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Apr. 23rd, 2007 07:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
furyofvissarionImmigrant Politics and the Public Library - Edited by Susan Luévano-Molina. At times I was a little bored reading this anthology, because there was a lot of background on immigration to the US generally, which I've studied before. But when it did get down to talking about how, for example, Prop 187 affects immigrant use of libraries (even outside of California--one article talks about Arizona), & how immigrant students think about library use, I was interested. I'd like to see an updated version of this book--it looks like it came out right before 9/11.
Story of a Girl - Sara Zarr. So good! Deanna Lambert, 13, was caught by her dad in the backseat of a car with a 17-year-old guy. Now her dad thinks she's a slut & so does the whole school. This novel is a bitingly honest portrayal of what that feels like, & how it feels to be in a family that's sort of falling apart even aside from your own personal scandal. Deanna's struggling to feel like she's worth more than everyone thinks she is (which is nothing), & I think Zarr captures the cruelty of adolescence really well.
Pictures of Hollis Woods - Patricia Reilly Giff. Another novel about a foster child who gets bounced from house to house. This one's got a higher sappy factor than Home, and Other Big, Fat Lies, & maybe some readers would find the story stretches their belief a little bit. But I loved it, & found myself teary in bits. Hollis Woods, the titular character, is a budding artist, & the narrative is interspersed with descriptions of various drawings she's done that illustrate events in her tumultuous life. A short but powerful read.
Nothing But the Truth (and a few white lies) - Justina Chen Headley. Patty Ho is half-Chinese, half-white, & in high school. Hence, her angst. I was excited to read this because, hello, mixed-race angst! And hey, Patty learns to accept herself while at nerd camp, also cool. I did think that the book tread a bit too close to "hapas are exotic & cool!" territory, but I understand that it's hard territory to navigate. Also, Headley wrote this book, I read somewhere, because she has a young hapa daughter herself. Yay! Anyway--I didn't like this as much as I wanted to, but I still did like it.
Kew Gardens: Urban Village in the Big City - Barry Lewis. This book was produced to bolster any future application to register Kew Gardens as a historic district; as such, the book can be a little bit overdramatic & silly at times, in singing the praises of what is, nevertheless, a fabulous neighborhood (they talk about this one intersection being called "our own Etoile"--as in Paris! Hahahaha!). It was really interesting to read about how my neighborhood was developed, & all the famous folks (Anais Nin! Rodney Dangerfield! Dorothy Parker! Charlie Chaplin!) who lived here. Also, from my social justice urban planning orientation, it was a pleasure to read about how the Man family, who developed this area, encouraged mixed-income residents much more than was usual at the time, building a combination of grand old houses, smaller ones, & apartment buildings.
Jump Start Your Career in Library and Information Science - Priscilla K. Shontz. I've read so many books & things about library careers that I felt like this one didn't really tell me anything major that I didn't already know.
The Steerswoman's Road - Rosemary Kirstein. This is actually two books reprinted together (The Steerswoman & The Outskirter's Secret). Do they count as two books on my tally or not? Anyway--it took me ages to get through this, even though I mostly liked it. Rowan is a steerswoman--part of a group of people (mostly women) who are bound to answer any question put to them &, in turn, everyone must answer any question of their own. At first I was irked because I couldn't figure out exactly how they fit into society--do they have an actual rank? Who buys their food? etc. But then I just thought of them as a league of scholars & that helped. I really liked reading about Rowan's insatiable curiosity & methodical inquiry. I think the plotline (which didn't finish in the second book; I know there's at least one more) is going into a rather creepy "modern technology kept secret" direction, which I feel a bit dubious about. I'll probably read the 3rd book sometime though.
Story of a Girl - Sara Zarr. So good! Deanna Lambert, 13, was caught by her dad in the backseat of a car with a 17-year-old guy. Now her dad thinks she's a slut & so does the whole school. This novel is a bitingly honest portrayal of what that feels like, & how it feels to be in a family that's sort of falling apart even aside from your own personal scandal. Deanna's struggling to feel like she's worth more than everyone thinks she is (which is nothing), & I think Zarr captures the cruelty of adolescence really well.
Pictures of Hollis Woods - Patricia Reilly Giff. Another novel about a foster child who gets bounced from house to house. This one's got a higher sappy factor than Home, and Other Big, Fat Lies, & maybe some readers would find the story stretches their belief a little bit. But I loved it, & found myself teary in bits. Hollis Woods, the titular character, is a budding artist, & the narrative is interspersed with descriptions of various drawings she's done that illustrate events in her tumultuous life. A short but powerful read.
Nothing But the Truth (and a few white lies) - Justina Chen Headley. Patty Ho is half-Chinese, half-white, & in high school. Hence, her angst. I was excited to read this because, hello, mixed-race angst! And hey, Patty learns to accept herself while at nerd camp, also cool. I did think that the book tread a bit too close to "hapas are exotic & cool!" territory, but I understand that it's hard territory to navigate. Also, Headley wrote this book, I read somewhere, because she has a young hapa daughter herself. Yay! Anyway--I didn't like this as much as I wanted to, but I still did like it.
Kew Gardens: Urban Village in the Big City - Barry Lewis. This book was produced to bolster any future application to register Kew Gardens as a historic district; as such, the book can be a little bit overdramatic & silly at times, in singing the praises of what is, nevertheless, a fabulous neighborhood (they talk about this one intersection being called "our own Etoile"--as in Paris! Hahahaha!). It was really interesting to read about how my neighborhood was developed, & all the famous folks (Anais Nin! Rodney Dangerfield! Dorothy Parker! Charlie Chaplin!) who lived here. Also, from my social justice urban planning orientation, it was a pleasure to read about how the Man family, who developed this area, encouraged mixed-income residents much more than was usual at the time, building a combination of grand old houses, smaller ones, & apartment buildings.
Jump Start Your Career in Library and Information Science - Priscilla K. Shontz. I've read so many books & things about library careers that I felt like this one didn't really tell me anything major that I didn't already know.
The Steerswoman's Road - Rosemary Kirstein. This is actually two books reprinted together (The Steerswoman & The Outskirter's Secret). Do they count as two books on my tally or not? Anyway--it took me ages to get through this, even though I mostly liked it. Rowan is a steerswoman--part of a group of people (mostly women) who are bound to answer any question put to them &, in turn, everyone must answer any question of their own. At first I was irked because I couldn't figure out exactly how they fit into society--do they have an actual rank? Who buys their food? etc. But then I just thought of them as a league of scholars & that helped. I really liked reading about Rowan's insatiable curiosity & methodical inquiry. I think the plotline (which didn't finish in the second book; I know there's at least one more) is going into a rather creepy "modern technology kept secret" direction, which I feel a bit dubious about. I'll probably read the 3rd book sometime though.