about things."  In this I am like Dicey-a planner.  But more than that it's that I like to have things resolved in my mind.  The what if game doesn't really bother me because I know if I just think about it I can come up with a solution for every what if and then I don't mind because I know what to do about things.

I am also like Dicey's siblings.  Like her sister Maybeth I know how to interpret notes of music because, "it's just the way it sounds when it sounds right."  4 years of music school and I still have the same explanation as a girl in her first year of piano lessons-that's just how it sounds right.  I am like James who when, "he had a report to do on the pilgrims and he was trying to pick a subject.  He told Dicey He didn't want any help, he had lots of ideas, it was just a matter of finding the right one...He wanted the other kids to like his." And I am like Sammy because I want to be good but sometimes I just need to fight.

In middle school we had to read Homecoming which is a book about this same family but it takes place before Dicey's Song.  I didn't feel this way about any of the characters then.  Perhaps it was because the rest of my classmates though the book was silly and so I didn't want to like it-just so I could fit in and have something to say during the lunchroom chatter.  Or perhaps the Tillermans and I needed to grow up a little before we could really see our similarities.

Fighting for your family, knowing what to do about things...that's kids stuff.

Let Me Tell You A Story

Ok everyone, sit down 'cause I'm about to do some serious name dropping.  I met Jerry Spinelli, author of today's book Maniac Magee. That's right I met him-and not at a book sign or something generic like that I met him at my aunt and uncles house.   They live near each other and happen to be friends.  Ok so honestly I don't remember much about the meeting.  I was probably 7-8 and I remember everyone telling me this is Jerry Spinelli (because I was a big reader even then and everyone knew I had read Maniac Magee) but I was a shy child so we didn't really talk.

What really struck me as I read this book was, "I know these places."  Spinelli chose to set the book in Pennsylvania and since I've lived here for a few years now I recognized the names of the towns.  Its not a huge deal, but it does make you feel more connected to the story.  I think knowing the setting helps you more fully engage with the story.

Speaking of story Maniac Magee is a phenomenal story.  The tone of the book is as if Spinelli just called you over and said, "let me tell you a story."  Take this line for example, "So there's Arnold Jones, held up by all those hands, flopping and kicking and shrieking like some poor Aztec human sacrifice about to be tossed off a pyramid."  How can you not want to read a book that's written like that?

But it isn't just a well-told story.  This story has depth, it's one of those books you can read over and over and get something different out of it each time.  This book reveals two of Maniac's (or Mr. Maniac as the little kids call him) revelations. Maniacs real name is Jeffery but he is only called that in his house because, "Inside his house, a kid gets one name, but on the other side of the door its whatever the rest of the world wants to call him."  Once we leave the safety of our home we lose control and who knows what people will call us.

The second revelation deals with issues of race (and you'll have to read the book because there is no way I can adequately summarize the situation in a few sentences here).  There were tensions building, "but Maniac couldn't see it.  And then all of a sudden he could." When kids are little they have that sparkle in their eyes-as if everything is perfect and the world is just wonderful, but once they get a little older (my guess is 2nd-3rd grade) they lose that sparkle a little bit at a time and by middle school its pretty much gone completely.  Whats great about Maniac is that even though he has had this revelation and the sparkle is gone for a little bit, he doesn't lose his optimism and he fights to get the sparkle back.

Facing the world, telling a complex story, keeping that sparkle...that's kids stuff. 

What Language!

Relax-no it's not cursing or anything like that. Joan W. Blos' A Gathering of Days is a girls journal set in 1830's New England.  The first thing that strikes you when you read this is the way Blos has captured the language of the day.  For example, when describing how close she is with her best friend Catherine says, "We tell each other every thing; and each of us in the other's dear heart finds secret dreams reflected."  What a delightful turn of phrase.

In undergrad I had a history minor and was particularly fascinated with this time period.  I loved the way Blos captured not only the language but also the flavor, trends, and everyday activities of the time. But none of this is explicit, instead it is skillfully woven into the story of young Catherine's life as she records it in her diary. I didn't keep a diary as a child but if I had there would have been similar themes.  Yes the past is different but on some level girls are always girls. For example Catherine writes regarding boys, "Cassie and I are quite agreed: we'll not reveal affection until certain of its return." Oh what wise words. All of the older girls are thinking, "yeah, good luck with that."

Throughout this diary Catherine exhibits wisdom beyond her 14 years.  I think part of this is because more was expected of children, part is because Catherine's mother died so it fell to Catherine to manage the household and she had to grow up faster.  Perhaps the greatest example of Catherine's wisdom is this tidbit, "and that is what life's all about changes going on every minute, and you never know when something begins where its going to take you."  Learning to accept these changes when they come-this is growing up.

Managing a household, keeping a diary, accepting life's changes...that's kids stuff. 

Layers-Like an Onion

First of all I would be remiss if I did not mention I LOVE the name Stanley Yelnats.  People who know me well can testify that I am slightly obsessed with palindromes (yeah those things that are the same forwards and backwards).  For example this morning my alarm was set not for 7:40 (how boring) but for 7:37 because-you guessed it, that time is the same forwards and backwards.  But enough about my unusual habits.   As you may have guessed Stanley Yelnats is the main character in Louis Sachar's Holes. 


What I love about Holes, besides the amazinginly wonderful name of the main character, is that this story is layered. There are multiple story lines form all different eras and places with a rich variety of characters that all come together for one of the most satisfying endings ever written.  In the book Stanley is wrongly accused of stealing a pair of sneakers and is sent to Camp Green Lake-a camp for troubled boys.  Camp sounds great but its really just a huge plot of land in the desert, that used to be a lake, where all of the boys dig holes.

Stanley thinks he is sent there because of the curse brought upon his family by his no good dirty rotten pig stealing great great grandfather.  He then goes on to say, "A lot of people don't believe in curses.  A lot of people don't believe in yellow-spotted lizards either, but if one bites you it doesn't make a difference whether you believe in it or not." Cursed or not Stanley's family did have some pretty rotten luck yet, "despite their awful luck they had always remained hopeful."  That's why Stanley is such an endearing character-his situation is pitiable but he always has hope.

At camp Stanley starts teaching Zero (that kid who never says anything and everyone else thinks is a weirdo-I'm sure you know the type) how to read and is shocked at how quickly Zero is learning.  "I'm not stupid', Zero said. 'I know everybody thinks I am.  I just don't like answering their questions."  In childhood, even at Camp Green Lake, it's that simple.  If you don't like answering questions don't.  Only adults feel compelled to always answer (or act offended that anyone would dare ask such a thing).

Keeping hope and beating curses...that's kids stuff.


P.S. Holes is also a movie.  If I remember correctly (and its been awhile since I've seen the movie) I think it's a pretty good adaptation.  But hey it's summertime the perfect time to watch a flick.  Read the book  then redbox the movie-let me know what you think.

Am I Brave?

Lois Lowry happens to be one of those authors where when you see the book is by them you know its going to be good.  Number the Stars is no exception.  This book proves once again that kids can handle more than we think they can.  Number the Stars is set in Copenhagen during WWII and it chronicles the life of Annemarie and her family as they do their part in helping their friends-who happen to be Jewish.  It is a tale of bravery, sacrifice, friendship, and hope and it is truly an amazing book.

Young Annemarie does not think that she is brave, "Annemarie admitted to herself, snuggling there in the quiet dark, that she was glad to be an ordinary person who would never be called upon for courage."  How many of us feel that way-glad that we are not the Harriet Tubmans or Oskar Schindlers of the world, glad to be ordinary.  Yet is anyone really ordinary?  Annemarie's uncle says it best, "I think that you are...frightened, but determined and if the time came to be brave I am quite sure you would be very very brave."

In fact when Annemarie is called upon she is brave, but she just sees it as doing what needed to be done-not brave because she was terrified the entire time.  (And that's all the detail you get because you really really should read this book). In fact I think many people do extraordinary things, and are very brave, but don't see it that way because they think they are just doing what needs to be done.  Annemarie's bravery looks extraordinary because she was living in an extraordinary time.  Yet our own time is no less extraordinary, so what can we do to be brave?

Finding your bravery and doing what needs to be done...that's kids stuff. 

Is this a good deal?

Sid Fleischman's The Whipping Boy is about, well, a whipping boy.  Let me explain.  It was forbidden to spank, thrash, or whack the heir to the throne.  So a boy off the streets was brought in to "punish" a misbehaving prince.  If the prince committed an offense worthy of whipping, the whipping boy was brought in and whipped in front of the prince.  The theory being that watching someone else suffer for your cries was just as much punishment as being whipped yourself.  I'll let you decide if that theory is valid.  

Prince Brat's (as he is nicknamed by the masses for his arrogant spiteful personality) whipping boy is the orphan Jemmy.  Jemmy was plucked off the streets where he was living (no family, no home-orphan remember) to serve as the whipping boy.  It sounds like a bad deal...but was it really.  Lets use the age old method of determining if something is a good deal...of course the pro-con list.

PROS
A place to sleep
Meals everyday (royal meals-he was fed the same as the prince)
Lessons (Jemmy observed the princes lessons so he learned to read, write, and do sums-something commoners could only dream of).
Nice clothes-that would be replaced when they grew too small or too tattered

CONS
You get whipped everyday
Your behavior does not affect the number of whippings
Nobody cares about you you are a servant

So there are some serious perks to being a whipping boy-but you're still a whipping boy.

I may have lied a little at the beginning. This tale is about the whipping boy, kind of.  It's really the story of what happens when Prince Brat and the whipping boy run away from the castle.  It's the story of escaping the loneliness of the castle and finding a friend.

Having adventures and finding friends...that's kids stuff.