I haven't seen you for almost three weeks! Where have you been? Oh, wait. I'm the one who's supposed to be here. You just visit to see if I have anything brilliant to say. I haven't been feeling particularly brilliant lately. Getting ready for Christmas always seems to take it out of me, even when I don't feel particularly pressured or stressed.
I hope you all have a fabulous Christmas (pardon me, Winter) break and I will see you next week. Hopefully with something witty and pertinent to say. Me, not you. Well, it would be nice to hear from you, too. Witty or witless, I don't mind either one.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
What a great excuse!
Beginning in January, I will be taking a class titled "Young Adult Materials" in Library School. Yes! I will be formally studying past and present YA books! I love reading them, and now I can do so without feeling guilty about all the time I'm not doing something more productive. They're for school, after all. I'm so excited!
If you're lucky, I might find time to review them all for you!
p.s. Aren't exclamation points great!?!
If you're lucky, I might find time to review them all for you!
p.s. Aren't exclamation points great!?!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Book Review, ahoy!
Cloaked in Red, by Vivian Vande Velde--From the introduction, "Everyone knows the story of Little Red Riding Hood, the girl with the unfortunate name and the inability to tell the difference between her grandmother and a member of a different species." And, "However you look at it, 'Little Red Riding Hood' is a strange and disturbing story that should probably not be shared with children. That is why I've gone ahead and written eight new versions of it."
Ms. Vande Velde's eight new versions of LRRH are smart, funny, and ultimately satisfying. Unlike the original, which has plot holes big enough to accommodate a Mack truck, her short stories are tightly plotted and the characters are vivid and grand.
Since the stories are so short ( the entire book is only 127 small pages) there is only so much I can say about them. "The Red Cloak" is courtesy of an interfering mother who doesn't pay attention; "The Red Riding Hood Doll" gives a woman a bit of happiness in her otherwise drab life; "Little Red Riding Hood's Family" has one of the best openings... "Once upon a time, long after people had found out that their families could sometimes be an embarrassment, but before there were advice columnists you could complain to, there was a girl named Roselle."; "Granny and the Wolf" tells of a young granny who has to deal with a different kind of wolf; "Deems the Wood Gatherer" is an unfortunately near-sighted man with an unfortunate penchant for doing good deeds; the title characters in "Why Willy and His Brother Won't Ever Amount to Anything" are either dim-witted or overly-imaginative; "The Little Red Headache" is told from the wolf's point of view; and "Little Red Riding Hood's Little Red Riding Hood" is one of the most intelligent articles of clothing you will ever meet.
This little book doesn't take long to read, but it is well worth every minute!
Ms. Vande Velde's eight new versions of LRRH are smart, funny, and ultimately satisfying. Unlike the original, which has plot holes big enough to accommodate a Mack truck, her short stories are tightly plotted and the characters are vivid and grand.
Since the stories are so short ( the entire book is only 127 small pages) there is only so much I can say about them. "The Red Cloak" is courtesy of an interfering mother who doesn't pay attention; "The Red Riding Hood Doll" gives a woman a bit of happiness in her otherwise drab life; "Little Red Riding Hood's Family" has one of the best openings... "Once upon a time, long after people had found out that their families could sometimes be an embarrassment, but before there were advice columnists you could complain to, there was a girl named Roselle."; "Granny and the Wolf" tells of a young granny who has to deal with a different kind of wolf; "Deems the Wood Gatherer" is an unfortunately near-sighted man with an unfortunate penchant for doing good deeds; the title characters in "Why Willy and His Brother Won't Ever Amount to Anything" are either dim-witted or overly-imaginative; "The Little Red Headache" is told from the wolf's point of view; and "Little Red Riding Hood's Little Red Riding Hood" is one of the most intelligent articles of clothing you will ever meet.
This little book doesn't take long to read, but it is well worth every minute!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Book Trailers?
How many of you have heard of book trailers? They're like movie trailers, only they're about books. Of course. And, instead of using movie actors, they use unknown people to portray characters in the books. Sometimes there are voiceovers (similar to The Voice used in movie trailers), sometimes title cards are used. Sometimes the whole thing is nothing so much as a PowerPoint presentation.
Sadly, I am unable to show any to you right now, as I am at work and YouTube (and other sharing sites) is blocked. I will try to remember to link some from home later in the week.
Ha ha ha ha ha!
(Erm. Sorry. For those of you who do not know me personally, you have no idea how ludicrus is the idea of me remembering to do something work-related while I'm home.)
Anyway...
It is my hope to win a grant for us to acquire a video camera and editing software so we can make book trailers of our own to showcase our favorite books. And by us/we, I mean you and me! If any of you teens out there has a fabulous idea for a book trailer, let me know, and we will see what we can do!
We'll need scripts, actors, technical people, and more. Put your brains to work, people!
Sadly, I am unable to show any to you right now, as I am at work and YouTube (and other sharing sites) is blocked. I will try to remember to link some from home later in the week.
Ha ha ha ha ha!
(Erm. Sorry. For those of you who do not know me personally, you have no idea how ludicrus is the idea of me remembering to do something work-related while I'm home.)
Anyway...
It is my hope to win a grant for us to acquire a video camera and editing software so we can make book trailers of our own to showcase our favorite books. And by us/we, I mean you and me! If any of you teens out there has a fabulous idea for a book trailer, let me know, and we will see what we can do!
We'll need scripts, actors, technical people, and more. Put your brains to work, people!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
I'm baaaaack!
I had so much fun visiting Tracy. I am really glad to be home, though. I missed my family, my co-workers, my patrons. Yes, I missed you, too!
We were weepy and giggly in turn. We stayed up too late talking, watching movies, and eating cheesecake. We talked about boys we knew way back when. We talked about our kids. We talked about our hopes and dreams for the future. No topic went undiscussed. How exhausting! How great.
We were weepy and giggly in turn. We stayed up too late talking, watching movies, and eating cheesecake. We talked about boys we knew way back when. We talked about our kids. We talked about our hopes and dreams for the future. No topic went undiscussed. How exhausting! How great.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
No Teen Time in November
I'm goin' to TEXAS! I'm goin' to TEXAS! I'm goin' to TEXAS!
San Antonio, to be specific. My best friend (since High School, mind you) lives there and we are going to have a girls' week! My family is staying behind to hold the fort, and I am going to spend time with Tracy, whom I haven't seen in SIX YEARS!!
Think about that my friends. Where were you six years ago? Some of you were in first grade, maybe Kindergarten. I hadn't even started working at the library yet! Now, Tracy and I have been friends since the summer of 1984, which if you do the math was twenty-six (26) years ago. During those twenty-six years, we (both of us Army brats, then she married Air Force) have lived in the same town for only 11 months, the same state for only 25 months (that's including the 11 months in the same town). The rest of the time? Never less than 1,100 miles. At its peak, the distance between us was over 2,000 miles. That was when she and her family left South Carolina for an Air Force posting in MONTANA.
Before the days of unlimited long-distance calling, we used to get into so much trouble over phone bills! Some things were just too urgent to wait for the mail, and e-mail was just not even in the picture in the early days of our friendship. And we're both talkers. I mean... TALKERS.
All of this by way of saying: Don't let time and distance separate you from your real friends. You know what I mean. The friends to whom you can say absolutely anything. The friends with whom you can sit in silence and not be worried about why nobody's saying anything. The friends you argue with, but always come back to because you help each other in ways you can't articulate.
Your BEST friends.
San Antonio, to be specific. My best friend (since High School, mind you) lives there and we are going to have a girls' week! My family is staying behind to hold the fort, and I am going to spend time with Tracy, whom I haven't seen in SIX YEARS!!
Think about that my friends. Where were you six years ago? Some of you were in first grade, maybe Kindergarten. I hadn't even started working at the library yet! Now, Tracy and I have been friends since the summer of 1984, which if you do the math was twenty-six (26) years ago. During those twenty-six years, we (both of us Army brats, then she married Air Force) have lived in the same town for only 11 months, the same state for only 25 months (that's including the 11 months in the same town). The rest of the time? Never less than 1,100 miles. At its peak, the distance between us was over 2,000 miles. That was when she and her family left South Carolina for an Air Force posting in MONTANA.
Before the days of unlimited long-distance calling, we used to get into so much trouble over phone bills! Some things were just too urgent to wait for the mail, and e-mail was just not even in the picture in the early days of our friendship. And we're both talkers. I mean... TALKERS.
All of this by way of saying: Don't let time and distance separate you from your real friends. You know what I mean. The friends to whom you can say absolutely anything. The friends with whom you can sit in silence and not be worried about why nobody's saying anything. The friends you argue with, but always come back to because you help each other in ways you can't articulate.
Your BEST friends.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Ouch.
I had a tooth pulled on Monday. I don't think I have anything else to say. Just, "Ouch."
I hope to be more erudite next Tuesday.
I hope to be more erudite next Tuesday.
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