I read Keeping You a Secret by Julie Ann Peters recently. 

And I was appalled.

One of my final papers in undergrad (I was an English major) was the history of homosexuality in teen literature and how it has changed, particularly in the 21st century.  I also credited Sara Ryan (whose website is a link on my homepage, go check out her awesome page and fun pictures) with a shift in the genre in what I consider to be a very positive direction.

Keeping You a Secret, with all due respect to Peters, seemed like a slightly more modern re-hash of Nancy Garden’s breakout lesbian novel, Annie on My Mind.  Now please note that when I say “breakout,” I mean that Garden’s novel was written in 1982.  Peters’ was written in 2005.  Annie on My Mind is outdated now, but the stunning writing and realistic feel make up for that– isn’t that what makes a book a classic anyway?

Peters’ work, much like Marilyn Reynolds’ Love Rules, was so stereotypical it wasn’t even funny.  Not every gay (or even questioning) teenager runs around screaming “I’m gay!  I’m gay!” from the rooftops, wearing rainbows, and demanding that Gay-Straight Alliances be formed at their schools.  Not everyone who comes out to their parents gets kicked out of their house, beaten, screamed at, or tortured.  And believe it or not, there are actually *gasp!* straight people who don’t abandon their friends just because they happen to be gay.  Nothing is so black and white, especially something so complex as sexuality and society.

In the meantime, I would suggest reading Sara Ryan’s Empress of the World, an incredibly realistic and touching portrayal of a girl coming into her own at a summer camp for gifted and talented kids.  The sequel, The Rules for Hearts, is another poignant story about how things aren’t always what they seem, no matter how well you think you know someone– a housemate, a family member, or yourself.  Go read these instead.

*RELIGIOUS MUSINGS AHEAD. Nothing offensive, just personal bildungsroman. No likey, no readey. Consider yourself warned**

I have read a lot of things lately. Most of them are trashy magazines that have Jon and Kate articles in them. However, I have read some ACTUAL books. They have made me think.

The first was The Someday List by Stacy Hawkins Adams. It’s about a woman who realizes that while on the outside she has it all, the darker side of her life is far from complete, and she wants to reasess her life and her priorities. It does a good job of essentially explaining a midlife crisis in a non-condescending, non-preachy way, and it comes to a conclusion that is open-ended yet satisfying. I found myself relating to it a lot, which probably says something about my life right now.
I’m also reading a teen novel called Does My Head Look Big In This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah. In it, a Muslim Australian girl named Amal elects to wear her hijab full-time in a personal decision to have the strength to declare her faith publicly. The book chronicles the reactions she receives from her schoolmates, friends, family members, and friends of the family– reactions as varied as the people who give them.

Being Catholic in Buffalo was easy. Practically the whole city is Catholic. Everyone I worked with was Catholic (or, at least 90-some percent of them.) Our Newman Center was HUGE. I had tons of Catholic friends. We did Catholic things. There’s a Catholic church on almost every corner– even WITH all of the closings. I have like 7 different crosses and could where whichever one I wanted any day of the week, and never thought twice. I wore my chastity ring (and claddaugh) ring every day and no one ever said anything. It was one giant non-issue. Then I came here, and everything changed. There is a MUCH smaller Catholic population. I didn’t wear a cross or my ring on my first day or work for fear of offending someone or getting asked too many questions. There are so fewer Catholic churches, so much farther away from where I live than what I am used to. In short, I was shellshocked and terrified. And I still am. But I am slowly learning that wearing my 4-medal cross is okay. So is wearing my ring. I can still find a church to worship at, even if it takes more time and more of a drive. But man, has it ever been a test of everything I have ever expected and every pre-conceived notion I have ever conceived. Now I’m going into a situation that is completely shattering everything I previously held as a self-conceived notion of how my life would play out, in terms of religion, and I’m trying to accept that what I’ve made myself believe is not the only truth.

OKay, that’s enough for today I’d say.

Dear President Obama,
I know that you are very important, being the president and all, and you *are* left handed like me, so I’m a little willing to cut you some slack. But seriously, you completely ruined my one and only precious TV night that I dragged Scott out of Kmart to be back in time for. I only got ONE hour instead of two of The Biggest Loser, and as if that weren’t enough, you talked for sooooooo long that Law and Order: SVU isn’t being shown either. Is it really necessary to talk that long? Like I said, I get that you are important and all, and that lots of people want to hear what you are saying to congress, and this is a major time in our country’s history, but next time, could you please schedule one of your marathon televised addresses for NOT A TUESDAY????
Thank you,
Sarah

P.S.- DID YOU KNOW THAT…
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is currently the highest ranked Catholic in the United States government.
WELL NOW YOU KNOW!

Dear Jackie*,
Thank you for reminding me how fantastically out of shape I am in playing you after my almost-1-year hiatus. The muscles in my left thumb that I forgot existed and the nerve endings in my left index finger that were fine until Tuesday also thank you.

In other news, my neighbor Scott and I are singing at BLC in the church choir for the first time on Sunday. Neither one of us is Lutheran, and we only have one rehearsal under our belts, but hey, what’ve we got to lose? Everyone there is really fantastic and really made me feel welcome. And believe it or not, despite all of my musical background, I have NEVER sung in a church choir (well, a “real” church choir, I led the music ensemble at the student mass when I was in college, but I played an instrument and just kind of sang along), so I’m really excited to be on the other side of the service for once. PLUS! They have choir robes!! I’ve never been in ANY choir that wore robes, or any uniform article of clothing of any kind. I think I might be looking forward to that most of all. :-)

I was bored out of my skull for over a week and now it’s down to the wire and all of a sudden I’m finding a zillion things I want to get involved in– right before my job starts. C’est la vie. Can’t say it’s the worst problem in the world to have. I think I’m finally starting to find my “corner of the sky,” as they say in Pippin.

What a great feeling.

*Jackie is the name of my cello, which I have had for almost 8 years, named after cello legend and goddess Jacqueline du Pre.

I know I have said before that I’ve wanted to be a children’s librarian since I was 16. Over the past (almost) 8 years, there have been a lot of hurdles, tough hurdles, that I’ve had to get over. Heck, I surprised myself when I made it through undergrad and started grad school! But I made it, and am so incredibly blessed and lucky to not only have found my dream job so young in life, but to have had the great support and opportunities I did these past years in nuturing that dream. And THEN! Getting a FULL TIME Youth Services job at a well funded library working with my favorite age group straight out of grad school? Incredible!Someone pinch me. Though I’ve always wanted it, I was never convinced I’d actually get it.

I really hope I’m not all out of luck, because I have one last wish. It’s a wish not really for me, but more a wish for a friend, one of the best friends a girl can ask for. And it may be a wish too impossible to hope for, but I’ve said that before and here I am, a librarian! So maybe I have enough luck left for one last miracle for my friend. Only time will tell– but that’s the hardest part.

If you are reading this, any good wishes and thoughts and prayers towards this are appreciated. :-)

Teen/Young Adult authors are grossly overlooked in my opinion. Not only do these books help teens through a very tumultuous time in their lives, they tend to have (note the word “tend”) better plotlines than adult books. In my opinion.

~EDWARD BLOOR. Run, do not walk, RUN to your nearest public library (or bookstore, but preferably public library) and check out EVERYTHING this man has EVER written. “Tangerine,” his first book, is my favorite, followed extremely closely by “Crusade” and “London Calling.” They are psychological thrillers with intriguing plot lines and relateable characters. GO READ THEM NOW.

~SARA RYAN. There is a link to her website on my homepage. Go visit it. “Empress of the World” changed my life, because it was like she read my mind and then wrote a book I’d adore. The follow up “The Rules for Hearts” was equally enamoring (it recently came out in paperback, so you have no excuse to not get them both.) Visit her website and read her books. I met her last April and she is the nicest woman you will ever meet, not to mention a librarian, which makes her doubly cool.

~THE BRIO GIRLS SERIES. A product of Focus on the Family, these books are Christian Teen Fiction without being too preachy. Again, very real characters kids can relate to. Though they are written by a set of different authors, there is continuity essential for a successful series. I am working on building up my collection so that I have them all.

~MEG CABOT. I hesitate to put her on here because she has become such a supersensation (and yes, I meant that to be all one word), but I was completely addicted to her “The Princess Diaries” books long before Anne Hathaway became Mia in the movie. Cabot may be a writing machine, but she’s a *good* machine.

~J.K. ROWLING. Come on, she’s gotta end up somewhere on this list. She wrote the Harry Potter books. ’nuff said.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
+ “Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey” by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Equal parts addicting and positively heartbreaking. You won’t soon forget it.

+ “Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger. Every teenager must read this book, and most all have. It has stood the test of time (and keeps ending up on banned book lists, after all these years.)

As you all know, I am not really a politics person. I sort of let the politicians do their thing and I do mine. But I watched the inauguration on Tuesday and it was really cool. I liked all of the pageantry of it and seeing all of the crowds of all different people of all different backgrounds standing together. It was cool.

The first thing Obama seems to have done, besides move into the White House and dance a lot with Michelle, is sign the official papers to begin the process to close the Guantanamo detention facility. I find this interesting, but I’m not really sure why. I guess it’s because everyone was so hyped on the war and gay marriage and all that stuff and then what is the first thing Obama does? Close Gitmo. Sorta out of left field. But while I was waiting to do something in the common building of my new apartment complex, I was watching Obama actually sign these papers and realized that he’s left-handed, just like me!! A lot of presidents have been left-handed, apparently. Maybe it’s a sign of greatness. :-) It’s also a sign that gym class is hell in elementary and middle school, but hey, whatever.

Caroline Kennedy has apparently withdrawn herself from the horserace to get Hillary Clinton’s senate seat. As a huge Kennedy fanatic, I’m sort of sad, but at the same time I’m not convinced she was the best person for the job. Oh well. We’ve still got other Kennedys running around in politics.

My upstairs neighbor is ridiculously noisy. I’m not sure if they are breeding elephants or what, but the gigantic thumps at random intervals are somewhat disconcerting.

Now we introduce the j Fiction authors, the sublime people who shaped my elementary school life.

FAVORITE J FICTION AUTHORS

~KATHERINE PATERSON. The first book I ever read that made me cry at the end was “The Great Gilly Hopkins,” and I was so impressed that I was completely hooked. I think she’s a genius. Paterson is also known for writing “Bridge to Terabithia,” which was recently made into a movie. “Park’s Quest” is also quite good. I hesitated to read her novel “Jacob I Have Loved,” thinking that it was a cheesy romance novel based on the title and cover. While pawing through some books in a going-out-of-business used book store, I found a copy of the book and turned it over to read the back. It said “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated…” That taught me not to judge a book by its cover! She also carries some SERIOUS Newberry bling.

~E.L. KONIGSBURG. I think I have to say my favorite book she wrote was “From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler,” followed closely by “The View From Saturday.” Her works are thought-provoking and incredibly well written. She also has incredible longevity. She had the Newberry Medal Winner AND a Newberry honor in the same year in 1968 (which I think is a record of some sort,) and also has a Medal from 1997. Again, major bling.

~GERTUDE CHANDLER WARNER. Okay, so she died after writing the 19th book in “The Boxcar Children” series, but it is undeniably one of the best series ever created. And also my favorite, so maybe I am a little biased, but whatever.

~ANN M. MARTIN. Yes she wrote “The Babysitters Club” and “Little Sister” series (which I read religiously and adored), but she also wrote “Ten Kids, No Pets” and “Eleven Kids, One Summer,” which is what I will mostly remember her for. She’s made a comeback with the “Main St.” series, which seems quite cute.

~HOLOCAUST BOOKS. “Number the Stars” by Lois Lowry and “The Devil’s Arithmetic” by Jane Yolen are beautiful ways of retelling a horrible time in history. There was another really great one about red herrings and sledding that for the life of me I cannot remember the name or author of, but it was really good.

~HONORABLE MENTION: “The Westing Game” by Ellen Raskin. I have never seen anything so psychologically provoking written for such a young audience. There is a reason this won the Newberry Medal (1979).

It has occured to me that while I talk a lot about storytimes and television, I don’t talk about what books I like!  This could be because, as part of my work, most of my reading involves books that have 10 words or fewer per page.  As a general rule of thumb, I try not to read anything intended for people over the age of 18.  “Adult” books take too many brain cells, and I use enough of those in a day that I don’t have any left over for big books.  So here’s a little bit about me, through my book choices. Let’s start with my specialty, picture books:

~LAUREN CHILD. “I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato” was followed by a host of other Charlie and Lola books, which got turned into a TV show. That last part I’m not so happy about, but they really are phenomenal books.

~DOREEN CRONIN. She did “Wiggle,” one of my favorite picture books EVAR. She also wrote “Click Clack Moo,” which is fabulous, but the problem with that book is that children these days don’t know what a typewriter is, thus somewhat defeating the point of the book, not to mention severely sidetracking the kids.

~IAN FALCONER. He wrote the Olivia series. Personally I think the adults might enjoy these books more than the kids. “You wear me out, but I love you anyway.” “I love you anyway too.” I have a friend who is a Teen Services Librarian named Olivia who, not surprisingly, has a substantial collection of “Olivia” merchandise.

~JONATHAN LONDON. One word: Froggy. ’nuff said.

~TODD PARR. His stick figure people are purple and blue and he tells children it’s okay to eat macaroni and cheese in the bathtub. He’s my hero. (P.S. When I read “It’s Okay to be Different” at Wee Read, the kids get all excited about the bright colors and start climbing all over me to try to see them. Then I have to sit on a chair to finish the book. Not that I have a problem with kids climbing on me, but then no one can see the book.)

~ELLEN STOLL WALSH. Have you ever read “Mouse Paint?” Have you ever even LOOKED at “Mouse Paint?” Every single one of her books is THAT good. Fabulous stories, fabulous pictures, fabulous woman (I met her when I was in 6th grade, she was the nicest person.)

~VIRGINIA WALTER. She wrote my favorite picture book of all time, “Hi, Pizza Man!” If you have not seen this book, come see my copy. But it is out of print, and I guard my copy with my LIFE. You can look at it in my presence :-)

~MO WILLEMS. He invented The Pigeon and Elephant and Piggie. He worked for Sesame Street. How can you not love everything this man does??

A little food for thought. Go check out these authors at your local library!

Did you know that……

The President’s airplane, as we know, is called the Air Force One. Most notably, at least in recent history, it is known for being the place where Vice-President Lyndon Baines Johnson was sworn in as President as his wife “Ladybird” and a distraught, blood-covered Jacqueline Kennedy watched (google the photos, they will leave a lasting impression.)

But! The President also has his own helicopter called the Marine One.

WELL NOW YOU KNOW!!!!!

This leads me to wonder: There are several branches of the armed forces, two of which are the Air Force and the Marine Corps. Does the President have a ship called the Navy One? Or a tank or humvee or something called the Army One? If you happen to know, leave a comment. It’s more fun than looking it up on Wikipedia :-)