Censorship of Teen Books and Ways to Celebrate Banned Books Week

I found this great article while browsing the Canadian Huffington Post entitled Who Decides What Books Teens Read? and felt that I had to share it. I liked what the author had to say about teens and censorship, for example: "On the one hand you've got authors, fiercely passionate about telling the truth in their writing, in acknowledging the realities faced by teens and children no matter how dark or brutal. On the other you have adults willing to stand between that content and their child, to protect them from and nurture in them feelings and realities unconnected to anything unpleasant. The battle between these two ideologies may be a healthy one." I also found this NY Times article featuring 10 ways to celebrate Banned Books Week with children/students. 

Banned Books Week 2011

Sept 24-Oct 1 is Banned Books Week. It is important to acknowledge these books and fight for against book censorship as everyone should have the right to read what they want to read. The National Council of Teachers of English have created this website to do just that, and there is also the program by the National Coalition Against Censorship. 

I am currently reading All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque as I've joined a Banned Book Club in Mesa. I've seen the 1930 movie but never read the book. Here is a short blurb on it. Next month the group is reading Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, which was banned by several school in the 70s and 80s, and is no. 66 on the ALA's list of Banned and/or Challenged Classics. I've already read that one and loved it. Here is the 2011 List for Banned Books in case you would like to read some of the books on your own. I've read 24 books on the list.


What banned books have you read that you enjoyed? How many books have you read off the 2011 list? Please share. 

Job Frustrations and Time Passers

I am super frustrated at the moment because I interviewed for this awesome part-time Youth Services position at the Scottsdale Public Library Main Branch, and didn't get it, due to an overwhelming pool of qualified applicants (or something to that effect). Scottsdale has a super nice library system, which not only has amazing general library spaces but also a fantastic teen and children's section in the Main Library. The teen's section, called Knowasis, is glassed in and featured a study room, tons of computers, a stage and the YA books. They get 7-9K teens a year in there, which is a staggering amount of people. Most libraries won't see that number in several years. The children's area is broken down into picture books on one end with these totally cute mice chairs around a cheese table, and a castle at the other end for the older kid's books. They even have reading nooks in the castle turret. Each branch library is an early literacy center too, and they apparently have a very active summer reading program for all ages. 

I have applied for more positions before and since I interviewed for that job last week, but I really had my heart set on that position. It would be a good starting out position for me as it was actually in my area of expertise. I really just hope something else works out soon before I go completely stir crazy living here. I'm trying to occupy my time in some small way, and have decided to join a book club (something which I've surprisingly never done before despite being an avid reader for most of my life). I've joined a Banned Books group so far, and they are doing a discussion on Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, which I've never read but I've heard was really good. Have seen the silent film version of it though. There are a couple more groups reading interesting books that I want to check out in Oct/Nov.  There is also a ton of free festivals coming up in Sept/Oct that I want to go to, such as Oktoberfest, Greek Festival and the Best Fest. 

International Literacy Day

Today, Sept 8, is International Literacy Day. I know the importance of early childhood literacy after working with the South Carolina State Library to create a directory of South Carolina literacy organizations and to help with the literacy calendar for children ages 0-7 and their families (http://daybydaysc.org/About/print-version). One of my Facebook library groups posted a video about the holiday, and there was link to this video in it about the importance of literacy as education from the Ambassador from Bangladesh to the United Nations. It is a bit long but has a good message. 

Today is my first library job interview since I stopped working back in May. So wish me luck!

Melanie Benjamin, Laini Taylor, Maggie Stiefvater, and Gail Carriger

Here is another edition of my book reviews. I have been lucky to find more adult books that are fascinating and that I have read recently. I am currently reading Rip Tide (Dark Life #2), the recently released sequel to Kat Falls excellent first book, Dark Life. I can best describe it as an underwater western dystopia. 

Children

Fannie in the Kitchen: The Whole Story from Soup to Nuts of How Fannie Farmer Invented Recipes with Precise Measurements by Deborah Hopkinson

Since I grew up with the Fannie Farmer Junior Cookbook and my mom used her regular cookbook, I thought this story about Fannie Merritt Farmer would be a fun read. The book is told from the viewpoint of Marcia, the would-be helper and daughter of Fannie's employers, the Shaws. Fannie was the first person to write down the recipes and use precise measurements, and her cookbook has been helping people learn to cook since 1897. Recommended for kids aged 5+, 4 stars. 

Young Adult

Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor

A brilliant book of short stories about kissing and first loves/lust from the author of the faerie books "Blackbringer" and "Silksinger," both of which I loved. The first story, "Goblin Fruit" tells the story of a plain girl taken in by a goblin masquerading as a beautiful young man who offers her fruit that could kill her. The second story, "Spicy Little Curses Such as These" is the story of a girl cursed at birth who can kill if she talks. The third, "Hatchling" features a girl and her mother running away from a secret world where their queen keeps little girls as pets and breeds their replacements. The stories sucked you in from the beginning and the writing is gorgeous and descriptive. Also Jim Di Bartolo's (the author's husband) illustrations are fantastic and perfectly fit with the wonderful stories. 

One of my favorite lines from the first story describes how the main character, a plain-looking gypsy girl named Kizzy, dreams of becoming a more fascinating young woman. Page 41: "Kizzy wanted to be a woman who would dive off the prow of a sailboat into the sea, who would fall back in a tangle of sheets, laughing, and who could dance a tango, lazily stroke a leopard with her bare foot, freeze an enemy's blood with her eyes, make promises she couldn't keep, and then shift the world to keep them." Recommended for teens aged 13+, 5 stars. 

Forever (Wolves of Mercy Falls, #3) by Maggie Stiefvater

In "Forever", Grace has been missing for several months and everyone seems to think Sam has either abducted or killed her. She has been a wolf and finally comes back to Sam, though she can't control her shifting. Sam is working through his past history with Beck, his adopted father. Cole is trying to find out how the wolf genes work and how to keep it under control. Isabel is still trying to figure out how she feels about Cole, and her father is trying to establish an aerial wolf hunt. 

I really wanted this book to be good because it was the last book in the trilogy and because "Linger" was such a disappointment to me. However, it was not, but left me with more questions as the author just left parts of the story wide open and didn't explain things. The ending was way too abrupt too, especially after building it up for the entire book. There just wasn't the passion and good writing of "Shiver". Overall, I would give it 3 1/2 stars. Recommended for teens aged 13+. 

Adult

The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by Melanie Benjamin

I really enjoyed this historical fiction account of the life of Ms. Mercy Lavinia Warren Bump, a little person who led a really impressive life during the 19th and early 20th centuries. I had heard of her before whilst reading a book on P.T. Barnum, who I have been fascinated with since high school, as she was part of his American Museum in NYC as well as touring with him on the road. It turns out that she was also a good friend of his, along with her later husband Charles Stratton, aka General Tom Thumb. She had the opportunity to travel the world and meet royalty, and lived for performing for others. 5 stars. 

The Sherlockian by Graham Moore

I've never read any of Arthur Conan Doyle's work before, but the idea of this book was just so fascinating that I felt that I had to give it a try. The book did not disappoint. The book skips back and forth between 2010 and 1900, in alternating chapters. In the present time, we discover that a prominent Sherlockian scholar named Alex Cale (who has supposedly found the lost diary of Arthur Conan Doyle) has been mysteriously murdered. A brand new member of the Baker Street Irregulars (the premier Sherlock Holmes society), Harold White, decides to take it upon himself to solve the murder and find the now missing diary. The chapters in the past talk about Arthur Conan Doyle and a murder mystery that he is trying to solve himself with the help of his friend, fellow author Bram Stoker. 

At first I found the jumping back and forth between eras to be a bit annoying, and found the present day story took a lot of time to get interesting, while the 20th century story was fascinating from the beginning. I do think that even those folks, such as myself, who have never read any Holmes & Watson stories will be intrigued by this book, provided they can wait a bit for the 21st century story's action to catch up with the rest of the book. I would love to read more about Arthur Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker and Sherlock Holmes. 4 stars. 

Heartless (The Parasol Protectorate, #4) by Gail Carriger

Another brilliant book by Gail Carriger! This really is one of the most hilarious series of books I've ever read. In this volume, Alexia is eight months pregnant and waddling her way through another mystery, after she gets a warning, from a ghost, that the Queen will be attacked. Alexia's sister Felicity has joined the Suffragette movement and moved in with her. We learn about the secret proclivities of Professor Lyall, who was involved with the first plot to kill Queen Victoria, and what really happened when Conall took over the Woolsey Pack. 

Alexia's insights while very pregnant cracked me up as I also recently given birth. The middle part dragged a bit, but the spectacular ending more than made up for it. I liked that Conall was much more loving and worried about Alexia in this volume. I can't wait to see how Ms. Carriger ends the series in the next book! 5 stars. 

Life Update

Being a new mom makes me physically exhausted, which makes me not want to do anything. I enjoy snuggling with Liam and sleeping when I can though. I have started applying for jobs again and have applied for seven in all since I started two weeks ago, and have just got my first rejection letter. Luckily it was one of the jobs that I didn't really want but figured I would apply for anyways, the non-library admin position. 

I have been able to catch up on reading, though I'm still way off my 200 books read this year goal. I recently finished the new Gail Carriger book, Heartless, which was amazingly hilarious as usual. It made me want to start regularly drinking hot tea again, well that and the high tea that I had with my family and friends the other day. Ok, it also made me crave cucumber sandwiches and British tea cookies. 

I've started playing MMORPG games again. Originally my hubby and I did it so we could play online together again, but my laptop's graphic card isn't very good so games don't always work on there. We tried this cool-looking game called Dragon's Nest, that looked like anime, but I had to set the graphics so low that it didn't work. So now I'm trying a game called Forbidden World from the makers of another game I had previously tried called Perfect World. Very pretty graphics even on the lowest setting, but it keeps crashing my system because the graphics card is overheating. However, I have managed to install it on my dad's computer and I play it when it is available. 


All the things I have mentioned above is what has been keeping me somewhat busy, but I would love to meet some more people my age so I have a chance of not going stir crazy being stuck in this house all day everyday. 

Dystopias and other stuff

Well, I've officially been a mom for a month now. I'm still not used to the lack of sleep part but starting to settle into the rest of it. Liam seems to have grown longer and I'm sure he has gained some weight but I won't know for sure until his 2 month appointment next month. We've tested him out at a movie and he slept through the entire thing and didn't cry once. Not sure he would do so well in an action movie (because of all the sudden loud noises), but a comedy should be fine. I'm hoping to start my job search this week and hopefully it won't take too long to find something (although it took my husband nearly 2 months). 

Two weeks ago on Facebook, one of the YA authors that I follow, English writer Philip Reeve, posted this article that he wrote for School Library Journal. Since I tend to read a lot of dystopias and they are so popular nowadays, as explained in the article, I thought I would pass it along so others could read and enjoy it. He knows what he is talking about as he has also written the dystopian series Mortal Engines and Fever Crumb.