Friday, March 30, 2012

A Letter to My Granddaughter

Dear Hannah,
Yesterday I received your request to be my friend on Facebook. I nearly choked as I realized you are thirteen years old now and that alone makes you eligible to become part of the social media. You may be ready for this but I'm not sure I am.
I don't know that I'm ready for you to be exposed to the ugly side of humanity. Sure, you watch television, but most of what you see is fiction and you know that and haven't allowed it to taint your world.
At first I was surprised your parents would allow it. They've been so diligent in setting time limits on the computer and blocking your access to sites you don't need to see. After speaking with your mother, I understand she's had "the talk" with you and that helps some. I imagine she knows she might as well allow this so you don't have to sneak and do it and then feel guilty about it.
So many good memories are whirling in my mind of the times you and I spent doing things together. Things that to anyone else would seem useless, but to us, at the time, were fun.
Remember long afternoons in TN, when you were 3-4 years old, peeling the bark on the birch trees, trying to see which one of us could pull the longest strip before it broke?
Remember playing cards and laughing so hard the parental units yelled at us from an adjoining bedroom and told us to get quiet and go to sleep?
Remember being next to me in bed and helping me with the crossword puzzles? I was amazed at your knowledge.
Remember spooning at night with your little body giving warmth to my old aching bones?
I cherish every minute I've had with you. And now you want to be my friend on Facebook.
I'm so afraid; afraid that you'll see who I really am and may not like what you see. But I'll take my chances and hope that love wins.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Defending a Book

I'm not the only one who uses a blog to review books. I enjoy seeking others who do the same. While I respect each reader's opinions, why do I find myself feeling compelled to respond to someone who rips a book I love? I know we can't all like the same things; if we did, it would be a dull existence and a lot of writers would be out of business.
But how someone could profess to loving THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett and then rip THE HEALING by Jonathan Odell is beyond me.

I like a book that teaches as well as entertains. Stockett did no research other than talking to her sister's maid, and even with all she gleaned from the maid, she didn't bother to give her one sentence of acknowledgement. She made an historical mistake in the book and she made up things that simply would not have happened. Needless to say, the black community didn't take to THE HELP too well.

As he wrote THE HEALING, Odell did hours of research and made sure the people he interviewed were given their deserved credits. This fact alone makes me give more credence to his work.

I read this review: http://www.anitabook.com/the-healing-written-by-jonathan-odell/#comment-32 and was dumbfounded. The reasons the reviewer gives for her poor rating for THE HEALING would make sense if what she says is true about the book. But my view from the rocking chair is nothing like what she sees. I hope nobody by-passes this book because of her review.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Two jewels for the price of one!



I love it when I beat my friends in finding a new jewel. This time I found two stuck together.
The first is the book GIRLCHILD and the bonus is the author of that book, Tupelo Hassman.
How could you not love someone named Tupelo?

GIRLCHILD is about a third-generation resident of a trailer park. All of the things you've heard, in jokes and on the street, regarding the lowlife in trailer parks, come into play in this wonderful little book.

Rory Dawn Hendrix is a smart little girl who uses a tattered old copy of the Girl Scout's HANDBOOK as her guide to life. She's formed her own troop with a membership of one.

Social Services labels her mother as "feeble-minded" and RD feels as though she's responsible for her mother's happiness and well-being. It's a big burden for a child. She purposefully lost out in a spelling bee so she wouldn't have to travel to the next level and leave her mother behind.

GIRLCHILD is full with such touching antidotes. It's style is rarely seen ... unnumbered chapters, each three pages or less. You may think this would make it easier to read on the run as the breaks come more often. You would be so wrong because once you start, there is no stopping.

Join in as RD journeys toward leaving the trailer park behind.

Read this excerpt: http://www.berfrois.com/2012/03/girlchild-excerpt-tupelo-hassman/,

and this awesome review from NPR: http://www.npr.org/2012/02/09/146581514/scrappy-girlchild-forms-a-girl-scout-troop-of-one

I can hardly wait until the next book by this author.

Monday, March 19, 2012

4 stars for The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian

If you like a good ghost story, this book should satisfy you.
A young airplane pilot has to bring his commuter plane down in water. He performs a perfect execution, but a wave catches the plane and flips it. Several lives are lost.
As the pilot heals from his own injuries, he starts seeing the ghosts of some of those who died. He's unable to work and feels trapped in his town and by his nightmares.
His wife finds a big old house away from anyone they know and the couple move there with their twin daughters.
In this new community almost everyone has a greenhouse. The women all go by names of herbs and spices. They seem to be obsessed with the twins. Unfortunately, the move didn't get rid of the haints; they followed the family to the new address.
You'll be engrossed as you learn the connections among the twins, the herbs, and the residents of this community and all the way through to its chilling ending.

Author Groupies

Up until today I considered "groupie" a derogatory moniker. Then I found myself and realized I'm a groupie.
I'm an author groupie. I have over 100 authors on my Facebook friends list and only one of them requested me as a friend. I instigated all the other "friendships".
Many years ago I attended a book signing with Terry Kay (Dancing With the White Dog). I'd been so moved by the book and wanted to show him how much. I crafted one of my layered paper Christmas ornaments and took it to give him as a gift when I met him.
Years passed and I read Sugar by Bernice McFadden and the desire hit me again to connect with the person whose work moved me so.
By now, the internet was up and running and made simple for old folks like I am. I reached out to Ms McFadden and this lead me not only to new friends, but to fiction by black authors.
I was fortunate enough to meet Bernice McFadden last fall at an event in KC. On the same program was Carleen Brice (Orange Mint and Honey) who was also on my friends list. By now I'd read both of Carleen's books and all of Bernice's. I attended the event with two more of my ornaments in hand.
I was the only 100% white person in the audience of approximately 250 people and it was one of the highlights of my life. Both Bernice and Carleen recognized me from my Facebook photos and I got hugs and priceless photos.
Will I stop stalking authors now? Not as long as I can draw breath and persuade one of my children to chauffeur me.