Nonfiction | Readers Be Advised

The 31 Days of December: Literary lunchbox

A fellow librarian colleague, Stacey Rattner, who I’ve mentioned in the past and I presented last month about how our reading lives as librarians affect our students’ reading lives. We asked questions to think-pair-share about and then coupled them with reading recommendations.

During one of these sections, we talked about having time/making time to read and Stacey shared that I read during my lunch period. Yes. Every day I read during my lunch period. Other than when my intern and I were eating together this fall or if I can’t take my lunch for some reason, you’ll find me with my feet on the opposite chair, eating my snack, and reading. And it was recently reinforced when I was listening to the audiobook Do Nothing: How to Break Away From Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving by Celeste Headlee that what I’m doing has work and personal benefits similar to this BBC article from 2019 that also references how brain breaks at work lead to happier employees and feelings of productivity. I didn’t start doing this because of these reinforcing studies, I did it because I knew it would help me detach for a brief time in the middle of the day and do something I loved. It resets me and I started sharing on my public Instagram my lunch time reading it, using the hashtag #literarylunchbox. They tend to be graphic novels or short nonfiction that I can either read in a period or over a few days.

Here are some of the titles I’ve read recently during my lunch period:

What do you do during your lunch break?

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on December 21, 2021 in Adult, Articles, Blogging, Fiction, Graphic novels, Middle grade, Nonfiction, Young Adult

The 31 Days of December: Excellence in Nonfiction finalists announced

17 Dec

I’m a little biased because over the past year I’ve worked with a group of phenomenal librarians: Ginny, Laura, Laura, Yolanda, Jeana, Mike, Janet, and Rebecca. Together we make up the 2022 Excellence in Nonfiction Award Committee through YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association), a division of the American Library Association. Our charge is to select the best written, researched, presented nonfiction writing targeted toward kids ages 12-18. We read through hundreds of books, nominate the special ones, debate their merits, whittle it down to five finalists, and then by next month, select the winner to be announced at the Youth Media Awards. It’s the most rewarding work. And here are our finalists:

Check out the full release with annotations on YALSA’s website. I’ll sign off so I can go pop a little bubbly that they’re out in the world!

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on December 17, 2021 in Blogging, Events, Graphic novels, Nonfiction, Young Adult

The 31 Days of December: When one thing leads to another

12 Dec

You can agree that once a word, an item, a phrase is introduced to you or you learn about a topic, it then seems to be everywhere– but it’s about what’s in your consciousness. And I’m always entertained when it happens in my reading. I’ve explained that I’m a mood reader– I always have a mountainous stack of books at home so that I have a range of options to pick from. So when there is no real strategy, it’s delightful to make connections between books. Here is that tale in three books yesterday:

Book 1: I’m taking my time reading John Green’s The Anthropocene Reviewed. It’s essentially a collection of short stories– his reviews. I’m entertained and enlightened by his stories, so I’m reading a few a day. The other day I read his review on the Lascaux Cave Paintings. I knew a little about what they were, but now I now more.

Book 2: Science Comics are cool. I’ll always pull one of them aside if I haven’t read it even if it’s not a topic I’m super interested in (though I don’t know if I’ve ever really felt that way about any of them thus far). One of the new ones that came into our library was Crows: Genius Birds by Kyla Vanderklugt. In the graphic novel between a dog and a crow, it’s mentioned that there’s a sketch of a crow in the Lascaux Cave. BINGO!

Book 3: Then ding, ding, ding! I wanted a quick transitional book in the afternoon, so I picked up Singer’s picture book illustrated by Fotheringham from a recent box delivered to my front door called A Raven Named Grip: How a Bird Inspired Two Famous Writers, Charles Dickens, and Edgar Allan Poe. Crows and ravens– all part of the corvidae family.

From caves to crows… I love when one thing leads to another.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on December 12, 2021 in Adult, Blogging, Childrens, Graphic novels, Middle grade, Nonfiction

The 31 Days of December: Brain break

09 Dec

The celebrity memoir.

I don’t seek them out, but often I add them to my audiobook TBR (particularly when they’re read by them) when I see multiple recommendations or reviews with favorable reviews. I find they are the perfect brain break from more robust nonfiction audiobooks and my general reading.

Currently I’m a half an hour away from finishing Seth Rogan’s Yearbook after seeing it on a “best of” list. I am a lover of the brief but shining series he was in called Freaks and Geeks. Interest piqued and audiobook added to my list.

Within a day of adding it to the my reserve, it was available and I took a detour from my previously available audiobook, a collected anthology, to listen to this shorter (6 hour) audiobook as a way to take a little break from the epic fantasy adventure I had just finished.

And what a fun detour it has been. Celebrity memoirs are usually no-holds-barred entertainment leaving little to the imagination whether that’s the publisher expectation or what the celebrity wants. I’ve listened to Mindy Kaling and Amy Poehler, Tina Fey and Nick Offerman, Dolly Parton and Anthony Bourdain with an emphasis it seems on comedians.

The best kind of brain break and when I might learn a thing or two, it’s bonus material.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on December 9, 2021 in Adult, Authors, Blogging, Nonfiction

The 31 Days of December: Blinding me with science

04 Dec

Today is the second anniversary of my now-thirty nine year old cousin’s heart transplant. I blogged about it here. And I shared a book that I read pretty soon after that called The Man Who Touched His Own Heart: True Tales of Science, Surgery, and Mystery by Rob Dunn. I want to celebrate her two years with a new heart and having her on this planet still.

Plus give a little love to the nonfiction writers out there who blind us with science. I seek out nonfiction regularly for every type of audience from picture books like Tiny Stitches to middle grade like Breakthrough! to young adult like Jane Against the World to adult like Pump. Simply because I’m fascinated by science. I’m in awe of it, the developments over time, and the people who make it happen. I still get a little teary thinking about my LASIK surgery in October, correcting my fairly horrible eyesight (since fifth grade) in the matter of 15 minutes. I think about our school’s valedictorian last year who was going to become a surgineer– she didn’t want to *just* be a surgeon but she wanted to design the robots that aided in that surgery, the engineer too.

Cheers to STEM and the books that explain it to those who love reading about it.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on December 4, 2021 in Adult, Blogging, Childrens, Middle grade, Nonfiction, Reflections, Young Adult

The 31 Days of December: Book highs

03 Dec

Last night I couldn’t contain my elation. Being the chairperson of the 2022 Excellence in Nonfiction Award for the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) underneath the American Library Association (ALA) has been rewarding work this year. It was my year to give back having sat on both award and selection committees, so I volunteered to chair. The experience has been the best distraction from an awkward year still in the throes of a pandemic.

Then last night we deliberated on our five finalists that will be announced in a press release next week. By 7:15pm EST time we had our finalists. We signed off the call and I high-fived my family.

Reading is one of the benefits of the committee work (of which I’m a confirmed bookworm) but the other is networking with other professionals in the field: our committee is a mix of public and school as well as academic librarians literally spanning the country. Their contributions to the conversation, their observations, critiques, and evaluations as well as comradery in the experience led to a book high that even after a sleep is still racing through my system. And it will only get more exciting once everyone knows, then when we pick our winner, and the Youth Media Awards are announced at the end of January.

Give me all these feelings. They fill my cup.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on December 3, 2021 in Blogging, Nonfiction, Reflections, Young Adult

Trifecta

08 Sep

Today is my sixteenth year in education. Fifteen of them have been right where I am today, as the high school librarian.

I have seen one facelift and one major update with the third around the corner– a completely new space to move in to next fall to the facility. I have had more than a dozen direct supervisors, building principals, and superintendents. With a graduating class hovering around six hundred students, I have likely interacted with close to 9,000 teenagers and hundreds of teachers. And whatever each school year brings, it always circles back to the kids. I saved this post to make on the first day of school, but it’s really a post that could have been shared on the last day of school last year. And it’s been sitting with me all summer long.

The three major subgenres of books that were most circulated last year– specifically reflecting why they were the most circulated as I often do at the end of a calendar year when making “best of” lists or the books most likely to be missing from the shelves and of course, when I’m putting new orders together for purchase.

Yes, we still checked out physical books through the curbside pickup method, the small number of students who were physically in the building, and the handfuls of drive-up to their curbside. And then there was the robust digital offerings. I booktalked until I couldn’t booktalk anymore– Google Meets, 1:1, and in-person.

What were they?

Murder
Romance
Humor

Let’s break this down: the three most asked-for books in the library came down to murder, romance, and humor. And then I say, it was 2020. And you nod your head. Of course!

True crime is prevalent in Netflix series and podcasts, books and casual conversation. It’s a thing. And it’s a thing with our teenagers too. Being home with their families rather than playing team sports and attending school every day, I’m sure there was some level of interest in the subgenre because of these massive shifts in daily business. It’s easy to go to a darker place. And books are nothing if not a reflection of inner thoughts and feelings.

We all needed some love. We missed family gatherings and meeting up with friends. And for teenagers, a whole chunk of their socialization went out the window when schools shut down. Really, all they needed was some love. So can you see how a little romance went a long way?

And humor, there is comfort in the familiar. Yes, we have Diary of a Wimpy Kid in our high school library and no I couldn’t keep them on the shelves. They wanted the escape from the seriousness of the news and the pandemic. They wanted to laugh. And who can blame them?

I will remember this past school year because it was the year I lost my co-librarian for the majority of the school year to budget cuts and had to manage alone. It was isolating because staff were scattered and hunkered in their rooms talking to computer screens. But I still saw kids each day and I will remember that all they wanted were some books and those books had to do with murder, romance, or humor. And I replied, well then I’ve got a book for you…

Here’s to 2021-22!

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on September 8, 2021 in Blogging, Fiction, Graphic novels, Manga, Nonfiction, Poetry, Reflections, Short Story, Verse, Young Adult

Tags: #books, #schoollibrarian, #ya, #yalit

Outstanding book of the month for July 2021

31 Jul

I’m cheating a little for this month and choosing one graphic novel, one adult nonfiction, and one fiction title for my outstanding book(s) because I had some fabulous reading material (including the secret kind that I can’t tell you about). So here goes for the month:

This memoir is spectacular for its honesty and storytelling. Rosser grew up in West Philadelphia in a large single-parent family and discovered his love and talent for polo when his brother stumbled upon the Work to Ride program set up nearby. Rosser shares the discrimination he and his teammates faced as a Black team but also the resilience of a love of a larger community that wanted to see kids succeed.

I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish the finale to Lee’s Montague Siblings trilogy because it had all of the spectacular action and adventure, wit and tenacity as the first two. It was a delightful end as you follow the much younger Montague sibling (who didn’t know Monty and Felicity existed until the start of this book) on a fact-finding mission about his mother’s death and the spyglass that she had once carried everywhere.

You’ve got to appreciate sass and Charlotte’s got it in spades. She’s a teen detective on her way to *hopefully* win an award for her work until she’s caught up in a plot to frame her and take her down. Boom! Studios is always a favorite of mine with much of what they put out because I vibe with their artistry and bright colors, but also their spunky characters. This one didn’t fail as I continue reading the issues via Hoopla.

What were your favorites of the month?

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on July 31, 2021 in Adult, Authors, Book of the Month, Cover Love, Fiction, Graphic novels, Nonfiction, Young Adult

Outstanding book of the month for June 2021

30 Jun

I knew I wasn’t going to create my book of the month post yesterday to post for today because I was in the middle of the book I was going to bestow that title to. I would carve out time today after an early morning walk with my librarian friend, Stacey, a little food shopping, and some other reading, to finish this book. And I was not wrong. And I was not disappointed. Behold, my June selection!

Published this past August, I have been on the wait list at the public library for quite some time. Once it came in, I brought it home and immediately felt the apprehensiveness of cracking the spine because I could feel the magnetic pulse of a book that would move me.

Nezhukumatathil is a poet, so it’s without question that she has a command of words. And as an avid lover of nature as evidenced by these vignettes, she has a command for sharing it with others. She’s like a literary Sy Montgomery and I say that as kindness for both. Montgomery is a scrapper, woman’s woman scientist who gets her hands dirty, her armpits sweaty in the forest, and rolls up her sleeves for the work. Who then parlays that into fascinating books for kids (and adults) about her adventures and learning from tarantulas to octopus. Nezhukumatathil is an explorer and an observer who won’t shy away from the experience, but isn’t in it for the scientific study but rather the enlightenment it will provide. And that is equally beautiful.

The vignettes of birds, plants, and animals are only several pages in length but leave a life lesson within each that pulls the reader closer to nature and asks the existential questions along with it. The writing was magical. The descriptions were breathtaking. And the muted illustration was a cherry on top to this tiny but powerful book.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on June 30, 2021 in Adult, Authors, Book of the Month, Cover Love, Nonfiction

Outstanding book of the month for May 2021

31 May

More novella than novel, Sy Montgomery wins my heart over again with her magical storytelling about the most nonmagical magic– the natural world. Clocking in at 96 pages or just about two hours on audiobook, her newest: The Hummingbird’s Gift: Wonder, Beauty, and the Renewal on Wings is a special gift for readers and why it’s my favorite for the month.

Her deep connections to the animal world allowed her to weave her scientific escapades with her art of writing that allows the couch scientist to experience animals hidden deep inside jungles or the ones that we rarely think about right outside our windows. This story is a rescue mission; the rehabilitation of several hummingbirds by a friend of hers while she was able to help caretake alongside. The interwoven history of hummingbirds and their significance to groups worldwide is evidenced by their names in other cultures is given equal status in the book with the health of the bird’s of the story.

My recommendation would be to listen to Montgomery tell you the story via the audiobook version as I did because nothing can replace the emotional and logical approach to keeping the hummingbird’s alive. It’s an action-adventure in real life– will they or won’t they survive? What is the ethics of saving them? How do they experience the world? It’s all packed in this slim volume that feels as luxurious as a bite of dark chocolate.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on May 31, 2021 in Adult, Authors, Book of the Month, Nonfiction