Fallout, by Todd Strasser

As the issue of decreasing the number of nuclear weapons in the US is creeps back into the news, Fallout, by Todd Strasser, offers a glimpse into what it was like when the numbers of bombs were on the rise and the fear of total destruction was imminent. Scott spends most of his days obsessing over girls and goofing off with friends, but when his dad decides to build a bomb shelter in the summer of ’62 his thoughts stray to the more serious matter of nuclear warfare. His mom is preoccupied with what others will think, since he is the only one in the entire neighborhood taking Kennedy’s word that a shelter is a must.

The disapproving chatter and side glances continue at the grocery store, but all scoffing is thrown out the window when the sirens blare in the middle of a chilly October night and ten people cram themselves into the shelter that was meant for four. The screams of those shut out fade quickly as the wave of destruction crashes above, but they live on in the minds of those left to survive on a small amount of rations until it’s safe to leave the shelter.

Told in chapters that alternate between present, in the bomb shelter, and past, summer that the shelter is being built, Strasser imagines what it would be like if the fears of so many Americans had become a reality. The short paragraphs make for a quick read and would be perfect for those that struggle to get through a book, if it weren’t for the intermittent curse words, Playboy discussions, and run-ins with drunken dads of friends. Though, this is a truthful portrayal of the mind and run-ins of a boy during this time, I’m not sure that a fifth or sixth grade parent would be so understanding. However, this would make for a great class read for older middle schoolers, as it leads the reader to wonder what it would have been like if fears during the Cuban missile crisis had become a reality.

Thinking about Thanking

So much of our personal and professional lives revolve around technology that we often forget the power of notes...written by hand.

Yes, you could say the exact same thing in an email or even using PaperlessPost, but there is something more genuine and meaningful about receiving a handwritten letter in the mail. So, when this time of year rolls around we thank our wonderful library volunteers by sending them a thank-you note. In the past, there was a get-together, but it proved difficult to find a time that worked for everyone during this hectic time of year, so that went by the wayside. 

Generally, our volunteers downplay the large amount of work they do in the library; everything from shelving cartloads of books to checking out lines of chattering kids. These women are truly the oil that keeps this machine chugging along. Without them, we wouldn't be able to teach the number of classes that we do in the Middle School (359 this year, to be exact), complete multiple book orders, process those books, aid students, grade assignments, meet as a group, etc. Though, our circulation has decreased a bit over the years, there are still thousands of books to shelve, not counting the hundreds that are found laying around the library that must be put back in place. 

So, whether you have parents, students, or maybe even teachers that volunteer their time and back (it can definitely get sore) in order to make sure that patrons can go to the stacks and find the book they are looking for, take the time to thank them the right way, by writing a note. 

End-of-year inspiration

Inspiration is a hard thing to come by this late in the school year. However, that's just what I found today at Nancy Jo Lambert's presentation, "Tell Your Story: Designing Your Library Presence," at Region 10. The usual tech tools were mentioned: blog platforms, website layouts, and OF COURSE Twitter, but what set this presentation apart from other Web 2.0 information sessions was the fact that it went beyond the basics of setting up these various platforms and focused on displaying information that people actually care about.

Lambert made the point that while it's easy to become consumed with what YOU think is really important in the library, like an adequate budget, good furniture, working with teachers, etc., what people are going to want to read is the information that relates to them. For students that could be the latest books, for administrators that could be how the library is improving learning, for parents that could be how research will help students muddle their way through those college papers. Looking at the library through the eyes of someone else can inform what we do/don't discuss on our blogs, sites, and social media.

One ah-ha moment came when Lambert said not to worry about grammar and spelling so much that it keeps you from posting as often. The fear of making mistakes throughout a post is one of the main reasons I don't post more often. I feel that I need time to write uninterrupted and that I should have something REALLY AWESOME to write about, but that just simply isn't the case. I smiled when she said that we were being selfish by not posting our wonderful librarian knowledge for others to take hold of. :) So, I'm going to try posting more often, which will inevitably result in more grammatical errors, but will also lead to a lot more information being shared.  

Roming Around Research

5th grade can offer a lot of challenges for students. Transitioning from Lower to Middle School means learning your way around a new building, being given letter grades for the first time, and adjusting to no longer being the oldest, but the youngest. Also, we, as librarians, expect much more from students in terms of research. They learn how to search, access and cite a variety of sources. We also work a great deal on taking notes and paraphrasing. While this may seem like a simple task, reading information, plucking out the facts and piecing those facts back together into your own words is no easy task for a 5th grader...and some adults, for that matter. 

At times, it seems like the information is going in one ear and out the other, but around this time of year I see glimpses of the true learning that has taken place in the past months. Donna and I began the Ancient Rome unit this week by asking the kids to define plagiarism, common knowledge, paraphrasing, and citing in their own words. You could hear a pen drop when they were asked this in September, but hands shot into the air this time around. We touch on these areas every time we do research (much to the kids' chagrin), because these are terms and concepts that many assume students know, so they never intentionally teach them. Yet, they are outraged when they plagiarize. Just because these "digital natives" have been surrounded by speedy internet and electronics for most of their lives doesn't mean that they know how to disseminate that information and use it responsibly. In fact, with so much available at the click of a button, one has to be even more savvy in terms of identifying the different source types, evaluating the quality, and giving proper credit. We must give students the tools they need to swim in this ocean of resources rather than leave them gasping for breath. I can send this group off to 6th grade knowing they can swim. We'll work on some new strokes in the years to come. 

Hollow City: The Second Novel of Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs

Miss Peregrine's peculiar children are in for quite the adventure in Hollow City as they enter loops in an effort to outwit the wights all without the aid of their leader, Miss Peregrine. She is still in bird form, the state she we left her in after the first book, leaving Jacob, who decided to stay with the peculiars rather than going home, at the helm. Together, the children must figure out the intricacies of time travel and unravel the evil intentions of their pursuers, the wights and hollows, guided by an inexperienced kid with an ancient book, Map of Days (that is lost early on in their travels).

They find that many of the ymbryne have been transformed, like Miss Peregrine, or done away with all together. There will come a point when there will be no hope of reversing the spell, so the kids are racing against time by leaping through time loops. The ability to enter loops is the very thing that the wights are after. By nabbing the souls of the peculiars, quite literally through the soles of their feet, the dark creatures are enabling hollows to enter loops and obliterate the peculiars' world.

As their options for escape narrow, Jacob's feelings for Emma grow. Predictably, she is the main reason he stayed in the first place and why he doesn't want to leave. Why couldn't it have been his love of his grandfather or his yearning for adventure outside of his mundane life back home? Despite this cliche, I liked the circle-of-life symbology of Jacob falling in love with the same girl that his grandfather was so enamored with decades before and the fact that he is faced with the same difficult decisions that come with straddling two worlds.

With the reinstatement of old photographs throughout the book, as in the first, I was struck with the idea of mixing old and new and how time really just repeats itself. We are all in a loop. We live in a time when an endless stream of photographs are taken, sent, and posted online daily. With so many more images out there, they mean so much less. Yet, with all the changes we are still making the same mistakes, falling in love with the same people, and hurting in the same ways that our parents and grandparents did. Jacob comes to this realization as he is trying to decide whether to stay or go, thinking, "There was romance in the unknown, but once a place had been discovered and cataloged and mapped, it was diminished, just another dusty fact in a book, sapped of mystery. So maybe it was better to leave a few spots on the map blank. To let the world keep a little of its magic, rather than forcing it to divulge every last secret." (p.368)

Riggs has captured a lot of magic in this second installment and set the scene for a third book in the series with quite the cliff hanger. Though, there is some predictability, it's the gems of insight and connection to a deeper meaning that will have me cracking open the third book.

Tortilla Flat, by John Steinbeck

After World War I, four friends, Danny, Pilon, Pablo, and Joe, reunite in Tortilla Flat, a district of Monterey, California, to share wine, girls, money, and lodging. Danny inherits two houses upon his return from his Grandfather. He lives in one and lets his friends “rent” the other. “Rent” is a loose term since all involved know that money will never actually be exchanged.

In the midst of wine and women being enjoyed, the rent house goes up in flames. Though, Danny cares so little that he doesn't even step outside for a glimpse as people rush from all around to see what is happening. While Pablo, Pilon, and Jesus make the woods their home, Danny befriends a mentally handicapped man in town, known simply as the pirate. He is the only one of the bunch that works and buries the twenty-five cents he makes each day to save up for a  gold candlestick he promised to God for saving his dog. Joe, fresh from Army jail, and Pilon decide to dig up the bounty for themselves, but find a government elevation marker instead, which they could go to jail for stealing. Meanwhile, Danny trades stolen copper nails for a vacuum cleaner to give to Sweets Ramirez, the girl he is sweet on, but who has no electricity. These are just a few of the shenanigans that the friends enjoy.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Danny falls into a deep depression after coming to the realization that all that he has in life brings him little or no satisfaction. Thus, he moves to the woods, guzzles more wine than ever, and becomes distant from his friends, despite their efforts to connect with him. They even throw him a huge party that is immortalized, along with Danny’s alcohol consumption and penchant for fighting. Danny falls into the gulch and to his death at the party. Of course, all of Tortilla Flat are stunned and flock to the military funeral in their finest. All, except his closest friends who stand outside as the service takes place since they couldn't afford suits. They meet up around a bottle of stolen wine at Danny’s house. Accidentally, a fire is started, but none make an effort to put it out as they leisurely walk outside and watch as it burns to ashes.

Though, Tortilla Flat received a good deal of criticism after it was written for portraying Mexican-Americans as a lazy bunch of bums, Steinbeck was defensive of his portrayal of the paisanos he portrayed as people he knew and admired from the area where he grew up. In true Steinbeck fashion this simple story is dense with meaning, as the fable of King Arthur is followed throughout.

While I agree that the story doesn't portray this group of people in the best light, I do think it offers an adequate portrayal of how they were viewed by a white male from this area during this time. Also, I think that Steinbeck was often so driven by his theme, King Arthur in this case, that the characters can become distorted in order to fit. Despite the criticism, I still enjoyed it for what it was, and for what I love about Steinbeck’s stories; they offer a glimpse into the lives of a people in a place and time and the complicated inter-working of the relationships between those people. 

Kira-Kira, by Cynthia Kodohata

Identifying the theme of a story is mentioned several times throughout Kira-Kira, however, as much as Kodohata attempts to tie her own story together with a number of themes, it feels disjointed and forced. Katie’s life begins in a Japanese-American community in Iowa. Her parents have a grocery store and all is well with the family of five, including her sister, Lynn, and brother, Sammy, until they must move to Georgia for work after having to close the store.

Katie’s parents find work at a chicken plant and Katie and her siblings spend a lot of time taking care of one another since their parents are working all of the time for next to nothing. Kodohata brings forth the horrible working conditions of such factories, but one doesn't feel a real connection with any of the characters. It’s reads more like “a day in the life of…” story. This is true even with the added stress of Lynn becoming sick and eventually dying of lymphoma, Sammy being injured by an animal trap, and their father losing his job.

Kira-Kira means glittering or shining.  Though, some felt that this book was a star, as it was awarded the Newbery, despite the spotlight on the reform of working conditions and pay along with the treatment of Japanese Americans, I did not think it glittered.