Peaceful Reader

A letter to Alan Silberberg- (creator of Milo; Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze)

Dear Mr. Silberberg;

I just wanted to write you a quick thank you note for writing such an outstanding middle grade book! Milo is a one-of-a-kind-kinda guy! There isn’t a part of this book that I didn’t love…parts of it I loved so much they made me weep. I learned quickly that Milo has some obstacles-he’s not graceful or popular but he does have big ideas and a kind heart. I also learned Milo misses his mom everyday and that her memory has been cleaned right out of their house by his grieving father. Since his mother’s death Milo’s been walking around in a fog, moving from house to house, never getting a grip on the simple fact that his mother is no longer there for him.

I loved how you gave him someone to pine for in Summer Goodman and a suave alter-ego in Dabney St. Claire. You gave him a wonderful friend, Marshall, who is there to be silly with but through Marshall’s family you gave Milo a way to experience a happy family. You developed another friendship for Milo by introducing him to Hillary, his annoying next-door-neighbor, who turns out to be not so annoying after all. Hillary shares with readers that we all have our secrets and our strong points. Yeah Hillary! You gave Milo an adult neighbor and friend, Sylvia Poole, who shares her experiences with grief and helps Milo clear away some of his fog. You gave him a kind teacher, Mr. Shivnesky, who cares enough to give Milo a 5-minute break when things get tough.

Mr. Silberberg, you gave us other tensions like the Halloween party and the box of Barbie parts to keep our minds shifted away from just MILO’S GRIEF. This was brilliant because Milo is an easy read-I want to hear about his grief but not be hit over the head with it. For a kid his age life keeps moving on. You are a funny guy-a really naturally funny guy. I give you a standing ovation for writing and illustrating Milo; Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze. {picture me standing, clapping loudly}

Sincerely in awe,

Peaceful Reader

p.s. Thank you for giving Summer, the crush, some last minute redemming qualities-because after all we all have something that makes us unique!
p.p.s could you please write your next book for elementary kids because I noticed your first book, Pond Scum, is also for middle school kids and I think they’ve had enough of your attention. PLEASE; I will be your friend for life.

Check out Alan Silberberg’s kooky website-Silberbooks.com.
Silberberg’s blog-with a book trailer.

Every page has a gem but I leave you with just two quotes:

Dabney St. Claire says that “timing is everything,” which is why i make sure to wear a watch every day so I’m always ready just in case. I figure it’s like when you go to a baseball game and bring your glove because it’s possible a foul ball will come right at you. And even though you’re sitting under the grandstand roof where no balls ever go, you wear that baseball glove through the whole game, which makes the popcorn you buy taste like dirt and oil and other stuff you can’t even put a finger on-but probably already did-and all that matters is you feel ready for the slimmest-ever chance that the first stray ball in the history of baseball is going to be hit right at your impossible seats. (39-41) (what an optimist!)

and this:

I mention this at dinner my first night at Marshall’s house, and you know what? They all laugh, and it’s so weird to hear people laughing at the dinner table that I feel really bad and stare into my plate, but Mrs. Hickler says, “No, Milo-that’s really funny. My mother does act a little like she’s still in high school. You should see her yoga clothes.” And it’s so shocking that laughing even coexists with eating, and it’s while I’m having broiled chicken (which I love) and green beans (which I hate but eat anyway) that I want to go home and pack up all my stuff and move right into Marshall’s house forever. (134-135) (see-you want to give him a hug too!)

Other magnificent reviews:

The Boy Reader
Chocolate Air

and Stacy @ Welcome to my Tweendom

To purchase your own beloved copy of this book at an IndieBound bookstore near you click on the title…Milo; Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze

Bread Givers

I purchased Bread Givers by Anzia Yezierska a few years back while my family and I were in Washington D.C. We toured The Holocaust Museum, which was heartbreaking but informative and well worth the tour. Afterward we spent a few minutes browsing the museum kiosk store. This book’s synopsis caught my attention so I bought it, brought it home and added it to my bookshelf. Maybe I should have read it right then but I waited four years and pulled it off just recently.

Snynopsis: Sara Smolinsky, the youngest daughter of an Orthodox rabbi, watches as her father marries off her sisters to men they don’t love. The sadness and injustice of their broken lives leads her to rebel against her father’s rigid conception of Jewish womanhood. “No girl can live without her father or a husband to look out for her,” he proclaims. “It says in the Torah, only through a man has a woman an existence.” But Sara replies, “My will is as strong as yours. I’m going to live my own life. Nobody can stop me. I’m not from the old country. I’m American!” She leaves home, takes a job as an ironer, and rents a room with a door: “This door was life…the bottom starting point of becoming a person.” Set during the 1920s on New York’s Lower East Side, the story of Sara’s struggle toward independence and self-fullfillment-through education, work, and love-is universal and resonates with a passionate intensity that all can share. (from the back cover)

My thoughts: You can see why the book appealed to me. Sara is an intense character who, as the youngest, watches all these family mistakes play out. Rather than allow her father to ruin her own life she strikes out on her own, leaving behind her mother, father and sisters. Her sisters make fun of her even as they complain about the terrible marriages their father has forced them into. Father’s love of the Torah and studying are completely (for lack of a better word at the moment) CRAZY! He takes the Torah at it’s word only as it applies to help his cause.

The struggle between family members, old and new traditions, right and wrong are so fanatical and vivid-I raced home every night to read a few more pages before making dinner. It made me grateful for my own father who was very forward thinking and giving of his time and thoughts, unlike Sara’s father, who never listens and always talks with bitterness. Not only were the characters memorable but the language was extraordinary. This book will stay with me for a long time but only in spirit because as per the Reading From My Own Shelves Project I must depart with it-I’m glad it is going to a good home. Tina graciously accepted to take it home with her.

Memorable quotes:

and this one from a particular blue day while she is living alone working hard each day to put away money to go to school:

Had a miracle happened? My father come to see me? In a rush of gladness words from Isaiah flashed before me as in letters of fire: “I will join the hearts of the parents and the children.” Never had there been any show of feeling between Father and us children. Only once a year, on the Day of Atonement, he put his hands over our heads to bless us. Now, as I looked at him, he seemed to me like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Solomon, and David, all joined together in the one wise old face. An this man with all the ancient prophets shining out of his eyes-my father. (she’s so happy to see him even after all the bad)

“Father,” I cried. An then my voice stopped. For I suddenly became aware of his cold, hard glance on me.

“Is it true what Max Goldstein said?” His eyes glared. “Is it true you refused him?” Not a word could force itself out of my tight throat. “Answer me! Answer me!” His voice grew louder and harsher.

“It wasn’t the real love,” I stammered, hardly aware what I was saying.

“Love you want yet? What do you know about love? How could any man love a lawless, conscienceless thing like you? I never dreamed that a decent man would want to marry you. You had a chance to make a good ending to a bad play, and you push away such a luck match with your own hands. I always knew you were crazy. Now I see you’re your worst enemy.” (204)

There is so much wonderful in this book-this newer version has a great forward and introduction written by Alice Kessler-Harris, which gave me a lot of insight into Anzia Yezierska’s life. It’s not often I wax poetic about an intro to a book but it’s a great opening. I wish this book would be mandatory reading for high school or college. It’s fits into many different themes: history, gender studies, religion, philosophy, early immigration to the U.S., and American labor in the 1920’s. It shows what it was really like to work hard and hope for a better life. I’m so glad the forces that be made me pick this book and purchase it. I’m trying to get Teen-age Boy to read it before I pass it over to Tina. Purchase this classic book from an IndieBound bookstore near year…click on the title to find it-Bread Givers

Whatever you’re reading today-I hope you are enjoying it! I’ll be reading and lesson planning while the game goes on but if I had to root for a team it would be the Green Bay Packers. Why? Because I’ve read about both quarterbacks and Aaron Rodgers wins in my book.

“I’ll show you how quickly I can marry off the girls when I put my head on it.” “Yah,” sneered Mother.

“You showed me enough how quickly you can spoil your daughters’ chances the minute you mix yourself in.

If you had only let Mashah alone, she would have been married to a piano-player.”“Did you want me to let in a man who plays on the Sabbath in our family? A piano player has no more character than a poet.” “Nu-Berel Bernstein was a man of character, a man who was about to become a manufacturer.”

“But he was a stingy piker. For my daughters’ husbands I want to pick out men who are people in the world.”
“Where will you find better men than those they can find for themselves?”
“I’ll go to old Zaretzky, the matchmaker. All the men on his list are guaranteed characters.”
“But the minute you begin with the matchmaker you must have dowries like in Russia yet.”
“With me for their father they get their dowries in their brains and in their good looks.” (71)

Weekend Cooking/Bread-Making/Bread Givers

I’ve been writing my review of Bread Givers by Anzia Yezierska. I loved this book. When you enjoy a book so much it’s difficult not to share every little thing about it. One of the themes is resounding poverty; the Smolinsky family are poor-1920’s poor. They never know where their next meal will come from. The father studies the Torah and expects his family to work for him; to put food on the table. The mother constantly has to beg the shopkeepers on the Lower West Side of NYC to give her credit so she can feed her family. It begins like this:

I had just begun to peel the potatoes for dinner when my oldest sister came in, her eyes far away and very tired. She dropped on the bench by the sink and turned her head to the wall. One look at her, and I knew she had not yet found work. I went on peeling the potatoes, but I no more knew what my hands were doing. I felt only the dark hurt of her weary eyes. (1)

“We must dry our heads worrying for bread, while they bathe themselves in milk and soak in honey.” (81)

Mother skimmed off the fat part of the potato soup, and carefully picked out all the little pieces of suet and fried onions for Father’s plate, and handed it to him. “Woman!” Father frowned. “Why have you no meat for my dinner this whole week? With the hard brain work I do day and night, I can’t live on the flavour of onions!” (81)

My quest for weekend cooking is to make some bread for this albeit fiction, yet starving family. I can’t resist. They need some good bread. They need a whole pot of potato soup.

My mom gave me this recipe for bread that uses potato water and I’ve been excited to try it. Last time I made mashed potatoes I thought ahead and saved the water.

Ooey Gooey Bread (from Baking with the St. Paul Baking Club)
Makes 3 loaves

1 3/4 cups potato water or 1 3/4 cups water mixed with 2 tsp instant potato flakes
1 3/4 cups lowfat milk
8 T. (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups honey [local, of course]
1 T. salt
1 cup rolled oats
2 pkgs active dry yeast
2/3 cup bran
6 T wheat germ
1 cup whole wheat flour
7 cups bread flour, about [I don’t buy bread flour so I double sift my KAF]
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 tsps cinnamon

Heat potato water, milk, and butter in a saucepan over low heat. As it warms, add honey and salt. When mixture comes to a boil, add rolled oats then remove from heat, and let cool to lukewarm.
Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Stir in yeast and let stand for a few minutes until softened. Add bran and wheat germ, and then beat in whole wheat and bread flour. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead [my favorite part] until elastic and springy. The dough will be soft and sticky, but resist the urge to add to much extra flour. Turn into a slightly oiled bowl, turning to coat, cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled, about 2 hours.
Mix together white sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
Turn dough out onto floured surface, and divide into three pieces. Roll each piece into a 12-inch x 8-inch rectangle and sprinkle with 4 T. sugar mix. Take a rectangle and fold the left third to the center and the right and the right third over that, as you’d fold a letter. Rotate the dough 90 degrees, and roll out again into a rectangle, sprinkling with another 4 T. of sugar mix. Fold as before. Form dough into a loaf shape, and place seam side down in a greased loaf pan. Repeat with remaining 2 pieces of dough.

Cover pans with a cloth, and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven. lightly cover with foil and bake for another 20 minutes or until loaf makes a hollow sound when removed from the pan and tapped on bottom. Cool at least 15 minutes before slicing.

This will make a great Sunday morning bread but not the bread I was thinking of for the Smolinsky family. That potato bread I found at The Barefoot Kitchen Witch’s website complete with play-by-play photos: Potato Bread
I’m going to try her recipe as well-maybe tomorrow.

This post is part of Weekend Cooking, hosted by Beth Fish Reads. She reviews $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook; Breakfast and Lunch, which seems like a really useful cookbook!

Happy Baking!
Read Bread Givers-you will enjoy it!

Feature Friday

I have three picture books to feature today because I fell in love with them just this morning! It is the month of love so I give you three books you shouldn’t live without…

1. The Circus Ship by Chris Van Dusen (2009)

I’m not a fan of the circus-the kind that uses animals to entertain so I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to feel about this book, until I read it of course. It is a delight! It rhymes. When a storm ruins the ship the captain saves the the mean and greedy circus boss, Mr. Paine, who chooses to leave the animals behind to save his own. The animals swim to an island beach, taking refuge with the local people, who are at first scared and then learn to love having the animals around. The circus animals win their freedom from the demanding circus boss through a great hide and seek scene. The illustrations are larger-than-life beautiful and it is loosely based on a real event. 5 stars

2. “I have a Little Problem,” said the bear by Heinz Janisch and Silke Leffler (2007)

Bear wanders in to town to get help but noone listens to his problem. The inventor, the tailor, the hatter, the doctor, the street vendor, the eye doctor, the shopkeeper, and the shoe maker all jump to their own conclusions. Noone even listens to what it is until bear meets a curious fly outside of town. In my storytime hour children didn’t get the big picture but I know a little girl at home who will understand and love it. The illustrations are whimsical and kindergarten students loved the repitition. 5 stars

3. the cow loves cookies by karma wilson and marcellus hall. (2010)

I’ve come to expect great things, usually rhyming things, from Mrs. Wilson as she is the author of The Bear Snores on series of books. This one didn’t disappoint. All the other animals on the farm eat what the farmer gives them-the horse loves hay, the chickens; chicken feed, the pigs love their slop but the cow…she gets special treatment. Students loved learning why the cow loves cookies…because she shares her milk with the farmer and he shares his cookies. Milk and cookies go so well together. I wish I had some for my lunch today! 5 stars

What ever you do today, ENJOY!!
If you need a picture book-these 3 will not disappoint.

It's Official

I feel like I should host a grand opening, or have a parade! I am a dot.com now and my old address should still be swinging you to my new address but just like the post office occasionally makes a mistake…please make a note of my new address. Thank you. I want you to keep reading. My blog lists never did come back so I’ve been slowly adding back…don’t worry I haven’t “defriended” anyone. Eventually I will have recreated my favorite reading spots.

While grocery shopping two days ago I walked out with only two essentials from my already short-list. I had plastic overload! My tofu comes in a plastic package, my favorite orange juice comes in a plastic jug and my son’s favorite nitrate-free turkey dogs come wrapped in a double layer of plastic wrap crap. Luckily I was able to get the chocolate we needed for cake baking in a cardboard, recyclable box. My husband reminded me that we used to drink orange juice from the frozen cardboard tubes-not as yummy but it’s not plastic.

Why am I banging my head about plastic, you ask innocently enough…because I made a promise to not bring in any new plastic into the house just a day or two ago. The proof is here. I’m committed but I had a glimpse into how difficult it will prove to be. I asked the butcher at our local grocery store about buying turkey dogs from behind the counter and he chuckled…yes, he did! I hope what you are passionate about is easy to come by this week!

The Red Umbrella

by Christina Diaz Gonzalez

2010

272 pages

Every once in a great while my friend Tina and I are able to browse our local library together. When we do I always leave with a double bag full of books. She simply walks down the shelves and says “You need to read this one and this one and oh, have you NOT read this one…” She is an amazing reader, far more prolific than me, and has a knack for picking great books. On our last library visit she handed me The Red Umbrella and it was the first one I pulled out of the library bag.

Synopsis from the book:

     Cuba 1961: two years after the Communist revolution, Lucía Álvarez still leads a carefree life, dreaming of parties and her first crush. But when the soldiers come to her sleepy Cuban town, everything begins to change. Freedoms are stripped away. Neighbors disappear. Her friends feel like strangers. And her family is being watched.
     As the revolution’s impact becomes more oppressive, Lucía’s parents make the heart-wrenching decision to send her and her little brother to the United States—on their own.
     Suddenly plunked down in Nebraska with well-meaning strangers, Lucía struggles to adapt to a new country, a new language, a new way of life. But what of her old life? Will she ever see her home or her parents again? And if she does, will she still be the same girl?

My thoughts:

I was moved by both parts of this story. I didn’t know very much about Cuban life before Castro or after and Gonzalez’s work gave me a look into this history. I found it interesting how the revolutionaries worked so heavily on Cuban children, especially young adults, to carry out their “for the good of the common people” message. Learning about Operation Pedro Pan was new and one I was happy to read about. Thankfully, the U.S. took part in this exodus of children from Cuba to the States. As Lucia and her brother are sent away her friend, Ivette, stays in Cuba and attends Castro’s camps to learn how to be a good revolutionary leader. I liked the balance between Lucia’s Nebraska story and Ivette’s Cuba experience told through her letters.

Once in Nebraska, Lucia and Frankie, while missing their parents, also must cope with how difficult it is to come to this country and be an outsider. The Baxters are an older couple, living on a farm, in Grand Island, Nebraska-the polar opposite of Cuba, especially in winter. Luckily, even though it is rough, and they miss their parents, life becomes comfortable with the Baxters. Lucia and Frankie find friends at school and do well in their new environment.

Perfect Quote:

I was going to be wearing hand-me-downs. Used clothing. I’d never had to do that before. We always bought the very latest fashions. Ivette would be mortified to see me wearing these clothes.
I missed her. I also missed Mama and Papa, my room, my school, everything I’d left behind. Tears started to form, but I took a deep breath to try to keep them from falling. I didn’t want to cry anymore. (156)

Authors often speak of a story emerging, just asking to be written and this is probably true of Christina Diaz Gonzalez’s story based on recollections from her own family. I feel richer having read Lucia’s tale and look forward to others by Gonazalez.

Christina Diaz Gonzalez’s blog.
To find it at a local IndieBound store near you, click on the title: The Red Umbrella

Other reviews on The Red Umbrella:

Reading Rants!
Kiss the Book
Semicolon
JuJu at Tales of Whimsy

Plastic-Free February

We are celebrating the first day of February with a SNOW DAY!! One more day for Teenage Boy to study for his Chem. Test, one day for me to blog and Groovy Girl wants to make a cake…Yeah, Yeah, for snow days!!! In my browsing around this a.m. (after I made waffles in my jammies):

The Rodale Company is one that I trust…I’m not a big fan of large mega-companies but the people at Rodale stand for organic. I have several gardening books and have received many of their magazines in the past. Rodale.com is hosting a challenge for the month of February…to go plastic-free.

Why go plastic free? There are plenty of reasons to cut down. It’s made from either petroleum or natural gas, two nonrenewable resources extracted in ways that pollute our air and water. Plastic manufacturers add chemicals to certain types of plastics that can be highly toxic, like bisphenol A and phthalates. And very few types of plastic are widely recycled. (find the full article here Rodale.com)

Three Simple Rules:

1. No buying or acquiring new plastic.

2. No cooking with plastic or storing food in plastic.
3. Minimize all other plastic use.

Check out Rodale.com for a list of participating bloggers who will be posting regular updates. I will just be trying to do it and maybe posting how difficult it is. I just realized my glass Pyrex bowls (while wonderful) have plastic lids! I try not to purchase things that are overpackaged but we do use plastic food storage containers, especially for Groovy Girl’s lunch box. I’m going to set out on this challenge with one thing in mind really-to try not bring any new plastic into the house and that means buying in bulk with my own glass jars. I’ll let you know how it goes. Anyone else up for this challenge?

Plastic Tip for the day: Do not microwave your food in plastic containers. Use glass or ceramic dishes instead. The plastic leaks into your food and has been directly linked to certain cancers. **As Janssen points out there is no real evidence of this claim more a gut-feeling about a petroleum-based product holding my delicious food as it heats up hot and fast. I don’t like petro that much. **

Check out these plastic-free lunch containers…LunchBots. I want them…anyone have them already and are they wonderful?

What Really Happened to Humpty?

[from the files of a hard-boiled detective]

by Joe Dumpty as told to Jeanie Franz Ransom

Illustrated by Stephen Axelsen

(2009)

Kids will love the humor in this book. It begins: “Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. Humpty Dumpty was pushed.” At least I think so. Who am I? I’m Joe Dumpty, Humpty’s younger brother.

Joe, the P.I., goes on to explain his case as to why he thinks his brother was pushed off the wall and step-by-step the mystery of Humpty is solved. The book is a cross between a regular picture book and a comic book, using a whole slew of fairy tale characters to retell the story. Groovy Girl loved identifying her favorite fairy tale characters in a different light. Low carb diets, power walks, binoculars and cell phones give this tale a modern, fresh snap.

By the way…the culprits… Little Miss Muffet and the Big Bad Wolf -the wolf says “I’m bad. It’s my middle name.” That pretty much says it all. I can’t wait to use this book when we talk about fairy tales. This would be a perfect look at how to fracture the story and make it into something new. We checked this out from the public library.

Jeanie Franz Ranson’s website.
The Reading Tub review

Dear Janice….Thank you!

I am blesssed in many ways but one thing that sets me apart is my friend, Janice, who comes almost every day to my school library and helps me in the library. She volunteers at our school because her granddaughter is a student. Long ago all school libraries had an aide, someone who came in to check-out, reshelve, and do extra things around the library. We live in an age where school districts don’t have the money to have library aides anymore. I’m so glad to have Janice working with me almost everyday. So many of the massive creative projects I take on wouldn’t be completed without her help. She cut out all the snowmen shapes so first grade students could make larger-than-life snowpeople.

She makes my library dreams a reality!

Last week I mentioned I it would be cool to change our holiday evergreen tree, decorated with snowflakes, into a Valentine tree. Within a few short hours, after reshelving all the books, she transformed that mini-tree into a treat that looks sweet. She will never let me take her photo so instead I share her creation. She made all the decorations using a book…of course! The Valentine Express by the amazing Nancy Elizabeth Wallace. Check it out!

Thank You Janice for all you do!

Rocky Road Brownies

I did make the brownies. They are delicious. I groaned three times while eating my one little square. I forget all the time to photograph my cooking but this time I snapped two pictures as we were dishing them up. Here for your viewing delight…

They are yummy dense squares of chocolate delight. I will make them again. My kids ate them even though they had pecans on them. My daughter and I shared a second one quietly in the kitchen. It’s been a good day and now I’m going to bed, to read. See last post for recipe.