Each year, I try to read a frequently challenged or banned book during Banned Books Week (September 24-30). I have very particular feelings about the concept of banning or suppressing works of fiction because they do not fit into a particular worldview (I’m staunchly against it). Do I think every book should have an audience and be read? Probably not. However, I do believe in our ability to choose for ourselves what we should read, and that banning or challenging books which only serve to […]
The girls of summer
I want to read more young adult graphic novels, so that I can reference them in future courses and to my students who want something new or different. The Chancellor had recommended This One Summer as a book that came across several “best-of” lists. My library had it, so I thought I would give it a try. Mariko Tamaki, with her illustrator cousin Jillian Tamaki, creates a simple but unforgettable story that shows the power of rumor and suggestion, the uncertainty of family turmoil, and […]
Girls, Girls, Girls!
This graphic novel, published this year, is a short story about two girls (early teens) whose families meet every summer in Ontario at Awago Beach. Rose is an only child whose parents seem fairly ordinary. Windy is an adopted only child who goes to the beach with her mother and grandmother. It is a “coming of age” story that has been getting favorable reviews within comic book circles and even from the New York Times. For a short story (you could easily read it in […]