Parenthetical

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Out of curiosity, Kate Harrad was inspired to genderswitch the characters in Pride and Prejudice, and then to follow it up with a Sherlock Holmes story. She simply changed names, titles, pronouns, and “a handful of details to keep it broadly believable.” The results are surprisingly fascinating. The two links above are her descriptions of [...]

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A friend just alerted me to this ad for Hunger Games nail polish on Bookshelves of Doom. “Capitol Colours,” it’s called: “What will you be wearing at the opening ceremonies?” Really? Isn’t this kind of like selling fake Dalmatian-fur coats to girls who want to be glamorous like Cruella deVille? (The thing that pleases me [...]

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If you care about literacy and learning, please sign this petition. Ensure all school libraries are properly staffed, open, and available for children every day. Any school receiving Federal funds should be required to have a credentialed School Librarian on staff full time with a library that contains a minimum of 18 books per student…. [...]

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You might have noticed that I haven’t been around much lately. (Or maybe you haven’t noticed. That is also okay.) There are two reasons: 1. In less than a month now, I am taking this test: Middle School Humanities MTEL. If I pass it, I will be well on my way to becoming a certified [...]

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“I can never decide which book I want, and I hate buying a book and then realizing halfway through that I hate it. I can’t just return it and I’ve wasted money. I wish there were a way I could just borrow a book instead.” You can borrow books and return them if you would [...]

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A friend just shared with me the art of Thomas Doyle, which I share with you because every sculpture I click on has me writing a new twisted YA post-apocalyptic/dystopian novel in my head. For instance, this. Or oh god, this. Sometimes they’re zombie novels. Yeesh.

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Author Carey Wallace‘s website asks you to send her something, anything, handmade, and she’ll send back a copy of her CD Songs About Books. So I sent her a mosaic (well, not one of those specifically), and just got my CD the other day! It has gorgeous songs about Sean Tan’s The Arrival and Ender’s [...]

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Roger Sutton asks, what authors are famous for the wrong book? The Long Winter is better (he says) than the earlier Little House books; Lois Lowry’s Autumn Street (which I haven’t read) is better than The Giver. I don’t actually have examples of my own yet; I’m pondering. But I love the question! Thoughts?

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As we all know, the books are really about Hermione. Or Neville. (Spoilers for both the books and the last movie behind those links, and below.) Even HP haters might want to read that first link, Sady Doyle’s “In praise of Joanne Rowling’s Hermione Granger series.” In its alternate universe, “strong female character” Hermione got [...]

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