At the recent NCSLMA conference, I had the chance to see one of my favorite authors, Jacqueline Woodson. She had participated in our conference before, at least ten years ago, and I remembered her as gracious and engaging. At that time, I had read a few of her books -- The House You Pass on the Way and If You Come Softly -- but I don't believe her novel Miracle's Boys was out yet.
Since then, I have voraciously read almost all the books she has written, including her young adult novels and her picture books, and I am constantly booktalking and recommending them to my middle school readers in my library.
Her latest novel, Brown Girl Dreaming, is a wonderful story of her growing up in South Carolina and New York, of her falling in love with words, and of her as a young child figuring out the world, the good and the bad. Told in verse, the memoir is a lovely read, solidifying Woodson as a prolific writer. The book has received numerous starred reviews and is a finalist for the National Book Award.
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
New Year, New You: January Library Displays
One of my new year's resolutions or goals is to make sure that I have attractive, engaging, and inviting displays in my library media center. While life without a library assistant is harder, I know that the displays that my former assistant used to put up after brainstorming with me really did make a difference in the appearance of our space as well as circulation and general browsing of the collection.
Here are the January displays:
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Going Lean and Getting Clean in 2014
Happy new year! Just like every other year, so many folks make resolutions to kick off the new year and usually by mid-March (if they are lucky to get that far) their resolve has gone by the way. Just like my fellow resolution makers, I have set goals to lose weight, be healthier, study more, read more, be kinder, complete Bible studies, and umpteen other life enriching plans to mark the new year. Some years I've been more successful than others, but ultimately I like reflecting on the previous year and looking forward to improving my life and the lives of my family and friends.
A friend was deciding on her own resolution for the year and wanted something with a catchy phrase. I suggested a few: going green in 2014; giving up caffeine in 2014; living like a queen in 2014; more love, less mean in 2014. Other friends offered just as quick mottos for the new year and I liked one of them: getting lean in 2014.
While I feel like the gist of this phrase is about getting healthy and losing weight, I liked the idea of lean as also being more efficient, less wasteful, clean. So I'm going with the resolution:
Going Lean and Getting Clean in 2014
This doesn't just mean working towards living a healthier lifestyle - eating better, moving more. It means clearing out my head, meditating and praying more. It means making our home more lean and clean, clearing out clutter, getting rid of unnecessary items. It also means cleaning up relationships, focusing on the positives and dismissing the negatives. It means getting organized in all areas - physically, financially, personally and professionally.
What goals have you set for yourself for the new year?
A friend was deciding on her own resolution for the year and wanted something with a catchy phrase. I suggested a few: going green in 2014; giving up caffeine in 2014; living like a queen in 2014; more love, less mean in 2014. Other friends offered just as quick mottos for the new year and I liked one of them: getting lean in 2014.
While I feel like the gist of this phrase is about getting healthy and losing weight, I liked the idea of lean as also being more efficient, less wasteful, clean. So I'm going with the resolution:
Going Lean and Getting Clean in 2014
This doesn't just mean working towards living a healthier lifestyle - eating better, moving more. It means clearing out my head, meditating and praying more. It means making our home more lean and clean, clearing out clutter, getting rid of unnecessary items. It also means cleaning up relationships, focusing on the positives and dismissing the negatives. It means getting organized in all areas - physically, financially, personally and professionally.
What goals have you set for yourself for the new year?
Monday, August 12, 2013
100 Books in 2013: Peanut
Book 33: Peanut by Ayun Halliday
I loved this graphic novel! Everybody knows that it's hard to fit in in high school, but it's even more devasting when you have to up and leave your best friend and move to a new high school. So to fit in, Sadie tells everyone that she has a peanut allergy. She figures it will get her the sympathy vote, a little attention, some new friends. What she doesn't count on is how hard it is to remember that you have a peanut allergy when you really don't. You can only imagine the trouble that is about to happen!
I loved this graphic novel! Everybody knows that it's hard to fit in in high school, but it's even more devasting when you have to up and leave your best friend and move to a new high school. So to fit in, Sadie tells everyone that she has a peanut allergy. She figures it will get her the sympathy vote, a little attention, some new friends. What she doesn't count on is how hard it is to remember that you have a peanut allergy when you really don't. You can only imagine the trouble that is about to happen!
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Remembering My Daddy
My dad passed a way a few weeks ago, and I've been flooded with tons of memories from my forty-four years with him. Here's the eulogy that I gave at his funeral about the things that he taught me:
You may have thought there were only two teachers in our family – me and Mama – but there were three. These are a just a few of the things that my daddy taught me.
Hard work is honest work and an honest day’s work makes you a better person.
If you chop weeds out of the peanut field, you will be rewarded with a mid-morning Pepsi Cola and a bag of salted peanuts.
Nothing runs like a Deere, a John Deere, that is.
If your daddy plants a row, a really long row, of tomato plants, you will be expected to have a tomato stand at the road.
Nobody ever has to be a stranger.
If you don’t know someone’s name, it’s okay to call him Calvin until you catch his name.
If you know a farmer, you know a friend.
The Da-Nite is a great place for a cheese biscuit, a cup of coffee, and good friends.
Always say ‘Hi’ to the person next to you.
A little magic goes a long way to making someone smile.
If you practice, you, too, can pull off your finger and pull quarters out of your friends’ ears.
Fast talkers are not a bad thing.
If you practice enough, you can count from one to one hundred and back again really, really fast.
There’s always room for something sweet!
Once you set your mind to it, you can lose weight.
A slice of Mama’s butter pecan cake is better right out of the freezer.
Little brown bags always have surprises in them, like Zero bars and 5th Avenues.
Always carry a change of clothes in your truck.
You can never have too many collections – train stuff, bottles, fishing poles – or too many caps.
Duct tape and wire really can fix almost anything.
Even when you think somebody is asleep, he may still be watching television.
If you can fry good cornbread, you’ll be invited to lots of pig pickings and fish fries.
Barbecue chicken cooked on charcoals is the best barbecue chicken.
Cigarettes are really, really bad.
Anybody can learn anything if you have enough patience to teach her.
Even a girl can build a bookcase, bait a fishing hook, and shoot a .22.
If you aren’t following instructions, you can burn out the clutch of a ’63 Ford flatbed truck.
If you’re gonna tell a joke, don’t mess up the punch line.
If you’re asked to emcee your high school class reunion, you should say ‘yes’.
You should always take care of your mama and your daddy.
Raleigh is really not that far of a drive to a hospital when you’re spending time with your father in his last months of life.
You should visit your mama every day and if that’s not doable you should at least call her.
Always spend time with those you love.
If you have a daughter, she will probably be a daddy’s girl.
You can learn a lot about your daddy when you go to a farm equipment sale and watch him buy a tractor.
You should go on at least one family vacation a year.
And the number one thing that my daddy taught me – when you love, you should love with your whole heart. That’s how he loved my mama; that’s how he loved me. That’s how he loved our family, especially Elizabeth. That’s how he loved his mama and his daddy and his brother and his sister. It’s how he loved all of you, his friends. And it’s how he loved his God and Jesus.
I love you. I love you more. I love you the most.
You may have thought there were only two teachers in our family – me and Mama – but there were three. These are a just a few of the things that my daddy taught me.
Hard work is honest work and an honest day’s work makes you a better person.
If you chop weeds out of the peanut field, you will be rewarded with a mid-morning Pepsi Cola and a bag of salted peanuts.
Nothing runs like a Deere, a John Deere, that is.
If your daddy plants a row, a really long row, of tomato plants, you will be expected to have a tomato stand at the road.
Nobody ever has to be a stranger.
If you don’t know someone’s name, it’s okay to call him Calvin until you catch his name.
If you know a farmer, you know a friend.
The Da-Nite is a great place for a cheese biscuit, a cup of coffee, and good friends.
Always say ‘Hi’ to the person next to you.
A little magic goes a long way to making someone smile.
If you practice, you, too, can pull off your finger and pull quarters out of your friends’ ears.
Fast talkers are not a bad thing.
If you practice enough, you can count from one to one hundred and back again really, really fast.
There’s always room for something sweet!
Once you set your mind to it, you can lose weight.
A slice of Mama’s butter pecan cake is better right out of the freezer.
Little brown bags always have surprises in them, like Zero bars and 5th Avenues.
Always carry a change of clothes in your truck.
You can never have too many collections – train stuff, bottles, fishing poles – or too many caps.
Duct tape and wire really can fix almost anything.
Even when you think somebody is asleep, he may still be watching television.
If you can fry good cornbread, you’ll be invited to lots of pig pickings and fish fries.
Barbecue chicken cooked on charcoals is the best barbecue chicken.
Cigarettes are really, really bad.
Anybody can learn anything if you have enough patience to teach her.
Even a girl can build a bookcase, bait a fishing hook, and shoot a .22.
If you aren’t following instructions, you can burn out the clutch of a ’63 Ford flatbed truck.
If you’re gonna tell a joke, don’t mess up the punch line.
If you’re asked to emcee your high school class reunion, you should say ‘yes’.
You should always take care of your mama and your daddy.
Raleigh is really not that far of a drive to a hospital when you’re spending time with your father in his last months of life.
You should visit your mama every day and if that’s not doable you should at least call her.
Always spend time with those you love.
If you have a daughter, she will probably be a daddy’s girl.
You can learn a lot about your daddy when you go to a farm equipment sale and watch him buy a tractor.
You should go on at least one family vacation a year.
And the number one thing that my daddy taught me – when you love, you should love with your whole heart. That’s how he loved my mama; that’s how he loved me. That’s how he loved our family, especially Elizabeth. That’s how he loved his mama and his daddy and his brother and his sister. It’s how he loved all of you, his friends. And it’s how he loved his God and Jesus.
I love you. I love you more. I love you the most.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
100 Books in 2013: 11 Birthdays
Book 32: 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass
Stuck in a loop of reliving her 11th birthday over and over, Amanda Ellerby must figure out how she can stop the loop and actually wake up on Saturday, not Friday again and again. Nobody else realizes that it's the same day over and over. It's only after Amanda discovers that her former best friend who shares her birthday is experiencing the same thing do the two come together, mend their friendship and resolve to figure out how to make the loop stop. Fun YA read!
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
100 Books in 2013: 10 Plants that Shook the World
Book 31: 10 Plants that Shook the World by Gillian Richardson
This was a fascinating non-fiction book about ten plants that have majorly affected our lives and the economies of our countries. The book highlights such plants as papyrus, tea, sugarcane and cotton and how those plants became big business, improving our lives and creating products the we could not imagine living without now.
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