Mom & Me & Mom by Maya Angelou

I am going to start this post by saying that I don't often read biographies. Why? I don't know. Maybe I prefer to escape reality instead of confronting it? Regardless of my motives, I have been wanting to join Emma Watson's Our Shared Shelf Book Club and this is the November/December 2016 pick. So, I snagged it at the library!

I am a bad reader sometimes...I had never read anything Maya Angelou had written before. I know, I know. Bad librarian! This book has certainly changed that for me, however. I'm very much looking forward to adding more Angelou to my book repertoire. This book was published just before Angelou's 85th birthday and is the last book she ever wrote. Mom & Me & Mom is 200 pages packed with a story strong on emotion and I was able to blaze through it in an afternoon.

Mom & Me & Mom is a biography of Maya Angelou's relationship with her larger-than-life mother, Vivian Baxter, who ran gambling houses across the country. From the ages of 3 to 13, Maya and her brother, Bailey, lived with their grandmother, who seemed well-suited to care for the siblings due to their parents' shortcomings. When she was thirteen, she and her brother were brought back to their mother and stepfather, but it was not without it's problems. They saw their mother as a beautiful lady, not a mother, and that certainly tainted their relationship at the start. As Maya got older, she learned to embrace her mother's strength and feminism. And, essentially, this book addresses the myriad ways that Maya learned how to be such a strong woman because of her mother.Throughout the book, you can feel Maya's gratitude to her mother for showing her that a young, single, African American woman can be somebody. She taught her not to let a white-centric society define who she was and who she could be. It was such an uplifting message, even during the sad times Maya and her mother experienced (abuse, teen pregnancy, racism).

No matter where Maya went and what she did, her mother was there for her supporting her. Vivian worked hard to show Maya that she was strong and capable, and if things got bad, to simply call on her mom for help. Throughout the book, you can see the evolution from initial estrangement and distance, to the solid foundation that lasted throughout the rest of their lives. It was a beautiful thing to witness and I absolutely look forward to reading her other books.

Fairy Doors at the Library

Close up of my favorite door. Guess the book title.

One of the local Girl Scout troops asked me if they could put fairy doors in the library and I couldn't say no. There are 5 little doors hidden around my branch and I love it. We have a handouts at the desk that show the doors, but don't tell where they are located. So far, we have only had a few kids find them all. One is so well camouflaged that you almost don't see it. They aren't all low to the ground, either, which probably makes it harder to spot. Anyway, here are our fairy doors.

Hidden by the exercise and how-to DVDs.

Hiding in the board books.

Extreme camouflage.

Fairy Library entrance.

I know what you're thinking...Full House books actually still check out like crazy. I credit the reruns.

The kids love hunting them down, and we hope to add more in the coming years. Thanks for stopping by!

Starting a Monthly Lego Club for Kids

Horses love giant candy canes. Credit: Andy 2014.

A few of years ago, I begged my admins to let me try starting a Lego Club for local kids to come and get creative and then we would display their creations until the next session the following month. It was met with some trepidation…and the realization that Legos are expensive as all hell. So, instead of asking the admins for the loot, which would have been met with a resounding “NO!,” I went to my local community. I posted fliers around the branch asking for Lego donations, of which I actually got some. However, it was nowhere near the volume I needed for making a successful monthly program. Next, I asked the Friends of the Library group for a financial donation. I’m fortunate that my Friends group will usually support anything I ask so long as it benefits children. I was able to secure about $800 and went to Amazon to make the purchases.  The suggestions below work best for a group of 20-30 kids.

Royal Carage (sic).Credit: Ethan 2014.

What you need to get started:

•  Large and small plates totaling 25-30 (unless you plan to have more kids)
• About 15-20 basic sets of blocks, which include doors and windows and a couple of people
• 1 set of people, we ordered the Community Members minifigure set that had I believe had about 25 people, and a ton of accessories, including foods, bikes, dogs, etc.
• Large storage bins to hold everything. I have found the more bins, the better. They get heavy, but also easier to spread the kids out when there are multiple bins to dig through. We have 6 bins, and they work like a dream.
• Buckets to carry Legos to the tables/workstations. We got them from the local Walmart for $.88/each.

 

Medieval Beheading. Credit: Owen 2015.

What works best for my branch and possibly yours, too:

• Free build. We attempted to do themes in the beginning and the parents took it entirely too seriously, so I had to put my foot down.
• Solo builds. If they want to work together, then by all means, I let them. But, most kids have their own vision about what they want to build.
• Let them pick their own seats. Sometimes they want to sit alone, sometimes they want a parent to sit with them, and sometimes they just want to sit next to the bin on the floor and build there.
• Let parents help if they kids want them too. Otherwise, encourage the parents to socialize or read a good book while they wait.
• Cap the time at 1 hour for the session. Many kids need a limit or they will never stop.
• I made little slips of paper that they fill out and I post them with their build. They fill in the blanks (What I made at Lego Club_______. My name is________.) themselves. They seriously love this part.
• I have a table set up where they all deposit their creations so everyone can see them before they leave.
• I take pictures of the builds with my phone in case I break them on the way to displaying them. It happens more than I would like to admit, hence the photos. I always take them after the kids leave so they don’t know that I am a bumbling klutz who is likely to drop their special creation before it makes it to the display area. Ours are displayed up high where small hands can’t play with them. And the display serves as an advertisement for the club, too.
• I set up about 7 6-foot tables and put out chairs around them, as well as other chairs around the perimeter of the room. This is usually where the parents sit, and where kids can deposit their coats and belongings while they build. The tables are put into 2 long rows on opposing sides of the room, and then the bins of Legos are spaced all down the middle of the room (between the tables). This is the configuration that works best for us. We have tried so many, and the kids have actually told me that they like it best this way so they don’t have to carry legos far to get back to their tables.
• Display any Lego books you might have on a table and tell them they can use them as inspiration, as well as encouraging them to check them out when they leave. Lego books are like book crack to Lego Club kids. They can’t get enough.  

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments. I will do my best to help however I can.  

Shark Attack. Credit: Archie 2015.

Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt

What on Earth can I say about this book besides, “WOW!” I don’t often feel extreme emotions when I read but the content and the writing and the raw emotion felt like an unstoppable hurricane blasting through my heart. This novel has a little bit of everything: bullying, stereotypes, adventures on ice (not in a good way), love and romance, family, and, of course, the milking of cows. Who could possibly not want to read it!? 

I had ordered the book for all 18 of my district library’s branches because the reviews were astounding in the selection journals we subscribe to. Honestly, though, I didn’t have much interested in reading it personally. But, at a CATS (Children’s and Teen Services) upcoming book conference this week, I actually got a free copy of the title. AND!! The author spoke with us and did a reading. Maybe it was the fact that I was able to hear the background that led to the author writing Orbiting Jupiter or maybe it was because I was hearing it read exactly how Schmidt intended it. Either way, he hooked me instantly. Schmidt is a tremendous story teller and I felt every single emotion of the character Joseph as if it were my own. Not because we had been through anything similar…we hadn’t. It is simply that Schmidt can tell one hell of a tale. His words were few but exceedingly well-chosen and powerful. He gave this “throwaway” kid a second chance when most wouldn’t give him a second glance. 

Schmidt told us that he had attended a book talk for reluctant readers, but was not informed in advance that it was at a correctional facility for juvenile males. While he was there, he had the chance to get to know some of the boys and, in a non-direct way, based his latest, Orbiting Jupiter, on the experience of meeting kids that society had just thrown aside. 

Here’s what the publisher says about Orbiting Jupiter: 

The two-time Newbery Honor winner Gary D. Schmidt delivers the shattering story of Joseph, a father at thirteen, who has never seen his daughter, Jupiter. After spending time in a juvenile facility, he’s placed with a foster family on a farm in rural Maine. Here Joseph, damaged and withdrawn, meets twelve-year-old Jack, who narrates the account of the troubled, passionate teen who wants to find his baby at any cost. In this riveting novel, two boys discover the true meaning of family and the sacrifices it requires.

I kind of think that the less you know going in, the better. Just be prepared to feel all the feels and have your tissues handy. Oh, and while the book is only 183 pages long and you’ll read it in one sitting, it’ll drain your immortal soul like a 1200 page epic. Just sayin.’ Now go get it from your local library and prepare to have your heart ripped out and stomped all over...but maybe in a good way.

Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson

 

Happiest garbage panda ever.

One-Line Summary: Holy Hell. That was a serious rollercoaster ride through the mind of me…only written by someone else. 

 

I’m not going lie and say the book sounded amazing and I had to read it based on the description because that would be a partial lie. While the description was intriguing, it was the cover that sucked me in. Look at the gloriousness of the raccoon (his name is Rory, by the way). He looks, as the title states, furiously happy. I had to read it. 

If you don’t know who Jenny Lawson is, you aren’t alone. I had no clue that she had even written another book before this one titled Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, which I am now reading and digging. Let me see if I can sum up Ms. Lawson: quirky, hilarious, slightly-to-moderately crazy (she calls herself crazy often) genius, and master of sharing too much embarrassing information about herself. In short, I’m smitten. 

In Furiously Happy, I found myself feeling a range of emotions and nodding my head along wondering why no one talks about the important things, like how airports transform people into assholes, or why we don’t talk about the widespread epidemic of chlamydia in koalas, or what happens to all that skin that microdermabrasion places scrape off women’s faces, or why kangaroos actually have three vaginas. I often found myself wondering why I had never thought of such outlandish things when I’m suffering from my sporadic bouts of insomnia, and believe me, my mind goes to some weird places.  Lawson isn’t afraid to face these topics head-on, and I love her for it.

Lawson is a riot to read. Her chapters are short and sweet, and fly by incredibly quickly. Her prose is snappy and lightning-quick and, if you blink, you are sure to miss the humor and sarcasm. The stories of Lawson’s marriage are probably my favorite. They are packed with love and a little outrage, too, but mostly love. Her stories of therapy are fascinating, a little humorous and sometimes cringe-worthy. This is a book celebrating and explaining her various mental illnesses, after all. As someone who has battled both depression and anxiety, I just want to say that she nails the descriptions of each in a way that “normals” will be able to better understand. She sheds light on the taboo of talking about mental illness and makes people feel less alone in their neuroticisms which, in my small opinion, are the biggest reasons to recommend this book to all my library friends and readers.

About Us

Meg and Nicole are two Badass Book Banging Librarians who love to do displays, programs and other spectacular library related splendor.  They both have excellent taste in books (they both agree) and have been told by at least one patron that their combined skills should be shared with the world.  And so, on a gloomy Saturday in August the two badass librarians created this blog.  I know you, the reader, are excited to follow this amazing journey with us. If for some reason you aren't, GET OFF OUR PAGE or not, you may decide to be filled with anticipation every time a new post arrives.