A Colorful Reminder

Savoy Elementary School, Washington DC

Discovering Poetry

It seems fitting to finally share these photos today. They are photos from my favorite part of our visit to the City Lights Bookstore: the poetry room, which felt like a delicious and secret discovery, a tower room bursting with words impatiently waiting to be freed. And also appropriate since I spent this afternoon with the fabulous poet, Marilyn Nelson.



Today was the official publication day for her newest book of poetry. How I Discovered Poetry is an autobiographical collection of poems that chronicles her nomadic childhood as a military kid (her father was one of the Tuskegee Airmen) during the 1950s. As the voice and subject matter mature from the tender age of four up through her early teens, it's hard not to be sucked into the minutiae of intimate moments and salient memories, while also noting the larger cultural and social happenings that are whirling around her. As an African-American girl during the civil rights era some of these moments are especially piercing. But it is her compelling use of words which reverberate long after the page has been turned and leave me yearning for more. 

How I Discovered Poetry

By Marilyn Nelson 

It was like soul-kissing, the way the words 

filled my mouth as Mrs. Purdy read from her desk. 

All the other kids zoned an hour ahead to 3:15, 

but Mrs. Purdy and I wandered lonely as clouds borne 

by a breeze off Mount Parnassus. She must have seen 

the darkest eyes in the room brim: The next day

she gave me a poem she’d chosen especially for me 

to read to the all except for me white class. 

She smiled when she told me to read it, smiled harder, 

said oh yes I could. She smiled harder and harder 

until I stood and opened my mouth to banjo playing

darkies, pickaninnies, disses and dats. When I finished

my classmates stared at the floor. We walked silent

to the buses, awed by the power of words. 

Graphic Happenings

 It's a very good time to be a graphic novel fan. Bethesda hosted the Small Press Expo (SPX) this past weekend with all sorts of big names. On Monday night, Politics and Prose hosted a great graphic novel panel discussion. And this week Gene Yang's Boxers and Saints was selected as a National Book Award Finalist (only the second time a graphic novel has received this honor and the other book was Yang's American Born Chinese). I had the chance to spend two days with him at two different Open Book events and in addition to being a brilliant author/illustrator, he is a super nice guy. 

I was also very lucky to spend last Friday with Matt Phelan, Dave Roman, and Raina Telgemeir. Their school visits were so much fun because they are passionate about their work and the kids view them as literary rock stars. Seriously, when word got around the school, kids flocked around them. It was great!  It is clear to me that the graphic novel is here to stay and for good reason. It hooks kids, even the most reluctant or hesitant readers; it can make history interesting and approachable; it's creative; it's full of action; and it forces you to use both sides of your brain. 

I have posted about our love of graphic novels before, but thought it would be good to add some of our recent favorites since the list continues to grow. 


For Adults/Young Adults: 


Relish: My Life in the Kitchen
Little White Duck: A Childhood in China
Sailor Twain
Boxers and Saints
The Property 
American Born Chinese
Exit Wounds
Trickster

For Kids:
The Nathan Hale series
Bluffton
To Dance: A Ballerina's Graphic Novel
Zita The Spacegirl
The Secret of the Stone Frog
Korgi
Maya Makes a Mess
The Odyssey
The Big Wet Balloon
Astronaut Academy
Owly
Bakesale
Smile
Around the World
Squish
Saltwater Taffy
The Unsinkable Walter Bean
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Robot Dreams

How Addiction and Truancy Helped Me Get a Job

It's true. If I wasn't so hooked on books and if I hadn't let Noah skip school to attend a Nathan Hale author event at Politics and Prose, I would never have started up a conversation that eventually resulted in a dream job. Seriously, a dream job. 

I get paid to bring amazing children's authors into inner city DC schools AND each student gets an autographed copy of the book. It's the perfect melding of my social work background, my love of books, and my desire to see a world filled with kids and adults who love reading. And it is all made possible because of a fabulous children's literacy foundation known as An Open Book.

Our fall line up is an impressive list of favorites (Grace Lin, Matt Phelan, Linda Sue Park, Gene Yang, David Wiesner, Annie Barrows, Jonathan Stroud,Gennifer Choldenko) and some wonderful-new-to-me ones, too. This is our first full week of visits for this school year and it has me feeling both excited and a bit anxious to see it all come together, but mostly I just feel so darn lucky to be a part of this.