December 18

Crossing Lines in the Age of Intolerance

I have to say that I could not think of a more timely book than The Lines We Cross by Randa Abdel-Fattah.

Set in Australia, Abdel-Fattah looks at the impact that the political opinions of adults have on the lives of teens. The narrative alternates between Michael and Mina, schoolmates at a prestigious high school. Any relationship between them is stressed due to the opinions of Michael’s family, who lead an organization that protests refugees and queue jumpers that come into Australia and “put strain on the system” and, as it happens, Mina, from Afghanistan, falls into the first category.

As the novel unfolds, the reader is introduced to the stresses and strains of two adolescents being exposed to a broader argument as they come in contact with a world that demands that they see multiple points of view. Abdel-Fattah illustrates the buildingsroman truthfully and allows the reader to feel sympathy for the characters as they struggle against an obstacle that is at once invisible and ugly. At the core is the question of how we respect others when their views so diametrically oppose our own; or even if they deserve our respect. Layered on top of this are the struggles of life that teens go through on a daily basis, social ties, homework, activities and family.

The Lines We Cross introduces the reader to the people who use the rhetoric that we are hearing more often to justify political opinions that would previously been questionable not too long ago. With the rise of nationalistic views being expressed increasingly in the mainstream media, Randa Abdel-Fattah provides a voice to the young people stuck in the middle of divisive ideologies. She provides a twist to the traditional coming-of-age and boy-meets-girls stories that are often found in the Young Adult sections and suggests that getting to know yourself also involves actively investigating the world around you by searching for ways to align yourself with a set of political beliefs, not just falling in to the opinions of others because they are convenient.

December 7

Not the Type of Librarian You’ll Find Here

The Evil Librarian by Michelle Knudsen was, admittedly, my first step into young adult fiction in quite a while. I purposely picked something up from the comedy genre to see if I could relate to it in any way and due to my time as a librarian.

I have to admit, Knudsen does a very good job at taking the subjects of friendship, young romance and teen drama, setting them against the background of a demonic invasion, and maintaining a readability throughout the book. While some would descend into an over the top, campy story, Evil Librarian remains lighthearted and a page-turner, while celebrating the teenage years.

The arrival of Mr. Gabriel, the new school librarian sets Cynthia Rothschild’s world into a whirlwind. Instead of being angsty, sharing secrets with her best friend, Annie, and crushing on her dream-boy, Ryan, she must save her school from a demonic invasion. Cynthia and Ryan find out that Mr. Gabriel is a demon of power, capable of making their worst fears come true, including involving Annie in a creepy, demonically influenced relationship that he needs to pursue his goal of becoming the demon-king.

I found myself rooting for Cynthia, cheering for her to get her friend back by vanquishing the demon, while finding success in the area of romance. The characters are all likable and the junior/senior involvement of Annie and Mr. Gabriel is handled tactfully. There are certainly enough twists and turns to keep the plot or the action from getting staid and stale. The humour definitely works, though there were few parts that I found myself laughing out loud at. That said, it probably speaks more to the age of the reader than the effectiveness of the humour.

Considering all of the above, the sequel, Revenge of the Evil Librarian, is on order and I will be first in line to see how Knudsen manages to continue the characters and if she maintains the freshness that this series brought to my reader’s catalog.

November 27

CBC’s The First Page Contest

Just came across the CBC’s The First Page Contest on Twitter. Erin Bow, author of The Scorpion RulesThe Swan RidersSorrow’s Knot, and Plain Kate, is judging. She is judging the contest and offers some advice for aspiring writers on her Tips for Writing page promoting the contest.

If you are interested, the school library has the first two on the list.

I apologize for the limited time, as the contest closes in a couple of days.

November 21

Warren’s Story

The following is the script for a presentation about Robert Frost’s poem “Death of the Hired Man.” I presented it to my class in the role of Warren, one of the characters in the poem. As you read, you have to keep in mind that it was a monologue, spoken and not written to be read. I wanted to share it with you because I think that it provides a bit of insight in how a poem could analysed in a presentation that is not a dry, academic style, but more creative. This is not perfect, mind, but it was not meant to be.

Yup.

The years don’t make the memories easier, but they sure make them clearer. And the strangest seem to be the clearest.

It was many years ago, when I still had my Mary, and she approached me as I came back from market. She greeted me before I could get into the house, pushed me out the door, can you believe it? But I went, ‘cause she had that look… that look of, not worry, but like she’d been a-caring for something that wasn’t going to get better. Of course that is easy to say now, but I had seen that face many times since that day, though that was the day she first tried it on.

She broke the news that Silas was back, and in our house, of all places on God’s green earth. I thought I was going to spit, I was so angry. How could she let him in with the lurch that that fella had left us in by not attending the last haying of the previous season? Continue reading

November 20

Robert Frost’s “Death of a Hired Man”

I wouldn’t usually do this, but you would need to read this poem to understand my next post. I used this poem as a jumping off point for a presentation to the class in a non-traditional, teacherly way. To be honest, it was absolutely nerve wracking and I will provide more details in the post to follow. Before I post the writing, I must clean it up as it was for a presentation and to be read in its current form would be challenging.

I think that this is a great poem, probably because it tells a story. Not a big fan of Frost overall, but he is a very accessible poet with some great stuff. Please read and enjoy, my creative piece will be to follow.

The Death of the Hired Man

BY Robert Frost

Mary sat musing on the lamp-flame at the table
Waiting for Warren. When she heard his step,
She ran on tip-toe down the darkened passage
To meet him in the doorway with the news
And put him on his guard. ‘Silas is back.’
She pushed him outward with her through the door
And shut it after her. ‘Be kind,’ she said.
She took the market things from Warren’s arms
And set them on the porch, then drew him down
To sit beside her on the wooden steps.

Continue reading

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November 20

Anthem Contest

I was asked by the Anthem Contest Committee to post this as a promotion to a group of budding young authors so that those interested would have a chance to have their words make a lasting impression on our school. The following was emailed to me and I have posted it with some minor revisions so that it makes a bit more sense in this forum.

As has been announced on the Times, there is an Anthem Contest being run at the present moment to create a school anthem.

The contest will have 2 components—lyrics and composition. The first component will be lyrics and will be run until January 15th. The author of the best lyrics submitted will be announced at the end of January. The second part will be the composition of music to match the lyrics with the deadline in mid May (further details will be given at a later period).

• The Anthem Contest Stage 1 is a great way for students to be remembered forever at PMSS, to test their literary ability, and make themselves stand out in the pool of college/university applicants
• The lyrics have to be based on the PMSS Common Purpose, which is found on the school website
• The word limit 100-250 words
• The lyrics are submitted by email at pmssathem@gmail.com

While a student does not have to participate in both components, but may take part in both of them, if they wish.

We greatly appreciate you taking the time to support our project.

Thank you,
Ekaterina, Ananya, Amy

November 15

New Year!

Yay! New members signing up and joining us, virtually. I’m really excited to have a few new members aboard and I have promised myself something; I promise to keep this blog regularly updated.

That’s right, I’ve promised myself to be a more regular contributor to the blog, with both announcements, book reports, writing and anything else that comes to mind.

You may have noticed that I have been hanging around the library more. This is now a part of my teaching load this year, as well as English. This means that my bibliophilia is served and books are a more regular part of my life. I encourage you to come by and visit, if you have not already done so. It would also be great to get book recommendations from readers to help us stock our fiction shelves. Eventually, our library’s on-line public access catalog will allow your to review and recommend book to other users at our school.

I’m keeping this post short and I hope to see you around, both in person and virtually through your newly created guild blog.

Keep writing!

September 27

Knifing Through Water: Book Report on The Water Knife

I picked up The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi because I loved his award winning 2009 novel, The Windup Girl. Both have to do with a dystopian future where resources are scarce and hoarded by the few.

In the case of The Water Knife, the south-western United States is going through an incredible and destructive water shortage. To make matters worse, water is being hoarded by corporations who claim water rights on rivers and lakes, thereby owning the water and making it difficult for the majority of the population to access unless they are willing to pay large sums of money for it. The novel focuses on three characters; Angel, a mercenary-type character who works for the corporation running Nevada’s water supply, Lucy, a journalist that takes on the plight of the people, and Maria, a poor woman who is looking to escape the Phoenix “thirst” she has grown up in.

While it had many elements that I enjoyed in reading The Windup Girl, I had difficulty in becoming as immersed in the world he was creating. I found the description of the setting minimal and, perhaps because I have never been to that area of the world, found understanding the geography that made water so hard to come by outside of my grasp.

This however made the conflicts around the availability of water no less real to me. Bacigalupi made me reflect on how the drought we deal with in the Lower Mainland are nothing compared to what happens in other areas of the world. I might see an inconvenience in not being able to water my lawn, but I am not worrying about my survival or the survival of my loved ones. The horrible movie Water World had a similar premise, but it was dirt to grow food that was in short supply leading to conflict. This book has also made me listen closely to news reports about Nestlé outbidding the Township of Centre Wellington for their access to a new water supply and the ethical issues surrounding the ownership of water by private corporations. It was this same ownership of water rights that lead to the formation of the water corporations in the book and the water knives that were hired to enforce their ownership and leave people dying of thirst.