Standing Up For Each Other

In the wake of the mass murder at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, the Association of Jewish Libraries has created a series of book lists for young readers.  Their hope is "to grow readers' understanding of the Jewish religion and its people."

The first list in their Love Your Neighbor series is "Standing Up For Each Other." A PDF version of Love Your Neighbor Book List #1: Standing Up For Each Other is available at this link.

I have not read every book on the list, but I can say that The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz (Candlewick, 2015) and Emma's Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty by Linda Glaser and Claire A. Nivola (HMH Books, 2010) are two of my favorites.

I encourage you to explore the AJL book list and to make every effort to incorporate these and other diverse books into your classrooms, story time programs, and interactions with your own children.  The more we explore the lives of people from other cultures, the more we discover our commonality.

An article describing the inspiration and creation of the Love Your Neighbor book list project may be found at Tablet Magazine.

Rise of the Jumbies - a review

Rise of the Jumbies
by Tracey Baptiste
Algonquin Young Readers, 2017

Rise of the Jumbies is the second book in a new fantasy series,uniquely set within the culture of the Caribbean islands. It introduces the reader to the rich and sometimes frightening folk tales of the Caribbean islands and Africa.

      "There are more children missing," Mrs. Ramdeen said.  "Three of them, all of them lost by water.  The sea, the river, and now the well."  Her voice carried over the sounds of the market.  People dropped the produce they were buying to watch and listen.  Mrs. Chow tried unsuccessfully to hold back a sob.
     "Children fall into danger all the time," the witch said.  "Especially by the water."
     "But three in less than a day?" Mrs. Ramdeen asked.
     "Coincidence," the witch said, shrugging.  She looked pointedly at Corinne and pursed her lips as if she was waiting for something.
     Corinne swallowed.  "Could it be a jumbie?"

Through the adventures of  Corinne, the series' spunky protagonist who is half jumbie herself, the reader will meet the wily head of the mermaids, Mama D'Leau, and many more magical beings.  Some may be helpful if one is careful, like the land-loving, Papa Bois and the local white witch. Some will cause only evil.

Corinne and her friends travel with mermaids to Africa to unravel mysteries that may free the children of her village who have been trapped under the sea. They will meet danger and deception at every turn.


I suggest starting with the first book in the series, The Jumbies, to better familiarize yourself with the culture and the large cast of characters.

Can't get enough of jumbies?  Learn more.

• "Meet the Cast" of The Jumbies here. 

Not having read the first book in the series, I wish I would have seen this first.  It, and the field guide below, would have been helpful.

• "Jumbies: A Field Guide" may be found here. 

• Read an excerpt from Rise of the Jumbies here.  

Watch the trailer for the first book in the series, The Jumbies.




 My copy of Rise of the Jumbies was provided by the publisher at my request.

The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors - and its Malaysian alternative

The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors

by Drew Daywalt with pictures by Adam Rex
Harper Collins, 2017

I read The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors on the advice of a librarian friend (thanks, Rebecca). It tells the fictional origin story of the game that siblings and playground pals have used to decide things for as long as one can remember.  Of course, with the combination of Drew Daywalt and Adam Rex, you know it's going to be funny.

I don't want to review it, however, I want to tell a story.

When my children were little, a Malaysian friend of mine came over to visit.  We each had three kids and they played together often.  When I suggested that they decide something with Rock Paper Scissors, she was puzzled, so I explained the concept.

"Oh!" she said.  "I know that.  In Malaysia, it's bird, water, rock," and she made the appropriate hand gestures for each.  It took me a minute to wrap my head around that.  Water wears down rock, bird drinks water, rock crushes bird.  At first, it seemed a gruesome game for little kids to play, but who am I to say? Honestly, I always thought that rock covers paper was a rather lame win. Is Bird Water Rock not a more accurate depiction of how things work in the world? 

My roundabout point here is that we must always remember that everyone comes into life with a different backstory.  That's what makes the world such a rich and interesting place. That it the reason for the #WeNeedDiverse books campaign.  Not only is it comforting to see yourself in the pages of books; it's eye-opening and mind-expanding and refreshing to see someone different in the pages of books.

And speaking of refreshing, I kid you not ... On another warm summer day, nearly twenty years ago, I asked this same friend if I could get her a cold drink.  She asked for a shandy.

"A what?" I asked.

"Half beer, half lemonade," she said. "We drank that in Malaysia all the time."

"Ha! ha!" I laughed.  "That sounds awful!"

That was nearly twenty years ago.  How I wish we would have run with that thought to the patent office or the nearest brewer!  Now shandies are so popular - but don't kid yourself into believing that Budweiser invented them.  Just ask someone from Malaysia.

So, enjoy The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors (a sample is below), but keep Bird Water Rock in the back of your head.  Both are worthy of your attention.

Hell and High Water - a review

Hell and High Water
by Tanya Landman
Candlewick Press, 2017

Many, many years ago, I was a waitress working the graveyard shift at a diner.  When the annual change to Standard Time came rolling around, I thought nothing of it–until I went to work that night.  Standard Time means an extra hour of sleep for most people.  For a waitress working the graveyard shift, the switch to Standard Time means a 9-hour shift with no overtime pay. Why do I mention this? Because this experience helped me to see with great clarity the relevance in a story that takes place more than 250 years ago.

Tanya Landman's publisher notes that author  "explores the lives of history’s dispossessed and disenfranchised."  Not only is this true, but her depiction of 1750s England also has a message and a relevancy to our own era.  When we read of something momentous in a history book, it does not have the same urgency or immediacy that it can have in the a work of historical fiction. If you read in a history book of the change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, it would have little meaning to you if you had not had a similar experience. However, consider this scenario from Hell and High Water,

The village went to sleep on the evening of Wednesday, September 2nd, and woke on the morning of Thursday the 14th, yet this was no enchanted sleep or supernatural occurrence.  A year earlier an Act of Parliament had decreed that England's calendar must be synchronized with those of other nations.  In order to do so, eleven full days must be struck from the year.  Drinking coffee in Porlock's, Pa had explained the matter of the Gregorian and Julian calendars in great detail, but Caleb had paid little attention.  It involved politicians. Foreign nations.  Who cared about numbering the days?  It could make no difference to him and Pa.

He had given it no further thought at all until Letty returned from Tawpuddle with a rumor that William Benson would be collecting rent for the whole month of September as usual.  No concession was to made for the changing calendar.  Every tenant had lost eleven days of work and consequently eleven days of pay, but Sir Robert would not lose eleven days of rent.
The news made Anne dizzy with panic. "How can we manage? We will be turned out!"
"It can't be true!" Caleb scoffed.  "No man could be so unfair."

...

"Word of advice, boy . . ." The steward leaned toward him until his face was an inch from Caleb's.  Raising his voice so that the men who were unloading the boat could hear, Benson said, "If you want to keep a roof over that miserable hide of yours, you keep your head down and your mouth shut.  And you pay your rent when it's due, the same as everyone else."

The fact that Caleb is a person of color in 1750s England only makes his situation more difficult. His father is accused and convicted of a crime he did not commit, and Caleb is left to fend for himself in a world where birthright equals power and power equals money. Hell and High Water is a work of historical fiction, but it is also a murder mystery, and a story of race, class and privilege.  Sadly,  it has great relevance in our modern age.



Hell and High Water will be on a shelf near you in June, 2017.



My copy of Hell and High Water was provided by LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Short - an audiobook review

Short
by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Read by Tara Sands
Listening Library, 2017

I recently had the opportunity to review Short for AudioFile Magazine.  A link to my complete review of Short is available here. [http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/read/123871/short-by-holly-goldberg-sloan/] It's a realistic fiction chapter book featuring Julia, a young girl whose mother insists that she try out for a summer community theater production with her younger brother.  Because of her small stature, Julia is chosen (along with her brother) to play a munchkin in "The Wizard of Oz," hardly the way she wanted to spend her summer. 

Please read my review for AudioFile for more details, but if you don't have time right now - keep this kernel of information in mind:  If you have a customer, child, parent, or patron seeking a book that includes adult little people, this is the book for you. 

#WeNeedDiverseBooks


 
A personal note:
 
I do not want to post medical information about a family member, however, I'd like to mention that one of my children has suffered a life-changing accident, only as a reason to explain my lack of blog posts.  It is the latest of many changes in the last year including a move to Florida, a new job, a hurricane, and now this - the most impactful of events.  I will be posting posting sporadically while I help my child heal and recover.

Lowriders to the Center of the Earth - a review

Lowriders to the Center of the Earth
Written by Cathy Camper
Illustrated by Raúl the Third

They're back!

The impala - Lupe Impala, master mechanic
The mosquito - Elirio Malaria, the finest detail artist around
The octopus - El Chavo Flapjack Octopus, washcloth-wielding polisher of the Lowriders in Space Garage

If you think lowriders are impractical, think again.  When the three amigos from the Lowriders in Space Garage go in search of their missing cat, their rocket-powered lowrider is just what they need.  In this second book in the series, the three friends journey to the center of the earth and face off against a trickster coyote, an Aztec God, and other legendary Mexican and Aztec foes.   As in the first book, they do it with humor, brains, and style—lowrider style—bajito and suavecito (low and slow).

Lowriders to the Center of the Earth is so visually cool, that it looks more like an older brother's indie comic book than a middle grade graphic novel. Raúl the Third uses red, black, and blue ink on sepia pages, and creates expressive faces, wild action, and hidden humor. The illustrations have a distinctly Mexican flair and invite the reader into the culture.  His art is a perfect complement to Cathy Camper's hilarious wordplay. It's difficult to imagine that kids can learn Spanish, geology, ancient Aztec culture,  Mexican culture, and the virtue of teamwork by reading a book that screams divertido (fun) but they can!  Camper's dialogue is sharp and witty, and even features bilingual puns, as in this exchange between Lupe and the trickster coyote.

"Have you seen our cat?"
"Knock knock."
"Who's there?"
"Señor."
"Señor who?"
"Señor cat?  I don't think so."
¡Ja, ja, ja!

This book may be even better than the first!

• Download the Lowriders Activity Kit here. 
• Read an excerpt from Lowriders to the Center of the Earth here.
• One of the artist's favorite panels from Lowriders to the Center of the Earth here. 
•  My review of the first book in the series, Lowriders in Space may be found here.

My copy of the book was provided by the publisher at my request when my LibraryThing copy went missing in the mail.

Save Me A Seat - an audiobook review

Save Me a Seat
by Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan
Read by Josh Hurley and Vikas Adam

This is a perfect middle grade novel for highlighting how easily one can mischaracterize another's words or actions.  It's also an inside look at the immigrant and disability experience.  Teachers, you should read this one and share it with your students!

I reviewed Save Me a Seat for AudioFile Magazine.  The book spans only five days in fifth grade, the first week of school at Einstein Elementary School in Hamilton, NJ.  Its sections are titled with the school lunch of the day —Chicken Fingers, Hamburgers, etc., and chapters alternate between Joe, a boy with auditory processing disorder (APD) and Ravi, a recent immigrant from India.  Both boys are targets of the school bully—Joe, because of his disability, and Ravi because of his heavily accented English (which he himself cannot hear) and his family's style of food, dress, and manners.

Although Ravi was a favored, top-ranked student in his native Bangalore, India, his accent and lack of knowledge about his new country land him in the resource room at Einstein Elementary.  Joe also visits the resource room to learn coping skills for his APD. Initially, Ravi views Joe with disdain —mistaking the outward signs of his disability for stupidity.

In each chapter, the boys recount the same scene, allowing the reader or listener to fully understand how our perception of an event is shaped by our cultural, family, and personal background.  I'm sure that the printed book is wonderful as well, but the use of dual narrators in the audiobook really hammers home the differing perspectives.


Read my complete review of Save Me a Seat for AudioFile Magazine here. (An audio excerpt is also available at the same link, however, it only features the character Ravi, read by Vikas Adam.)

Read other reviews of Save Me a Seat and an interview with the authors at Sarah Weeks' website. 

I recently began working in a library with many new Indian-American families, and reading Save Me a Seat was enlightening. The challenges involved in adapting to a new country are many and cannot be overlooked. I'm so glad I listened to this one!

Child of Spring - a review

We receive news of current events from many sources: news outlets, Facebook, BuzzFeed, friends, family, etc. Some of it is accurate, some of it is false, much of it is biased.  At best, each source reveals a glimpse of a larger picture.

I am in not suggesting that children's literature or cooking shows* can replace knowledge of current events, but it's easier to understand what's happening in a location if you understand what it's like to live there, play there, work there, learn there, and eat there.

I feel like learned more about the Iranian people from reading Persepolis or watching *Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown: "Iran" than I gleaned from "news."  Similarly, I never truly grasped the standing of females in Saudi Arabia until I read The Green Bicycle, based on the award-winning documentary, Wadjda. In The Green Bicycle, Wadja opens readers' hearts to the everyday struggles of girls in Iran. 

In Child of Spring, Basanta will open a door to the lives of children in a small Indian community.  You will be glad you passed through.

Child of Spring by Farhana Zia.
March, 2016, Peachtree Publishers.
(Advance Reader Copy)

Basanta lives in a small hut in India. Though only 12-years-old, she, and most of her friends, work.  Her best friend, Lali, takes care of siblings while her mother works.  The handsome Bala is a jack-of-all-trades - begging, gambling, stealing, or performing.  Beautiful and wily, Rukmani makes clay pots.  Basanta works at the Big House with her mother - cooking, cleaning, and serving the whims of a wealthy family, 

     The station tower clock struck seven times.  One by one, the residents of my busti ducked out of their huts.  Bangles jangled on the women's wrists..  The men puffed on their cheroots and coiled head cloths around their heads.
     The line at the water tap was already getting long and Rukmani was at the front of it, filling her pretty clay pots.  I ducked my head and walked by quietly  I didn't want to be peppered with questions about life at the Big House: "How many fluffy pillows on Little Bibi's bead, hanh?  How many ribbons for Little Bibi's hair?  How many eggs on Little Bibi's breakfast plate? Come, tell me, na?"

The life is hard, but the bonds of friendship and family within the impoverished busti make life bearable, even enjoyable.  Basanta is a good and generally obedient girl, but prone to clever scheming.  When she becomes the unlikely possessor of an expensive ring, a plan forms in her mind.  In practice, however, it turns out much differently than she expected! Spanning only a few weeks, the story ends on a hopeful note during Divali, The Festival of Lights.

Child of Spring is a sometimes predictable story, but its strength lies in the rich cultural detail of life in Basanta's community, and in the joy the residents find in life's small pleasures.

A Glossary of Indian terms and expressions is included.

From the publisher:

• F&P (Fountas & Pinnell)

• F&P Level: U

• F&P Grade: 5

Read an excerpt of Child of Spring here.

Thoughts on Last Stop on Market Street

In 2008, librarians surprised everyone by choosing the 533-page, The Invention of Hugo Cabret as the winner of the Caldecott Medal honoring the "most distinguished American picture book for children."  This year, the award committees surprised us again with the choice of a picture book, Last Stop on Market Street, as the winner of the Newbery Medal, given to "to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children." 

The short video below featuring author, Matt de la Peña, reading from his book will convince you that this is a wonderful book. 
My concern as a public librarian, however, is how best to share this book with kids.  The book is a little lengthy for my usual storytime crowd, and school-aged kids can seldom be convinced to check out a picture book.  It's in instances like these, that I envy school teachers and media specialists, who have such a wonderful opportunity to share great books with large numbers of kids.  This is perfect book for reading aloud in school.

But, how to share it in a public library setting?

Last week, I had a last-minute inspiration and it was a rewarding experience.  I have a small book club that meets every month. This month, I asked each of the kids to read Last Stop on Market Street - right then. In addition to positive comments about the book, I loved two of the observations that they reported:

1. I never would have chosen this book if you didn't hand it to me.
2. The people at the soup kitchen look like regular people.

We then discussed public transportation (none of the kids had ever been on a bus) and soup kitchens (none had ever been to one).  Working in a suburban library with poor public transportation, I can understand this. However, as a suburban parent, I can tell you that I made sure that my own children volunteered at the local food pantry and experienced public transportation (I made all of them ride the public bus with me to the mall even though it was more expensive than driving my minivan and took twice as long).  As a suburban librarian, I can't take kids on the public bus or to the soup kitchen, but at minimum, I've ensured that a few more children are now aware of the lives that others lead.This is one of the many things that makes my job worthwhile.

One of the missions of the #WeNeedDiverseBooks (TM) campaign is to make sure that "all children can see themselves in the pages of a book."  This is important, but also important is recognizing that all people are just "regular people."  We always have more in common than we think.


Last Stop on Market Street
by Matt de la Peña, Illustrated by Christian Robinson

Read it. Share it.

**Winner of the 2016 Newbery Medal

**A 2016 Caldecott Honor Book

**A 2016 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book

A New York Times Bestseller

Four Starred Reviews

Finalist for the 2014 E.B. White Read-aloud Book Award

A Junior Library Guild Selection