Throwback Thursday: Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading

This was pretty typical of me at a certain age (by which I mean all the ages including now...). I believe that is a Sweet Valley High book I was reading. We're at a Christmas party, and my mom and stepdad are engrossed in an actual conversation which I was trying very hard to ignore.

In all seriousness, this was a Christmas party I loved to go to as a kid, at the house of one of my mom's former teachers from Gardena High School, Richard Cody. We used to attend annually, driving from our home in the Inland Empire to their house in Santa Ana. In my role as endless, annoying fountain of Christmas spirit from July onwards, I was dazzled by something as simple as the taillights of the traffic on the 91 freeway, festive ribbons of red and white that were probably making my parents cuss under their breath.

Richard Cody and his wife had a huge network of extended family and friends, former students, children biological, foster, and adopted, and so on and so forth. We'd enjoy Christmas carols around the piano (often with me or my mom playing), orange sherbet punch, and a reading of The Night Before Christmas that culminated in Santa coming down the stairs and handing presents out to all the kids. When I was little, Santa was this really tall man named Benjamin, and then his son Malik inherited the post--that might be him on the left in the picture, or possibly his brother Ibi. (Clearly nobody was alarmed by Santa suddenly changing from white to black in the space of a year.)

That diverse cacophony of names, though: Malik, Ibi. Their mom Twyla. Erlene, Richard's wife. Ted and Ariana, their biological kids. Moises, Marcos. Plenty of others I don't remember. It was a music, just as much as the notes from the piano; a very SoCal music. The Codys' expansive and generous social circle taught me a lot about the diversity of where I lived.

This would probably be a good December post, but in keeping with my childhood singing of Christmas carols at any given time of year, I'm posting it now.

SAVE THE DATE: KidLitCon 2019 in Providence, RI

It's hard to believe, but I don't think we've posted about this yet--the next Kidlitosphere Conference is already well into the planning stages, spearheaded by our own Charlotte Taylor of Charlotte's Library and Mia Wenjen of Pragmatic Mom. It'll be in Providence, RI on March 22-23, 2019, and it's got its own nifty website!

The latest awesome news about the conference is that Charlotte applied for and GOT a sizeable grant from the Providence Tourism Council, which means we can stretch our small budget and make the conference an even more memorable experience for everyone. This next con promises to be bigger and better than ever, too, with Charlotte and Mia at the helm. Reaching Readers is the theme, and there's already an incredible list of attending bloggers and authors who have plans to come.

If you've been to KidLitCon before, you'll know that it offers a far more intimate and less formal opportunity for bloggers, authors, librarians, teachers, illustrators, and other devotees of kidlit to come together and discuss current and ongoing issues, as well as sharing our areas of knowledge and expertise for the benefit of the kids (and, let's face it, adults) who read and enjoy books for young people. Speaking personally, it's at KidLitCon that I "found my tribe," so to speak--I've made lifelong friends with fellow book lovers who might be writers, readers, or both, but regardless of our actual job titles, we share that same passion.

I'm planning to attend (although there's a possibility I might be traveling elsewhere at the time, I'm hoping to make it all happen!) and look forward to meeting even more members of the tribe--so if you're interested, go check out the programming notes and get involved in a panel!

Mental Health Awareness Month: A Review Roundup

Source: Mental Health America

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and we've reviewed a number of titles over the years that we thought were exceptional portrayals of the experience of mental illness and related difficulties. As we all know, reading a good book can make us feel less alone--and, honestly, sometimes that's the one thing you need in order not to go over the edge. So here, in no particular order, is a by no means exhaustive list of recommended reads for Mental Health Month:

The Other Normals by Ned Vizzini

Try Not to Breathe by Jennifer R. Hubbard

100 Days of Cake by Shari Goldhagen

Dr. Bird's Advice for Sad Poets by Evan Roskos

This is How I Find Her by Sara Polsky

Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley

Delicate Monsters by Stephanie Kuehn

Define "Normal" by Julie Anne Peters

First Day on Earth by Cecil Castellucci

Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta

Scars by Cheryl Rainfield

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Nice Girls Endure by Chris Struyk-Bonn

These Gentle Wounds by Helene Dunbar

Turning Pages Reads: YOU GO FIRST, by ERIN ENTRADA KELLY

Welcome to another session of Turning Pages!

It's another E.E. Kelly book, which means there's going to be a lot of heart, and a lot of funny. Erin Entrada Kelly is a Filipino writer, so include this book in your list of titles for the Asian American Heritage Month celebration this May.

Synopsis: Twelve-year-old Charlotte has something important to say, only, right now, it's sticking in her throat. Her best friend, Bridget, knows. Her mother knows. The teacher and the school counselor knows... but Charlotte, who is brilliant and articulate and knows the name of more rocks than you do; Charlotte can hardly say it out loud. Her father, who had a stent put into his heart, whose difficulties sent Charlotte down the rabbit hole of open-heart surgeries and knowing more about hearts than probably any other kid in junior high, Charlotte's father has had a heart attack. And it feels like the end of the world.

What's worse is that, in a way, it's only the beginning of the end. If nothing else, at least Charlotte can distract herself playing a good word on her online Scrabble game.

Ben wishes that people would take recycling more seriously. He wishes that people knew the impact of all of the plastic and paper that gets into the ocean, and harms dolphins, turtles, and fish. He wishes that people really cared about how species evolved, and he also wishes he weren't so furious with his father. If he'd paid attention to his life - and not spent so much time in his head - maybe he'd have friends. Maybe he'd be better equipped to survive middle school. Maybe all of his current difficulties wouldn't be so hard to get through.

But, right now, Ben can't even think of who he'd call if he won the lottery.

It's a good thing he plays online Scrabble with a girl called Lottie. At least he knows he can call her.

Observations: Two gifted and talented kids with the tiny bit of myopia all kids have, Ben and Charlotte are only able to see the world right in front of them, in terms of their friends, their concerns, their hobbies. Their bright minds only make their socializing challenges all the more difficult, and when there's a challenge to their families and home lives they are abruptly forced out of their unseeing days into a confusing, painful world where they question not only what they're looking at, but how they could have missed so much. Charlotte, through her father, is realizing her mortality -- and HIS. Now the times she's brushed him aside rise up, and she feels so guilty she's paralyzed - and later, as she questions her social behavior, she's paralyzed by horror and shame. Ben is furiously ignoring the chaos outside his bedroom, and is determined to evolve past the quiet, inward-turning boy who drifted along through elementary school. However, with the active pushback of some of his classmates, it seems that it may be too late for him to turn into a different kind of bird than he's always been. It's a troubling, difficult time for both tweens. Told in alternating voices, we see where both Charlotte and Ben use words to conceal and reveal the ragged edges of honesty and pain now informing both of their lives. There's a lot of emotion, a little humor, and a few hard knocks, but in the end, readers will be relieved as both Ben and Charlotte find a tiny bit of land under their flailing feet, and begin the long process of standing tall.

Conclusion: Middle school is an intense time of transition, and this seems to be one of Erin Entrada Kelly's "big idea" truths. I appreciate the realism that Ben and Charlotte do not confide in each other; they're virtual strangers, literally. While we trust each other with playing a game online, and while Charlotte and Ben share the occasional brief phone conversation, they're not emotionally equipped to use each other to lean on in the traditional sense of friendship. However, their isolation allows them to be helpful to each other at key points. This book will resonate with the emotionally intelligent tween who is looking for the truth in the statement that we're all alike, under the skin, and no one suffers alone.

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I received my copy of this book courtesy of my public library. You can find YOU GO FIRST by Erin Entrada Kelly at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

2♦sdays@the treehouse: Challenge Five: May

Welcome back to our monthly Second Tuesday writing challenge!

From January - June, every second Tuesday of the month, we're going to post an image here on Wonderland of a Creative Commons licensed Flickr picture to which you can respond - with poetic, prose, or whatever kind of writing - and hopefully, you'll share a link in the comments below, so that we can visit your site, read your work and respond. No genre or style limit - just come and join the fun!

Welcome to May!

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I think we're over it with the May showers, but we're just getting started with Asian Pacific Heritage Month, and Mental Health Awareness Month. This month, it's time to celebrate National Salad Month, which, likely, features women laughing. Alone. With Salad. As they so often do. Additionally, May is National Bike and Barbecue Month as well, and extra points if you can celebrate these holidays simultaneously. This month's image comes from Flickr user Stefano Arteconi of Bologna, Italy:

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I have... so many questions, don't you? Just leave your link in the comments below, and we look forward to reveling in your inspiration! Happy writing!

Turning Pages Reads: SONG OF BLOOD AND BONE by L. Penelope

Welcome to another session of Turning Pages!

Synopsis: Earthsinger Jasminda ul-Sarifor has always wished she things were diferent - that she had greater magic, a better relationship with the xenophobic Elsiran village in which she lives, and fewer Lagrimaran features than her father's ancestry has left her. But, alas, things are as they are, and she stubbornly persists in ekeing out a living on the side of the magical barrier that separates these two very different kingdoms, in a place that doesn't love her... until one day, a beaten scrap of a man falls into her path, and everything changes.

It's easy to want to trust Jack, because he's clearly honest - he's in dire straits, and not afraid to say so. It would be stupid to help Jack -- he's an Elsiran spy who was dropped into the midst of Lagrimaran soldiers. There's no real reason for Jasminda to help him - it looks better if she doesn't, after all - but what Jasminda sees of his treatment, and later, what Jack has to say about his mission leaves Jasminda horrified. The barrier - the wall that keeps the kingdoms apart - is about to fall. And when it does, the Lagrimaran religious zealot called True-Father who began the violence between these two countries will come roaring through, in full power, and begin a 'cleansing' of Elsira, and millions of innocent will die...

Jasminda doesn't want to believe this - doesn't want to change her whole world... but it's already changing. Refugees are flooding through in places where the barrier is thin, and it is clear that there is nowhere for them to go -- there's destruction and murder on both sides. Jasminda can't just sit around wishing things were different and better anymore - things aren't, they won't be, and she cannot simply hide. Furthermore, Jack is becoming way too important to her, and Jasminda is beginning to have a fearfully important reason ti want the world to continue...

Observations: Isn't this a beautiful cover?

It's always delightful when a self-pubbed book is picked up by a traditional publishing house. (Or, it's delightful to me, anyway; it might be really fraught and scary for the author, but my joy is more readers for that book.) L. Penelope is a black writer who majored in film AND computer science and who first published this book in 2015.

This book was described in marketing materials as "Romeo & Juliet meets The Return of the King," which is an awkward juxtaposition, to my mind (it read more like a rewritten piece of Greek mythology to me), but it is very high fantasy, with the romance of danger and heightened everything - and also features star-crossed lovers, insofar as Jack and Jasminda are from warring countries and do not share a skin color. Readers will enjoy this novel not because of the love story - which I didn't entirely need, but they will enjoy that this is "just" a fantasy story, of the sort which has a big, sweeping cinematic drama between warring nations, and doesn't attempt to parallel any true history, or anything else. It's actually a bit of a quiet story, for all of its scope, and readers who go in looking for a major war or magic being thrown around will at first have to adjust their expectations.

This is a new volume in the Heroine's Journey, and while the path is somewhat familiar, this is such a beloved tale that many readers will be sucked right in. The first volume in L. Penelope's duology is mostly scene-setting and lining up allies v. enemies. I look forward to how it all ends.

Conclusion: A sweeping romance of warring nations, a mysterious Queen Who Sleeps, and a black girl poised to save the world through her personal brand of magic - which she believes to be insufficient and unimportant. A good starter book for young fantasy readers who aren't as familiar with the genre, the writing is clear, and the pacing is at times a little slow, but engaging.

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I received my copy of this book courtesy of the publisher. As of TODAY, May 1, 2018, you can find SONG OF BLOOD AND BONE by L. Penelope at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!