Posts by slthomson@earthlink.net

Jacket Art for Deadly Wish!

Posted by on Dec 7, 2016 in Book: Deadly Wish, Ninjas | Comments Off on Jacket Art for Deadly Wish!

jktDeadly Wish, the sequel to Deadly Flowers, has a glorious brand-new jacket. When I see jacket art for a novel, it always feels startling–oh, they’re really going to make this into a book? Gosh. I had no idea.

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What I’ve Been Reading

Posted by on Dec 2, 2016 in Race, What I've Been Reading | Comments Off on What I’ve Been Reading

51vnbkgbal-_sx334_bo1204203200_Gone Crazy in Alabama by Rita Williams-Garcia

Rita Williams-Garcia got a lot of attention for One Crazy Summer but I think this follow-up is even stronger. Three sisters, growing up in the sixties, head down to Alabama to spend the summer with their grandmother and great-grandmother.

With the election and the news and the Black Lives Matter movement and the bewildering fact that, in 21st century America, armed white men can be acquitted for taking over public property while black teens can be shot for wearing a hoodie while buying Skittles, race has been much on my mind lately, especially since I’m a white mother raising a child of color. Maybe that’s why this book struck such a deep note with me, as Fern, Vonetta, and Delphine learn more and more about exactly what their family is–African-American, sure, but also Native American and white and complicated and painful and flawed and lonely and ever-changing, in the end, together no matter how much it hurts.

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Read, My Child. Read.

Posted by on Nov 23, 2016 in American History, Educators & Librarians, Race | Comments Off on Read, My Child. Read.

Let’s be thankful for libraries, for heroes who marched, for books that share experiences and emotions and lives. John Lewis, thank you.

 

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A Year Later

Posted by on Nov 21, 2016 in Educators & Librarians, Race | Comments Off on A Year Later

Patrons doing what libraries make possible--read, gather, think, hope, plan, dream, create!

Patrons doing what libraries make possible–read, gather, think, hope, plan, dream, create!

It’s been a tumultuous year since the events in Ferguson, Missouri sparked outrage and a growing social movement. Remember how the Ferguson Library stayed open, providing a refuge for kids and adults to come together as a community, to learn, to grow, and to stay strong? Many of us donated to that library, and I just received word of how much those donations have helped the community.

You are amazing!

Two years ago, we at the Ferguson Municipal Public Library were doing everything we could think of to help our community at a time of overwhelming need. You cared enough to notice, and cared enough to help. You recognized the special role we, as a library, can play in helping our community heal, and in bringing our community together. There is a well of gratitude in me that I cannot begin to express. Thank you.

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