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Talking to Teens
So the teen librarian was supposed to be out, and a seventh/eighth grade class needed someone to talk to them about science fiction and fantasy books. Naturally they asked me to help. Talk about a dozen books, have at least 30 pulled for them to look at and check out, on a day’s notice. This is just the new books I read for the project, not (as you’ll notice) the full dozen.
Sword of the Rightful Kingby Jane Yolen
Arthur has been King of Britain for four years, but not everyone accepts him as their king. His biggest threat to his throne is the North Witch, his half-sister Morgause, who believes that her son was in line to become King of Britain. Arthur’s mage, Merlinnus, devises a way for King Arthur to prove himself the rightful king of England–pulling a sword from a stone but the North Witch is spinning her spells and threatens to get the sword out first. The first couple of chapters with a petulant Gawaine turned me off initially, but it did warm up to true Yolen goodness.
Eager by Helen Fox
EGR3, called Eager, is a prototype robot – designed to learn and feel like a person. But most people – including the family he lives with – don’t think that robots are real people. Soon his quest to find out what it means to be alive has to take second place to finding out what those BOC4 robots are up to. Despite the deep thoughts on the part of the robot, it’s light and sweet.
Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Luke is also a third child – but in this future, third children are killed and their parents fined five million dollars. He’s never met anyone outside of his immediate family, and now that a new housing development is going up, he’s not even allowed out of the house. Then one day he sees a face looking out of a house that should be empty – another third child. It’s short and very intense.
Feed by M.T. Anderson I read this one for the teens, and ended up not talking about it – though it’s a great book, the language was just too dirty for innocent little Lutheran seventh-graders. I feel kind of bad about self-censoring, but there it is. I did put it on the cart for them to check out, though. Anyway – it’s a distant future, where everyone, or nearly everyone, has a chip implanted in their heads at birth. This lets them stay connected to the feed at all times – like the Internet, but tuned into your thoughts and desires. Titus is a pretty typical teen, listening to the music the feed plays for him, buying what the feed tells him is hot. Then he meets a girl in trouble and has to think about something serious for the first time in his life. The book is written like a teen email in Titus’s voice, a fluffy covering for the serious material. I guess the ideas aren’t really all that new – we already know of schools that aren’t allowed to sell milk because Coke or Pepsi have exclusive pouring rights – but the story is sticking with me.
Chicks with Sticks
This, ladies and gentleman, is the last book I read on leave, plus one I just finished. And knitting! Well, I’ve had at least one handwork project going for as long as I can remember. The most recent new craft was inkle and tablet weaving – hard to find yarn for, and not as portable as knitting. After resisting for several years, I’ve re-embraced knitting. Such fun! Though it may be pure torture to look at books of knitting patterns: when it’s taking me four months to knit a pair of tiny baby mittens, the trendy clothes in these books would probably be passé before I could finish knitting them.
Stitch ‘n Bitch: A Knitter’s Handbook by Debbie Stoller This was the first book to come out – just a year or two ago now. Knitting was already coming back when it was published, but at least for, these books have crystallized the movement. This book starts with an introduction explaining how, as a feminist (Stoller is editor of BUST magazine) the author could enjoy something so un-liberated and grannyish as knitting. How sexist is it to reject all traditional feminine activities just for that reason? Then, a clear, yet funny, explanation of the basics of knitting, complete with a hand model with chipped black nail polish and smiling cartoon knit stitches. The guide even includes a section on fixing mistakes large and small. Next, a guide to finding or starting your own Stitch ‘n Bitch group, where you can meet with other knitters. And finally, a selection of not-to-hard and very cool looking patterns. These include the popular devil and kitty hats sized for adults, the now-famous skully sweater with skulls on both sleeves, and lots more patterns that I’m just itching to try out. Each pattern includes not only a list of materials needed, but a list of skills needed, referenced to the page where it’s taught. I really think I need to look for a copy of this for my very own, as I read the library’s copy.
Stitch ‘n Bitch Nation by Debbie Stoller Just out in 2004, the Stitch ‘n Bitch movement goes on, better than before. So, assuming you started with the first book (which I in fact didn’t), you might now be ready to tackle some more advanced knitting projects. This book starts out with a very nifty section on how to alter a pattern – make it bigger or smaller or tighter or looser or even just use a different yarn, tackled with the same sense of humor as the first book. It has even more really cool patterns, contributed (as before) by Stitch ‘n Bitchers around the country, who share the genesis of the pattern. And scattered throughout are profiles of SnB groups across the country. This one I bought with a lovely birthday gift card and have been enjoying looking at the yummy patterns ever since, even though I have yet to finish the aforementioned baby mittens. It’s good stuff, folks.
Deep Thoughts
I read this book for the second time while on leave. I love this book, and it is another older one. When I lived in Germany, it was still pretty new and popular, but I didn’t buy it because I was a little afraid to try to read it in German. Plus, books are much more expensive in Germany. When I was in Up With People, a host mom gave me her copy of it, full of sticky notes and scribbles in the margins. I made the mistake of loaning it to another cast member after I read it, who said she’d return it but never did. Alas! Last summer it was featured in a Borders display and so I bought a replacement copy. And what is this fabulous book, you ask? Read on!
Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaardner The novel stars fifteen-year-old Sophie Amudsen. (This leads to more existensial reflections on my part – I was 15 when the book was published; now I am 30 and Sophie is destined to remain 15 forever.) She’s a pretty ordinary teenager, when mysterious letters and packages begin arriving in her mailbox, some to her, and some to another girl who shares Sophie’s birthday and who ought to live nearby, but who isn’t in the telephone book. The packages to her are lessons in philosophy, and the novel itself is a history of philosophy – the plot mirrors Sophie’s current philosophy lesson, and we get the text of her lesson as well as what she’s doing. This manages to make a potentially dusty subject quite lively, even if it’s a little hard on the characters. By the end of the book, Sophie and her tutor have realized that they are probably only characters in a book, and are trying to find a way to wrest control of their lives from the author.
More Borrowed Books
Reading these reminds me that, even though I try to keep my readers abreast of the latest publications, there were good books published before 2000.
Framed in Lace by Monica Ferris A quick little cozy mystery, again borrowed from my mother. It’s the Needlecraft Series, so all the books in the series include details on some form of handicraft, with a pattern. This particular novel focuses on bobbin lace, but I guess figures that not that many people can do bobbin lace, so the pattern is for cross-stitch instead. But again, digressing. Betsy Devonshire, still in Minnesota running her murdered sister’s needlecraft shop, is starting to settle in and getting to know the locals. They’re all excited about the raising of an old ferryboat, sunk in the forties, which is to be restored and put back in service. But when the boat is raised, there’s a skeleton on it – and an old lace handkerchief. Once again, Betsy finds herself drawn into the search to find out whose the body was, and who killed her. It’s a fun little world, with lots (maybe too many) of colorful village people and details of everyone’s current projects. Read if your interests include fibers and comfy mysteries.
The Little Country by Charles DeLint Loaned from yet another friend, as I really like DeLint. The are two storylines, both set in a small village in Cornwall, one at the turn of the last century, the other in the late 1980s (which would have been the present when the book was written.) Janey Little is a piper, contemplating her next tour, when she finds an old book in her grandfather’s attic. It’s a book she’s never heard of, written by her favorite author. As she reads it, strange things start to happen. In the corresponding story – which might be the one that Janey is reading – Jody is working for her uncle, a scientist, when the Widow transforms her into a Small, only a few inches tall. Music is woven throughout the book, with the chapters named after traditional tunes. I have always loved DeLint’s ability to intertwine magic, suspense, and the everyday world. For me, this book was no exception, though putting the two stories together does slow the action down somewhat.
Borrowed from Superman
Are you surprised that Superman likes graphic novels? He brings them over to our house regularly – what fun! Too bad I couldn’t convince my library to let me start an adult gn collection.
Hikaru No Go by Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata This is a series of Japanese manga, the comic books where the characters have huge eyes and small mouths and their emotions splatter ever-so-cutely all over the page. If they’re done right for the aficionados, they read from right to left, which does take a little getting used to. I’ve read the first two volumes in this little series – the third should be out this month. The first was a gift for amnachaidh’s birthday; good enough for him that he went out and bought the second one himself. I think the title translates to “Hikaru and Go” – Hikaru being our main character, and Go being the ancient Asian game. So Hikaru is a typical cool middle school kid, not interested at all in something so old and uncool as Go. But he discovers a haunted Go board in the attic, and now is being followed around by the ghost of an ancient Go master. This means that he can honestly say that he knows nothing about Go, while still beating the best players. It is a lot of fun, probably more fun if you (like amnachaidh) are nuts about Go. On the other hand, it’s credited with single-handedly starting a Go revival in Japan.
Astonishing X-Men Vol 1: Gifted by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday I guess my primary interest in this book is that it’s written by Joss Whedon, the creator of Buffy and Firefly, two of my favorite TV shows ever. Ok, growing up without a TV, that may not be too hard, but I digress. While I enjoyed the X-Men movies, I’d never before read any of the comic books. They’ve been going on for a long time, so there’s a lot of back-story that I just don’t have. It took me a while to figure out who all the characters were, since (gasp!) they didn’t all appear in the movie. Once past these hurdles, however, it’s fine story – somebody’s created a vaccine to make mutants normal again. The moral issue: is this moral? Can a mutant accept that not all mutants want to be that way? The adventure: who’s behind the scientist, and the large-scale attacks using obviously mutant powers? Plus, lusciously beautiful full-color art on glossy pages. I guess this is standard now, but that doesn’t make it less enjoyable.
Drool….
So this baby thing has really been killer on my baking. If I’m honest, I was usually too busy to get much baking done anyway. But now, I decide I’m craving fresh homemade bread or chocolate pudding… no sooner do I start than Mr. Froggy Pants decides that he’s also craving goodies, of the sort that only I can provide. Fortunately for me, my beloved amnachaidh has always taken over for me, leaving tummy satisfied, if not creative impulses. I only flipped through this book on the new book cart, but I will be checking it out as soon as it’s available:
The Weekend Baker by Abigail Johnson Dodge This book features yummy recipes for people who are really too busy to bake. It includes tips on baking faster, and how to stash your weekend-made goodies so you can enjoy them throughout the week. The recipes are divided into three sections: Section 1, recipes that can be made in a hurry, including Blender Cupcakes, for when you discover you need them for tomorrow morning at 10 pm. Section 2, recipes that can be made in stages, in between your errands and chores. Section 3, for when you have a little more time and want to make something Really Impressive (but still, she assures, not too difficult.)
I’m still drooling.
Books my Mother Loaned Me
I didn’t make it to the library to check out books even once while I was off – imagine the deprivation! Fortunately, my mother brought me nice books to read. Thank you, Mommy!
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi Though I’ve been a reader all my life, I’ve never really gotten into too much Classic Literature – mostly, it just seems so depressing. This book might just convince me to go back to those classics, as Nafisi describes her experiences leading a small group of women in reading English classics. (And we though those books were hard going, as native English speakers!) Throughout the lives of the women, their lives in the restrictive society of post-revolutionary Iran are seen through the prism of Lolita, Pride and Prejudice and The Great Gatsby. This book has been hanging out on paperback bestseller list for a while now, and it deserves its success. It really is phenomenal.
Brave New Family by G.K. Chesterton, ed. Alvaro de Silva I must confess, as a Protestant, and raving liberal Protestant at that, I was at first hesitant to read this book of essays by the acclaimed Catholic author G.K. Chesterton. It turns out that Chesterton and I have more in common than I’d thought. I really enjoyed reading his thoughts on the value of family and small town life – namely, that one must learn to get along with people different from one’s self. In the city, he argues, one naturally gravitates towards similar people. I also agree with his emphasis on the value and importance of motherhood, though not that any other employment a woman could have must be less fulfilling. But then again, if the choice at the time was factory worker or staying at home, he’d probably be closer to right. I had to stop reading when he started talking about the evils of birth control, though. And yes, I am willing to see myself as part of the surplus world population. The introduction by de Silva, about how nobody has values anymore, I also skipped. If you’re less liberal than me, or are willing to read selectively as I did, you too might find some nice food for thought in this book.
Two Baby Books
You’d think that sometime in my three months off, I would have found time to post, but no. So now I’m back to work, and I’m sure that I don’t even remember everything I read anymore, but the Show Must Go On, so I’ll type up what I can remember, and hopefully keep up with my current reading, too. Anyway, first installment, yet more parenting books.
Mothering the New Mother by Sally Placksin Amusingly enough, this the last book I finished before Mr. Froggy Pants made his arrival. But this is a really great book that I’d recommend for any new parent, and selective bits for anyone whose friends are having children. It starts out by going over customs for taking care of the new mother in other cultures – with the point that modern America is pretty much alone in expecting new mothers to be able to take care of themselves plus the new baby by themselves within days of having the baby. It talks about how to take care of yourself, and how to recognize, prevent (as much as possible) and treat postpartum depression. It also has chapters devoted to the challenges of dealing with staying at home, working at home, and going back to work. All of the chapters have large lists of resources, all given twice – once with extended annotations, and once just with contact information. I somehow got the 10-year-old edition, but I’m sure that the new edition includes urls as well as phone contacts.
Infant Massage by Vimala McClure Another great book, which my sister gave us for Christmas. I’ve read lots of places how important touch is for babies to develop properly, but how to do it? We tried once from the instructions in The Baby Book, and found them not really complete enough. Not the case with this book – complete photos with detailed instructions on individual moves and suggestions for building up a massage routine with your baby. It also includes background information on the benefits of massage – although the photos of calm and smiley babies could be convincing enough – and special chapters on routines for colicky babies, preemies, working with siblings, and teen parents. Whether you fall into the cry-it-out camp or the attachment parenting camp, or somewhere in between, you and your baby will benefit from this book.
