Mix the Dark with the Inspirational and Just Plain Entertaining

A few months ago, a friend and fellow school librarian, sent me an interesting article from The Wall Street Journal entitled "Darkness Too Visible" (June 4/5, 2011), which examines the dark literature that is so popular with young readers. 

Pathologies that went undescribed in print 40 years ago, that were still only sparingly outlined a generation ago, are now spelled out in stomach-clenching detail.

The author points out that as early as 40 years ago, "no-one had to contend with young-adult literature because there was no such thing.  There was simply literature, some of it accessible to young readers, and some not."  Beginning with The Outsiders, still a tremendously popular book, the young-adult industry was born. 

The article asks, what is our responsibility to our children (and the children we may come in contact with because of our school district jobs :) )?  What do we want to put in their absorbent and impressionable brains? 

I come at this question from a few different directions.  As a young reader, my life was indelibly shaped with the controversial novels by Judy Blume.  I vividly remember reading my first "sex" scene while slowly swinging on the playground and hoping the adult supervisor wouldn't sneak up and read over my shoulder.  Some may have argued that I was too young to be reading this, but I felt empowered (as well as a bit nervous and tingly) to know that people would tell me things in a book that an adult might not say to my face.  As far as "dark" books go, those are the ones that fly off the middle (and high) school shelves.  During the school year, I can't keep a copy of A Child Called It (which, unfortunately, is NOT fiction) in house.  I am not saying that books containing violence and sex and suicide should be pushed just for the sake of kids reading, but if I promote reading as a way to step into someone else's shoes, I won't ban them either.  I pray the the dystopian societies portrayed in The Hunger Games or The Forest of Hands and Teeth won't even remotely come into existence, but the human emotions portrayed (loyalty, bravery, sorrow, camaraderie) are a real part of everyone's lives.

There are books I won't read, and when my school kids check them out, I might warn them about the darkness contained in the book.  (The aforementioned Child Called It is a prime example.)  I choose what I want to read and encourage others to do the same.  I only got to page 80 in the young adult series Lockdown.  Escape from Furnace, because the plot of sadistic alien creatures wearing the guise of humans who set young boys up only to incarcerate them into a prison where there is no escape and you had better not get close to anyone, because chances are, one night they will disappear, hit a little close to home, with my only child being a 10-year-old boy. 

Yes, I will incorporate this title into my school collection.  Yes, I will get the sequels as they come out.  I know (by the subtitle) that they boy will escape and perhaps another child reading this book will find a way out of his/her own personal horror, or, less grandly, just be "into" the book.

I had started this blog post to tell you about a few other books I recently read that would portray the other side of the coin.  Seeing as I've already gone off on a rant and want to keep you interested, I will quickly tell you about them.

From oldest to newest, I am happy to say that I have finally read My Side of the Mountain by Jean George.  This Newberry Award book, written in 1959 is what I love about a book with its wonderful, courageous and ingenious character.  City boy, Sam, decides that he wants to live off the land.  He has heard stories all his life about the family land in the remote mountains and he makes his way there and accomplishes his goal.  It was a glimpse into another time and place, where a family might let their child prove himself in this manner, without reality shows or mommy looking after him.  Sam lives in a tree (the trunk, not the branches), makes his own clothing and supplies and a few friends (both human and animal).  I will read the other books in this series.  I will hopefully get my own son to read them.; a far cry from his own reality, I must admit.

Al Capone Does My Shirts (2004) won both the Newberry and Young Reader's Medal awards, and for good reason.  Matthew ("Moose") and his mom, dad, and autistic sister move to Alcatraz Island, where his father is an electrician and a guard.  This book sucked me up like a biscuit soaks butter.  I was  fully enthralled by this character rich story about kids who have a lot of rules to follow, but live in a time and place where they are on their own a lot.  Yes, Al Capone plays a small, but inspirational role in this book.  Yet again, this book has a sequel, which I will be on the lookout for.

Lastly, and those of you who have no patience with books dealing with supernatural romance can skip ahead, there is Paranormalcy.  This book was recommended to me by the Bookfair rep for my local Barnes and Noble, plus the book is written by a San Diego author, so how could I resist?  Evie is one of the only "normal" creatures who work for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, or is she?  Dedicated to keeping the world a safer place by placing tracking and behavior modification devices on potentially dangerous creatures like vampires, werewolves and hags, Evie is challenged by nightmares, both real and in her sleep.  Paranormals are being murdered and her faith in the Agency is shaken.  The fairies are being evasive and one, in particular, is stalking her.  And what's up with the hot guy who is practically invisible and has the gift of mirroring anyone he chooses?  A great book, again with a sequel that is on my to-be-read-and-purchased-for-my-school list.  (Phew!)

So, while I find a lot of merit in the concern of the New York Times author who is wondering exactly what it is we are teaching young people today, I think my own personal role is to keep reading as many of these books as I can and steering as many kids toward them as possible.  That's what they pay me the big bucks for, right?!?                             Thanks for listening.

These Times, They are A-Changin . . . for the Better . . .

             I love when books I am reading magically intersect each other. 

Both The Memory Keeper's Daughter (by Kim Edwards) and The Help (by Kathryn Stockett) deal with separation and inequality in the American '60's. 

"The Memory Keeper" refers to Dr. David Henry, a doctor, who is forced to attend to his pregnant wife's delivery when a snowstorm prohibits his way to the hospital.  His son, Paul, is perfectly healthy, but his daughter, Pheobe, has Down syndrome.  Stunned by this reality, David is forced to recollect his own sister, who died at age 12 from a heart problem, breaking the spirit of their mother.  To save his wife the grief of a retarded child, he asks the attending nurse to take the baby to a nearby home for the mentally disabled. When his wife, Norah, awakens, he tells her that the baby has died. 

The nurse's name is Caroline, and after seeing the facility, decides she cannot leave the newborn there.  She takes the baby home instead.  When she sees the infant's death announcement in the newspaper, she decides to raise Phoebe as her own and moves to Pittsburgh. 

Raising a child with Down syndrome in the 60's is no easy feat.  After rushing a the child to the emergency room when a bee sting proves almost fatal, the attending nurse asks Caroline if she is sure she wants to save her. 

In The Help, close-mindedness is rampant on an even larger scale.  While it is perfectly acceptable for a black woman to be employed in a white person's home, cooking for them and raising their children on a day-to-day basis, it is considered unhealthy for them to use the same toilet as the white family.  They must not use the same silver or glassware.  They are expected to use the back door.

But not everyone is content to let these inequalities go without question.  Eugenia Phelan, commonly known as "Skeeter" for her tall, skinny frame, is home from college without a wedding ring on her hand and a fierce desire to write.  She lands a job answering domestic questions for the local paper.  Being a rich socialite, she has no idea how to address such issues as sink stains and bitter coffee.  She decides to ask someone who would know.  Aibileen is the maid of her best friend, Hilly.  Aibileen grudgingly gives her the answers and when she shares that her son, who has recently died, was interested in writing a book about being black in Jackson, Mississippi, Skeeter decides to take a great risk and run with the idea.  She secretly interviews maids about their lives and what it is like to work for the white ladies of the town.  Some of the stories are decent, but a lot of them are not.  Risking their lives, one by one, the maids offer their stories and Skeeter types them up, hoping to impress a New York editor with her book idea. 

Both of these books caused me to shake my head and feel an aching heart at what so many people have gone through because of being different.  While 2011 is far from a Utopian society, I am very grateful that I can have a house full of mixed-race friends and not think anything about it.  When I was a child, I was uncomfortable being around people with mental disabilities.  Having a family member who is affected, as well as working in the public, has helped me to grow up and out of these prejudices.

In The Memory Keeper's Daughter, I had to wait over 300 pages for Norah to discover that the daughter that she has never stopped grieving for was not dead after all.  It was worth the wait.  The prose are beautiful and the character development over a span of 25 years is wonderful and insightful.

The Help is by far the best book I have read this summer.  When I posted on Facebook how much I loved it, a friend mentioned that when her mother started reading it to her grandmother, the grandmother became angry; citing, "we never treated our help that way!".  Hopefully not.  I know there are a lot of decent people who understand that all are created equal.  Unfortunately, I also see the opposite on a daily basis. 

Pick up either or both of these books.  They are worth your time.  Thanks for listening.

"The House Settled in for the Story"

"The minutiae had consumed the whole."

Meredith and Nina are sisters, daughters of Anya, their Russian-born mother who doesn't look them in the eye, hug them or share any part of herself.  Meredith and Nina survive their childhood and Nina becomes an award-winning photojournalist, documenting tragedies all over the world and working on her pet project, photos of amazingly strong women of all nations.  Meredith has stayed close to home, married her childhood sweetheart, and runs the family's apple orchard business.  Their father, Evan, the loving bond that holds them all together is dying.

On his deathbed, Evan makes his daughters promise to take care of their mother and to get to know her.  The only time she has opened up to them is through her fairy tales, of which Meredith refuses to listen, ever since a heartbreaking incident when she was young and tried to act the stories out during a Christmas evening.  Her mother exploded and put an end to all her hard work.  Now a widow, Anya is calling her daughters by different names, pulling down and boiling the wallpaper and cutting her fingers with a knife. 

After a short stint in a retirement home (for which she packed a bag of leather belts and butter), both girls redouble their efforts to find out who Anya really is.  Nina relentlessly hounds her to retell the fairy tale of their youth.  Although Meredith is determined to stay out of it, she is drawn to the magic of her mother's voice and the memories of the only times in her childhood that she had her mother's attention.

"It's a tearjerker, but the journey is as lovely--and haunting--as a snow-filled forest," promises People magazine on the front cover of this amazing book that I bought from my last bookfair and squirreled away for summer vacation.  Boy, they weren't kidding.  Riding around in the backseat of the truck yesterday, I was glad to be in my own ipod/dark sunglasses world as Anya relieved any mother's nightmare (think Sophie's Choice . . . shudder, shudder).  I finished the book tonight, hidden away from the family, and quietly shared my grief with the dark night.  It was a beautiful story and one I can't wait to pass on.  In the past, I would have saved it to give to my Gram.  She loved romance novels.  She lives only in my heart these days, so I think I'll give it to my sis-in-law, Kris.  She loves this stuff too.  Thanks for listening and pick up a copy of Winter Garden.  You won't be sorry.

Summer Vaca

It's official.  I'm on Summer Vacation. 

I work for the school district and have summers off.  It kicks a@@.  Majorly.

The past week and a half of "free time" has been full of business.

 I'm having a party and have a ton of details to work out. 

I volunteered to help my son's class go on a field trip as well as in the classroom, as my awesome mother-in-law taught them about geology.

We needed our trees trimmed and had some fabulous guys take care of that.  We got a new Boxer puppy and have been like parents of a newborn, waking multiple times a night to let him roam the yard,.  (I will be very grateful when he is big enough to go throught the doggie door.)  Our other doggie contracted a hematoma following his neutoring and needed extra care.   I did an "extreme home makeover" for our best friend and spent today at a dear friends' baby shower, followed by a gathering at my neighbor's house, as she just lost her grandmother and we needed to come and drink with her.

I have not yet had a "down day" and won't until my 40th bday bash has come and gone. 

That's ok.  I sign on for the chaos and have to pay the piper.  I like over-activity and relish the days of non-commmitment that are coming my way in the near future.

I just finished watching "The Tourist."  I rented it on June 3rd, my bday, because it starred Johnny Depp and I have been obsessed with this man since 1987, or so, (since I was 16, owned my own tv and "21 JumpStreet" was on Sunday nights.)  Purrr.  This man makes my day, no matter what role he plays.  Didn't get a chance to watch it before it was due, so we burned it and it has been waiting until I had 1 1/2 hours to burn.  I watched it in two parts today and wasn't disappointed. 

Grrr.  Purrr.  Sigh.

Add Angelina Jolie and need I say anything more?!?  It was a good movie, filled with hyper-gorgeous people and a plot line I could follow.  Good stuff.

The days ahead are already filled.  Get my son to a friends' house for swim day, then to my bro's for a few days of "guy time."

Book chairs, tables and umbrellas for the party.  Make sure the caricature artist knows the hours we want him here for and find out his rate.  Remind the karaoke guy about the party and make sure he isn't double-booked.  Go to Costco and gather party necessities.  Go to Albertson's for the rest.  Obsessively clean things that haven't been cleaned in years.  There are people coming to this party who have never been to my house.  It's gotta look good.  And who knows what unexpected events will transpire?!?  Expect the unexpected has become my motto.

Sorry if you feel the above was disjointed ramblings.  It's 10:52 p.m. and I have had a full day of friends and parties.  It's all good!  Been awhile since I blogged, so I felt it's past due.  (I won't mention the numerous books stacked by my side, read and ready to be reviewed.  All in good time.)

Thanks for listenintg and enjoy your summer!!!

Modoc

"Need anything from Barnes and Noble?" I ask my girl, A, last week.  Being a bookclubber, she often has a novel on her "need" list.  I was there for a Library Tech meeting with my member card in hand.  I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.  "No, but you need to read Modoc," she tells me.

  Modoc, The True Story of the Greatest Elephant that Ever Lived by Ralph Helfer took up my Memorial Day weekend, (along with double batches of potato salad, s'mores bars, and good times with friends and family).  Ralph Helfer is an animal trainer and behaviourist, who specializes in affection and kindness to lead animals to do what he needs.  He was also the last owner of Modoc, an amazing elephant whose life span covered multiple countries and 70 years of adventures.

Modoc was born in Germany and was raised in a circus at the loving hands of Josef Gunterstein.  Josef's only child, Bram, was  born the same day.  Josef finally had the son and daughter he had been waiting a  very long time for.  The two were raised side by side and their bond lasted a lifetime. 

When the circus was sold to an American, Bram stowed away to be with his beloved elephant, leaving behind his recently widowed mother, Gertie, his first love, and his circus family.  The ship sinks and all the animals but Modoc perished.  Modoc floated in the ocean for several days, helping to keep a few survivors alive.  She and Bram rehabilitated in India, at the amazing Elephantorium.  Bram learned even more about elephant training and the bond between all living things. When the American Circus owner heard that Modoc was alive, he was determined to once again separate her and Bram.  Bram sneaks off with her to work the teak forest.  They survived many dangerous adventures and eventually came to the U.S., with Bram being reluctantly hired by the Circus owner who resented his Jewish heritage, but felt Bram owed him big time and was determined to get compensated by working him cheaply.

I'm doing my best not to ruin the whole storyline here, as I highly recommend reading Modoc.  This amazing creature wrapped her trunk around my heart and I shed a few tears as I followed the path she and Bram took together over their lifetimes.  I also really appreciated the spiritual aspects.

Sometimes it is better to accept help than to suffer the consequences without it.  Only men suffer the pride and ego that they themselves have created.  The Creator never gave animals these burdens.  They are of little use, but it is my guess that He had to test us to see if we could overcome. 

All life is built upon steppingstones that reach into the Beyond.  Without them, we could never reach our goals.  Use them, you have earned them, and they are yours.

It is 3:45 a.m. and I haven't slept much this weekend. I finished the book, and turned off the light, but my thoughts went round and round.  I figured a blog was in order.   I don't usually suffer from insomnia, but I guess as long as there are great books around, I'll always have something to turn to.  Pick up Modoc.  You won't regret it.  Thanks, A, for insisting I read this amazing book.