Smoke Signals meets A Christmas Carol and Quantum Leap

How is this Wednesday finding everyone? It’s a little rainy out in my direction, but I’m thinking spring might have finally arrived.

For the past two and a half years, I’ve been driving to Lewiston for my orthodontia work (it worked best with insurance). So every six weeks or so, I drive two and a half hours down and back for the sake of straight teeth and a correct bite (which I have found is totally worth it). This trip, I decided to try out a Book on CD, and I enjoyed it. Having a story play out while you drive definitely helps the time pass. It was also refreshing to enjoy the benefits of reading a novel without actually having to read a novel. You still get to enjoy the symbolism, plot twists, and imagery, without having to exert the effort to read words. I don’t think I’d take this as my only mode of reading, but it is nice for car rides!

So I listened to a Book on CD called Flight by Sherman Alexie, which was performed by Adam Beach. Alexie is a Native American who grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation, and attended Gonzaga University as well as Washington State University, where he graduated with a BA in American Studies. He has won several awards for his poetry, short stories, novels, and performance. Flight is one of his novels for young adults. Adam Beach is a Golden Globe nominated actor, who is also of Native American descent.

Flight tells the tale of Zits, who is a fifteen year old Native American who has some problems. His father abandoned his mother and him when he was born, his mother died of breast cancer, and his aunt and uncle abused him. After crashing through twenty-some half-way houses and foster homes, Zits just doesn’t care anymore. He is consumed by loneliness and anger, bounces in and out of jail, and drunkenness, and doesn’t have any reason to change. That is until Justice, a pretty white boy, teaches him how to use a gun on other people. Zits walks into a bank with a loaded pistol, but then finds himself being launched through time and space and lands in someone else’s body (think Quantum Leap meets The Christmas Carol meets Smoke Signals).

Zits bounces between several bodies reaching across many years and places, and experiences things that change his entire outlook on life and violence. He learns about the effects of war, violence, anger, loneliness, betrayal, and love.

Like so many other award-winning authors, Alexie’s work definitely has some content. F-bombs fly like crazy, there is plenty of innuendo and frank discussions of human anatomy, and the book also deals with some very violent scenarios. But, Alexie is writing from the perspective of a down-in-the-gutter teenager, and this is how he and those around him would talk. Even though it’s hard to get through all of these experiences, Alexie has written an interesting piece of literature that explores how a teenager who has never been loved finds hope and belonging.

Dangerous Pie

Happy almost noon everybody! How has your week been?

Mine’s going to be and has been crazy busy with all of the stuff going on. But I’ve had a chance the last few nights to read After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick, and I’m really glad I did.

Even though I didn’t know this when I started reading the book, this novel is a sequel/companion novel to another novel by Jordan called Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie. Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie concerned Steven Alper, an eighth grader whose younger brother, Jeffrey, is struggling through cancer. This book deals with Jeffrey Alper when he gets to eighth grade. I probably wouldn’t have gotten the connection other then Jeffrey’s email address involving dangerous pie, and the title of the first book involving dangerous pie. I’m going to have to add that book to my reading list because this one was amazing, and it would be cool to see how the story began.

After surviving cancer, and it not returning for five years, Jeffrey is pretty much in the clear for the whole cancer thing. But, that doesn’t mean things are easy. People still treat him differently because he had cancer, his brother decides to go off the deep end and beat some drums in Africa to “find himself,” and there is this really hot girl that Jeffrey has a huge crush on. That isn’t to mention the statewide math test that Jeffrey has to pass in order to graduate. That wouldn’t be a big deal if Jeffrey was normal. But, chemotherapy does funky things to cancer survivors sometimes, and Jeffrey is no exception. His brain has a very difficult time with math, so Jeffrey is pretty well convinced that he won’t graduate with the rest of his class. That is until Tad, his best friend who is also a cancer survivor, comes up with a plan to make sure he gets to walk across the stage.

Although this book deals with the heart-wrenching topic of cancer, it is heart-warming and hilarious. The very down-to-earth, realistic friendship of Jeffrey and Tad is very funny, and Jeffrey has a great outlook on some tough situations. Just like Jeffrey learns, the book reminds us to never take a day for granted and to move on even through hard times.

It Ebbs and Flows

Morning everybody! How are you doing?

Library programs ebb and flow. Last week, I didn’t even have a chance to sit at my computer. This week, I had one program, one meeting, and a chance to organize some things for the upcoming month.

The program this week was a continuation of Atlas After-School Academy. Last week, we started making movies using Animoto. I put the guys in groups of two, and had each of the guys interview their partner. What is your favorite color? What is your favorite video game? What is a cool place you’ve been to? They were then tasked with finding a picture that corresponded with their question and organize the pictures into a slideshow movie on Animoto. The guys had a great time doing this. They were in control of making a movie about their partner, and they were also thrilled when their partner made a cool movie about them. I thought it worked out pretty well. Still trying to see what our assignments are going to be the next two weeks. Hmm….

My meeting this week was with the Friends of the Community Library Network at Hayden. Our Friends group sells used books and actively fund-raises to collect funds for library programs. When we have a special program coming up, we submit a grant, and the Friends vote on whether or not to fund it. The Friends are a fantastic group, and they are very supportive of the programs that happen at the library. Our recent Teen Film Festival was made possible by this group, the Friends of the Community Library Network at Post Falls, and the Friends of the Coeur d’ Alene Public Library. These groups are awesome!

Anyways, my meeting was basically showing them the results of our Teen Film Festival. They were really impressed with the quality of film that came out of the festival.

I wanted to take a minute and list the winners in our competition:

Short Film Category:

1st Place: “Je Te Vois” by Daniel Troxell, David Brands, Amy Ellithorpe, Joshua Brands, and Gerry Koep.

2nd Place: “You Are Here” by Joshua Brands, David Brands, Allie Brands, and Catherine Brands.

3rd Place: “Clayman” by Shane Tyler

Public Service Announcement Category:

1st place: “You Are Here” by Stephen Byrum

2nd Place: “Be Yourself” by Danny Schramm, Kelsey Kraak, Morgan Jett, and Rylee Mindt

3rd Place: “The World is at Your Feet” by Arielle Johnson, Colby Acuff, and Jackson Miller

I also wanted to take a minute and thank our local filmmaking experts who donated their time to judge our entries. A huge thank you to Brian Loper and Ryan Anstett!

Congratulations again to all of our filmmakers and have a great week!

Choosing to Love

Hello everyone! How is your week going?

Today, I have a Book Blurt that deals with a very sad and well-written book; Annexed by Sharon Dogar. The front cover reads, “The powerful story of the boy who loved Anne Frank.” That is exactly what it is; powerful. There is so much literature about the holocaust, and yet, every time I read another book or another story of that time, I can’t help but feel it. How could we do that to each other?

Sharon wrote this book largely based on Anne Frank’s autobiography. But, instead of telling Anne’s story which has been told and read the world over, Sharon chose to write about Peter. What did he feel while he was in hiding? What did he struggle with? What did his love for Anne look like? What was it like living with Anne Frank? These are questions that Sharon speculates on and writes very believably and convincingly. This book is a well-crafted story based on Anne’s diary, and on documentation from the death camps.

Unlike Anne, who was just writing her thoughts, Sharon has written a complete novel. We hear the story from Peter’s point of view while the events happen. But, we also get short commentaries from the Peter at the death camps. His italicized words hurt as you read them. Peter will be talking about hope and liberation and what he is going to do when the war is over. But then, we read a quick page from the Peter in the death camps, which reminds us that Peter didn’t make it. As Anne’s diary is so human, Sharon has done an excellent job writing a very real and human character in Peter who has his own take on the story.

While reading Holocaust literature it is so difficult not to feel anger. Why couldn’t Peter have made it? Why did so many innocents have to die? How could human beings do those things to someone? I was reading the epilogue that describes how the families died, and I felt angry. But, then I remembered Corrie ten Boom, who lived through the same time period and was able to forgive her captors. I think that is the point. This book is important, and actual Holocaust accounts are important, because they will hopefully help us to never make those mistakes again. But, it is also important that we don’t take on the hate that is shown in these pages, but rather choose to love like Corrie ten Boom.

Have Books, Will Travel

Hello everyone!

Well here we are on a Monday morning, and I am three days late on my weekly update. I apologize.

As I alluded to last week, this week was crazy busy with programs! I work 19 and a half hours a week, and this week I was basically in programs for the full 19 and a half hours. hehe

The week started with the Men and Kids program at Mountain States Early Head Start. We had several dads and their kids join us and had fun frosting our own cookies. For the past few times, we have been trying to read a book with the kids, and this time they really enjoyed the story.

Tuesday involved my first week at Atlas After School Academy. Last year, I did science experiments for this program, and because the kids had such a great time, we decided to start Ka-Boom: Science Experiments at the library. This year, I am teaching the kids how to make movies using the free websites, animoto and jaycut. Got a talented and excited group of guys and we’ll be having fun for the next three weeks. Should be awesome!

Wednesday was Dr. Seuss’s birthday, so I read his stories at Miss Irma’s storytime (I filled in for her because her husband had a procedure being done) and then I bounced around the Kinder Center reading his stories wearing a ‘Cat in the Hat’ hat. Good stuff!

Speaking of the Kinder Center, my monthly outreach always happens on the first Friday, so I was there on Wednesday and Friday this past week. On Friday, we read frog stories (frogs are green, and we always wear green on St. Patrick’s day hehe), and had a great time singing a song that Miss Cassie suggested to me.

On Friday (and Thursday as I think about it) Karen and I went down to help with Skyway’s Geography Club again. We had to take a break because of the bad snow last week, but we again had fun learning about continents, states, and physical geography.

My last event this week was our Red Carpet Event for our Teen Film Festival, which happened on Saturday night. We had five entries in each category, and enjoyed watching the movies and awarding prizes. Our festival has grown since last year, and we’re hoping that it will continue to grow next year. If you want to check out the movies, they are all posted on our Library Film Fest YouTube Channel here. Enjoy!

Well, that was my crazy week and I hope yours was also fantastic!

Whose Got Your Back?

How goes the week everyone?

For my own part, this week has been incredibly busy. Between helping at some after school programs and filling in for my coworkers, I haven’t had a time to sit down at work. But, more about that on Friday. As far as my book blurt goes, I just got done reading Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi about five minutes ago.

While I was working on Teens and Technology, I realized that I hadn’t read many award winning young adult novels. I wanted to read a few of them at least, so I decided to start with Ship Breaker, which won the Michael L. Printz award this year.

Ship Breaker is set in a futuristic time where terrible hurricanes have forever changed topography, weather, and oil lanes. We are introduced to Nailer, a guy in his mid-teens who climbs through tight spaces on abandoned ships for a few pieces of precious metal. He’s part of a crew of other young people who on salvaging crews to stay alive. For Nailer, everything is survival, loyalty to his crew, and making a couple dollars. That is, until he finds a “swank” on a downed clipper. Clippers are a rare find, especially one with this much salvage. But, Nailer can’t just grab the gold and go his way, because the owner of the vessel is still alive and needs help. She promises that her father will pay if Nailer keeps her safe, which obviously puts Nailer in a tight spot.

Should he protect this “swank” who looks down on him like a dog? Should he go against his father? Is she just a dollar sign or is she something more? Through the book, Nailer has to question what he wants to fight for, who he wants to be loyal to, and how he is possibly going to stay alive. He also has to question what it means to have a family.

There is some violence and some cussing in this book, but that is to be expected. The futuristic setting is very hard and it makes for some very hard and ruthless people. Nailer gets into several life and death situations, and he has to depend on the fates and his smarts to get him through. The intense and interesting writing style keeps the pages turning, and I really enjoyed it!