Parenthetical

A couple of weeks ago, I suggested a Group Read of this one, in honor of President Obama’s inauguration. (Man, the phrase “President Obama” ain’t getting old anytime soon.) The premise (in case you haven’t been murmuring “gay Jewish president” in your sleep) is that the first gay Jewish president is elected by a solid [...]

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Quickie backlog Cybils review: Beautifully detailed line drawings and a wordless story featuring young Ivy “and her gifted Korgi cub, Sprout.” The Characters page in the back describes Korgis as “loyal, fox-like creatures with big ears and large smiles.” Do they look an awful lot like Welsh corgis? Gosh, they do! Does the author perchance [...]

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My friend, a public librarian, found this in her library’s attic: Behold, fabulously 80s library poster! Comment here

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This morning I checked out a digital camera to a middle schooler. The only one we had left was one of the old ones that stores the pictures on a floppy disk. I explained this to my student. Her friend overheard and asked, “What’s a floppy?” The first student’s answer? “It’s like a USB drive, [...]

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Awhile ago I reviewed Inkheart, the first in this trilogy. I’ve finally finished Inkspell and Inkdeath, and after all the poetic waxing I did about Inkheart, my ultimate conclusion is… don’t bother. Funke introduces way too many characters, throws their balls into the air (…enjoy that image!), and then forgets they’re up there. Why does [...]

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Hey, everybody, it’s post-apocalyptic YA from the ’80s! Home, sweet home. It even has a watercolory cover and a fresh-faced, all-American heroine named “Janie Johnson”! This book was brought to my attention recently [and by "recently," I mean about six months ago, when I actually read it -- Ed.] by an old friend, who presented [...]

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Miriam at The Oyster’s Garter tagged me on the “5 Things” meme, so I guess I better comply! She can beat me up. 5 Things I Was Doing 10 Years Ago: Attending a rockin’ New Year’s party at the home of jcn, Latemodel, and some other people whose URLs I don’t know. Turning twenty. (Eeep!) [...]

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(The full title, for the record, is Salt Water Taffy: the Seaside Adventures of Jack and Benny, v. 1: The Legend of Old Salty.) Ok, get a load of this plot summary: Jack, Benny, and their parents go to a small coastal Maine town to spend the summer. Upon arrival, they meet a crusty old [...]

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On a walk through the English Downs, the author discovers the ruins of a house, and in it, an old chest. When he breaks the lock, he finds that it contains the effects of a fellow photographer named Isaac Wilde — including phonograph recordings, on which Wilde told the story of a very strange archaeological [...]

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Dave’s life was going along just fine, until he applied for a job at a convenience store and ended up hired to work nights… forever. Turns out that Radu, the store owner, is a vampire, and it’s so much more efficient to sire yourself a night manager than hire one the regular way — no [...]

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