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Author Archives: Alicia Abdul

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About Alicia Abdul

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

What I did

25 Jun

Yesterday, Friday, June 24th was the last day of school which ended with a few last booktalks to my colleagues to set them up for the professional reading groups I run over the summer for staff, moving the last few items over to the new library (where we’re still waiting for the furniture), and a picnic lunch.

Today, Saturday, June 25th was the first day of official summer vacation. There will be plenty of time for work this summer that’s generally bookish in nature. But today had to be a *little* special.

The breakfast of champions after a morning training run and sauna session included water, bagel and lox, rose cider, and tea while reading the paper. The runs usually include an audiobook (who am I? I thought I would never be the person listening to an audiobook while running- only motivating music please- but I am now that person). I was actually able to finish Nugent’s Little Cruelties this morning what a twisted piece of literary fiction.

I moved to doing some grading and prep work for the summer grad classes and picked up a flat of strawberries from our CSA which promptly turned into me making biscuits and homemade whip for strawberry shortcake after dinner.

Some more reading.

A dinner of grilled pizzas courtesy of my grill-master husband and sitting out on the patio where I started another book that I’m loving so far, an arc of All Signs Point to Yes: A Love Story for Every Star Sign short story anthology edited by Davis, Montgomery, and White. Then, the strawberry shortcake.

And last, a blog post while also plotting a personal readathon for this summer.

 
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Posted by on June 25, 2022 in Adult, Audiobooks, Blogging, Short Story, Upcoming Releases, Young Adult

 

Move in day

17 Jun

Nervous energy pulsed through me on Wednesday morning, but I wasn’t really affected by it since I was exhausted by an almost three-hour end of the school year party with my Anime Club on the last day of school the night before. The nervous energy was that the moving company smartly hired by our district to move our books from the old library to the new library was arriving that morning. It was going to take two days. And we were ready to roll up our sleeves, directing and organizing as they moved them back and forth.

What should have taken two days ended up taking a little less than one because they sent extra guys and our collection of around 15,000 was tiny compared to others they have moved using their custom made rolling bookshelves. So maybe it was the speed of what was happening or that it’s been 15 good years in that space that I couldn’t stop for more than a few minutes in the old library before I began to tear up.

This same exact thing happened when my husband and I started a home renovation that included knocking down the back half of our house. Yes I knew it was happening, heck, we paid people to take the wrecking ball to it and it was still a powerful few moments of emotion actually seeing it happen. We knew we were on to better things. And this is the case in the library. We are returning to a library fit for 2,600 students after being chipped away for more than a decade leaving it a shell of what it was when it was originally build in the 1970s. Yes, it had been rehabbed once about eight years ago when the floors and ceilings needed to be redone, but then the capital project began to build a campus for our students on the property.

And as we spend the next two weeks moving everything else over now that the books are moved in addition to cleaning up the books themselves, there have been moments over the last two days and will sure enough happen today, when I stop and take it all in. We are still waiting on the furniture and computers, including in our office so I know another wave will take me when that comes in.

I’m also filled with genuine pride when staff (who see the open construction door and walk over to take a look and then tell more colleagues to come over too) say things like “You deserve this” and “I have to take pictures, no one will believe how beautiful and big it is”. It’s what the students deserve after years of having the walls literally closing in on them. In addition to four study rooms, there are bathrooms and water fountains inside the library, space to spread out, and an updated look that everyone says makes them feel like they’re in a college library. It certainly does look like one and I look forward to retiring- still many years away- out of this spectacular space with so much natural light, I could probably grow a full garden inside!

More pictures to come and a final post when everything is in!

 
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Posted by on June 17, 2022 in Events, Reflections

 

She took notes

06 Jun

I’ve only said it a hundred times that readers advisory is the reason I love being a high school librarian.

And last week, I had a delightful interaction with a student who I had helped maybe once or twice before. In a school of 2,600 students there are the repeat customers and those that come in intermittently and while I don’t remember her name, the face time with her was one of my favorites. I don’t even remember how it started but likely was when I told her that if she needed any help to let me know as she was walking in and out of the shelves. She told me what she was looking for by name dropping a few specific titles to which I asked what she most liked about them.

And then she took notes.

She had a hand-sized Steno notebook, the ones you see police detectives using in those old Law and Order episodes and as I pulled a book off the shelf and set it on top to talk about, she pulled out the notebook and took notes. We went back and forth on about six or seven titles before I checked in about whether she wanted time to look back at them and pick which ones she was going to take and if none of them worked, we could talk again.

I was pulled away from the desk a few minutes later, so I don’t know which ones she checked out with our teaching assistant, but I will remember her handheld Steno notebook and how she took notes on titles and authors.

In a world where adults are quick to say that teens have their noses glued to their smartphones and they don’t read, this girl had a Steno notebook looking for books.

 
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Posted by on June 6, 2022 in Miscellaneous, Reflections

 

Readers advisory from May ’22

31 May

Read As Long As The Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh and The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson when they come out in September, Tin Man by Justin Madson, Dumplings for Lili by Melissa Iwai, and Soul Lanterns by Shaw Kuzki.

With dozens of books read, these sparkling gems shined the brightest.

 
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Posted by on May 31, 2022 in Authors, Childrens, Cover Love, Fiction, Graphic novels, Upcoming Releases, Young Adult

 

Pure happiness at the Con

16 May

Field trips give me grey hairs, but they’re worth it. It’s also been a minute because the pandemic had put events on a shelf. And actually, when it hit in March 2020, I was ready to take a busload of students to another Con at a local college. Before that I had taken them to an inaugural one close by as well. To say that we live in an area that appreciates the Comic Con culture is an understatement now that I’m writing this out. There are many options to enjoy the company and costumes of others who love to cosplay in addition to the vendors selling their wares and panels featuring celebrities and celebration.

Therefore this weekend’s Saratoga Comic Con in Saratoga, New York left most of the students I took from our high school in a frenzied state– feasting on the sights, sounds, and paraphernalia of the Con. We weren’t even off the bus, tilted to one side as they all rushed to shout out the windows to costumed attendees for their fabulous attire. As we waited in line, another student kept shouting that this was the best day of his life. Then don’t get me started on their excitement once we got in. I needed to count them once again and hand out their wristbands which was akin to herding cats. They were itching to get moving and no one knew that more than the two gentlemen standing at the front doors pulling security. Throughout the day they joked with me about my Mother Hen clucking and said a warm goodbye after I corralled them on the stairs for one last post-Con picture.

Circling our photo were a handful of former students who were also Anime Club members that I ran in to throughout the day warming looking on the 28 students that bussed it up from thirty minutes south. We caught up on what they were doing now and posed for pictures. My homemade outfit was a hit though with the temperature getting up to 80 degrees, I left the tights and boots at home. Nonetheless, I got shouts and posed for pictures with the best of them. But mine paled in comparison to other epic attire including some of my own students.

The Con wasn’t just about dressing up and being around like-minded individuals, but learning and being entertained. The bus was close to coming back to pick us up, but many of them finished the day with me in the ballroom at a dance showcase of J-pop, K-pop, Asian-themed dancing that featured the emcee of many of the panels of the day who also happens to be employed at our high school and helps with Anime Club. Her knowledge and personality made our high school proud and the students definitely made her more social media famous as they recorded away as she performed.

I’ll be ready for more grey hairs next year seeing how happy they were by days end.

Signing off as Ms. Marvel for the day which as I was on my way home, I realized, no one was going to pump my gas for me. Back to the real world. I guess even superheroes have to do that.

 
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Posted by on May 16, 2022 in Comics, Events, Graphic novels, Manga

 

Readers advisory from April 2022

30 Apr

April is always a full month of reading in part because of spring break. I spent a lot of time running back and forth to the library picking up interlibrary loans plus the books that came in to our library, advanced copies via Netgalley and Edelweiss, and digital copies from Hoopla.

Here were some of my favorites:

  • Love in the Library by Tokunda-Hall and illustrated by Imamura
    • Based on the author’s grandparents, it’s the story of romance and perseverance during the Japanese internment as a children’s book.
  • Answers in the Pages by Levithan
    • A middle grade that Levithan adeptly writes about the rampant book censoring and banning spreading across America with a unique approach of a story within a story.
  • Playing Dead: A Journey through the World of Death Fraud by Greenwood
    • The audiobook allowed me to follow the journey Greenwood takes to see how easy it is to get a death certificate while sharing popular, famous, and lesser-known cases of faking death.
  • Vessel: A Memoir by Chongda
    • Detailing his relationship with his parents, including his dying father, it is a reflective memoir with heart.
  • The Art of Sushi by Alarcon
    • This graphic novel highlights the skill and dedication it takes to be a premier sushi chef.
  • Boys I Know by Gracia
    • The realest of the real YA titles I’ve read recently featuring an Asian main character.
  • Queen of the Tiles by Alkar
    • YA thrillers are all the rage and this one will be super popular. A mix of the dead girl falling over the Scrabble board during competition and the whodunnit red herrings.
  • Love from Scratch by Hill
    • Love wins.
  • Saga, issue 58 by Vaughan and Staples
    • The end of May can’t come soon enough. Vaughan and Staples will forever be my obsession with their epic scifi drama series Saga.
  • Seasons by Pang
    • A visual feast, this children’s book is a tribute to the beauty of the Earth in various biomes and the animals and plants that live there.
 
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Posted by on April 30, 2022 in Miscellaneous

 

The joy of vacation reading

23 Apr

… and by vacation I mean staycation,. I have no picture of a book sitting on my sunkissed thighs with a drink to my left. This past week was our spring break from school that’s typically associated with the Easter holiday however it also coincided with Passover and is the monthlong celebration of Ramadan. For me that did include a handful of religious and family obligations plus a visit from my mother-in-law, but she was going to be flying out by early in the week and I would be able to tackle some to-do items like cleaning and organizing certain parts of the house but also hang with my kids also on break, and of course, read.

I had amassed quite a few galleys via Edelweiss and Netgalley, plus I have an upcoming author panel I’m moderating, and then other print books on my shelf and from the library that I wanted to dive in to. I certainly got my reading time in with several gems in my favorite subcategories. Here were some highlights:

What in particular do I like about vacation reading? I think it’s the relaxed reading atmosphere, the deft movement between audiobooks and print or ebooks when I take a quick break to walk the dog in the middle of the day or decide it’s time to tackle that downstairs closet. The choice is all mine. And it feels extra special because it’s vacation time and it’s my choice and that’s what I choose to do. After all, Jung got it right– “you are what you do, not what you say you’ll do.” I am a reader.

 
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Posted by on April 23, 2022 in Adult, Fiction, Graphic novels, Nonfiction, Upcoming Releases, Verse, Young Adult

 

Fifteen years

02 Apr

It’s odd to have started my career in school librarianship on April 2nd since a school year stars on in September, but I was a month away from my degree, the high school needed a librarian, and I was going to leave middle school English for someone else to teach which I had done the year before to finish up my library degree. My mother said in response to my announcement that her first grandchildren were going to be twins was that I never do anything the normal way. I think she’s referring to things like leaving for college (freedom and independence) without needing to call her every day like many of my friends or telling her I was going to Kenya and Zimbabwe by myself at 20, or telling her that I was going to get married more like an elopement than a fancy wedding. So starting out as a school librarian in April would be consistent with this theme.

It’s only now fifteen years later that I recognize the added significance that it’s School Library Month. Just starting out it wasn’t on my radar but now we’re planning a whole month’s worth of fun activities like the bookworm jar (guess how many bookworms aka gummy worms are in the jar) and what book has been shredded in the other jar. We’ll do a bingo card and a book face challenge. And have teachers promote their own reading by sharing with us a selfie with the signs in their classroom given to them this year with our school’s logo and the library’s hashtag laminated so they can update what they’re reading. Librarianship is ever-evolving but a beautiful career, so I’m sharing a few things I’ve learned along the way.

  1. Listen to your community. Your library should represent your building, district, and larger community which includes input, collaboration, and the occasional meeting.
  2. Be excited. My exuberance for a new collaboration or program often means I talk a mile a minute and go in a hundred different directions until I settle into what is attainable and sustainable.
  3. Fill your bucket. I keep a folder in my email and a file on my computer with messages, notes, images, and memories when things go right. Not every day is glamorous (let me tell you that I was sworn at and told I should be fired by a student before 9am yesterday morning) so have something to fill your bucket.
  4. Fill others’ buckets. Have treats and cards in the office for quick pick-me-up for someone or go the extra mile when you can to make others feel seen or heard. Not only does it fill their bucket but yours too.
  5. Be involved. I don’t run the blood drives at our school because I have to, I took it over from the retiring teacher because I’m a lifelong blood donor and believe in it wholeheartedly. I advise for our Anime Club at school not because it’ll look good on my resume but because I love the students and give them a place to connect, share, and learn. Plus, they’re often our power users of the library, so it always works out!
  6. Give back. Host observers and interns. Create events that are free and equitable. Share with others whether it be presentations, blogs, articles in magazines, or at a local event. My notebooks fill quickly with ideas inspired by others. And I admire their ability to put themselves out there.
 
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Posted by on April 2, 2022 in Reflections

 

Readers advisory from March ’22

31 Mar

To try to keep up with reading everything you want to read is the same analogy as trying to find information on the internet which is that it’s like trying to take a drink from a fire hydrant- more will keep coming at you. So the task is always to enjoy it. Yes there are times when I have to read certain things like for a committee or a book review for a magazine that has a deadline, but this year I’ve found I have a lot more flexibility and I’m enjoying myself.

The Only Good Indians I already posted about here. That was a highlight from this month that warranted its own post. And a few others for various reasons which I’ll share now, going backwards from audience since The Only Good Indians‘ target audience is adult.

Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz was a perfect Gothic tale to a YA audience. As I’ve shared in the conversations I’ve had since reading it is that while I knew that the subtitle was “a love story”, I think Schwartz could have kept it solely about Hazel’s pursuit of being a physician and it been solidly fabulous. I know why Schwartz included the romance and the ending relied, in part, on it’s existence, but Hazel’s strength of character was memorable all by itself.

I have a good friend who is a high school art teacher. As soon as I closed the book, I sent her a few texts asking if she knew much about Savage. Then I told her she needed to read Augusta Savage: The Shape of a Sculptor’s Life by Marilyn Nelson pronto and that I was just as taken with Nelson’s choice to write in verse but that there was historical context in addition to the biographical content and that I loved a quote that was included by Savage: “I have created nothing really beautiful, really lasting, but if I can inspire one of these youngsters to develop the talent I know they possess, then my monument will be in their work.” Immensely powerful.

And last, a picture book by Phung Nguyen Quang and illustrated by Huynh Kim Lien called My First Day. I will end up owning this book soon because the captivating artwork unlocks a reader’s imagination as much as it connects to every experience we’ve had with a “first”. Yes, the boy is on his way to his first day of school through a maze of obstacles, but perseveres. The writing matches the tone of the design and creates an all-encompassing experience. A feast for the eyes.

 
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Posted by on March 31, 2022 in Adult, Authors, Book of the Month, Childrens, Cover Love, Fiction, Nonfiction, Verse, Young Adult

 

The morning after

26 Mar

Seventy teenagers for an evening in the library (and adjacent hallways) leaves a librarian exhausted and fulfilled. It meant collaborations with the PTSA and parent volunteers in addition to prepping prizes for the raffle drawings and collecting permission slips. Luckily word-of-mouth helps with advertisement, especially when fun-hungry upperclassmen emerging from the pandemic remember the Falcon Library After Darks that had to be suspended for two years. They help usher in the underclassmen looking for a chill spot on a Friday night.

Activities included food (re: pizza) because they are teenagers including additional snack bags donated and put together by our PTSA (a beautiful new partnership). Then announcements and a few raffle prizes before splitting off to activities like gaming, Twister, graffiti art, movies, and more. All before wrapping up with a mini dance party and the running of the nonfiction gauntlet. Don’t know what that is? You have to be a Falcon to find out.

I go home, like my colleague, and rehash the night in my head before waking up the next morning with a bucket overflowing with good vibes: happiness, fulfillment, newfound love and appreciation for the hardworking people who made it a success from start to finish, and general heart eyes for our students.

 
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Posted by on March 26, 2022 in Miscellaneous, Reflections

 
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