revisiting fables.

I’ve noticed that my 9^th graders have a difficult time deciphering the theme of literary works. Apparently they have been taught that a theme can be a simple word, like family or responsibility, when in the land of literature, theme is a statement. A central idea or message revealed, something learned. I have taken to going back to fables to help the message finding process along.

I brought Aesop in California by Dough Hansen into the classroom recently, which got a few chuckles. Hansen includes fables such as The Grasshopper and the Ants, The Lion and the Mouse and The City Mouse and the Country Mouse, ones with obvious messages, and ties them into popular locations around California. For example, The Fox and the Grapes takes place in Napa Valley. It’s actually quite clever, and the illustrations are as gorgeous as the Golden State itself. 

when life hands you Tourette’s…

Imagine how stressful growing up with Tourette’s syndrome must be. Now go a step further and picture Tourette’s along with Mormonism, and throw in a very large bodied librarian. If you can’t manage to imagine any of this, or you are just plain confused, or both, no worries, Josh Hanagarne paints a very descriptive picture in his memoir, The World’s Strongest Librarian.

Hanagarne, who works at the Salt Lake City Public Library, is six-feet-seven-inches tall and weighs two hundred and sixty pounds. He was raised as a Mormon, has extreme Tourette’s syndrome, and in his spare time trains for strongman competitions. In a very straightforward manner, Hanagarne details the ways in which his condition, coupled with a Mormon upbringing, multiplied the countless embarrassments and miseries of adolescence. Not surprisingly, he also didn’t have much luck with girls. “Two things kept getting in the way … God and Tourette’s.” Those major obstacles, and the fact the people were not exactly kind to Hanagarne, lead to a deep depression that lasted until he made the decision to rebuild his life, and so he did.

a novel recommendation from lorelei gilmore.

A Redbook magazine recently had a brief interview article with Lauren Graham (Lorelei Gilmore) where she recommended books she has read to readers. Gilmore Girls is my all-time favorite show and reading is my all-time favorite pastime, so you can imagine how seriously I took her recommendations.

"I love YA crossover fiction! In Jennifer E. Smith's The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, a girl misses a plane and meets a guy. It's a 'what would happen if…?' You don't have to be a teenager to enjoy remembering this crazy time—I watch Homeland and I don't work for the CIA." – Lauren Graham

You can read the rest of the interview here.…which leads me to my next review…

Hadley Sullivan is on her way to London to watch her father get re-married to a Brit she has never met. This wouldn’t be particularly strange if her dad hadn’t fallen in love with this woman while he was temporarily teaching abroad at Oxford STILL married to Hadley’s mother. We see a broken side to the seventeen year old Hadley as she journeys across the pond for the very first time at her mother’s request. Her mother may have forgiven her father, but she couldn’t bring herself to get there yet.

Having missed her flight, Hadley was stuck at the JFK airport when she met him. Oliver. It turns out that maybe fate had something to do with her missing the first flight, and seating her in the same row as this handsome stranger. They spend the entire flight talking, learning about each other, neither telling their whole story. Oliver attends Yale, not far from Hadley’s house. There’s that fate again. As they descend into Heathrow, both in a hurry to get to their separate events, they share their first kiss in front of customs, not exchanging any contact information. London isn’t all that big if you really think about it, and Hadley does survive her father’s wedding vows, but I will leave it for you to read for yourself.

eleanor & park.

I literally just closed Eleanor and Park, which I read cover to cover in less than twenty-four hours. Seeing as I’m young, when I would come to school looking tired at the beginning of the year I would get some questioning looks from students, one even had the nerve to ask me if I was hung over. I explained that I will never come to school hung over (except for the day after St. Patrick’s day, that was the truth), and that I was up late reading a book I got sucked into. Surprisingly, that was an acceptable reason to them. I read until past midnight last night, and finished the novel during my planning period today. My tiredness is now tacitly understood with my students. I kind of like those kids.

When I received Rainbow Rowell‘s Eleanor and Park, I assumed it was a young adult novel, which it is. But seeing as the “fucks” began on the very first page, I have to consider whether I should keep it in my classroom library. Sixteen-year-olds Eleanor and Park met on the school bus. She was strange, with crazy clothes and uncontrollable red hair. He was quiet, with music blaring in his ears, wearing black. They seemed like an odd couple, and really, they were. They really didn’t care much for each other at the beginning. But somehow they managed to fit together in a way that knocked the both of them off their feet. It was that beautiful reckless kind of passionate love you can only experience at that age. Where nothing else mattered, not where you came from or where you’re going, just that you can sit still together for that moment. The kind of love that doesn’t end by choice, but by circumstance, and turns into a lovely memory to carry with you as you continue to grow up. That was Eleanor and Park.

I’m thinking my recommendation is obvious?

on my to-see list.

I have been to several parts of Southern California; LA, San Diego, Catalina, Disneyland…but I have never been to Northern California, and it is on my list. San Francisco is known for its flamboyant and artsy style, so I was pleased when I received San Francisco: Arts for the City by Susan Wels to check out.

San Francisco is notorious for a couple of things; the Golden Gate Bridge and Coit Tower, deemed the “most walkable” city and it’s a place where you can soak in the art for cheap. There’s also a history in San Francisco that may surprise you, and Susan Wels does an excellent job of giving us background on San Fran’s most infamous projects and public art.

Seen through the lens of the San Francisco Arts Commission's history, the full page photography spreads by such renowned artists as Imogen Cunningham, Richard Misrach, Jim Goldberg, and Henry Wessel say more than words could ever, although Wels does make an excellent historical storyteller.

for the love of poetry.

I have never read a collection of poetry that told as many stories as Charles Harper Webb did in What Things Are Made Of.  Typically poets hide behind literary elements and figurative language, making their meanings subjective to readers. You never really know for sure what the poet thinking exactly. Well, Charles Harper Webb lays it all out there in this poetry series.

Webb gets very personal in the stanzas about the birth of his son. He is relatable in the poem “Bed & Breakfast,” where Webb and his wife are spending a childfree holiday and his poem about his first unrequited love. Webb has slapstick humor down pat, and had me laughing out loud as much as he had me thinking about my own memories on past and present love.

This collection is modern, real, and FUN to read. Take THAT poetry haters.

a welcome addition to any library of dark fantasy.

The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black by E. B. Hudspeth is broken into two sections. The first is the fictional biography of Dr. Spencer Black, which might as well have been put together by compiling excerpts from his personal journal as well as his brother's. It starts with his childhood and quickly moves to adulthood, summarizing his career and his obsessions. Hudspeth has done a great job making the book both fantastic and believable. It’s heavy on the art, but I was especially taken with Hudspeth’s writing ability. Had it not said fiction in the description, I would've thought Dr. Black was an actual person and this was a real biography. The book is paced well, at about 80 pages there isn't much room for every detail, but since Dr. Black is a fictional character, I am surprised that Hudspeth didn’t add a little more detail to his life.

The second half of this volume consists of The Codex Extinct Animalia. I’m thinking it’s a crowd please as this section is filled with anatomical renderings of mythical creatures and beasts. There are both skeletal and muscular/connective tissue plates, each annotated. Details are provided as well as footnotes about Black's process of constructing and displaying each creation. The novel is dark for sure, and based on the images, you can assume that Black quite mad. Oh wait, I forgot that Dr. Black isn’t a real person, again.