Goodbye 2012

2012 – Confronting Monsters and Filling in Holes

Cancer.  It is a word that has become all too familiar to most of us.  There seems
to be a new fundraising walk or colored rubber bracelet every time I turn around.
It started with pink breast cancer ribbons and yellow Livestrong bracelets.  Years
ago, I felt like I was helping out a good cause.  It was someone else’s aunt or a
friend of a friend.  Then suddenly cancer started striking closer to home.  It was
my friend, my aunt, my friend’s dad.  Then last December it was my mom.

Mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  The tumor was inoperable.  Due to
the proximity of the holidays, they were unable to start her on a chemo routine
until after the first of the year.  She finally started the second week of January.
She worked through that first round and through the second round that was
combined with radiation, steadily losing weight.  The second round really
knocked the wind out of her and the oncologist suggested she needed a break
before going any further.  A few weeks later, as Mom was getting ready to leave to
go to Chicago with my Dad to give a speech before a national group of chaplains,
she fell at the hospital.  They still went on the trip and she still gave the speech,
but when they returned, she went on hospice care.

Mom only lived less than eight months after that diagnosis.  Four weeks of that
time she was on hospice care.  The rest of the time she was working for the most
part.  We had very little real time with her.  I think we all have frustrations about
that.  My Mom loved being a chaplain.  I have no doubt it was the job she was
meant to do.  But she was also an amazing Mom.  I could talk to her for hours.
My Dad would make fun of us.  Likewise she valued my brothers for being the
wonderful special people they are.  She was a terrific Grandmother – different for
each individual grandchild.  She was proud of each of them for their individual
talents.  And she used to tell me that she married “the sweetest man in the
world”, so I can’t imagine she didn’t want to spend time with the man she’d been
married to for 48 years.

In talking to my sister-in-law over Christmas, she posited that perhaps Mom just
didn’t want to face the truth that she was in fact dying quite so soon.  That if she
could just keep going, maybe it would all be OK.  And you know, I think she may
be right.  My Mom had said to me 2 months before she died that she thought
things were going well and that she’d be around for another Christmas.  She was
feeling positive despite the tough bout in radiation.   But then the fall at work
came and things began to turn for the worse.  Mom had to begin to accept the
inevitable.

Up until that point, the cancer had been a fairly well kept secret.  Only a few very
close friends and family members knew.  As Mom went into hospice care, the
news became public and we had to learn how to manage the great inflow of well-
wishers.  My younger brother moved into my parents’ home and became a
detailed organizer and my older brother and his family and I juggled time back
and forth.  Mom eventually allowed us the honor of caring for her, a task that
sometimes permitted the only alone time during the day with her.  I will always
treasure those small conversations snatched during those moments of care
giving.  It is still remarkable to me that she was able to make me laugh in some of
those moments, even in discomfort sharing her ineffable sense of humor.

The day Mom was buried, I walked up to one of my brother’s best friend's from
high school.
As we hugged I said, "When does the hole begin to fill up?" Wiping away the flood
of tears from my face, I added, "I mean, you've lost not one, but two parents to
this crappy disease..."
"I wasn't going to say," he said, "but since you asked...it gets worse; that'll be the
day he goes." And he shrugged toward my Dad.
"Yup," I said, "that will be a worse day."
"Right," he said,"because all of this will come right back at you and you won't
have her to talk to."
"Well," I said, "You better damn well be there."
"God willing I'm still kicking around I wouldn't miss it," he said.

During the first few months after Mom died, that hole was so huge I thought it
would swallow me up.  Perhaps it would have been easier if I’d had a routine that
forced me to march on the way everyone else did.  It is getting easier to move
through a world without her, but she is still on my speed dial.  I still have voice
mail messages saved.  I went out and got another puppy and a few kittens.  I
gained a few pounds.  I’m starting to burst into spontaneous tears far less
frequently.

In so many ways, I know I am lucky.  I got my mom for 44 years.  Some people
lose their mothers when they are children.  Some people lose their children.  I
was at a bereavement workshop and two women present had lost teenage
children.  One died of cancer and the other was hit by a truck.  I felt like their loss
must be so much deeper than mine.  But perhaps we can’t compare.  Loss is loss.

I knew that this Christmas would be difficult and it was. I missed talking to Mom
in the kitchen most on Christmas Day.  Our last conversation was 12 hours before
she died.  I was holding her hand and I told her that it was OK to go.  I told her
that we would all take care of Dad and that he would be fine.  She responded with
a quiet, “OK.”  I am so proud of how Dad has taken on living.  He shopped for
gifts for everyone and they were all special.  He really is doing well, all things
considered.  I know that this is the toughest thing he has ever had to go through
and I think Mom would really be smiling to see him living the way he is.

One of the things Mom and I kept talking about over her last few weeks together
was how life is messy and imperfect.  You just never really know what it's going to
dole out.  I think that's why life is so tough for the control freaks of the world.
They just can't face the fact that life is never going to be perfect and predictable.
 That would be boring anyway.  One thing is for certain, Mom made sure life
wasn't boring even when she was dying and uncomfortable at times.  She was still
cracking jokes and singing songs 48 hours before she died.  Hope I go out the
same way.

As a librarian, I feel compelled to offer a list of excellent resources for anyone
who may be confronting cancer.  These books are all excellent.  Patrick Ness’s "A
Monster Calls" has been receiving quite a bit of attention as a book for not only
young adults to read but for adults.  The “monster” is a yew tree in the teen’s
backyard that confronts him with life stories as he grapples with his mother’s
advanced battle with cancer.  It was originally begun by Siobhan Dowd who died
of cancer.  Patrick Ness took her characters and ideas and wrote the book
dedicating it to Siobhan.

As 2012 closes, may you all have a blessed and wonderful year ahead filled with
all the dreams, hopes, health, and prosperity you can possibly wish for in 2013.
For those of you who’ve had loss, may you begin to fill in those holes just a little
bit more in 2013 and continue to heal your hearts.  Happy New Year!   Read on!

A Monster Calls
by Patrick Ness
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2200270/A-Monster-Calls-The-
heartbreaking-childrens-book-cancer-adult-read.html

The Girl Next Door
by Selene Castrovilla

The Fault in Our Stars
by John Green

The Probability of Miracles
by Wendy Wunder

Just One Wish
by Janette Rallison

Before I Die
by Jenny Downham

My Sister's Keeper
by Jodi Picoult

Deadline
by Chris Crutcher

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
by Jesse Andrews

Wake
by Abria Mattina

I'm Not Her
by Janet Gurtler

Before I Go
by Riley Weston

Cancer Slam
by Ansley Dauenhauer

Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie (Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie #1)
by Jordan Sonnenblick

After Ever After (Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie #2)
by Jordan Sonnenblick

Graphics As a Way to Increase Literacy

Groovy Graphics on the Rise

I am a huge supporter of graphic novels in the classroom.  In my opinion, a comic book, graphic novel, or picture book is no less of a book than a book without pictures.  They are all valid forms of literacy and beautiful art forms in and of themselves.  As we are growing to appreciate graphics, they continue to grow and diversify from those early comics.  I love the wonderful array that is beginning to appear.  Once comics were primarily about superheroes but now there are graphic stories in almost every genre and age group. 

I decided to go to ComicCon NY2012 to do a little browsing a see what I could find about the current graphic market.  Aside from the overpriced photo/autograph ops with film stars, there were some wonderful talks by authors at the event.  The authors didn’t charge for their autographs.  It was fun to see all of the costumed attendees.  I’m not sure I could stand an entire day of walking around dressed as Wonder Woman, although I do love dressing up for Halloween.  When Chuck Palahniuk spoke, he tossed out body parts into the audience.  Nothing like going home and saying, “Look!  I got one of Chuck’s legs!” 

What was I most impressed with at ComicCon from a librarian’s standpoint?  The diversity of the current graphic market represented– it has exploded over the past few years to include so many different types of stories and reading levels from pre-schoolers to adult.  There were an incredible number of up and coming young artists flooding the market who were exhibiting their work.  I am excited because new artists mean new books.  While graphic books can be digital, they are better when they are not digital.  They are part of my argument for the book not going away any time soon.  It is an art form. 

I loved Oni Press.  Oni Press has the pulse on new and fresh graphics that interest me as a school librarian.  I took several titles home and like all of them.  XOC by Matt Dembecki is a terrific book about a great white shark and a sea turtle cruising the ocean.  It is essentially a nature documentary in graphic novel form and is perfect for the biology classroom and any age library as a resource on sharks and the ocean.  It has a message about the environment from the animal perspective without over moralizing.  It also refers the reader to other resources.

 Ivy by Sarah Oleksyk is a story about a teen in a small town who is an artist.  She doesn’t get along with anyone and is dying to get away to someplace new.  She develops a long distance relationship with someone who seems to be her perfect match and gets a chance to find freedom.

 Play Ball by Nunzio Defilippis & Christina Weir, illustrated by Jackie Lewis, is an excellent story about a girl who wants to play baseball, not softball.  With encouragement from her parents, she tries out for the team and makes it.  Although she faces challenges, she sticks with it and gains support from friends and team members.  It is an inspiring story that will resonate with many young athletes.

Sidescrollers by Matt Loux was on the 2008 YALSA Top Ten Graphic Novel List.  It is a wonderful story, but it must be read in context and it is meant for older teens.  It has language and a potential date rape situation.  The story is about three boys who hang out together and play video games who find out that their friend is going to be a victim of date rape and decide to stand up to the school bully.  It is hilarious and the hijinks re not unlike real high school boys. 

 The book has been subject to controversy because of its language and sexual content.    School libraries often face questions about appropriateness of material.  Librarians rate material for young adults on a scale.  This particular book does have language and sexual content, but it is within context.   Having taught in a high school, the language is no different than the language I hear in the hallways.  The sexual content is a situation which, unfortunately, is all too real.  What is great about the book is the reaction of these wonderful boys who stand up to a bully in defense of their friend.  That is model behavior and should be lauded.

Finally, from Oni, I love the Crogan series by Chris Schweizer.   I read Crogan’s Loyalty & Crogan’s Vengeance.  These terrific books take a fresh look at history for middle readers.  They pose questions about perspective.  Crogan’s Loyalty places two brothers on opposite sides of the revolutionary war at the same table in a conversation.  In Crogan’s Vengeance Crogan has a to decide whether to stay with a captain with a grudge or take to the high seas as a pirate.  Middle school readers would benefit greatly from this series.

 Scholastic has the award-winning talent of Raina Telgemeier.  Her book Smile was highly lauded and is the true story of her own trials and tribulations through dental drama from middle school through high school.  She injures her front teeth in an accident after a fall and has to undergo surgery, braces, and other dental procedures to fix her teeth over the years.  What she discovers in the meantime is that looks aren’t everything and that she has outgrown her friends.  Drama is the story of Callie, a middle school student who loves the theater but can’t sing.  She decides to join the stage crew as a set designer and makes some surprising friendships.

 Another beautiful book I found at ComicCon was The Stuff of Legend by Mike Raicht & Brian Smith, illustrated by Charles Wilson.  The story is set in 1944 as WWII is breaking out in Europe.  In a little boy’s room in Brooklyn, the Boogeyman snatches him away  and takes him to the realm of The Dark.  His toys assemble and stage a rescue led by a toy soldier known as the Colonel.  The book was originally published as separate volumes but can now be purchased as one hardbound book.  It is beautifully illustrated and the story is appropriate for upper middle school through adult.

I’ve also found some fresh graphics on NetGalley.  My two favorites recently were Diana Thung’s August Moon and Jane Yolen’s new book in the Foiled series.  Diana Thung’s August Moon conjures up images of totaro stories from Japan in her classic good versus evil story where the children save the day against the evil Mr. Monkey.  The art is fun and whimsical with mostly black & white drawings.  Those who enjoy less traditional stories like The Cat Returns, Totaro, and Castle in the Sky will probably like this story.

 Curses! Foiled Again by Jane Yolen & Mike Cavallaro is the second book in the Foiled series.  It continues the adventures of the young fencer Aliera who finds herself tied to the faerie realm and under the protection of the high school’s heart throb.  Like Foiled, Curses! Is beautifully illustrated with a nail biting storyline that will keep teens interested from the first page to the last.  Yolen has written a story that combines fantasy, non-stop action, romance without making you want to vomit, and a sense of humor all written in an intelligent and fun graphic format.  It’s perfect for teens looking for a relaxing break from the academic grind.

I previously reviewed Picture the Dead by Adele Griffin and Lisa Brown and still think it is one of the most beautiful and creative graphics done in recent years, although they didn’t get nearly the attention I think they deserved.  The story is about a young woman who marries a soldier and he goes off to war.  His ghost is seen in a portrait of the family taken at local photo studio.  Is it real?

Graphics have become so popular that YALSA and ALA actually have separate reading lists for recommended graphics.  Two that I like for middle and high school readers that came out recently are Ichiro by Ryan Inazana and Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony & Rodrigo Corral.  Ichiro is the story of a teen living in New York with his Japanese mother after losing his American father to a war.  He goes to Japan to visit his grandfather and is out walking the streets where he finds himself abducted by a monster.  In a twist on the fall down the rabbit hole into Wonderland, he wakes up in the realm of gods and immortality.  The artwork is incredible and the storyline is thoughtful and original.  Completely different and yet equally compelling, Chopsticks is a story told through photos, memorabilia, artwork, text messages, YouTube links, notes, postcards, and brief written passages.  It tells the story of a young piano prodigy pushed to her limits and a troubled young boy her age who moves in next door.  It’s a mystery and an adventure with a surprise ending.

Elementary readers fell in love with graphics because of the comedic talents of Mr. Jeff Kinney and his wonderful cast of characters with whom so many kids can identify.  He has just released a 4^th book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series - The Third Wheel!  So far, Jeff’s books show no sign of losing popularity, so keep on writing them Jeff!  They are flying off the elementary school shelves!  Readers of Jeff Kinney also tend to like Big Nate by Lincoln Pierce.

 A new book I found on NetGalley, Snorkeling With Sea-Bots is a graphic for the pre-school reader.  It is simple, cute, and funny.  Right on target for the audience!  Jess Bradley’s illustrations are adorable.  What little one wouldn’t love to find a magic button on the bottom of the ocean floor one day while snorkeling?  There is even a little inside joke for mom and dad with names like Rip and Eddy for the robots.  A trip at the beach may never be the same again.

 These are all just a sampling of what is available in the growing graphic arena.  I hope it inspires you to explore graphics if you haven’t yet or if you are already a fan, to try some of the new titles coming out.  Encourage your teachers and libraries to stock up on graphics as a way to keep as many kids reading for pleasure as possible.  Pleasure reading is directly correlated to literacy.  The more kids reading for pleasure, the higher the literacy rate!

Oni Press

http://www.onipress.com

Ivy

By Sarah Oleksyk

http://www.saraholeksyk.com/ivy.html

Play Ball

By Nunzio Defilippis & Christina Weir illus. by Jackie Lewis

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13244793-play-ball

Sidescrollers

By Matt Loux

http://blogs.slj.com/goodcomicsforkids/2012/09/05/discussion-the-sidescrollers-controversy/

Crogan’s Loyalty, Crogan’s Vengeance

By Chris Schweizer

http://croganadventures.blogspot.com/p/about-books.html

XOC

By Matt Dembecki

http://www.panelpatter.com/2012/07/xoc-journey-of-great-white.html

Smile

Drama

By Raina Telgemeimer

http://goraina.com

The Stuff of Legend

By Mike Raicht & Brian Smith  illus. by Charles Wilson

http://www.th3rdworld.com/book/The-Stuff-of-Legend

August Moon

By Diana Thung

http://www.dianathung.com/augustmoon/

Curses! Foiled Again

By Jane Yolen & Mike Cavallaro

http://janeyolen.com/works/book-trailer-for-foiled/

Picture the Dead

By Adele Griffin and Lisa Brown

http://picturethedead.com

Ichiro

By Ryan Inazana

http://www.ryaninzana.com/books.html

Chopsticks

By Jessica Anthony & Rodrigo Corral

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

By Jeff Kinney

http://www.wimpykid.com

Big Nate

By Lincoln Pierce

http://www.bignatebooks.com

Snorkeling With Sea-Bots

By Amy J. Lemke  Illus. By Jess Bradley

Another Historical Fiction on Fever -- Is It Epidemic?

Fever

By Mary Beth Keene

http://books.simonandschuster.com/Fever/Mary-Beth-Keane/9781451693416

In writing this review let me begin by saying that I love historical fiction because I believe it allows us to learn about history while at the same time adding our own ideas about what may or may not have gone through people’s minds during a certain time period.  It allows an author to bring history to life with his or her own imagination.  At the same time, the author is challenged to do thorough research of events known.  It isn’t easy writing.

With the story of Mary Mallon we have quite a few facts.  Her factual story is well-documented and has been studied in scientific circles for a long time.  The term Typhoid Mary is known even outside scientific circles.  Right away I liked the premise of Mary Beth Keane’s book Fever.  She has sought to create a story about a woman from history who was in a sense demonized for her behavior and has sought to create a story that humanizes her actions.

Some readers will walk away after reading Fever and still despise Mary Mallon, but I think the majority will feel the sympathy that Keane is attempting to inspire.  She is a woman who makes poor choices, who is blind to the evidence in front of her, but who is also just trying to make ends meet and survive. 

I would give Fever 5 stars, but it seems to be faulty on some of the factual information in regard to Soper and how Mary was arrested.  Apparently Mary was also pretty clear that she didn’t wash her hands.  The data about her gallbladder was also inaccurate.  In fact, her gallbladder was the source of typhoid and it was proven by autopsy after she died.

A Picture Book About Disasters for the Youngest Set

Flood

By Alvaro F. Villa

With families losing everything to major disasters around the globe, we are all struggling with how to talk to our children about them.  There are great books for older children, but what about our youngest set?  Flood is a wonderful new resource.  It is a wordless picture book beautifully depicting the progression from calm to storm to flood to rebuilding of a family’s home.  It shows the family leaving their home during the storm and flood and returning to a home torn apart.  The most important part is that they are together in the picture after the storm and that they are able to rebuild.  The final picture shows their home rebuilt and happy again.  It is a lovely book and will speak volumes to young children.

Julianna Baggot’s Dystopian Debut

Pure

By Julianna Baggott

http://www.juliannabaggott.com

Anybody who knows me or reads my blog knows that I am a huge fan of dystopias.  I loved Orwell’s 1984, but let’s face it – 1984 is ancient history at this point.  What I love in current sci-fi and YA fiction is the tremendous diversity that has exploded under the genre of dystopias.  We should really classify them separately in some way that keeps the same dystopia genre classification but separates for age.  That means reclassifying some of the current YA and sci-fi, but I think that this growing category deserves it.  As we outgrow Dewey, it will make sense down the line.

But I digress, what I am really writing about today is one of my favorite new dystopias by one of my long-time favorite authors, Julianna Baggott.  This is a new venture for Julianna who has written so many wonderful books from her wonderful books for junior readers and adults including under the name NE Bode (The Anybodies, The Nobodies, The Slippery Map), and The Prince of Fenway Park, under the name Bridget Asher (The Provence Cure for the Broken Hearted, The Pretend Wife), and under her own name, The Madam, The Ever Breath, is in my opinion her finest book yet. Pure is set in a post-apocolyptic future.  It imagines a world where a few select individuals have been lucky enough to make it into the shelter of a self-sufficient bio-dome while the rest of the world has suffered under the siege of a massive arsenal of nuclear warheads.  Many were killed instantly.  Still others suffered slow deaths in the weeks following the siege.  The story is about those who became fused with bits of the environment and learned to survive dreaming of being saved one day by those living the perfect life in the dome…the Pures.

Julianna has really hit a home run with Pure.  Not only is her writing wonderful, but her story is complex, thought-provoking, and well-devised.  It takes a turn from history and runs it into a potential future that questions ethics while at the same time questioning our emotions and what is really important to the quality of humanity and life.

A New Twist On The Girl Who Lost Her Glass Slipper

Cinder

By Marissa Meyer

http://us.macmillan.com/cinder/MarissaMeyer

http://marissameyer.livejournal.com

I love a good “girl power” story.  When I was in my senior year of college, I was an RA for a freshman women’s dorm and my group of residents used to tease me because I was always posting articles and posters to boost their confidence as young women taking on the world.  College had given me that gift and I wanted to pass it on to them right from their very first year.  Cinder is a modern twist on the Cinderella fairy tale set in a future that is post WWIV.  Earth’s countries have realigned in the peaceful aftermath and the Moon is populated by a race of people with extraordinary powers and adversarial tendencies. 

Cinder herself is no waif-like wanabee princess waiting for a price to rescue her from the doldrums of her arduous life.  She is an extraordinarily talented cyborg mechanic who works in the market to earn the money to support her stepmother and stepsisters.  Unlike the traditional tale, she is very close to one of the sisters while maintaining the traditional antagonistic relationship with the other as well as with her stepmother.  Marissa’s tale is a non-stop whirl of adventure as Cinder does indeed encounter her Prince, whom she treats as if he were any other customer, only to end her day slamming her doors as her neighbor drops from the highly contagious plague.  What ensues is a trail that leads her to discovering what she is made of and who she is. 

The next book in the series, Scarlet, looks like it will be an exciting traipse through the woods to grandmother’s house and it will be nothing like any of the Red Riding Hood tales you’ve ever read before!  The wolf is most certainly going to be a fun surprise in this version of the story.

Canadian Historical Fiction with a Gory Side

The Hangman in the Mirror

By Kate Cayley

http://www.annickpress.com/authors/cayley.asp?author=582

Kate Cayley based her tale on the true story of Francoise Laurent, a young woman who was imprisoned for stealing from her employer.  She was sentenced to hanging, but the hangman died before her sentencing.  While imprisoned, she was able to convince a young soldier imprisoned for dueling, Jean Corolere, to marry her and become the hangman, thus freeing her from her death sentence.  Cayley took this story and created a fictional play originally and then turned that into this delightful short novel.  Lovers of historical fiction will enjoy this unusual story and relish learning about a time period that is not well documented nor taught in our history classes.  Kudos to Cayley for a nicely written story.

Melissa Singleton Josef, MLIS

Dystopian Disaster

Ashfall

&

Ashen Winter

By Mike Mullen

http://www.mikemullinauthor.com

I am not often a fan of disaster movies or disaster novel, but Mike Mullen has written a series that has changed my mind.  Ashfall and Ashen Winter are both dystopian and disaster novels.  They are well-written, have incredible plots and characters, and are thought-provoking.  It’s clear that Mike did his research prior to writing these novels.  They are “meaty” and draw on historic scenarios.  In addition, the landscape and hardships described are spot on for life where the winters are long and cold.

In Ashfall, the story begins as teenage Alex refuses to go to Illinois with his family for the weekend to his Uncle Paul’s farm and instead stays home as they head off without him.  He is sitting at his computer when something hits house and knocks it silly.  The next thing he knows, he’s scrambling like crazy to get out of his room and out of the house because he realizes it’s on fire.  He seeks refuge with his neighbors and before long they all figure out a huge volcano has exploded and all is covered in ash.  The story proceeds and ultimately Alex goes off on his own heading toward Illinois in search of his family.  Ashen Winter is the continuation of the story. 

Both books literally had me unable to stop reading.  I could hardly believe that a story about a volcano exploding could pack so much into one book, let alone two.  The reality is that Mike was able to turn his story into so much more than a story about a volcano exploding.  He has written a story about coming of age and family love.  He has written an exploration of human nature.  He has written about the response of government organizations to disasters.  He has written about survival – and he has written about so much more.  Ashfall and Ashfall Winter are books to be read and talked about for many years to come.

Melissa Singleton Josef, MLIS