Month: January 2018

If you have not seen this Ted Talk by author Grace Lin, “Windows and Mirrors on Your Child’s Bookshelf”, it would be so worth your while to take a few minutes and watch it. This is a powerful look at the importance of children seeing themselves in the books they read (mirrors) and also having books that show them other children’s experiences (windows):

In my school librarian role, I try to purchase and promote a wide variety of books so that all students have windows and mirrors in the library in terms of race and culture as Grace Lin talks about, but also in terms of family makeup, experiences, religion, special needs, learning differences, and more.

As a mom, I want to make sure that my daughter’s bookshelf is filled with a variety of books as well–some that reflect her experiences and others that help her walk in someone else’s shoes, build empathy, and expand her worldview.

Here is a place to start if you are seeking out windows and mirrors for the little ones in your life:

Stella by Starlight and Out of My Mind are two stellar middle grade chapter books (that’s upper elementary/early middle school) by the incredible Sharon Draper. This author is so skilled at putting you in a particular character’s shoes and her books are impossible to put down.

Out of My Mind is a book I recommend all the time in the library for fans of Wonder by R.J. Palacio and students love it. In this novel, we see the world through the eyes of Melanie, a brilliant eleven-year-old with a photographic memory who also has cerebral palsy and is unable to walk, talk, or write. After being dismissed and underestimated by classmates and teachers her whole life, everything changes when Melanie is finally able to make her voice heard. This is such a powerful story.

Though set in 1930s North Carolina, Stella by Starlight, also by Sharon Draper, is so relevant to our lives today. Stella must find courage and strength in order to stand up to the forces of hate and racism in her town, where the Ku Klux Klan has become very powerful. I often show book trailers to my students (like a movie trailer, but for books) and there is an excellent one for Stella by Starlight where Sharon Draper shares how her grandmother’s journal helped inspire the story:

I love these two books so much and they both feature family makeups and cultures that might offers windows or mirrors for the children in your life.

In Just Like Me, three girls with a unique connection are sent to summer camp together. Julia, Avery, and Becca were adopted from the same orphanage in China as babies and their families have stayed in touch, referring to the girls as one another’s “Chinese sisters”. Everyone expect the girls to be close, but the last thing Julia wants is to go to Camp Little Big Woods together and she certainly doesn’t want anything to do with her Chinese heritage. This is a heartfelt story about growing up and figuring out where you belong, set amidst the adventures of a summer camp readers will long to attend.

The Misadventures of Family Fletcher has a classic, old fashioned family story feel that reminds me of another favorite series, The Penderwicks. The book opens at the start of a new school year and follows the everyday ups, downs, and adventures of “Family Fletcher”–navigating friendships, trying out for the school play, adjusting to a new school, camping trips, and holidays. This tale of Papa, Dad and adopted brothers Sam, Jax, Eli and Frog will make children wish they were one of the neighborhood kids that can just pop in and join the fun at the Fletchers’ house.

Don’t Throw It To Mo! by David Adler and Ling and Ting  by Grace Lin are engaging, funny early readers with a diverse cast of characters.

In Don’t Throw It To Mo,  Mo is seen as a “butterfingers” on the football field (which is literally true since his creative coach has had him practice catching a slippery football coated with butter!). Can he make the winning play for his team? Get a Hit Mo! is also available now and I hope we’ll see more to come in this series!

Ling and Ting Twice as Silly is one of the many fantastic books by Grace Lin you can add to your child’s bookshelf. This is the fourth book in this series and it’s my favorite. Each chapter is laugh out loud funny and their silly adventures make a great read aloud.

Radiant Child by Javaka Steptoe tells the story of artist Jean Michel Basquiat who was famous for his collage style paintings. The illustrations in the book are incredible, Javaka Steptoe actually used wood and materials he found on the streets of New York to create the beautiful collages in the book. This book also won the highest picture book honor in the US, the Caldecott Medal.

What seems like a simple bus ride with a boy and his nana, becomes a rich experience of shared wisdom and lessons about appreciating our everyday lives in Last Stop on Market Street. This book won some of the highest honors in children’s literature: a Newbery Medal, Caldecott Honor Medal, and Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor. Check out the book trailer which features the creative team behind the book: author Matt de la Peña and illustrator Christian Robinson.

More about those exciting children’s book honors to come. It’s almost time for the Oscars of children’s books!

One of my goals in recent years has been to seek out books with diverse authors and characters, ones whose race, ethnicity, or experiences are different than my own. I want to make sure I’m reading books that offer a window into others’ lives and experiences, not books that just mirror my own. Through books we can travel to different countries and communities and experience life through someone else’s eyes.

If this is a goal of yours too, perhaps for 2018, here are some adult books I read last year in this category–some serious and thought-provoking, others light and fun.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi is one of the most compelling books I’ve read in recent years. This epic novel follows the descendants of half-sisters Effia and Esi through 300 years–both in Ghana and the United States. At the start of the novel, these characters live in two different villages in Ghana, but both wind up at Cape Coast Castle, under very different circumstances. Effia leaves her village to be married to an Englishman and live at the castle, while Esi is imprisoned in the castle’s dungeons and is eventually sold into slavery in the United States. A thought-provoking look at how where we have come from shapes our lives and certainly a novel that will stay with you.

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan is the first book in a completely binge-worthy series that I fell in love with this year. As the series opens, Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer with her boyfriend, Nick Young, at his family’s home in Singapore. What she doesn’t realize is that Nick is heir to one of the biggest fortunes in Asia and she is entering a world of wealth like she could never imagine, one where she is not going to be accepted easily. These books are funny, impossible to put down, and would be perfect to take on vacation. A movie version is also due out this summer.

The Windfall by Diksha Basu, set in modern day Delhi, has the wit and humorous observations of a Jane Austen novel. Mr. and Mrs. Jha have lived in the same tight-nit, middle class housing complex for thirty years. Now that Mr. Jha has come into millions selling his website, they will be moving to a wealthy suburban neighborhood where he becomes obsessed with “keeping up with the Joneses”. My favorite storyline follows Mrs. Ray, a neighbor from the old housing complex and a young widow in her 40s, who befriends the eligible brother of the Jhas’ new neighbors.

The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee is told through the point of views of three women who are expats in Hong Kong. If you’ve ever lived abroad or wondered what that experience might be like, this would be a great book for you. Mercy, a Korean American from Queens, has recently moved to Hong Kong after graduating from Columbia and is floundering. Margaret and Hilary, “trailing spouses” who moved there for their husband’s jobs, live in a privileged, Western bubble where the isolation and strong yet fleeting bonds are described much like being at college for a few years. The lives of these three women become intertwined, with some disastrous and heartbreaking consequences. This is a sharp, carefully observed novel that will keep you turning the pages.

The Hate U Give is a timely Young Adult novel with an important perspective on the Black Lives Matter movement–it’s also a completely absorbing story that left me up late at night trying to finish. Starr Carter is getting a ride home from her friend Khalil when they are stopped and he is killed by a police officer (he is unarmed). Khalil becomes a national headline and in the face of intimidation and threats to her life, Starr must decide whether to speak up and tell the world what really happened that night. Some of my favorite books are the ones that shift the lens through which I see the world after I walk in the shoes of a particular character. Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter is one of those characters. Highly recommended.

On New Year’s Day I had the strongest craving to re-read the Harry Potter series–for probably the fifth or sixth time. I dug out the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and happily dove into this comforting world of Hogwarts, Muggles, and quidditch. I must not be alone because when I started doing new year reading resolutions with my students the next day, I was amazed at how many kids also shared their desire to start re-reading the series.

If you haven’t read these books, I have to say I actually feel a bit jealous. Go pick up a copy right away, you won’t regret it. Whenever a student comes up to my desk in the library to check out this series for the first time, I’m so excited for them. Entering the world of Harry Potter is truly a magical experience (no pun intended!).

As I was re-reading, I was thrilled to see Scholastic share some very exciting news for Harry Potter fans. 2018 actually marks twenty years since Scholastic published the first book in the US and there will be special ways to celebrate the series this year. For those of us who grew up with Harry Potter, it’s hard to believe that much time has passed. It’s a special group that anticipated a new book each year and aged along with Harry. Now many of us are sharing our love of the series with our own children, nieces, nephews, and students.

To celebrate, a Harry Potter exhibit that is currently on display at the British Library in London is coming to New York! In Harry Potter: A History of Magic, “Visitors can explore the subjects studied at Hogwarts and see original drafts and drawings by J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter illustrators Mary GrandPré and Jim Kay.” You can visit the exhibition from October 5, 2018-January 27, 2019 at the New York Historical Society.

If like me, you’re also starting to plan your Harry Potter New York pilgrimage, you can also time your visit with the opening of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway! I’m so excited to see this play, that until now was only in London. While you’re there, you could also make a stop in SoHo to see Scholastic itself, Harry Potter’s US Publisher.

This location is where I actually worked right out of college so it holds a special place in my heart. Unfortunately, they no longer have the Scholastic store, but I’d bet they will put up a special Harry Potter 20th anniversary window display.

This is the perfect time to begin reading this beloved series, on your own or with the kids in your life, whether it’s your first time or your tenth. If you don’t own the books, don’t forget to check your local library or see if your children can borrow them from their school library. You could also borrow the fantastic  audiobook versions, which are read by the great Jim Dale. These would be perfect for a long car trip with your family. Right now the Kindle book for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is even free.

Happy Reading!

Do you have a reading resolution for 2018? This is a nice time of year to reflect on your reading life and set goals. Are you reading as much as you’d like to? Are you reading the kinds of books you want to be?

For the past two years I’ve participated in the Goodreads Reading Challenge to help me track a reading goal for the year. You can set the number of books you’d like to read in 2018. Then when you finish a book, enter it in Goodreads and it will track it for you. I’ve found that doing the math and deciding how many books I want to read per week and then seeing what that means for an overall year goal is helpful.

For 2017 my goal was to read 53 books, one more than the 52 I had tracked in 2016. With a baby on the way, I didn’t want to add too many more books. However, I was hoping that monitoring my reading would help me maintain this beloved part of my life, which is also a crucial part of my job as a librarian. This goal amounted to roughly a book a week. Happily I’ve still been able to carve out that precious time to read and actually made it to 60 books. Hooray! Goodreads tallies your books up for you and keeps a record of each challenge you’ve completed:

For 2018, I’m sticking with the same strategy and just upping my reading goal by 1 book. So my reading challenge is to read 61 books this year. I know I can reach that if I’m reading some amount every day. And since inhabiting the world of a book is my favorite thing to do, I’d say that’s good to be striving for in order to have a happy 2018.

Your goal could be to read 12 books this year (a book every month) or 26 (1 every two weeks), whatever you want your reading life to be. I think Goodreads is a helpful tool for this, but you don’t need it. Set aside a notebook and write down your goal and the title of each book you read. Simple!

What will your reading resolution be this year?