Willard, N., editor. (1998) Step lightly : poems for the journey. San Diego : Harcourt Brace.
According to the introduction, the author began collecting poems she liked in a shoebox. She saved poems that gave her "the special kind of pleasure that good poetry gives when it celebrates the ordinary in an unordinary way."
According to the introduction, the author began collecting poems she liked in a shoebox. She saved poems that gave her "the special kind of pleasure that good poetry gives when it celebrates the ordinary in an unordinary way."
The collection follows a dawn to dark theme, beginning with Emily
Dickinson's "Will There Really be a Morning?" and finishing with Dickinson's "Who is the East?", a poem about sunset. In between are poems about animals, people, and nature, most quite ordinary settings and situations but illuminated with the beauty that poetry can invoke. The poets include William Shakespeare, W.B. Yeats, Denise
Levertov, Lucille Clifton and Wallace Stevens. I was especially charmed by a poem by Pablo Neruda, "Ode to a Pair of Socks." Several of the poems are translations from other languages, too, which adds some multicultural flavor.
The fifty-six poems featured in Step Lightly are not necessarily easy
reading - I found myself rereading several of them, trying to figure out their meaning. I would recommend this collection for high school students.
Kimmel, H. (2001) A girl named Zippy : growing up small in Mooreland, Indiana. New York: Doubleday, c2001.
Haven Kimmel was born in 1965 in Mooreland, Indiana, a town of about 300 people. Originally a series of essays only intended to be shared with her mother and sister, they have been compiled into a touching, witty, and thoroughly enjoyable memoir.
Nicknamed Zippy for the way she raced around as a small child, she is a character in a town of characters. She is a scruffy tomboy who idolizes her father, and has one harrowing adventure after another - sometimes it seems a miracle that she survived childhood!
Each chapter is prefaced by a photograph, and I really enjoyed putting faces to names as I was reading. Kimmel's descriptions really provide a sense of place, and of the inhabitants of this tiny town. The voice of the book is both childlike and wise, and I found it to be an easy and enjoyable read. I believe teens and adults will both appreciate the book's real life situations, filled with both humor and occasional sadness.
I'm not generally a memoir reader, yet I found myself overjoyed when I discovered that she had written a follow-up. This is one memoir that really captured my interest!
Haven Kimmel was born in 1965 in Mooreland, Indiana, a town of about 300 people. Originally a series of essays only intended to be shared with her mother and sister, they have been compiled into a touching, witty, and thoroughly enjoyable memoir.
Nicknamed Zippy for the way she raced around as a small child, she is a character in a town of characters. She is a scruffy tomboy who idolizes her father, and has one harrowing adventure after another - sometimes it seems a miracle that she survived childhood!
Each chapter is prefaced by a photograph, and I really enjoyed putting faces to names as I was reading. Kimmel's descriptions really provide a sense of place, and of the inhabitants of this tiny town. The voice of the book is both childlike and wise, and I found it to be an easy and enjoyable read. I believe teens and adults will both appreciate the book's real life situations, filled with both humor and occasional sadness.
I'm not generally a memoir reader, yet I found myself overjoyed when I discovered that she had written a follow-up. This is one memoir that really captured my interest!
Rennison, L. (2000) Angus, thongs and full-frontal snogging : confessions of Georgia Nicolson. New York : HarperCollins Publishers.
Written in diary format, this book details the trials and tribulations of 14 year old Georgia Nicolson in hilarious fashion. Plagued by clueless parents, a vicious cat, and an adorable if messy younger sister, Georgia is trying to muddle her way through the usual teen concerns of fashion, school and finding a boyfriend. The humor helps make the book a quick and fun read, and there is a handy glossary in the back for those of us not up on British slang.
The situations seem true to life, if perhaps a wee bit exaggerated, so the average teen girl will probably find much to identify with. Georgia is convinced that she is ugly, which definitely brought back memories of my own teenage years. Despite this, she manages to find several love interests, which should be encouraging to those with similar fears.
This book is definitely entertaining, and does not delve too deeply into any huge problems. I recommend it heartily to those wanting a laugh, especially if you appreciate British humor.
Written in diary format, this book details the trials and tribulations of 14 year old Georgia Nicolson in hilarious fashion. Plagued by clueless parents, a vicious cat, and an adorable if messy younger sister, Georgia is trying to muddle her way through the usual teen concerns of fashion, school and finding a boyfriend. The humor helps make the book a quick and fun read, and there is a handy glossary in the back for those of us not up on British slang.
The situations seem true to life, if perhaps a wee bit exaggerated, so the average teen girl will probably find much to identify with. Georgia is convinced that she is ugly, which definitely brought back memories of my own teenage years. Despite this, she manages to find several love interests, which should be encouraging to those with similar fears.
This book is definitely entertaining, and does not delve too deeply into any huge problems. I recommend it heartily to those wanting a laugh, especially if you appreciate British humor.
Taney, K. B.(2003) Teen spaces : the step-by-step library makeover. Chicago : American Library Association.
This book is a practical and fun guide to redesigning or creating spaces for teens in libraries, both school and public. With vast personal experience, the author emphasizes that in order to be successful, the library must involve teens in the design process. She gives pReal life examples are given throughout, and there are handy charts at the end of the book that provide guidance for the complete makeover process.
While this book is great for those libraries that can dedicate space to teens, I wish it had touched on what libraries with limited space could do, as I work for a library with a Teen Lounge that is only set up once a week. Also, there was not much discussion of library policy and how it can be made to meet the needs of our teen populations, or how that would then affect library staff and other patrons. Serving diverse populations, especiallyin public libraries, can be a delicate juggling act, and choosing to dedicate a portion of your library to teens could have political ramifications.
Still, if your library is able and willing to set up a space for teens, this book is definitely essential reading!
This book is a practical and fun guide to redesigning or creating spaces for teens in libraries, both school and public. With vast personal experience, the author emphasizes that in order to be successful, the library must involve teens in the design process. She gives pReal life examples are given throughout, and there are handy charts at the end of the book that provide guidance for the complete makeover process.
While this book is great for those libraries that can dedicate space to teens, I wish it had touched on what libraries with limited space could do, as I work for a library with a Teen Lounge that is only set up once a week. Also, there was not much discussion of library policy and how it can be made to meet the needs of our teen populations, or how that would then affect library staff and other patrons. Serving diverse populations, especiallyin public libraries, can be a delicate juggling act, and choosing to dedicate a portion of your library to teens could have political ramifications.
Still, if your library is able and willing to set up a space for teens, this book is definitely essential reading!
Kerr, M. E. (1994) Deliver us from Evie. New York : HarperCollins.
Summary: Sixteen-year-old Parr Burrman and his family face some difficult times when word spreads through their rural Missouri town that his older sister is a lesbian, and she leaves the family farm to live with the daughter of the town's banker.
Review: This book, told from the point of view of Parr, youngest son of the Burrman family, touches on the ideas of freedom and prejudice. Parr wants desperately to go to college and leave the farm behind, and is counting on his older brother and sister to come back and run the farm with his parents.
Parr says that Evie, his sister, has always been different - she prefers men's clothing, keeps her hair short, and walks in a "masculine" way. In short, Evie is butch, despite her mother's many attempts to change her. When Evie becomes involved with the banker's daughter, Evie's mom predicts that Evie will be blamed, as she is more obviously lesbian than the other girl. The issue of butch/femme is one that doesn't often come up in YA literature about lesbians, and the way it is presented is very interesting. Evie's mom thinks that she will have a harder time, presenting as butch, than those lesbians that can "pass".
This book is set in a small town, and shows small town prejudices, but Evie's family is not portrayed as a bunch of ignorant rednecks. While not pleased that their daughter is gay, they wrestle with the issue realistically, and ultimately come to accept Evie and even her girlfriend.
While I was somewhat disappointed that the story is not narrated from Evie's point of view, Parr was a realistic and thoughtful narrator, and I found the story engaging and ultimately enjoyable.
Review: This book, told from the point of view of Parr, youngest son of the Burrman family, touches on the ideas of freedom and prejudice. Parr wants desperately to go to college and leave the farm behind, and is counting on his older brother and sister to come back and run the farm with his parents.
Parr says that Evie, his sister, has always been different - she prefers men's clothing, keeps her hair short, and walks in a "masculine" way. In short, Evie is butch, despite her mother's many attempts to change her. When Evie becomes involved with the banker's daughter, Evie's mom predicts that Evie will be blamed, as she is more obviously lesbian than the other girl. The issue of butch/femme is one that doesn't often come up in YA literature about lesbians, and the way it is presented is very interesting. Evie's mom thinks that she will have a harder time, presenting as butch, than those lesbians that can "pass".
This book is set in a small town, and shows small town prejudices, but Evie's family is not portrayed as a bunch of ignorant rednecks. While not pleased that their daughter is gay, they wrestle with the issue realistically, and ultimately come to accept Evie and even her girlfriend.
While I was somewhat disappointed that the story is not narrated from Evie's point of view, Parr was a realistic and thoughtful narrator, and I found the story engaging and ultimately enjoyable.
