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Author Archives: Alicia Abdul

About Alicia Abdul

You'll find me drinking tea in a dress and reading... or making lists.

Under the spell of Witch Hat Atelier

I changed in November 2022 when I read the first volume of Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama. I distinctly remember finishing the book and finding construction paper to make my own hat in the likeness of Coco’s that day. Several years later I put together a full cosplay as Coco to accompany my Japanese Culture Club students to a comic con replete with a homemade brush baby and a sigil on the bottom of my shoes. And several years after that, I have collected every volume of the original series, every volume of the spinoff of Witch Hat Atelier Kitchen, and a hardcover beauty called The Art of Witch Hat Atelier gifted by my son.

Witch Hat Atelier, volume 14 not pictured

A few of my students asked the other week if I had watched the anime, which I knew had dropped on Crunchyroll. I told them about my reluctance to watch it (as with any book that I’m enamored with) because I love the original too much to have it mutilated by another format. I also know that the reviews have been positive.

Fast forward to Saturday night of a long weekend and I did it, I started watching the anime. I instantly fell in love. I said I would pace myself. There were eight episodes available and I now know that there are a planned thirteen total to drop by the end of June. What did I do? By Sunday afternoon I had watched all eight and yearn for more. Luckily I only have to wait about 24 hours for episode nine.

Let me break it down. The groundwork that Shirahama created with the series about a girl wishing to be a witch and ultimately being pulled into the orbit of witches by a witch named Qifrey at an atelier for apprentice witches was the start. Then the anime adaptation takes the imaginative creativity of Shirahama’s world and personifies it with color, cuteness, and attention to detail. I was absorbed on the screen for each scene in addition to the opening credits that use a visual paper folding that wows. Each chapter was a feast. The animation and the writing are unparalleled. If you haven’t been swept up into the orbit of the series in print or anime, here is your sign to start.

I’m going to be falling asleep envisioning my own ability to create sigils to make magic. Join me. I’m under the spell of Witch Hat Atelier.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on May 25, 2026 in Authors, Illustrators, Manga, Upcoming Releases

Thirteen for Thursday

21 May

What have I been reading lately? Here are thirteen for Thursday in thirteen words each.

A Scar Like A River by Lisa Graff
- Girl takes a stand and realizes her full potential to take back power
The Beginning After the End, volume 1 by TurtleMe
- Creative isekai manga about starting over in a kingdom with powers and determination
Chernobyl, Life, and Other Disasters: A Graphic Memoir by Yevgenia Nayberg
- Memoir focused on growing up, being artsy amidst the backdrop of a disaster
Cocoon by Machiko Kyo
- Dark exploration of the impact and toll war can take physically and mentally
Eden of Witches, volume 1 by Yumeji
- Fantasy manga with a rich backstory and unique natural setting that feels magical
Flight by Alan Gratz
- Side story fully explored in the world of Gratz’s familiar tales of human suffering
Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker
- Nonlinear psychological and ghost thriller with an epic cover and two intertwined stories
Labor: One Woman’s Work by Dr. Mary Fariba Afsai
- Audiobook narrated by Afsai about her career in obstetrics and her goals
London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Keefe
- Unraveling a murder mystery with more questions than answers along the Thames River
Max, a Little Axolotl: Breaking Out by Joey Spiotto
- Will read every book in this series with the adorable Max, an axolotl
Mixed Feelings by Sara Amini and Shadia Amin
- Identity and authentic coming of age mix perfectly for a middle grade audience
My Journey to Japan: Escape to Yokai Mountain by Matthew Loux
- A travelogue of the best of Japan but add yokai too? Yes please.
Smash or Pass by Birdie Schae
- Neurodiverse girl plays volleyball at summer camp and finds love and her voice

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on May 21, 2026 in Adult, Audiobooks, Authors, Childrens, Fiction, Graphic novels, Illustrators, Manga, Middle grade, Nonfiction, Young Adult

Field tripping to the Con

05 May

For the fifth year in a row, I’ve brought a group of high schoolers from my Japanese Culture Club (formerly Anime Club) to a local comic con, Saratoga Comic Con, that is put on twice a year: once in the fall and once in the spring, and we alternate the season we attend.

There has been a cut of grant money that covers our enrichment club’s cost to attend each year for the last few years allowing the students to have the school bus and entrance fee paid for which makes it enticing to spend five hours on a Saturday to attend when their money can go toward items from the hundreds of vendors there. Undoubtedly, they’ll get hooked and another favorite part of the day is running into former students there on their own enjoying the con. A requisite picture is always taken.

This year’s trip was no different than in years past– I end up feeling an immense love toward all of the kids that attend because they are overjoyed to attend, see and take pictures with those that are cosplaying, buy items with their favorite characters, and spend time with each other. They are a solid group of awesome teens. They were screaming before they even got off the bus. I wouldn’t trade this yearly field trip for anything. My sights, eventually, with enough money, would be to get a group down to New York City for their annual con.

And as is my practice, I cosplayed a favorite character. For five years running I have been Kiki from Kiki’s Delivery Service, Erica Slaughter from Something is Killing the Children, red blood cell from Cells at Work, Coco from Witch Hat Atelier, and Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel. I’m already starting to think about next year’s outfit since it’ll be coming up in November.

I’m grateful to one of our culinary instructors, who wore a dapper Pokemon button up, and one parent for attending (as he has done in years past) to wrap our arms around our happy kids who gladly pose for a picture at the end to commemorate the day. It’s a photo I cherish each year that we do this.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on May 5, 2026 in Events, Reflections

Author visits: It’s all worth it

28 Apr

This year, our library celebrated fifteen years of author visits with our twentieth author. It was a phenomenal day with Gail Jarrow. One that our students, staff, and I won’t soon forget from her fantastically gross images on screen to her deep knowledge of science and history. Couple it with thoughtful questions from the students, and books (free to them through a grant) to have her sign, each student had a personalized experience with her. Plus, it was captured by our dedicated communications staff person who popped up throughout the day to capture it all for which I’m grateful to have the memories that will last afterward but also from better angles and more creative shots with a fancy camera than I could ever get.

It’s been one week and I’m still thinking about it daily. This one but also the ones that came before it.

No one will say author visits are easy. In fact, every year I get frustrated at least once (an understatement) and tell my colleague that I’m never doing it again, but, like childbirth, here we are fifteen years later (though because I had twins, I only did childbirth once so I kind of cheated). Yet, what keeps me doing it year after year is the students. I have received messages years after students have graduated talking about memories of author visits. I look back at the folder of pictures from visits and see the smiling faces. I see the statistics of increased book check out. I hear the teachers talking.

Often the frustration lies with funding, policies, and procedures. Unnecessarily complicated. Not student-centered. Procedures made up by people far removed from the everyday grind of making it happen. But I won’t dwell on the negative. Simply to share that it’s all worth it.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on April 28, 2026 in Authors, Events, Nonfiction, Reflections, Young Adult

Fly me to the moon: Stellar books about space

14 Apr

Who hasn’t loved all of the coverage of NASA’s Artemis II’s flight around the dark side of the moon and back? From the naming of a crater on the moon for the deceased wife of one of the astronauts to the flying Nutella jar that was the coolest advertisement, my favorite post as a public school librarian was a reminder that the next astronaut could be sitting in our classrooms because all four of the astronauts went to public schools.

How does anyone grow and learn? Reading of course, so here are some stellar books about space that are sure to continue the excitement about Artemis II’s journey with Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen into the future.

Picture Books

Our Solar System! A Stellar Neighborhood by McAnulty and illustrated by Lewis (plus all of our Our Universe series)
Wanda Hears the Stars: A Blind Astronomer Listens to the Universe by Hansen, Merced, and Mendoza
Starstruck: The Cosmic Journey of Neil deGrasse Tyson by Krull, Brewer, and Morrison
I Am Neil Armstrong (Ordinary People Change the World series) by Meltzer and Eliopoulos
A Computer Called Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Helped Put America on the Moon by Slade and Jamison
Margaret and the Moon: How Margaret Hamilton Saved the First Lunar Landing by Robbins and Knisley

Middle Grade

History Smashers: The Space Race by Messner
The Extraordinary Orbit of Alex Ramirez by Paulino
Rocket to the Moon! (Big Ideas That Changed the World series) by Brown
Countdown: 2979 Days to the Moon by Slade and Gonzalez
A Rover’s Story by Warga

Young Adult

Spacewalking With You by Doronoda (a fabulous manga featuring neurodiverse characters)
Crownchasers by Coffindaffer
To the Moon!: The True Story of the American Heroes on the Apollo 8 Spaceship by Kluger and Shamir

Adult

Atmosphere by Reid

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on April 14, 2026 in Adult, Childrens, Events, Fiction, Illustrators, Manga, Middle grade, Nonfiction, Poetry, Young Adult

Kamishibai

26 Mar

Let me start by saying, librarians are the ultimate sharers. This wouldn’t have gotten off the ground if it wasn’t for another local librarian sharing her experience and then lending her items to me. But isn’t that what librarians are all about anyway? It goes without saying.

I had a page ripped out from a library magazine from about five years ago in a folder for activities to do (eventually) with my Japanese Culture Club, an after school club I’ve been running for eighteen years. It languished. Then our local library consortium held a showcase where librarians could share activities, lessons, or events they were proud of to other librarians for ideas and inspiration. While I couldn’t attend that day, I saw a presentation that was on kamishibai. And just like that, the stars aligned. I emailed her that we needed to get together and I wanted to hear all about it. We met. She shared. And then she offered to lend the materials she had purchased for her library to me to launch it with my club including a cornerstone text, Allen Say’s Kamishibai Man.

As an old form of Japanese storytelling, men often made their money selling candies their wives made for these kamishibai events happening in parks and community gathering spaces. The entertainment came in the form of an animated story featuring a stage that he could carry on his bicycle.

Two weeks ago at club, I read Say’s book aloud before unraveling the stage, putting out the candy, and sharing one of the stories: Momotaro: Peach Boy. They were engaged and hopped up on sugar. A winning combination. But I did get a round of applause at the end, so I couldn’t have been that bad. Then I said that I had three more stories and two of our club members, the president and vice president of the club said they’d practice and share two more stories the following week. True to form, they showed up during study halls a few times the following week to practice and entertained us with Issun-Boshi: The One-Inch Boy and The Bamboo Princess this past week. Heartwarming to say the least, the fact that both of them put in the practice and leaned into it in front of their club members.

Of course there’s so much more that can be done to expand upon what we did, but for a club activity it worked exactly the way I wanted it to. For the librarian who I borrowed the materials from, it is a carefully constructed project collaboration with a teacher. In any culture, storytelling and stories are the backbone, so taking the time to learn about the paper theater of Japan was informative and entertaining. To say nothing of the kindness of librarians sharing their resources to benefit students.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on March 26, 2026 in Events, Miscellaneous

Lucky they exist

17 Mar

Taking this St. Patrick’s Day opportunity to highlight a few recent reads that we can celebrate exist in this world. In a word, lucky, that they exist.

There isn’t a more popular author than Taylor Jenkins Reid who has turned out several hits. Atmosphere is no different. I just finished the audiobook and I have never been so enmeshed in a character’s journey than Joan’s journey to the stars. It reminds me of Frankie from The Women by Hannah. Completely pulled into their orbit in a pivotal time in history and one that women don’t get nearly the recognition that they should. Seriously, what a way to celebrate Women’s History Month too. Readers are lucky to have books like this one to highlight the strength of women.

Cassandra Calin created a follow up to The New Girl. First Crush will be out shortly and higlights what it means to grow up, have a crush, but also screw up, but still survive by learning lessons and having people around us to be a comfort and a sounding board. There’s so much to adore about the graphic novel series from the layout and design to the choices in honoring multiple languages of the characters and not shying away from topics like periods. Readers are lucky to have graphic novels like this one.

More books are being published for teens that focus on stories that are difficult to reckon with. In Takvorian’s graphic novel memoir exploring her Armenian-American heritage and asking the hard questions of her family who would rather leave the past in the past, Armaveni is a sentimental journey into history and the human toll of genocide on generations. Readers are lucky to have authors to explore the corners of their own experiences to benefit us all.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on March 17, 2026 in Adult, Authors, Fiction, Graphic novels, Illustrators, Middle grade, Nonfiction, Upcoming Releases, Young Adult

Eighth day, please

21 Feb

Winter break is nearing it’s end and I’ve coveted the time needed to do random household chores, update the last pieces of the spring semester for the college course I teach, complete odds and ends work on other projects, and READ.

I read daily. It’s a core element of my daily routine for personal and professional reasons, so it’s work even when it’s not work and it’s not work even when it is work. And Lena Dunham’s quote popped up in my head after thinking about the week that included quite a bit of reading

I couldn’t agree more. I will never get out from under my TBR pile and I spent a few days drinking from my “Death by TBR” mug gifted by my friend, Stacey. So if I could lobby the powers that be for an eighth day dedicated entirely to reading, I would. I am. Please, add an eighth day to the week so that I may read… while drinking tea.

What was I reading during break? What wasn’t I reading is the more apt question.

Picture books like Every Peach Is a Story by Masumoto, Masumoto, and Tamaki, The Octopus by Guojing that is a wordless picture book not yet released, and I’m So Happy You’re Here: A Celebration of Library Joy by Threets and Nam to name a few.

Middle grade graphic novels like Deepwater Creek by Regina and the adapted One Crazy Summer by Williams-Garcia and illustrated by Miller.

Young adult like Leave It On The Track by Fisher, Red Flags and Butterflies by Azzam, I Love Amy by Unni, and the forthcoming Corpse de Ballet graphic novel by Kearney.

Adult books like much-talked about The Correspondent by Evans and the dark manga called Confession by Kawaguchi.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on February 21, 2026 in Adult, Audiobooks, Authors, Childrens, Fiction, Graphic novels, Illustrators, Manga, Middle grade, Upcoming Releases, Young Adult

Love is in the air

14 Feb

I’ve written several posts about romantic books so I’m making this one short and sweet– two books to look forward to publishing in 2026 that I’ve had the pleasure of reading already and want to share with you to put on your radar:

One is by Aida Salazar and features two kids exploring a life outside of screens and out of the country with realism and delight. The other is the third in Kristy Boyce’s delightful “Gaming and Romance” series which is nerdy and the perfect friends to enemies to lovers. Be on the lookout for these two this year!

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on February 14, 2026 in Authors, Fiction, Upcoming Releases, Young Adult

The day after the Youth Media Awards

27 Jan

With a snowstorm hitting much of the eastern seaboard, it was to be expected that Monday would be a snow day. For colleagues like my friend Stacey Rattner who builds a fever pitch of excitement about the Youth Media Awards at her elementary school, it was disappointing to not have the day together in the gym, but she pivoted. For me, I was happy to have uninterrupted time to watch it (with a glass of champagne in celebration) at home. I could make my notes, I could tag favorite books and authors who won, and text colleagues on committees to cheer on their work.

And there was plenty of notes, tags, and texts!

While it runs a bit long when publishers and imprints are listed along with titles and creators and committees select a handful of honor titles that deepen the bench for celebration, my happiness was elevated throughout. Highlights included three celebrations of Candace Fleming- two for career achievement recognition and one for winning the Excellence in Nonfiction award for Death in the Jungle. A second was a sustained recognition of Cynthia Leitich Smith’s editing of Legendary Fry Bread Drive-In is worth noting. With its recognition in the Odyssey category, I might have to go back and listen to it because it was magical the first time in print, so I might want a second experience as an audiobook now.

An early favorite to see was Arriel Vinson’s new talent award for her debut Under the Neon Lights. I had the pleasure of moderating a panel for School Library Journal last year for which she was a shining part. And I have catching up to do in categories like Stonewall and Schneider Family because there were some titles that hadn’t come across my desk that I will be on the search for. Similarly, I pay special attention to the Batchelder awards because I’ve found them to be particularly moving or fun (in the case of John the Skeleton by Laan last year)

And last, all the love to the Coretta Scott King illustrator award to R. Gregory Christie for The Library in the Woods and written by Ramsey whose message and moving art is a must-read and happiness that Insectopolis: A Natural History by Kuper that I had on my year-end top ten list for adult nonfiction was recognized by the Alex Award as a book with special teen appeal. To validate that, we had it in our high school collection already and I enthusiastically shared it with a girl who was looking for a book about insects and bugs- I told her I had the perfect book for her.

I’ll ride the high of the celebration of all of the committees’ work to get to this point and recognize the talent of all of the creators of these amazing books by adding more to my endless TBR and looking out for new content by them as well.