Readers Be Advised

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Happiness in my inbox

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Yesterday afternoon I got an email from a student that read in part

I have really appreciated your book suggestions in the past.

I got misty-eyed and continued to read on as she was asking for book suggestions during our time of social distancing. In my replies about how she was accessing her books so that I could tailor the suggestions, I also included that her email made my day. Because it did.

Librarians read books so that we can be ready to recommend them at any time. I also keep meticulous notes on Goodreads (post to follow) for better recall. But no matter what, I read because it makes me a better person and helps me in my day to day work where I always have students at the back of my mind. I actually blogged about it for Nerdy Book Club back in July.

She made my day just by thanking me for doing what I love. I’ll ask you who you can thank. I know I decided I would pay this warm, fuzzy feeling forward and thank a few people myself.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on April 2, 2020 in Blogging, Miscellaneous

No time like the present

01 Apr

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Inspired by my good friend and elementary school librarian, Stacey Rattner, who has been blogging each weekday to reach her students, I decided that each day in April I’d blog to engage with the blogging community, school librarians, and readers.

While I’ve had this blog for six years and made 240 posts, I’m going to start at the beginning, like any good story, and re-introduce myself.

2017-10-08 12.18.46 I’m a high school librarian going in to my fourteenth year, all at the same high school. Previously, I taught a year of middle school English (7th and 8th grade) in a rural district near my hometown before I moved to my current home and city. I share my librarian duties with a fabulous co-librarian because our high school boasts 2,600 students and 10,000 in the district. Besides being the school librarian, I also advise for our school’s Anime Club, coordinate our school’s three American Red Cross blood drives annually, coordinate the CAS component for our IB diploma candidates, and co-chair our school’s professional development committee. While it may seem like a lot, it all balances out pretty nicely because I keep myself fairly well organized. You’ll notice my favorite quote is Martha Stewart’s “Life is too complicated not to be orderly,” which is really my life motto.

And if I had to pick a favorite aspect of my professional life, it’s sharing, talking, and knowing about books which has led to opportunities on YALSA award and selection committees and presenting locally, state-wide, and nationally about various topics that relate. Because without reading, no learning can truly take place. And I find that I enjoy presenting because I learn more in the process of teaching others– I like the challenge. I keep track of it all on my website: a track record of where I’ve been and what I’m up to along with this blog.

Personally, I love spending time at home as we remodel our old house with my husband and our two newly-turned 11 year old boys, plus a big dog named Gunner. Usually there’s a sweet aroma of something being baked. My personal Instagram is littered with my baking while my public Instagram is usually all about the books. Follow me!

There you have it, a re-introduction. I’ve got plans for posts daily but if there’s anything you’d want me to talk about, share it in the comments below or reach out on social media. In the meantime, how are you celebrating (and Happy!) School Library Month!

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on April 1, 2020 in Blogging

A roller coaster of emotions

20 Mar

RollerCoasterofEmotions

Whenever I’ve read something or a few somethings, I will usually throw up a sticky note on my computer, give it a working title for a future blog post and wait until the inspiration strikes to write it. I’m ready to write from my working title “emotional roller coasters” and talk about three titles I’d read recently that unequivocally fall under this heading: Nikki Grimes’ Ordinary Hazards, A.J. Dungo’s In Waves, and Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan’s Unpregnant.

First, the fictional Unpregnant. What more can you ask for than a book targeted toward teens talking about abortion. It isn’t often that we find books wholly centered on the topic. I think I remember Exit, Pursued by a Bear the first time that it felt really real in a contemporary YA book. And then there’s Girls on the Verge which I highly recommend. But what most people comment on after reading this book is that while it is a frustratingly painful circumstance that puts Veronica in this situation, there is a dark humor that provides the balance that not all hope is ever lost regardless of the choice made though the most memorable scene is one of sadness:

“And that was it. Dinner was no different from any other dinner we’d had. My brother went over every play he’d made in baseball that weekend. My mother shoveled more food onto our plates. My dad made noises at appropriate times to make it seem like he was participating in the conversation. They didn’t even bother to ask any more about my weekend. They weren’t interested. I was a known quantity. The good daughter. The hard worker. I should have been grateful. I was angry. They didn’t see me. If they did, they would have known something had happened. Instead they only saw the pieces I was made of. A question already answered.”

Then there’s Ordinary Hazards, Grimes’ memoir of a few years of her childhood struggling with her mother’s alcoholism and paranoid schizophrenia and her father’s intermittent absence which led to a childhood in the foster care system. But the biggest takeaway is the strength of memoir as a genre. Grimes explains memoir and really helps readers turn themselves into writers by showcasing that everyone has a story however joyous or heartbreaking. In addition, her choice to use verse is a touchstone text on its exemplary use in form, function, and lyricism.

Then last, is a graphic novel (I didn’t mean to represent two genres and a format under one umbrella of emotional stories but this is why books are amazing). It’s In Waves. I read this on my lunch at work about a month ago and was glad I was eating alone. Because I cried. Dungo’s tribute to his partner before her passing and while she was undergoing treatment shines in his visual choices in line, color, and symbolism. He also effortlessly weaves in a more factual story of the history of surfing yet it never once takes away from the roller coaster of his relationship as it weathered the storm of illness.

As everyone’s emotions are on similar roller coasters all across the world, I thought I would share three books that provide mirrors to the same mountains and valleys we’re feeling.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on March 20, 2020 in Authors, Cover Love, Fiction, Graphic novels, Nonfiction, Verse, Young Adult

Delicious books

28 Feb

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Fat Tuesday is also Paczki Day. Paczkis are Polish doughnuts usually with jelly filling and rolled in either powdered sugar or granulated sugar. They’re made on Fat Tuesday in preparation for the Lenten season’s austerity. This past Monday, I homemade them and was excited to share them with my family, colleagues, and neighbors who all know my love for baking.

So it won’t come as any surprise that I also enjoy reading about books with cooking and baking in them. I’ve read Notes from a Young Black Chef (nonfiction biography) and With the Fire on High (young adult fiction) to Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant (nonfiction short story collection) and Maker Comics: Bake Like a Pro! (graphic novel) to name a few.

Recently I’ve read two others that I’d like to share a bit about: the Love Sugar Magic middle grade series and Salty, Bitter, Sweet.

While the rest of the series will be in the queue, I have only listened to the first book called A Dash of Sugar in which Leonora Legrono’s family owns a bakery preparing for The Day of the Dead when she accidentally discovers that she is a bruja, a witch of Mexican ancestry like her mother and the rest of her sisters who use magic in the kitchen. It’s a heartfelt mix of family, culture, and baking with a deliciously humorous plot.

The second, Salty, Bitter, Sweet, is firmly a young adult title that follows Isabella Fields to France on her father and stepmother’s cherry farm where she is going to be apprenticing with a famous chef and a group of teenagers vying for a spot in his Michelin-rated restaurant. Her passion for perfection in the kitchen is thwarted by the mishaps during her apprenticeship and her stepmother’s stepson visiting for the summer. It’s a solid, well-woven story with a beautiful backdrop and rich stories of fond family memories in the kitchen. Look for it on March 3rd.

In the comments below, please recommend any more books about food that I should read!

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on February 28, 2020 in Adult, Authors, Cover Love, Fiction, Graphic novels, Middle grade, Nonfiction, Short Story, Upcoming Releases, Young Adult

PS

18 Feb

ToAllTheBoys Romance is not a category of fiction that I seek out regularly. But give me a good romance on the small screen like Netflix has done with Jenny Han’s book series and I’m sold.

I watched the first one and was exceptionally impressed with the visual beauty of the movie, not to mention the story, casting, and music (of which I have no great knowledge or understanding of). My critiques of movies are simply my enjoyment factor, so I’m sharing, as a reader of young adult literature this advice: watch the movies.

The second one launched near Valentine’s Day just a few days ago and I was excited to clear my queue during my morning workouts for it. And again, it did not disappoint. Similarly stunning visuals took my breath away and the music enhanced every scene that it played. Plus, I’ve already squeezed in a second watch because it was just so damn adorable. And there were jellyfish (even if it was a heartbreaking scene).

To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You

So here they are, the reasons that you should be watching:

The color scheme is stunning.
The pop culture influences are not overwhelming but reminiscent of the great 80’s-style teen movies of that decade from the texting to the house parties to how it represented school life.
We need more love in the world.
Lara Jean’s wardrobe and her baking skills.
Love wins, every time.

What are you waiting for?

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on February 18, 2020 in Fiction, Miscellaneous, Young Adult

What I do

25 Jan

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There are so many quotes attributed to a people around what they prioritize, what they are busy doing, and when they’ll make excuses rather than time. I’ve said it a few times before in posts regarding my prioritization for reading to improve my own life and my work in a high school library.

Here is one thing that works well for me: I read during my lunch. I have very strong feelings about people in education who don’t make time in their daily schedule to sit for a few minutes to eat lunch. You might not need one hour or a whole class period, but you also shouldn’t NOT have time for it either– even if it needs to be scheduled. I say this because I dislike when people are eating in a meeting with me because “they don’t have time” to eat and I also don’t want to hear anyone complaining that they didn’t eat at all. Just like “when it’s important, we remind”, food fuels our bodies and it’s important to nourish them but coupled with that is the peace it brings for just a few minutes each day in our hectic school lives. I want everyone to treat themselves well.

Pleasures So during my lunch, you’ll see me reading. I might spend a few minutes on my phone, but there’s always a book on the table. Often I’ll pick a nonfiction book and a lot of times I’ll choose a graphic novel format that’s separate from the fiction title I’m reading (that you’ll still find me lugging back and forth to work with the off-chance that I am somewhere where I need to kill some time). Plus, they’re often titles from our library’s collection so it’s entertainment, relaxation, and still fruitful. You can find those titles that I read during my lunch at school on Instagram with my hashtag #literarylunchbox. Titles that I’ve read recently during lunch at work:

Body 2.0: The Engineering Revolution in Medicine
Brilliant Maps for Curious Minds
Infinite Hope: A Black Artist’s Journey from World War II to Peace
Earth Day and the Environmental Movement
The American Dream? A Journey on Route 66
How the World Rescued 33 Miners from 2,000 Feet Below the Chilean Desert
Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy: A graphic novel
The Great Nijinsky
Pilu of the Woods
Sunny Rolls the Dice

An additional reading window I’ve given myself is a 15-minute timed reading session in the morning. My morning routine consists of waking early to work out and then I typically moved through breakfast and tea, the televisions news and the newspaper, and helping my kids before school. In between the post-workout shower and waiting for the hot water to boil for tea, I set my phone timer and read for 15 minutes. It’s not sexy or luxurious to time yourself reading, but again, it gives me an extra few minutes before the day really starts and I feel good about the prioritization.

Where can you find some time to make reading a priority each and every day?

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on January 25, 2020 in Blogging, Miscellaneous

Remember

09 Jan

Remember

I made an Instagram story yesterday evening. It was a picture from the back of the Photography II classroom of a dozen kids looking at Isabel Quintero and Zeke Pena, the author and illustrator of the graphic novel Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide that I blogged about in 2019 alluding to this collaboration. Above it I said “I f*ing love what I do” with a bouncing heart emoji over the Smartboard projector in the photo and a gif of a girl waving a book next to the words “school librarian”.

Because, I f*ing love my job as a school librarian and days like this remind me of that exponentially.

I’ve spent about a month in and out of this class working with the teacher and students to include the graphic novel into their identity unit that teaches them about portrait taking where they photograph six different portraits for the project.

Remember and remind yourself of days like these above on the days that I feel like this below:

GoslingMeme

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on January 9, 2020 in Authors, Events, Graphic novels, Miscellaneous, Nonfiction, Young Adult

Last and first

01 Jan

Lastandfirst

Some readers have rituals. For a lot of my reading librarian friends specifically there was a lot of late 2019 chatter about their last book of 2019 and/or their first book of 2020. I fall into the same category whereby I strategically plan specific books around occasions. I fall into the latter category of planning both my last book and my first book, both of which ended up being five stars.

Last book of 2019

Marie Lu’s Rebel, the fourth book in the Legend world that takes place in the future in which Daniel’s brother, Eden, is attending university in Antarctica where they’ve settled while June is still working in the Republic. The story, like Lu’s others, have two narrators that are differentiated by the text color as they pace the book out with the developing conflict as it switches fluidly back and forth. The world she creates is superb and the futuristic action is heart-pounding.

First book of 2020

Monica Hesse’s yet-to-be-released They Went Left that’s anticipated for an April release. Not only have I read Hesse’s other YA historical fiction titles, but her adult nonfiction book American Fire. All showcase her skillful writing. This one fits in a newer focus of YA books on the liberation of Jews after World War II like the Morris finalist from last year, What The Night Sings by Vesper Stemper. Hesse dives into this world with Zofia, who has lost most of her family but still holds out hope that her younger brother Abek has survived. Shifting to several places before settling into a relocation camp where she meets a brooding boy, Josef, she is reunited with Abek but questions about what both boys have been through since the war broke out provide the riveting content of the book’s second half. Put this at the top of your list for April.

You can follow all of my reading and review on Goodreads and plenty of bookstagramming @ReadersBeAdvised on Instagram.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on January 1, 2020 in Authors, Fiction, Upcoming Releases, Young Adult

“Santa, can you bring my mommy a new heart?”

21 Dec

This post was originally published on the Times Union Books Blog.

I’m going to end the year making you ugly cry, so be prepared. Yet, I’m still going to connect it back to a book but also share a much more important message that is best said via video.

This is my cousin. Since I don’t have a sister, she is the closest thing as a cousin who lived up the road most of my life. And that was what has happened over the last few months which culminated in a heart transplant, the gift of new life, on December 4th.

I had been out to visit her before things turned worse and as I returned to work, I saw a book that had been sitting on our shelves. For some reason I thought that maybe I’d read it but I wasn’t sure, so I took it with me to lunch and was instantly drawn in because it mirrored the real life experience my cousin was going through: the right book at the right time. I’m sure we’ve all experienced that at one time. The book was The Man Who Touched His Own Heart: True Tales of Science, Surgery, and Mystery by Rob Dunn, which is a fascinating deep dive into the heart from 2015 in a fairly comprehensive look that includes chapters on da Vinci and dogs as well as air pollution and what animal’s heart could likely be the most useful in transplantation. Dunn is an associate professor of Ecology and Evolution and brings a bevy of knowledge. While the title itself is taken from one of the stories, the book as a whole brings together multiple stories that adequately represent his opening statistic: one in three adults in the world will die of a disease of the cardiovascular system. Dunn does well by the couch scientist in us all to tell the story of the heart without complicated medical jargon and chronologically explain our understanding of this vital organ. As a reader, I know much more about how hearts work and respect how he goes about explaining it all through the brilliance and courageousness of professionals (and sometimes non-professionals).

I was particularly struck by the romantic notion that people had in the 1400s that Dunn shares

“In the 1400s, it was often said that the story of each lived life was written on the inside walls of the heart by a scribbling and obsessive God. When the heart was finally opened and examined in detail later in the same century, no such notes were discovered. Still, each mended heart bears the mark of a different kind of narration. Each mended heart beats out a conclusion to the struggles of the scientists, artists, surgeons, and writers who, with heroism, hubris, and insight, have done battle with the heart’s mysteries for millenia. Each mended heart beats out a story of frailty but also of possibility.”

For my cousin, mending her heart wasn’t possible, she needed a new one. She got one because someone decided to donate theirs. So, my message is two-fold: donate life through blood and organ donation. If you need a goal for 2020, make it this if you’re not already. And second, take this opportunity to learn, explore, escape, re-evaluate, and empathize with books. If that’s not a 2020 goal to read more, add that to your list too.

Signing off for 2019.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on December 21, 2019 in Adult, Authors, Miscellaneous, Nonfiction, Short Story

The top 15 of 2019 on the 15th

15 Dec

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Let’s make this a thing!

Last year I shared two lists: an adult and a YA/middle grade top 10 based on the books published in that calendar year. This year, absent from my list will be any fiction titles since I’m finishing up my term on YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults blogging team. Our final list will be available soon and in the meantime you can see the titles we’ve all blogged about throughout the year.

Now onto my top 15 published today, December 15th for 2019.

Graphic novels (in no particular order)

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell: The color palette and storyline is richly detailed with the internal romantic lives of teenagers, especially highlighting unrequited and abusive relationships in a powerful story.
Pilu of the Woods by Mai K. Nguyen: A family-focused middle grade graphic novel with a vividly earthy color palette and a magical understanding of our natural world that has a message.
White Bird by R.J. Palacio: The historical graphic novel wrapped in a contemporary story that shows the power of technology and the need for youth to talk to their older relatives to reveal the secret stories that might never get told.
Maker Comics: Bake like a Pro! by Falynn Koch: I love baking, so this is my absolutely favorite maker comic to date. It’s so practical and useful wrapped in the goofy story of wizards honing their skills.
Bloom by Kevin Panetta and Savanna Ganucheau: The same use of a smart color palette like Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me, this romantic GLBTQ story in a bakery clearly has me gah-gah.
Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks: An endearing slow burning romance at a pumpkin patch where what you wish for isn’t always what you really need. The adventures were a humorous addition to a good ol’ fashioned romance in the fall. The setting is it’s own lovely character.
Kiss #8 by Colleen A.F. Venable and Ellen T. Crenshaw: Ah, what more can be said about a girl figuring out relationships while the readers follow along.
Hephaistos: God of Fire by George O’Connor: I’m all about this graphic novel series that keeps mythology alive for us all.

A picture book

Liberty Arrives!: How America’s Grandest Statue Found Her Home by Robert Byrd: I read it and then immediately booked a trip to the Statue of Liberty with my family. Yes, we were one of the lucky 400 per day to head up to her crown on a chilly October morning. So you should read the book and take the trip too.

And those fabulously fascinating nonfiction titles (again, in no particular order):

The Miracle and Tragedy of the Dionne Quintuplets by Sarah Miller: It’s a shocking look at five babies born in 1934 that shouldn’t have survived but did, then were ripped from their parents and raised as an amusement park attraction whose visits per year rivaled Niagara Falls.
Notes from a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi with Joshua David Stein: A truly spectacular behind the scenes look at Onwuachi’s rise to popular chef that mixes the personal and the professional (and includes recipes!)
Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? by Caitlin Doughty: We all know I’m obsessed with Doughty and this one didn’t disappoint by sharing funny, gross, and impossibly weird questions posed by kids and Doughty’s straightforward and quirky answers that are truthful and entertaining.
Franklin D. Roosevelt: The Making of America by Teri Kanefield: Her series always entertains and informs about those that built America. Kanefield never shies away from details that are less than stellar about these individuals and does the same with FDR.
Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson: I mean, Anderson powerful words in prose format? Yes, please. The story is meant to be uncomfortable but also powerful and uplifting. A true battlecry for a new era.
Rising Water: The Story of the Thai Cave Rescue by Marc Aronson: Whenever I’m talking about this book to teens, I’m always sharing how I knew what the outcome was and I was still sweating whether they were going to make it out alive! That is how capable Aronson is as a writer in manipulating our emotions.