- Water has been recently found on Mars. Write a story about the day that NASA finally begins taking applications for volunteer colonists.
- It's a normal day at school until a table of girls begins laughing a little too loudly, they begin to draw attention, because soon the joy on their faces turns to fear as they try to stop but can't. Soon the next table and then the next begins to laugh until the entire room is laughing uncontrollably. Slowly but surely the laughing is creeping towards you. You then....
- Write a story about a town where the old saying "step on a crack and break your mother's back" is real.
- Rewrite the story of Hansel and Gretel in your own neighborhood in 'hood Atlanta. Who is the witch? What is her house made of instead of gingerbread?
- A wizard has offered you a fortune if you agree to give up one of your senses. Tell the story about the day you gave up your.....
- It's your 18th birthday. Tell a story about a city where poor people have been engineered to live only 18 years.
Friday, October 16, 2015
Writing Prompts
Working at a high school is fantastic because I've been able to sneak in time to write, even for just ten minutes every day. I don't have quiet at home so by creating a Young Writer's Group at school I've been able to connect with the kids and make creativity deposits in my emotional bank. Here are a few of them I've done in the last few weeks or will do in the next few weeks.
Monday, October 12, 2015
On Creativity
Creativity is an essential function of living to me. I heard something today that rang so true to my spirit. It was Elizabeth Gilbert, and she said that she finds it cruel (I'm paraphrasing here) to tell some people to follow their passion, because few people are truly passionate about just one thing, those that are tend to work in the field their passionate about. A better alternative is to tell people to pursue whatever they are curious about. Isn't that lovely.
I'm curious about a great many things, but pinning my survival on my passions (which could change or may not be very lucrative) seems reckless. I'm curious about plant-based diets, yoga, books, editing, uplifting my people, world peace. and a great many other things. I'm excited about getting older because of my curious nature and it is that curiosity that fuels my creativity.
I've been on a break for the last few days and as a young Mom I'm moving all the time and never have any time for myself, but in that chaos I've had epiphanies. Creativity is essential to sanity. Writing in my journal is a coin in my sanity bank. Trying a new ab workout and blogging is a coin in my sanity bank. We draw from our sanity banks through stress at work, through family obligations, through the constant reminder of student loans. If we don't make deposits then we run ourselves into emotional debt, which can kill you if you let it. So write a poem, do a dance, bake a pie, write something, even just for a second, or one minute.
I'm curious about a great many things, but pinning my survival on my passions (which could change or may not be very lucrative) seems reckless. I'm curious about plant-based diets, yoga, books, editing, uplifting my people, world peace. and a great many other things. I'm excited about getting older because of my curious nature and it is that curiosity that fuels my creativity.
I've been on a break for the last few days and as a young Mom I'm moving all the time and never have any time for myself, but in that chaos I've had epiphanies. Creativity is essential to sanity. Writing in my journal is a coin in my sanity bank. Trying a new ab workout and blogging is a coin in my sanity bank. We draw from our sanity banks through stress at work, through family obligations, through the constant reminder of student loans. If we don't make deposits then we run ourselves into emotional debt, which can kill you if you let it. So write a poem, do a dance, bake a pie, write something, even just for a second, or one minute.
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Write Your Congressman: Beyond hashtag activism
We can call out the media on their racist and discriminatory reporting practices and lament the times, but there are still guns on the streets and racists in boardrooms, public offices and in line waiting to purchase rifles at the latest gun show. I want some legislation passed, and I want it done yesterday. If you want to steal my letter to my lawmakers, please feel free. If you don't please make sure you a) keep it short, b) make your demands clear and c) let them know what city you live and vote in.
You can find your lawmakers here: http://openstates.org/ga/
Dear Senator ,
I want to take this time of reflection and mourning to urge you to do more than join hands in prayer for those families affected by the Charleston Massacre. I urge you to take action. I implore you to prevent senseless murders like these and others by writing a bill that requires all gun owners to pass a background check and gun safety training course. There is evidence that this kind of action is working in other states. Please see this recent article in the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2015/06/12/gun-killings-fell-by-40-percent-after-connecticut-passed-this-law/)
"In a study released Thursday in the American Journal of Public Health, they estimate that the law reduced gun homicides by 40 percent between 1996 and 2005. That’s 296 lives saved in 10 years." - Guo, Jeff. Gun killings fell by 40 percent after Connecticut passed this law. Washington Post.
Now, I am not naive and understand that bills are submitted and passed when there is an idea that everyone is already on board. I challenge you to take a leap of faith and press the notion in this state. Make everyone go on record as for or against the measure. The constitution does not ensure that any American at any time can carry a gun anywhere for any reason. Common sense must prevail and reasonable prohibitions must be enacted to further public safety. There are too many senseless murders conducted with legally obtained firearms. Please help me in preventing more massacres. Please push for reasonable gun control.
Sincerely,
Shanna Miles
Jonesboro, Georgia
Concerned Citizen, Mother, Librarian
More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera : Review
Aaron Soto is not having the best year. His father killed himself and not long after he had a little run in with a suicide attempt himself, a little happy faced scar reminds him of those dark days, but at least he's got a great girlfriend. Completely, supportive and fantastically artsy and cool, she's the reason he's come out on the other side. Still, the Lateo Institutes memory wiping technique is tempting.
When he meets Thomas and begins to develop feelings that he never knew he had he wonders if you can forget who you really are?
The premise for More Happy Than Not had me super excited. Latino kid in New York with real issues to overcome, but still has that slick city swagger, a coming of age story with a taste of science fiction, who wouldn't love that? It is all of those things and the bit characters with names like Me-Crazy are fun to read about. The problem is that the setting is bigger than the plot. Silvera takes great care and time immersing the reader into how it is to live in this particular neighborhood at this particular time while the finer points of the plot are lost. Aaron goes from head over heels in love with his girlfriend to completely gay in two pages without very much internal fanfare. It just didn't feel very believable.
There is also the issue of genre blending. This is contemporary fiction, but bills itself as a blend of CF and SF. Not so. Nearly three quarters of the book are gone before you get any real taste of the Lateo Institutes mind erasing technology. Even with all that the book is still worth a read. Pick it up, especially if you're visiting the city this Summer. You'll find yourself wrapped in music of NY.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
A Complicated Love for E.R. Frank's Dime
#wndb Dime by E.R. Frank is about a fourteen year old girl who falls into prostitution after being recruited by a pimp. She's quiet and loves books. She's smart, but doesn't do very well in school.
We're never told exactly what she looks like other than she's a young girl. The most overwhelming characteristic we learn is her crushing loneliness. Her foster mother is a bit of a drunk, mean, and using her as more of a helper for the younger foster children in the home. When the mother puts her out in the cold for some silly infraction an older girl invites her to stay with her and her boyfriend. Feeling like she's being saved the boyfriend dotes on her, buying her clothes and making sure she's fed and she's enamored. Starved for love it isn't long before things turn dark and then darker still.
It is simple. This novel needs to be read.
The psychological manipulation is spelled out so clearly that sometimes it feels as if you're reading a camp manual on how to avoid pimps in the wild. Sex is woven throughout almost every page, but it is never graphic.Told in a non-linear timeline we see the wreckage before the train wreck happens, so there is no hope that our main character will avoid the pain and suffering the reader sees coming. This book is not hopeful, it is raw. This book is real and its necessary. Girls who end up being trafficked are recruited in middle school, sometimes in elementary school. Their childhoods end early and society forgets them. Dime's story is the story of girls in our neighborhoods, in our kids classes and she deserves to have us care.
With that being said....
I am conflicted about recommending it for the Peach Book Award. It's a great book, yes, but with so little representations of black girls in YA, am I comfortable with the only one being that of a teenage sexual trafficking victim? Where are the funny contemporary fiction books with a black girl falling in love or out of love? There are some out there, but they are rarely given the hardcover big publisher push. Why isn't Stephanie Perry Moore as famous as Sarah Dessen? Where are the sci-fi epics with girls of color? They do exist, The Summer Prince is a great one, but they are few and far between. It's because representations are so few I am hesitant about putting this book in the hands of tons of white children across the state who have only the news (see Mckinney), YouTube fight videos, BET (see any 2Chainz video) and Blackish commercials to help them make an "accurate" of young black girlhood. What we don't want and cannot afford is for people to say "that's so sad" and then go an about their day. That is what has allowed the ghetto to become more dangerous than the Gaza strip in some cities. People begin to believe that the misery inflicted on certain peoples is deserved when it is seemingly endless. And what of black girls themselves? What does it do to a young reader waiting to see themselves and when you finally do it's as a slave in the endless parade of historical novels and American Girl dolls or as a prostitute?
What say you? Is no representation better than a single unfavorable one?
It is simple. This novel needs to be read.
The psychological manipulation is spelled out so clearly that sometimes it feels as if you're reading a camp manual on how to avoid pimps in the wild. Sex is woven throughout almost every page, but it is never graphic.Told in a non-linear timeline we see the wreckage before the train wreck happens, so there is no hope that our main character will avoid the pain and suffering the reader sees coming. This book is not hopeful, it is raw. This book is real and its necessary. Girls who end up being trafficked are recruited in middle school, sometimes in elementary school. Their childhoods end early and society forgets them. Dime's story is the story of girls in our neighborhoods, in our kids classes and she deserves to have us care.
With that being said....
I am conflicted about recommending it for the Peach Book Award. It's a great book, yes, but with so little representations of black girls in YA, am I comfortable with the only one being that of a teenage sexual trafficking victim? Where are the funny contemporary fiction books with a black girl falling in love or out of love? There are some out there, but they are rarely given the hardcover big publisher push. Why isn't Stephanie Perry Moore as famous as Sarah Dessen? Where are the sci-fi epics with girls of color? They do exist, The Summer Prince is a great one, but they are few and far between. It's because representations are so few I am hesitant about putting this book in the hands of tons of white children across the state who have only the news (see Mckinney), YouTube fight videos, BET (see any 2Chainz video) and Blackish commercials to help them make an "accurate" of young black girlhood. What we don't want and cannot afford is for people to say "that's so sad" and then go an about their day. That is what has allowed the ghetto to become more dangerous than the Gaza strip in some cities. People begin to believe that the misery inflicted on certain peoples is deserved when it is seemingly endless. And what of black girls themselves? What does it do to a young reader waiting to see themselves and when you finally do it's as a slave in the endless parade of historical novels and American Girl dolls or as a prostitute?
What say you? Is no representation better than a single unfavorable one?
I Quit Book Club
I'm abandoning the Book Club. I know that must seem like a horrible thing for a librarian to say, but I've had it. I'm not doing it next year. At least not how I've done it in the past, and God knows I've adjusted it here and tweaked it there. There are some weirder than weird facts about the club in my school. And my school isn't super unique, all but two percent of my kids are Black (that 2% is Latino), 98% are economically disadvantaged and the rest are probably lying, we're nestled in the city's armpit, and most people underestimate the creativity and intelligence there (and that includes the kids).
Lets get to those facts. One, I have kids who devour books, they pick 'em up, three at a time for the weekend. Two, those kids usually don't join the book club. They read too fast for the other kids and leave them in their dust. Three, the kids don't have money for books. Books are given as special treats. Four, poor time management is an incurable plague. Five, apathy is more detrimental than the time management.
To alleviate these issues I would buy all the books, but that meant that sometimes I was unable to get the titles they wanted in the time they wanted. What started out great usually fizzled to a few hard core folks who just like the library by the end of the year.
It is a new day people! The traditional once-a-month, ladieswholunch type book club is back! There will be themed snacks and book related games and door prizes, but just once a month. Sometimes the old way is the right way.
What kinds of programs have you had to scrap and retool?
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
First Peach Arrival
When a shipment comes in it is up to each member to review each title and choose those that seem the most promising and then add those to the selection list for further review. We meet in Spring for a smackdown where the nearly 100 titles are whittle down to just 20. Each member has their own tastes and style so we're all reviewing different titles and what appeals to one may not appeal to another.
As for this shipment two jumped out to me. Stitching Snow by RC Lewis, a futuristic tech punk Princess fantasy and Black Dove White Raven by Elizabeth Wein, a super-fantastic historical drama set in 1930's Ethiopia where a white female stunt pilot adopts her black friend's son and moves to the country to escape Jim Crow and the limits America wants to place on her blended family.
You want to read with me, don't you?
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