I heart libraries

This afternoon we took a quick trip to the public library.
Sometimes I forget that I'm back in the trusting country where free book-lending is available!  I can't even begin to tell you how happy a public library makes me.

Here's the book I can't wait to crack open:

Christopher Paul Curtis is right up there with Jerry Spinelli on my list of life-changing-I'll-read-anything-you-put-on-paper authors.

I'm going to go get started.

<3  Happy Tuesday.

Book Love and an Author Letter!

Hello to whoever is out there reading my random posts.  You'll be pleased to know that I haven't had a meltdown since Friday.  I'm making progress and working on getting my ducks in a row for our move to Orlando and my new job.

Insurance forms, Experience Verification paperwork (to
send to two countries, banking information, OH MY.

On an unrelated note, I read a good book on my road trip. It was one I picked off the "new books" display shelf at the Library, called "Same Sun Here" by Silas House and Neela Vaswani.  

It's hard to tell if it's more of a children's or a young adult novel, but I'd say it's for the 10+ crowd.  I'm no good at book reviews or descriptions, so let me borrow the brief goodreads.com overview:  

In this extraordinary novel in two voices, an Indian immigrant girl in New York City and a Kentucky coal miner’s son find strength and perspective by sharing their true selves across the miles.

It's a pen-pal book, written entirely as letters from the Indian girl to the Kentuckian.  I've always loved books written as letters (i.e. Dear Mr. Henshaw, Love That Dog, etc...) and this was no different--I really loved it.  It helped that it has environmental activism, as well as immigration, as central themes.
Well, when I finished the book and read a bit more about the authors, I discovered that Silas House, the man who writes the Kentucky side of the story, lives and works in Berea, Kentucky--an Appalachian artisanal  town my family frequents when we visit our friends Lori and Mike. Since I thought that was a neat little connection, and I loved the book so much, I shot him a little e-mail.  And guess what?  He wrote back!  I just had to share:

Dear Tara,Thanks so much for your kind words.  If you ever decide to use SSH in class please let me know and I could Skype or visit your class.  There is a great printable discussion guide available online at http://www.scribd.com/doc/78067753/Same-Sun-Here-Discussion-Guide .  Thanks again for picking up the book!
All best,Silas

I learned a valuable lesson--write authors!  I think that's my new motto.  :)  That's all for now.

"Serve God, Save the Planet"

zondervan.com

This is the month of take-action books for me.   All borrowed from my lovely friend, Twana.  The latest book is called, Serve God, Save the Planet, by J. Matthew Sleeth, MD.

Having read several environmentally-focused books, I will admit that this one is not my favorite in terms of juicy, eye-opening content. However, the Christian tilt of this  particular "save the planet" book is exciting.  What I've always believed--that if God created birds and trees and water and nature, then surely he wants us to protect it--is explicit in this book, and is backed with scientific reinforcement.

Another reason this book is different from others I've read, is that the author is a medical doctor.  His background in medicine allows him to offer not only the global and societal reasons for leading an environmental responsible lifestyle, but health reasons as well (such as the incredible recent increase in asthma and cancers).

I like how this author contradicts common Christian debates to environmentalism.  Many Christians argue that it's our duty to take care of people, not animals.  Many Christians believe that since Christ is coming back, the earth will be made perfect soon enough (so, essentially, we can do with it what we want now...).  But Sleeth says, "Being pro-stewardship is not a case of valuing forests more than people; rather, it means valuing human possessions less, and God's world more." (p. 35)

This is what I needed to hear as I pack up and prepare to return to Florida.  I constantly have to remind myself that I have a sin nature--one that is obsessed with consumerism when left unchecked.  As I donate most of my clothes here, my mind wanders to the new clothes I hope to fill my closet with.  As I hung the laundry out to dry this morning, I automatically thought about the ease of owning a dryer soon (instead of thinking about the money and energy saved without one!).  Twenty times a day I ponder how much better life will be when I have __x,y,or z _.   I hate that.  I don't want to be that person.  Instead, I want to live a radically simple life in order to better serve those God loves.  If my energy bill is half as expensive as everyone else, that means more money to potentially give away.  It also means taking care of people's health.  Take a look:  "If every household changed its five most used bulbs to compact fluorescent lightbulbs, the country could take twenty-one coal-fired power plants off-line tomorrow."  Isn't that insane??  And that's just America.

A compact fluorescent bulb
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There are so many quotes I'd like to share here, but I don't even know if that's legal.  Here's just a bit more...

You probably know I gave up all meat (except for seafood) over five years ago for environmental and health reasons (the final decision came after I read The Omnivore's Dilemma.)  Even though I knew that my one small, insignificant decision not to eat what most other people do eat wouldn't change anything in the grand scheme of things, I knew that I just couldn't, in good conscience, buy into a product I so wholly disagreed with.  However, the food chapter in Sleeth's book enlightened me to the fact that our decisions about what we eat in America can directly, negatively affect the lives of others.
Check it out:
Sleeth starts by explaining how much of America's beef comes from Central and South American cattle farms, which clear large forests in order to contain so much cattle. "The loss of rain forests in South America means that the clouds they once made no longer blow across the Atlantic to drop their water on Africa.  As a result, the Sahara grows by the thousands of acres a year. What is the bottom line for Africans?  More starvation.  And the bottom line for Americans?  Cheap burgers and growing waistlines."  (p. 133)

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We might think that by recycling, buying "green" products, and remembering to unplug our chargers means that we are doing our part to help the planet.  But what do all of those actions have in common?  They all are about acquiring and consuming.  I'm utterly convinced that caring about the environment and wanting to see change is all about buying less, and not about what we buy or what we do with it after it's ours.  We are brainwashed as Americans to believe that we need so much.  But we just don't.

"A society in which consumption has to be artificially stimulated 

in order to keep production going is a society founded on trash 

and waste, and such a society is a house built upon sand." 

- Dorothy Sayers

"The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof."  Psalm 24:1

Oh The Places You'll Go

Today I read, "Oh The Places You'll Go" to my class.  One of my students, recently back from a trip to Universal, bought it in Seussville and wanted to share it in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday.  
It's been a while since I've read the book, and I really wasn't prepared for all the profundity it held for me.  

You see, today was the deadline to turn in contracts, or a letter stating your intent to not return.  It was a sad day amongst my closest Pinares friends and myself--those of us who, with heavy hearts, turned in letters, and not contracts. In two or three stiff, formal sentences it felt as if three of my most wonderful years came to an undramatic close. 
I'm sad. So sad to leave these children I've come to love so much, and these friends I can now call bests.  But even though I cry at the drop of a hat nowadays, thinking about leaving...I still don't see myself here next year.  I still feel like the decision to leave is right.  I feel peace.  Which is weird to say for someone who hides her tears from the bus kids almost every day (I don't know what it is--maybe the time it gives me to think--but I get choked up all the time on the bus lately; thinking about "my babies!")
I turned in my letter without any fuss... the secretary wasn't at her desk so I just dropped it off and left.  No questions, no talking... nada. I didn't think much about it after that, until Dr. Seuss had to barge in and spew profound nonsense at me.  At first, I did just fine as I read the last book Seuss published before he died. However, near the end it was hard not to cry as I thought of all the places my kiddoes are going and all that awaits them!


"You'll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You'll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life's
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!"

I want them to move mountains!  ( ... I'd like them to do it by having faith as small as a mustard seed (see Matthew 17:20).  I want them to succeed!  I DON'T wan't them to "mixed up with many strange birds" as they go!  I hope I've taught them, in some small way, how to "step with care and great tact."


And I hope I can keep it together when I start to tell them I'm not going to be here next year.  


You can read the whole "Oh the Places You'll Go" here.

ALA winners

So, as I was saying I missed being up-to-date in the children's literature world... I did a little surfing today and stumbled across the American Library Association's winners from 2010.  Yea, it's a year old.  But it reminded me of lots of book I've read and lots I haven't, too.  This link is mostly just so that I can go back and find it if I need to... but if anyone else fancies a look, here ya go:   2010 winners

Coffee and Children's Books

Today I had coffee with my friend Sarah after school.  Sarah used to teach first grade at Pinares, but she switched to third grade this year. Ironically, when Sarah was a first grade teacher, I got to see her and chat every day because of a mutual planning period.  Now that she teaches the same grade as I, however, we barely get a chance to say three words to one another during the day (no mutual planning period this year...)  It's sad because she is pretty much the coolest, most joyful and caring person I know.
Anyways, we went for coffee and then stopped by Spain's Cultural Center which has had a children's book illustration exhibit on display for a couple months now.  It's an awesome exhibit because it's art + children's books = two of my very favorite things.  I had been before and seen the display, but I noticed again a book they have set out, called The War of the Numbers (published in 2009 in Spain, written/illustrated by Juan Darién.) 
It's a very creative, fun story about how the poor number 1 feels sad about being so small, so he fights back with a new secret weapon--the minus sign.  Pretty soon, all the other numbers get beaten down to measly old zeros. But the ending is happy, when the one and zero unite to create a new number: 10!

It's been almost 3 years since I finished my master's degree and spent quality time with really cool children's literature, and I miss it. I want to do more to keep up to date with what is happening in the Kid Lit world.  Maybe I will keep sharing what I find.  :)
Happy Tuesday.

Well stated

I just finished a great book called, "When I was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago. It's an incredible memoir of growing up in rural Puerto Rico in the 50s/60s (read: one-room hut, dirt floors, no water/bathrooms, etc) and went on to move to New York with her mom and 10 siblings, get accepted into the Academy of Performing Arts, and later to Harvard!

There is a part in the book that I sticky-noted and later read-aloud to those of us who would understand just how accurate it is. It talks about Esmeralda's observation of her culture's expectations of dignified behavior, and how different those expectations are for men and women. Anyone who has spent time in Latin America is probably familiar with this view. Here's the passage:

"I started school in the middle of hurricane season, and the world grew suddenly bigger, a vast place of other adults and children whose lives were similar, but whose shadings I couldn't really explore out of respect and dignidad. Dignidad was something you conferred on other people, and they, in turn, gave it back to you. It meant you never swore at people, never showed anger in front of strangers, never stared, never stood to close to people you'd just met, never addressed people by the familiar tú until they gave you permission. It meant adults had to be referred to as Don so-and-so, and Doña so-and-so, except for teachers, who you should call Mister or Missis so-and-so. It meant, if you were a child, you did not speak until spoken to, did not look an adult in the eye, did not raise your voice nor enter or leave a room without permission. It meant adults were always right, especially if they were old. It meant men could look at women any way they liked but women could never look at men directly, only in sidelong glances, unless they were putas, in which case they could do what they pleased since people would talk about them anyway. It meant you didn't gossip, tattle, or tease. It meant men could say things to women as they walked down the street, but women couldn't say anything to men, not even to tell them to go jump in the harbor and leave them alone."

(page 30)

You should read the book.

Loved this book.

I just finished reading a great Young Adult novel called Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy. I really miss all the great books I got to read in my Children's Literature program in grad school, this gave me a taste of the kinds of quality books I was fortunate to read all the time.
Here is a portion I loved from the book. Sometimes I need to keep this in mind:

"Lizzie Bright Griffin, do you ever wish the world would just go ahead and swallow you whole?"

"Sometimes I do," she said, and then smiled. "But sometimes I figure I should just go ahead and swallow it."

Living a Good Story

Does anyone else love Donald Miller? I recently finished reading his book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years and I want to read it again and again so I don't forget it. Here's a quick overview: After a film crew tried to turn his life/book into a movie, Donald Miller began to examine what it takes to make a good Story. He writes about living your life like a good story... He says it involves pushing characters forward through tough situations, dealing with tragedy, moving way far out of comfort zones, and takes place in memorable settings, among other things.
So, I've kind of been trying to look at my life as if through the lens of a video camera. I've still got a long way to go to make it movie worthy....I need to work through a lot of my deep-rooted issues and take some big risks and try something hard that I would normally tell myself I could never do. But, on the upside... thinking of living my life like a good Story gives me some comfort when I begin to doubt and worry about living here in Honduras. When I wonder if I'm wasting my time. When I fear that I'll never settle down, or that I'm pursuing something empty instead of going back and getting serious.
When those kinds of thoughts arise, and believe me it's not uncommon, I'm just going to make myself remember that a good Story or a really great movie was never about someone seeking the easy or comfortable or conflict-free way. Or, as Don would say, no one would want to watch a movie about a guy who spent his life working for a Volvo and finally got one, testing the windshield wipers as he drives away at the end.