Guess what, readers? In my spare time I like to read books and write book reviews. “Naw,” you say, shaking your head, “Say it isn’t so.” I know, hard to believe, but I’m being serious. The weekly articles I write are what we in the library biz like to call booktalks not reviews.
Booktalks shy away from being overly critical of a book or trying to match the author’s style. In a booktalk the presenter has the option of retelling a story or acting out a certain character’s personae. They may skip over plot and dance around characterization in order to provide an entertaining view of a book or group of books.
All this to say, I was handed a paperback last winter to review for the Mississippi Libraries; a journal published quarterly by the Mississippi Library Association. The paperback was written by Mississippi family man R. Tyler Scott. His biography says he was born in 1968, and reborn in 1975. This Mississippi based Christian series stars preteen, Vince Profett, and is aimed for Harry Potter readers.
This is a fast paced superhero fantasy, with Vince finding his power from above. I was handed Vince Profett and the Dead Man’s Bones to review and the following is my brief summary.
Vince Profett is an ordinary, almost-12-year-old Mississippi kid. Well, except for the summer he spends in the Middle East accompanying his BBC-reporter dad and archeologist-enthusiast mother. It is a little, white rabbit that changes everything in Vince’s life. He spies the creature as his mother finds a piece of pottery, and instead of joining the celebration, he follows the rabbit - an unusual rabbit which turns around to wink at him.
Once out of site of the camp, Vince falls through a hole in the desert floor and comes face to face with the rabbit, which morphs into Gabriel, one of God’s messenger angels. Gabriel asks the soon-to-be hero if he is “saved” although he knows the answer, having watched Vince’s baptism from afar. It is only through Vince’s Christianity that Gabriel extends an incredible offer: to touch Elisha’s bones and have the powers of all God’s disciples in the Bible.
Back in Mississippi, Vince is unsure he even possesses powers. His uneventful summer, except for being passed for the All-Stars baseball league and meeting his angel-designated mentor Sam Lofton, is void of his special blue light That is until evil sets out to destroy the Profett family and all future good deeds from Vince.
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Vince Profett (copy)
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
"Como Blues" Article Rejected
The previous post, "Como Reading Blues" was rejected by the PR department for my weekly column. Rightly, so I must add. It better serves as a letter to the editor as was pointed out to me. Northwest, the institution where I work, remains uncommitted to political views. Within the article, I proudly placed its name which could be interpreted as consenting to my point.
My point with the article is this, I blame no one or nothing. I think it is a mixture, mash-up if you like new fangled words, of a little bit of everything. Something that cannot be fixed overnight, and I feel plain guilty. Why didn't I do more while I was where I was...
My answer, as if reading fixes all, is to start reading to your kid(s). The sooner the better!
Como Reading Blues (copy)
Sorry readers, I didn’t read anything this week. I had good intentions, but things I grabbed didn’t grab me. It is sad when a librarian, with access to a whole building full of books, cannot find a single one to read. Please forgive me.
It could be that I’m a little low over recent news. Como, Mississippi, my current home and where I worked as a public librarian before moving to Northwest, is experiencing a crisis. Two weeks ago, Washington Post featured Peter Whoriskey’s article “By the Mississippi Delta: A Whole School Left Behind” and it isn’t pretty.
Como Elementary according to Whoriskey, “is at the bottom of the heap.” The school ranks as the lowest scoring elementary school in math and reading in the state of Mississippi and the nation.
This news hit me hard. This is my community, these are my people. What is wrong?
The past two weeks I’ve heard all sorts of reasons “why” from friends and neighbors in town, but also from the nation through my blog. Apparently, we need more money, better teachers, better books, more parental involvement, etc. to improve. Bah!
What we need are motivated kids. Poverty is no excuse! Those kids get a free meal in the morning and for lunch. The teacher to student ratio is as low at 14, and, just who is to say these teachers are “bad”? I can personally name four past teachers who graduated from Ole Miss and got their start in Como Elementary. As for the books, I got three grants for the school while working as the public library. These grants bought books and only books. Also, in their fine library, ran by an excellent librarian, they continue to receive new books from the Barksdale grant.
Ah, let’s blame it on the parents, working eight hours a day to clothe, feed, and raise their own. Better yet, let’s just say Granny or Auntie aren’t pulling their weight. Bah!
I’m not sure where I saw this, and I was unable to verify this information before deadline, but I heard a man on the television state, “For every year you read to your child it adds $50,000 to their income as an adult.” If that doesn’t motivate a mother to pile the kids in the car and head to the nearest library, nothing will.
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Wake for RIP II
Thanks Carl V from Stainless Steel Droppings. I didn't finish but enjoyed all I read. I look forward to next year's RIP III! I read:
A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
Death Makes a Holiday by David J. Skal
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
Review Published!
Another review published in Thursday, November 01, 2007
Cormac (copy)
Most self-help books on marriage suggest you try raising animals before having that first child. Our first year of marriage, we decided to do just that and found two kennel cuties. We both had pets before as children, but they were more of a shared affair. In code that means the parents fed, bathed, and took cuties to the veterinarian. We basked in the ownership without the maintenance.
In the course of ownership, one can count on a certainty; the beloved pet will go missing. It’s a sinking feeling to stand on the back porch and call a name with no response. To look in the backyard and not see Spot, but find a freshly dug escape route is unsettling. This is the premise of Sonny Brewer’s new book Cormac: The Tale of a Dog Gone Missing.
Enter Cormac and his red, Golden Retriever, good looks. As Brewer and his family interact with the dogs for sale, it is obvious Cormac has found his master. As the others play, Cormac walks in the shadow of Brewer waiting for affection from above. The seller points this out to Brewer and the family agrees this redhead is the one.Tuesday, October 30, 2007
A Whole School Left Behind
Well, I have failed miserably in my mission to make Mississippi read. This article and video from The Washington Post features the Como Elementary School. I live at the end of Main Street in Como, and the school is exactly one block north of my house. I was the Town's Librarian for nine years before moving to my current position at the college. I wanna cry, but it ain't gonna help.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Tongue & Cheek Meme
Lynne from Lynne's Little Corner of the World tagged me for a purely innocent meme. No, hubby wasn't maddened by my character lust. ;D
“Ten Literary Characters I Would Totally Make Out With If I Were Single and They Were Real.”
1.) Inman of Cold Mountain (but I'll wait for him to take a shower)
2.) Captain Gus McCrae of Lonesome Dove (but I'll have to get in line)3.) Captain Woodrow F. Call of Lonesome Dove (strong, silent type)
4.) Mr. Darcy of Pride & Prejudice (oh, but he makes me so mad!)
5.) Rooster Cogburn of True Grit (a real man's man)
6.) Jacob Jankowski of Water for Elephants (He doesn't mind my past!)
7.) Mark Darcy of Bridget Jone's Diary (oh, but he makes me even madder!)
8.) Rhett Butler of Gone with the Wind (I'll help you forget her...)
9.) Ranger or Morelli from the Stephanie Plum Series (Eeny Meeny Miny Joe!)
10.) Ebenezer Scrooge of A Christmas Carol (old, rich, and ready to kick the bucket) Bah!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
High Cotton (copy)
In the morning, I hear it while ironing clothes. It is in the background while I take a shower. It gets louder when I take out the trash. It is still droning while I brush my teeth for bed at night. And with windows open, it lulls me to sleep as I try to read. At this time of the year, our little town is filled with a busy hum or ever-present mechanical sound, the cotton gin.
I will forever associate the sound with the autumnal season. It is my background music while raking leaves, picking pecans, and planting pansies. It comforts me as much as the cotton sweatshirt and blue jeans I wear as I perform these duties. It is chapter eight, “The Gin,” in Gerard Helferich’s new book High Cotton: Four Seasons in the Mississippi Delta.
For most of today’s Americans the word cotton evokes comfort. The latest cotton advertisement flaunts runway models leaving the high-fashion stage for the front door, implying cotton is quality couture and everyday wear. Even before this ad, we strutted around proudly in, “The Fabric of Our Lives.”
How odd to discover this fluffy fiber needs a promotional campaign. Of course it is to fight against softer and cheaper manmade fabrics; regrettably, the plant had an image problem prior to synthetics. The association with back-breaking labor in ungodly heat and humidity for meager wages or bare-existence trade is how field workers from 1840s to 1970s felt. Three decades ago, cotton may have been king, but only for those already in the upper echelon of its business.
Through Helferich’s reporting, readers follow a modern day cotton farmer for a full year. His subject, Zack Killebrew, farms 1,700 acres outside the small town of Tchula, in the rich Mississippi Delta soil. One-thousand acres are for cotton the rest set aside for soybeans and corn. Some of Killebrew’s cotton acreage is prime two-inch-deep Delta soil known locally as ice-cream.
Helferich leads us through the first days of breaking the soil to the last hours on the loom. As if on a cotton tour, we step into Killebrew’s pick-up for the long day, where Helferich relates the history of each process we happen to arrive at. For instance, during the weeks of picking cotton Hurricane Katrina rolls through and Helferich sidesteps to tell us about the Great Flood of 1927. On this tour readers can expect side excursions to encompass slavery, sharecropping, pesticides, and the Civil Rights Movement as it pertains to Mississippi cotton.
It is a fascinating year filled with bright blue cotton seeds and white, arm-resting pick-up trucks. Lucky for me, I also have the pleasure of living in Mississippi during a time when cotton is more a democracy than a tyrant king.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Get'em Jimi!
I wish they'd had electric guitars in cotton fields back in the good old days. A whole lot of things would've been straightened out.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Death Makes a Holiday (copy)
Did you know Ehrich Weiss, better known as Harry Houdini, died Halloween night in 1926? It wasn’t a stunt gone awry, but a dare acted out a week earlier which led to his demise. The story, told through David J. Skal’s book Death Makes a Holiday: A Cultural History of Halloween, clarifies a university student followed him to his dressing room where he dared Houdini to take a stomach punch. Skal continues, “He may already have been suffering from undiagnosed appendicitis; the result was peritonitis and a swift but excruciating death.”
What was the secret message? I know you are dying to know! The bunch of garbled-goop goes, “ROSABELLE ANSWER TELL PRAY ANSWER LOOK TELL ANSWER ANSWER TELL.”
Author Skal has written an engaging history of Halloween. Through the use of the Oxford English Dictionary and period postcards, he follows the migration of the celebration from Europe to America. What started as a way to relax after the harvest has now turned to big business with Disney costumes and Hershey candies.
Within the pages one will read all about haunted houses, witches, Jack-o’-Lanterns, and skeletons. He includes a fascinating chapter on Hollywood title, “Halloween on Screen” and concludes with the scariest of scenarios, September 11.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Playing for Pizza (copy)
Alright readers, get your pom-poms ready, because I’m about to lead a cheer for John 
Grisham’s new book Playing for Pizza. “Give me an ‘F’!” “Give me a ‘U’!” “Give me an ‘N’!” “What do ya got?” FUN! “I can’t hear you!” FUN!
That’s right, Grisham’s new book is nothing but fun. Matter of fact, it is the perfect little read during the week while one waits for Grisham’s Alma Mata, Ole Miss, to kick-off a Saturday football game. What am I thinking? One only has two weekdays to read if he is a real football fanatic, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Our story opens with 28-year-old Rick Dockery lying in a hospital bed not really sure just how he got there. This confusion makes his agent, Arnie, a bit nervous. Over Rick’s lackluster football career this makes his third concussion—and one is usually one too many—in the NFL.
Arnie retells the story as Rick notices his head throbbing more and more with each sentence. Apparently, third-stringer Rick was called on the field to replace the second Browns’ quarterback to sustain injuries in the Cleveland Browns versus Denver Broncos match-up. This play-off game is all but won as Browns fans begin to head towards the parking lot.
As Rick accepts the snap, the Browns are up by 17 points with only 11 minutes left in the game. Have you ever played the game, “7 Minutes in Heaven?” Well, for Rick this is 11 minutes in the opposite direction as the ball is intercepted three separate times for unbelievable Bronco touchdowns.
Arnie has more bad news. First, Browns manager, Whacker, called while Rick was in his coma to fire him. Second, no one, not even his parents have sent flowers or get well cards. Last, an angry group of drunken fans have staged yell-ins directed at the quarterback’s hospital window for a week.
Hiding in the hospital, Rick is left with only two options; essentially, quit football altogether or play for the Parma Panthers in Parma, Italy. Who? Where?
Arnie’s worked the phones daily while Rick recovered for another NFL contract, but things have been brutal. Even the Denver Broncos-heading to the Super Bowl thanks to Rick-laugh at his offer. The Parma Panthers are the only agreeable team. Their offer, a whopping $20,000 plus room, car, and all the pasta one ex-NFLer can eat.
So, before the next tailgate party, what will you do? “Read! Read! READ!”
Note: Number 3 Armchair Travelers Reading Challenge
Monday, October 08, 2007
Non-Fiction Five Completed!
Sorry, this took so long, Joy! I finished the Non-Fiction Five Challenge before the end of 
September, but am just now getting around to posting my participation. I loved the challenge and am thankful Joy hosted such an immensely thought-provoking genre.
Out of the five original books, I read none! Bah! It is just impossible to stay to a list of books. When I sit down to type my article for the newspapers, usually on a Wednesday morning, I have a hard time getting started if the book doesn't already match a seasonal, topical theme. Why? Well, I'm no writer; I'm a librarian.
This limits my challenge participation as earlier mentioned. Thankfully, Joy approved my 
modification of the rules, and I got to read some damn good books. My favorite, Rats by Robert Sullivan, gave the hubby and I an added adventure during our trip to New York City. Here is a picture of me under the sign to Eden Alley. We have pictures of dead rats in the alley, too. Not sure y'all would appreciate them though?!?
Oh, Hubby thought I should tell you about our encounter before finding the alley. We, dressed as wrinkled tourist, kept looking around corners and walking blocks looking for the alley. Finally, an older white haired gentleman wearing the latest in brooks brothers, asked if we needed directions. Our temporary tour guide must have thought we wanted to see something in the financial district and he was eager to please. Well, that is, until we said Eden's Alley. He abruptly frowned and said he never heard of it and literally scurried away! Bah!
The Big Bam by Leigh Montville
Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Flower Confidential by Amy Stewart
Rats by Robert Sullivan
Teach like your Hair is on Fire by Rafe Esquith
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
A Long Way Gone (copy)
He is a refugee, a soldier, and a reformer; but most of all, he is a survivor. This is the true story of Ishmael Beah, as written in the horrific A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier.
Eleven-year-old Ishmael is living in the small village of Mogbwemo, Sierra Leone, as the story begins. His idyllic African life is filled with school (learning Shakespeare), friends (playing soccer, rapping to Run-DMC, and swimming in the river), and warm nights of storytelling by his grandmother. That is before the rebels attack his remote village, causing all to flee for their lives.
In the chaos, Ishmael and his older brother Junior, run in the opposite direction from their family. With every step their distance grows farther, as the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) drives them deep into the jungle.
Later the next day, the boys return to a home filled with lounging rebels. Blood is splattered on the huts and pooled on the dirt; otherwise, there is no sign of family and friends. Relief feels their hearts as the lack of bodies provides the possibility of life. The brothers decide to travel on to the next village in search of their mother, grandmother, and baby brother.
For almost a year, they search and narrowly escape the rebels who seem to be walking in their shadows. They face isolation and starvation during this time, plus Junior becomes a victim of the war. By pure luck Ishmael finds and joins a group of six boys he knows from school.
Although Ishmael and his friends are only trying to survive, the villagers they encounter fear them. They have heard of ruthless gangs of boy soldiers and attack the seven boys as if they are rebels. How will these misfortunate children stay alive with rebels and civilians attacking them?
Involuntary conscription is the answer to their daily pain. By placing the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) uniform on, they can take regular showers, sleep under a roof, and eat two daily meals. Unfortunately, they will and do kill others with their army issued AK-47s and G3s.
What can be more frightening than a 13-year-old boy aiming an AK-47 at your person? This one thought haunted me throughout the reading of Ishmael’s brutal account of war. I found it remarkable how he became so dehumanized by the killing, yet rehabilitated to become a gentle adult.
Note: Number 2 Armchair Traveler's Reading Challenge
Number 2 RIP II Reading Challenge
Christina of Ardently Pink Reader had a totally different take.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Stereotype Preceeds Me!
I gave a program October 1st in a town 25 miles south of the campus called Batesville. The delightful Friends of the Library group were seven strong when normally they have a crowd of sixteen. I joked it must be the speaker, but they assured me many were on vacation. Even the librarian was out of state.
Not remembering my contact - last minute deal and said vacationing librarian suggested me - I walked into a room full of strangers. I was greeted by a nice woman who blurted out, "You're pretty!"
Not something I get to hear everyday, I basked in the slightly uncomfortable compliment as she continued, "I mean, you look different from the librarian I pictured on the phone."
She obviously hasn't been exposed to my most-recent (beige) publicity photo. Bah!
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Hondo & Fabian (copy)
We’re number one! We’re number one! No, I’m not talking about the fighting Rangers of Northwest; although, they are having a good season. I’m talking about you and me. Fellow Mississippians, we are the fattest state in the whole Nation.
For three years running, Mississippi has been number one on the F as in Fat poll conducted by the Trust for America’s Health. Yippee! I feel good knowing I’m doing my part. Matter-of-fact, one can pin a “Wide Load” sign to my backside and hire a couple of escorts with flags. Bah!
Don’t feel too bad, obesity rates are increasing all across the United States. Even the lowest rated, Colorado, jumped one percent this year. Our wonderful furry pets seem to be in on the competition as well. My favorite dog is so big she resembles a seal, all blubber with flipper paws.
Author and illustrator, Peter McCarty, recognizes the trend in chunky pets. His new series sports two such chunksters: Hondo the dog and Fabian the cat. They are adorably illustrated with massive bodies and stumpy paws. It is in the expressions on their faces where one falls in love.
In McCarty’s first book, Hondo & Fabian, Hondo is allowed outdoors to play while Fabian must deal with baby. Hum, who will have more fun? As you can imagine, Hondo dives into the waves and Fabian dives for cover. In the end, the buddies are reunited around their food dishes, “full and fat.”
In Fabian Escapes, it’s the cat’s turn to be outdoors. As Hondo returns from his walk, Fabian sneaks past for a clean getaway. Once outside, she meets the neighborhood dogs who love to play chase. Baby also likes to play chase and dress-up. Who will get their nap first, as both pets coward in safe hiding places?
These are delightful books to share with young readers; especially, those with, um, bigger pets. The faces they make while in the custody of baby are priceless and might teach a little empathy.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Southern Vampire Series (copy)
Sometimes, just out of the blue, I’ll hear another person book talk a recent read to their friend(s). Obviously, being a librarian, my ears are tuned to just this sort of conversation, and have a tendency to lean-in close to hear more. Alright, I’m rude, but it’s a great way to find word-of-mouth books that may not be on the New York Times bestseller list.
What a smart girl! Now, I was dying to read the series, but the books were checked out. I then headed to the local library, where another well-informed librarian told me more, and loaded my arms with five books.
Harris is no stranger to the mystery series having written two: Aurora Teagarden and Shakespeare. Her first book in the Southern Vampire series, Dead until Dark, won an Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original in 2001. In this series she creates a fresh genre by mixing mystery, romance, and fantasy with her own off-the-wall humor. Heroine, Sookie Stackhouse, is barmaid extraordinaire at the subdued, Louisiana bar Merlotte’s. While serving nightly rounds to light-headed patrons, she solves murders with the help of her vampire-boyfriend Bill Compton. Vampires are known entities in Harris’s world. They even have synthetic blood produced by major soft drink companies.
Note: Number 1 Read Club Dead for RIP II Reading Challenge
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
A Northern Light (copy)
"No one is a failure who has books." Oops, that's supposed to read, “No one is a failure who has friends.” Wait a minute! Aren't they one in the same!?!
I met a new friend, in yet another book, that I admire and care for deeply this week. Her name is Matilda Gokey, or Mattie, and she lives in the North Woods of New York state. She is 16 and she is 17 for her story travels two separate timelines; one story occurs as she carries out chores on her family’s homestead, and the other story takes place at the Glenmore Inn where she toils as a maid.
While living with the family, Mattie chooses a word for the day from her deceased mother’s prized dictionary. (All stories about Mattie’s time with the family begin with the word of the day separated phonetically in the chapter title.) These words are her salvation as she toils caringly for her three younger sisters and overworked father.
Her time at Glenmore is punctuated by the untimely death of an inn guest. Grace Brown is found at dusk floating on the camp’s lake. She and her friend Carl Grahm, or is it Chester Gillette, took a little skiff out after lunch and haven’t been seen since. Well, that is before Grace’s body turns up.
In these parallel stories, Mattie has made promises to the recently dead. For her mother, she promises to look after the family, and for Grace Brown she promises to burn the letters written between Grace and Chester, oh, I mean Carl. Did you know it was a sin to break a death bed promise? Mattie just knows she will come face-to-face with their ghosts if she does.
Jennifer Donnelly has written an extremely engaging story in A Northern Light. This award winner, for the young adult crowd, is perfect for a mother/daughter book club. Given the daughter is mature and understands the facts of life. Think of this book as a Laura Ingalls story for mature audiences.This was one of those books I carried everywhere and didn’t want to put down. Not even when I was called to supper. Now, you know it’s a special friend, when you are willing to pass up food!
Note: This concudes my reading for the Damn Yankee Challenge. Thanks Sage and Ed for the funny! ;D
Friday, September 07, 2007
Ah, the Party's Over...
It's been a full week now and I believe most everyone who finished the challenge is displayed on Mister Linky.
Before I announce the grand prize winner, I would like to thank each and everyone who gave up valuable reading time to participate in the challenge; especially, in light of the brutal heat we experienced in August. I hope it simulated that Southern feel within the books read. I know my thighs stuck to the vinyl seats more than once these past three months. :D
HUGE THANKS to Deana of Friday Night Fish Fry for her donation of hubby's autographed, Southern books for the Sense of Place Contest and the final drawing. My hubby keeps picking up Mobil Home and I, with sadistic enjoyment, keep slapping his eager, ready-to-read hands. :D
Friday Night Pecan Winners for the past two weeks weren't announced, thus Mo of Inside Mo's Mind and Heidijane of Adventures in Bookland have some 'cans coming there way...
The Southern Challenge Winner, lucky seven himself, Sage of Musings will be receiving an autographed copy of Martin Clark's The Many Aspects of Mobile Home Living and a magnolia tin of tasty pecans! Congratulations Sage!
AND, Congratulations to all who participated in the challenge.
YOU are ALL Winners in my Southern BOOK!
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Teach like your Hair is on Fire (copy)
“It’s a thankless job. It’s hard to find a reason to believe,” states author Rafe Esquith.
He continues, “It’s thankless and it doesn’t get easier. When you glance at your mental ledger, the red ink completely dominates the black. For every reason to believe, for every child you may help, there are dozens who make you want to give up. Most of the kids who walk into our classrooms do not even begin to comprehend how education can help them improve their lives.”
In Esquith’s 242-page book titled, Teach like your Hair is on Fire, these are the only 
words he allows himself to write which convey empathy towards his fellow teachers. Otherwise, the man generalizes the heck out of over-worked, over-wrought, just-teaching-for-the-test colleagues and it makes me mad.
How could anyone work around this egotistical know-it-all as he insinuates every teacher he comes in contact with is bad, lazy and/or ineffective? No wonder he loathes staff meetings where he must face those very teachers he has been so unkind to. Matter of fact, go back and reread his words in the second paragraph, replacing the words you, your, and our with I, me, and my, and this is Esquith’s personality in a nutshell.
Otherwise, I found his book to be inspiring and thought provoking. Between the self-congratulatory stories, there is a wealth of ideas from which to utilize. Esquith teaches the basics to fifth graders who consider English a second language in Los Angeles, California. A fact he says places them at a disadvantage when it comes to learning.
Okay, I can agree with this statement, but I think Esquith has an advantage Mississippi teachers do not. His kids are motivated to learn. His kids accompanied family members to the United States in order to pursue the American Dream. Most of our kids no longer harbor that hope and are generally less motivated.
Here’s my suggestion for reading this book. Skip over the first two chapters and concentrate on the specific subjects, such as reading, writing, and arithmetic, he covers per chapters three through eleven. Incorporate these ideas into your class, if you haven’t already, and then tackle chapters 12 through 17 as extracurricular activities.
Teaching is a hard enough profession without the constant negatives from self-anointed professionals. There is no need to put-down others, let the accomplishments do the talking.
Friday, August 31, 2007
I'm So Excited...
...I cain't Sleep! Time to wrap-up the Southern Reading Challenge! I have one final Mister Linky and then we will draw for the autographed copy of Martin Clark's The Many Aspects of Mobile Home Living plus another pecan treat! So, if you've hung in there wid me this summer, and finished 3 Southern settings by Southern author books, sign on the dotted Mr. Linky line. Be sure to either include your summary post of the challenge OR a link to the third book read. Ain't those legs adorable on the cover?!?Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Katrina Remembered
Made with Cottonballs and Hairspray!Breach of Faith by Jed Horne (2006)
City Adrift by Jenni Bergal (2007)
Disaster by Christopher Cooper (2006)
Face to Face with Katrina Survivors
by Lemuel A Moye (2006)
Feet on the Street by Roy Blout, Jr (2005)
The Great Deluge by Douglas Brinkley (2006)
Hurricane Katrina by Reginald DesRoches
In Katrina’s Wake by Bill McKibben (2006)
Katrina: Mississippi Women Remember
by Sally Pfister (2007)
Katrinaville Chronicles by David G. Speilman (2007)
New Orleans Mon Amour by Andrei Codrescu (2006)
Path of Destruction by John McQuaid (2006)
The Strom by Ivor Van Heerden (2006)
The Year of Fog (copy)
It was cold and foggy the morning we decided to walk Ocean Beach. There had been a couple of intense storms that week and we were hoping to find whole sand dollars.
Emma was her cheerful self and a constant tug as she continued to leave my hand for the interesting shells. I asked her to behave but I really couldn’t blame her for being excited. At six years of age everything is exciting and Emma’s excitement was contagious.
I had brought my Holga, an inexpensive little plastic camera I use when feeling artsy, and that morning was perfect. Well, except for the constant struggle with Emma. I found it hard to juggle her little hand and focus the camera at the same time.
This is when I made the mistake of a lifetime. In the excitement, I allowed Emma a privilege I had no right to offer.
See, Emma’s not my child. She is the sole property of my fiancé, Jake. The man I was to marry in three months, but now, I’m not sure.
These are the facts as I remember them. Emma begged me to let her go and I let her go. She ran up ahead and I took her photo as she skipped away. I told her to come back, she was getting too immersed in the fog and I couldn’t see her. I looked down and there was a dead seal at my feet.
Had Emma seen the seal? Did it scare her, making her run in the opposite direction to find me? I mean, I only looked down for a few seconds, just enough time to get some shots. How far could she go on her little legs in this fog?
The Year of Fog is Alabama native Michelle Richmond's second book. According to her web page the book “was selected by Kirkus Reviews as one of the best books of 2007 for reading groups, and has been optioned by Newmarket Films.”
One will fall in love with author Richmond’s style as she describes a year in Abby Mason’s suspended life. Readers experience a jumble of guilt, shame and confusion as the days drag into weeks which draw into months, and still Emma’s whereabouts remain shrouded in the fog.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Brad Pitt Crowned Miss N'awlins
Five days from now, it will be the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Brad Pitt and Working Words 100 at Books and Stuff want to keep the focus on New Orleans.
Take a look at WW100 original comparison of past and present New Orleans using the books A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole and Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans.
Oh, yeah. Take a LONG look at Brad, too! ;D
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Owen & Mzee (copy)
It was a balmy post-tsunami day when he was discovered on the coral reefs away from shore. Two feet tall and 600 pounds, he was a meager shadow of his parents and other herd members. But, where was the herd?
He was mad, too. People kept crowding him and throwing nets on his back. He didn’t like these men and he really didn’t like nets. His instinct told him to run, to charge, but a man called Owen Sobien put a stop to all the chaos. In one fluid motion he leapt atop the rounded figure, securing him with a shark net.
Applause erupted as our new friend was ceremoniously named Owen and unceremoniously shoved in the back of a pick-up truck. The ride was dusty and hot in the African sun as they traveled to Mombasa, Kenya where an animal sanctuary named Haller Park awaited their arrival. Unfortunately, there was a problem; the existing herd was territorial and extremely aggressive. Owen would surely be killed.
Since he was still a baby, the park managers moved him into an enclosure called a boma. At the time the boma was home to gentler animals such as, “bushbucks, vervet monkeys and a few Aldabra tortoises.”
As they backed the truck into his new home it was becoming dark. Owen struggled to stay in the truck, but the annoying people prevailed. His slightly ungracious exit was followed by a quick bee line to a dark object in the corner of the boma. Within a minute the object moved, so he moved. The object moved again, so he moved again. Everyone smiled and called it a night.
The next morning, park managers were shocked by what they saw. Owen, a mammal, was sleeping next to a cold-blooded reptile. Not just any reptile, but a 130-year-old, grumpy, Aldabra tortoise.
This is the true story of Owen, a baby hippopotamus, and his constant-companion tortoise named Mzee [mm-Zay]. Currently, three books celebrate this extraordinary friendship: Owen & Mzee: Best Friends, Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship, and Owen & Mzee: The Language of Friendship. Each book celebrates their famous kinship, and is perfect for the child ready to transition into chapter books. Elementary teachers might find these books a refreshing approach to units on animals. Coloring sheets and activities can be found online at lafargeecosystems.com.
Note: Authors include Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff, and Dr. Paula Kahumbu. Photography by Peter Greste.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
That's Right, Mello Yellow!
| You Are a Yellow Crayon |
 Your world is colored with happy, warm, fun colors. You have a thoughtful and wise way about you. Some people might even consider you a genius. Charming and eloquent, you are able to get people to do things your way. While you seem spontaneous and free wheeling, you are calculating to the extreme. Your color wheel opposite is purple. You both are charismatic leaders, but purple people act like you have no depth. |
Thanks Book Diva, this was fun! :D
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Flower Confidential (copy)
When I was little, I loved farm days with my grandfather, Papa. He raised steer and tobacco on acreage in Castalian Springs, Tennessee, west of Gallatin.
This particular year the tobacco was raised in a field adjacent to the road. Upon my arrival, I excitedly commented on the beautiful flowers. Papa let out a quick puff of air in disgust as he gruffly told me, “Flowers don’t make me money, leaves make me money.”
Here was my first lesson on manipulating plants. The flower buds are taken off tobacco plants to force leaf production. The official term is toppin’ and apparently my grandfather was behind. I would have loved to help; unfortunately, the plants were taller than my 10-year-old self.
Enter in Flower Confidential by Amy Stewart, which exposes the flower industry, thorn and all. “Each blossom is a unit of profit,” Stewart enlightens us as she pursues producers, all over the world, reporting on the cut-flower industry. An industry which isn’t as cutthroat as one might think, except Leslie Woodriff.
Stewart describes Leslie Woodriff as the, “last generation of true old-fashioned flower 
breeders.” Not your typical breeder, Woodriff sparsely kept records, cleaned his greenhouse, or watered his plants. Yet, this man discovered the “Star Gazer,” which revolutionized the lily business and made others rich.
Stewart not only educates readers by defining DIF and photoperiod, she provides historic background for favorites, such as violets, roses, and tulips. In one chapter, “How the Dutch conquered the World,” she quips the craziness surrounding tulip bulbs. In the 17th Century, Dutch florist might pay a couple thousand gilders for one bulb. Using the same amount during the period, one could purchase, “ordinary goods: several pigs, oxen, and sheep, a few tons of grain, tons of butter, barrels of beer, and a ship to carry them on.”
With each chapter, I kept thinking, “What are we losing by forcing plants to bloom?” Will flowers lose their scent because they no longer need bees to propagate their pollen? What about the Easter Lily which miraculously blooms Easter morning? That is, with the help from greenhouses controlling temperature, fertilization, and light deprivation.
Papa’s Easter Lily, with four, forced blooms in the church sanctuary, became 12 blooms in nature that following spring.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Like Welty and O'Connor!
Vidalia from Vidalia's Books discovered a new author which she claims, "follows in the tradition of southern authors like Welty and O'Connor. Her stories are haunting. She writes with a wry, bemused voice and a strong talent for description. Please note: this is NOT "chick lit." Highly recommended." Read more...
Death Week 2007
Oh, you haven't heard? This is the week thousands of fun Elvis fans flock to Memphis to celebrate his life and death.Matter-of-fact, any Memphian worth her weight in gold even has an Elvis story to share: for example, Elvis drove a truck and once gave my friend a ride home to Como, Mississippi after he brokedown on the interstate.
Photo by Mike Brown/The CA
The Commercial Appeal photo caption~ August 13, 2007
Elvis impersonators Steve Rosati (left) and Keshav Patel, who both happened to have traveled to Memphis from Montreal, Canada, sing a karaoke duet at the Elvis Expo 2007 held at the Memphis Cook Convention Center through Tuesday. "These are the best kind of people in the world, Elvis fans and Elvis impersonators," Patel said.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Challenge Challenged!
I had promised Lesley a month ago I would join her Airchair Travelers Reading Challenge and am now finally getting to it. With this post, I ask her permission to not make a list, but rather list those I read in that category as I read them. Is that unethical for any reading challenge?
My work reading must come first. I hate to be snobbish. I find the challenge of participating in these challenges, comes from integrating them into articles for the newspapers I serve. My first choice, Eat, Pray, Love, was an easy pick because of its timeliness. It's number one on the paperback bestsellers list; plus, people are really talking about it now. Thus, I read it, wrote about it, and marked it off my Airchair Travelers Reading Challenge list.
One may have noticed the original list for the Non-Fiction Reading Challenge morphed. I replaced books I did plan to read with NFs read within the allotted time period. The original list was my attempt, at looking into the future, to read timely or crowd-pleasing books. Manhunt and Mockingbird remain on the list for I think they still have people appeal.
I just hope Joy at Thoughts of Joy will forgive me.
The idea (not making a list) actually came about as a poke at Ed. The Southern Reading Challenge was countered with a mock Damn Yankees Reading Challenge by Ed at Recycled Thoughts. My reading pattern this summer was Northern as the result of an impending vacation to New York City. As I wrote articles, I noticed just as many books for Ed's challenge as for my very own. So, I thought I would give Ed a little thrill by listing the Northern books read.
Thanks to Sage (his button & title idea), Ed has enjoyed three participants in his joke.
Fellow Bloggers and Challengers, I ask you, am I a reading challenge prima donna?
Saturday, August 11, 2007
New Southern Authors!
Some of our fellow Southern Reading Challenge participants have found new authors in the 
genre! Way to go you venturesome folks!
NolaDawn at Kids, Cats, & Books ~ What Else is There said, "No Place, Louisiana is a first novel for author Martin Pousson. It gives a look at life in Louisiana’s Cajun country as seen through the eyes of Nita, who is looking for any way to escape her poor life. Unfortunately, Louisiana is it. Great voice, immaculate timing, and classic Southern drama set in the slow 60s and 70s of the lazy bayous of Louisiana. You feel Nita’s yearning and want something more for her but know what the limitations that are placed on her are. A new Southern classic for me." Read more...
Nymeth at Things Mean a Lot had quite a bit to say about Crossroads: Tales of the Southern Literary Fantastic (a collection of southern short stories) edited by F. Brett Cox and Andy Ducan. She also had a visit from one of the editors, F. Brett Cox. He noted, "Andy and I knew when we took on this project that the range of stories we wanted would, inevitably, lead to some people liking some stories a great deal while asking of other, "What is _that_ doing _here_?" But one our main goals was, as you noted, diversity, and I think we achieved it." Read much more at ...Friday, August 10, 2007
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Dawg Days of Summer
It was a nasty 101 degrees with a heat index of 107 today. (My little weather gurl (in the sidebar) was probably runnin' around nakeed instead of her usually yellow polka dot bikini! Oh, and today is the anniversary of the release of Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini!) The weather promises to be more the same for the rest of the week. Can you even imagine life without air conditioning in these conditions? We got our first window unit in 1973, praise be.
Thought this would be a good time to post a painting idealizing the historic blues cross(rail)roads of the South, where the Southern Crosses the Dawg.
Eat, Pray, Love (copy)
I admire writers who willingly place their lives on public display through personal memoirs. Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt, Night by Elie Wiesel, and The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr immediately come to mind as examples. This week I read Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert; a book that combines two of my favorite non-fiction genres—memoirs and travelogues.
Before we delve into the book, I wish to define the word memoir. Most readers use memoir, biography, and auto-biography interchangeably which is an injustice to the writer. Biographies are meant to convey one’s life from birth to death, or in the case of auto-biographies near death. With memoirs, the writer concentrates on a specific event within a life and tries to give it meaning. In Wiesel’s Night, the reader faces horror upon horror as he travels from ghetto to concentration camp during the Holocaust. His specific event is the Holocaust, but we know, through Oprah, he continues to live an eventful life.
Eat, Pray, Love is Gilbert’s search for meaning after an acrimonious divorce which spirals her into depression. To break her cycle and “comeback” from failure, she plans a yearlong trip abroad. Her inspiration for the wanderlust is a string of beads called japa malas which contain 108 beads. A precursor to rosary beads, she uses the 108, “a perfect three-digit multiple of three” as her outline for the book, as in 108 entries with 36 chapters per three countries.
I’m shocked Gilbert chooses food over the obvious pleasure many recent divorcées opt for. Staring her in the face are two Italian gods, otherwise known as Giovanni and Dario, or the Tandem Language Exchange twin brothers. My jaw drops as she spends fifty, flirty hours drinking wine and watching sunsets with Giovanni only to be left at the door with a handshake. Dang those English Puritan genes!
Note: Number 1 Armchair Traveler's Reading Challenge
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Winners-Step Right Up!
Friday Night Pecan Delight Winner Sense of Place Winner
1. A Fondness For Reading with To Kill a Mockingbird
2. Lynne's Little Corner with The Beach House
3. Shelf Life with Fair and Tender Ladies
4. Tiffany Norris with Deliverance
5. Book Girl's Nightstand with The Bad Behavior of Belle Cantrell
6. Musings of a Bookish Kitty with When Crickets Cry
7. Book Haven with The Optimist's Daughter
8. A Striped Armchair with Delta Wedding
9. Misfit Finds Her Place with A Good Man is Hard to Find
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Tobacco Road (copy)
Is Tobacco Road by Erskine Caldwell meant to be taken seriously or is it a comedic tour de force? I read the book cold-turkey. This is how I like to describe a book in which I lack prior knowledge of plot, characterization, or theme. I merely pick the book up to try a new author or in this case I liked the title.
I was halfway through the book before I stopped to read the small bio, brief description, and critic comments located on the back cover. The New York Herald Tribune claims, “Mr. Caldwell’s humor, like Mark Twain’s, has as its source an imagination that stirs the emotions of the reader.”
Ah, Mark Twain(ish) humor, it is supposed to be funny. That changes everything! The characters and their disregard for human life, other than their own, was a little disheartening to read. Knowing now that it is a farce, allows me to really enjoy the story full of unbelievable characters.
Leading the role for most unbelievable is main character, Jeeter, patriarch of the Lester family. Jeeter is all about Jeeter. He even shoos his own mother from the dinner table. Ada, his wife and producer of 17 children, is a quiet woman, but lately, “hunger has loosened her tongue,” and made her a trite annoying. All of the children except for Dude, 16, and Ellie May, 17, have left home for the big city of Augusta, Georgia and its cotton mills. The youngest child, Pearl, 12, was traded to Lov Bensey for food. Grandmother Lester is allowed to haunt the house as long as she stays out of the way. The family actually wills her to wither and blow away.
The book was originally published in 1932, and the timeline is concurrent with the Depression. The Lesters have become sharecroppers on their own original Lester land after Jeeter squanders their assets with fraudulent home loans. As the story opens the family is subsiding on corn meal, snuff, and chicory, while Grandmother Lester forages off the land.
I am so thankful this book is comedic in nature. Not, laugh-track, ha-ha funny such as Beverly Hillbillies or Green Acres, but rather a relief these aren’t real people. The character Elly May Clampett is way more forgiving to the eyes than poor, hair-lipped Ellie May Lester. Oh, and how misleading is the title, where’s the tobacco?
