Celebrate Mardi Gras!

Jen la lasta semajnfino de mardo! Ni kutimis vivi en Nov-Orleano, do ĝi estis bonega feriado for de hejmo, kiel vi eble aŭdis en mia lasta video " Celebrate It All, Big and Small l " . Ĝi estas kutime festita sabate kaj denove marde. Antaŭ la pandemio, ni okazigis jaran feston sabate kun kelkaj amikoj (multaj el kiuj ankaŭ loĝis en Nov-Orleano kiam ni restis). Ĉi-vespere okazos malgranda kunveno ĉe Zoom, sed mi havis poton da bakita jambalaya, freŝa reĝa paro de la bakejo malantaŭ la vendotablo, kaj ni prenos iom da salikoko por paro kaj interŝanĝos malgrandajn jambalajojn kontraŭ panpudingo. iuj amikoj! Mardon, mardon ni finas la sezonon kun nia ĉiujara Popeye-tradicio ĉe la domo de amiko (jes, Popeye estas vera Luiziana regalaĵo!).

Ĉu vi volas aliĝi al la amuzo? Jen kolekto de manieroj festi Mardi Grason, Nov-Orleanon kaj Luizianon hodiaŭ ... inkluzive de manĝaĵoj, receptoj, vojaĝkonsiletoj, filmoj kaj televidaj programoj kaj kompreneble bonegaj libroj! Vi ankaŭ povas kontroli mian afiŝon ĉe la pasintjara Shelf Awareness -ekspozicio, kiu prezentis librojn pri Nov-Orleano kaj prezentis : "Vojaĝo kun Seĝoj: La Direkto de Nov-Orleano."

Bonega kolekto de libroj por plenkreskuloj / pri Luiziano (aldona titolo en mia artikolo ĉe la supra ligilo):

• The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder de Rebecca Wells, aŭtoro de Sister Ya-Ya Divine Secrets - Mi aŭdis la rakonton de Calla Lily en audio kaj eksplodis ridante kaj kriante! Ĝi okazas en suda Luiziano, kun multaj lokaj koloroj.
• Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at New Orleans Table de Sara Roahen - Mi amas ĉi tiujn memorojn pri unikaj manĝaĵoj, historio, homoj kaj kulturo de Nov-Orleano.
• Spuroj de panero: Manĝaĵo, amo kaj la domserĉo de Kim Sune - Kvankam ĉi tiuj manĝmemoroj etendiĝas la tutan vojon de Svedio ĝis Francio kaj Koreio, la aŭtoro kreskis en Nov-Orleano, kie manĝkulturo influis la reston de lia vivo.
  

Mezlernejo kaj Junularo / JES Libroj / Informoj en Luiziano:

• Detruite fare de Paul Morris - adoleskanto / JES / fantomrakonto en Nov-Orleano (perfekta loko por fantomrakonto!)
• La Labirinto de Libereco de Delia Sherman estas meznivela mirinda historia aventuro (kun sugesto de tempovojaĝado) en kiu 1960a knabino revenas al Luiziano en la 1860-aj jaroj.
• Zane kaj Uragano Rodman Filbrick - meznivela romano pri Uragano Katrina - estas forta kaj interesa
• El la pulmoj de Ruth Sepetis - Plej multaj homoj konas ŝiajn du YA-romanojn, ambientitajn en 2-a Mondmilito ( Inter Grizaj Ombroj kaj Salo ĉe la Maro ), sed la intrigo de ĉi tiu historia romano okazas en Nov-Orleano en la 1950-aj jaroj.

Filmoj kaj Televidprogramoj

• Boss estas mirinda kaj interesa filmo pri familia manĝkamiono kiu vojaĝas de Miamo al Los-Anĝeleso, kaj kompreneble haltas en Nov-Orleano! Mia plej ŝatata filmo de la jaro 2015.
• NCIS: Nov-Orleano - Kvankam ĝi estas detektiva spektaklo, ĝi enhavas multajn scenojn el Nov-Orleano, raportojn pri lokaj restoracioj kaj vidindaĵoj, aliajn lokajn vidindaĵojn, kaj ankaŭ bonan lokan muzikon. Ili kutime faras epizodon de Mardi Gras unufoje en sezono, por ekstra amuzo. Ĝi elsendiĝas sur Paramount Plus (kiu estas CBS All Access).
• Treme - ni amas ĉi tiun HBO-programon, kiun ni iel spektis per kablo. Vi nun povas elsendi ĝin ĉe HBO Max aŭ Hulu.
  
• Vi ankaŭ povas spekti kelkajn klasikajn kaj modernajn filmojn aranĝitajn en Nov-Orleano, kiel La Tramo nomita "Deziro" kaj "La Granda Lumo" .
• Aŭ agordu por vidi aliajn vivajn elsendojn kaj scenojn en Nov-Orleano (aŭ, se vi maltrafis la spektaklon, kelkajn bonegajn muzikfilmetojn) ĉe www.mardigras.com .

Unu el la loĝantoj de Luiziano

vojaĝi
Ĉu ĉi tiu tuta konversacio en Luiziano igas vin deziri viziti? Mi skribis artikolojn pri vizito de Nov-Orleano kaj esploro de la lando Cajun - kontrolu ĝin kaj komencu plani vian vojaĝon (multaj manĝaĵoj por ambaŭ!). Mi certe pretas reveni!

Salikoko!

Eŝ-pi kaj trou!
Ĉu vi rimarkis, ke multaj Luizianaj libroj kaj filmoj rilatas al KOS? Jes, Luiziano - kaj precipe Nov-Orleano - estas konata pro sia mirinda kaj unika manĝaĵo. Ĉi tiu bloga afiŝo pri kiel festi Mardi Gras-on inkluzivas miajn receptojn por kelkaj klasikaj Luizianaj pladoj , kaj ankaŭ pladojn, kiujn vi povas trovi hodiaŭ en retejoj kaj retkameraoj, kie vi povas sperti Mardi Gras-on nerekte - en ĉi tiu afiŝo estas multaj konsiletoj, kiujn vi ankoraŭ povas trovi. . administrado. faru ĝin de hodiaŭ ĝis mardo. Aŭ konservu por poste, se vi volas - ni manĝas ĉi tiun manĝaĵon la tutan jaron.

Notu, ke Zapp-fritoj (kiujn vi DEVAS provi) estas aĉetitaj de PA Utz-ĉipfaristo, do vi ne plu devas afiŝi ilin. Nun ni povas trovi ilin en lokaj vendejoj kiel Wawa ĉi tie en Delavaro ... kvankam ni ankoraŭ mendas skatolon de malsamaj gustoj por Mardi Gras! (Kajuna Crawtator kaj Cajun Dill estas la plej bonaj.)

 

Mi kaj miaj infanoj, antaŭ ĉirkaŭ 10 jaroj

It's Monday 2/28! What Are You Reading?

Book date organizer

It was a very late Monday and I was very tired after a stormy week and a very long day.

For the most part, we remain focused on the deterioration of my father-in-law at the local nursing home. We visited her every day and spent a lot of time managing her care and trying to give her what she needs (a problem in a busy nursing home still understaffed due to COVID). Last weekend, my husband and youngest son were collecting grandfather's things from his nursing home all day, which was very sad. Our basement now looks like a pantry with all the things of the son (it is between the apartments) and with all the things of the stepfather. Follow us in the next issue of Hoarders!

The highlight of the week, despite the fact that we were all exhausted, was our tradition of celebrating carnival on Saturday night. On Saturdays, I cook jambalaya in a large pot and then trade it for a delicious bread pudding made by our friends (we all lived in New Orleans). We usually have a big party on the Saturday night before Mardi Gras, but the second time we have a celebration on Zoom. We met virtually our closest friends, including those who were living in New Orleans at the time. We haven't seen them in a while, so it was fun to catch them! I didn't take any photos, but I will include some food photos from years past.

Jambalaya

Bread pudding and king pie

If YOU want to celebrate Mardi Gras (tomorrow, March 1st is Mardi Gras day), check out my tips: Celebrate Mardi Gras at home! , which includes a list of movies, TV shows, and books set in Louisiana, foods to cook or buy, and even travel tips if you're planning a trip down south. Tomorrow we'll be at the house of our oldest friend (the guy who makes the bread pudding) for our annual Popeye Mardi Gras Dinner (yes, the real Popeye!).

Somehow I managed to upload two new videos last week:

All About Me Tags - new fun videos to get to know me

Friday Reads 2-25-22 - my weekly update of what I've read

Here's what we've all read this week:

After reading Relatives by Octavia Butler (amazing!!), I moved on to another Pick Group book, The Editor by Stephen Rowley. This is a delightful story about an aspiring writer in the 1990s whose book was bought by a publisher. James goes to his first editorial meeting and discovers that Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis has become his new editor! This book is fun with that premise (he was the editor in the 90s), but it also has a lot of emotional depth. James's novels are autobiographical and deal with the complicated relationship between mother and daughter. His mother was not happy about this, and James had a lot of work to do before the novel received a satisfactory ending.

I included Beyond the Mountains by Edwie Dandicat as the final audiobook of Black History Month, a civic book set in Haiti and New York. Seliana (13) lives with her mother and older brother in a remote village in the mountains of Haiti, while her father lives in New York where she can raise money to send home. During a visit to Port-au-Prince, Selian and her mother were injured in a bomb blast due to political unrest, and their U.S. visas were eventually approved. The first half of the autobiographical novel is set in Haiti, while the second half is set in Brooklyn as Selian and his family adjust to immigrant life in the United States. I really enjoyed listening to this fascinating story with a unique setting.

For my husband Ken's next book, he chose Snowstorm of the Polar Bears by Alice Henderson (seems like a good choice for February). Last year he really liked the author's novel La solitude des carcajous , so I gave him this second novel for Christmas. Both books feature Alex Carter, a wildlife biologist who studies endangered species, while the second part takes him to the Canadian Arctic. I want to read this too!

Our 27 year old son read Storm! He eventually completed Glen Cook's Chronicles of the Black Company , a volume containing the first books in a series (of which he was very fond).

 

He then took over the beloved Spellslinger series. He rereads volume two, Shadowblack , to move on to volume three, Charmcaster , which I gave him for his birthday last year. Today he told me all about the show in the car and he loved it because he has both magic and a great sense of humor, including a magical squirrel cat that acts as the main character's sidekick! Another literary blogger, Beth Fish Reeds , was the first to tell me about this wonderful series!

And now our son is back with another favorite series , Shutter Magic. He is reading the fourth volume of The Military Order , which we gave him for Christmas. There are 22 books in this epic fantasy series, so it will take some time!

Blog post from last week:

Art criticism: Colson Whitehead's Harlem Shuffle -

Memory Review: Richard Wright's Black Boy -

Celebrate Carnival at home! - Books, TV, Movies and Food this week!

"What You Read On Monday" is hosted by Katherine on Book Date, so check out her blog and join in on the Monday fun! You can also join the kids/teen/YES version hosted by Unleashing Readers.

You can follow me on Twitter @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog page.

What did you and your family read this week?

Fiction Review: Kindred

For years I had heard nothing but great reviews about Octavia Butler's Kindred and wanted to read it. So when I saw that my local independent bookstore had chosen it for their monthly Black Book of the Month review panel, I signed up. Fabulous. Not good. This touching story of a contemporary black woman who travels through time on a southern plantation in 1815 amazed me. It is a fascinating, compelling and very powerful story that has generated a lot of discussion.

Dana is a black woman who lived in California with her white husband Kevin in 1976. Both are writers and Dana works part-time to get around. On her 26th birthday, Dana suddenly disappears from their living room as she and Kevin unload the boxes of their latest move. It is located near a river in the countryside surrounded by trees. See a child drown in a river and act on instinct, jump into the water and swim to save him. You drag it ashore, but it doesn't breathe, so you start to breathe mouth-to-mouth. She was shocked when her mom arrived on the scene and started punching Dana in the back. The boy, Rufus, started breathing again, but his father appeared and pointed the gun at Dana. She disappears from the scene and reappears in her living room wet, dirty and out of breath. She tells Kevin what happened, and while it's hard to believe, it's impossible to ignore the physical evidence Dana carries: river water, dirt, and bruises on her back. It soon happened again and Dana learned that her maiden voyage was in 1815 and that Rufus lived on a farm in Maryland. She seems to have the ability to somehow relate to him when his life is in danger, which often happens as he gets older. Whenever Dana is taken back in time, she stays around longer; He suddenly returns to his time when his life is in danger. While on the plantation, Dana has to live and work with slaves, often gets into trouble, remembers to speak up, and behaves submissively towards Rufus' often abusive parents. Dana tells her true story to Rufus, who sees her appear and disappear, and even though these two become a little intimate, their relationship is still strained, as Rufus discovers that blacks are less human, almost animal. What makes things even more difficult is that Dana's family history is in jeopardy due to what's going on on this farm.

did i say wow ?? Regular readers of my blog know that I love time travel novels, especially those that include historical stories like Connie Willis' TheDoomsday Book and Eclipse and Everything is Obvious . But this historical time travel novel was incredibly powerful. We had a lot to discuss in the reading group. We all agreed that Dana, who had experienced slavery on a southern plantation, was stronger because she was a modern woman, and the contrast with her modern life only accentuated the horrors of slavery. The comings and goings between periods influenced Dana and Kevin, who one day drifted a lot with her. With the views of black and white slaves of the time, as well as the growing conflict between the admiration and respect of Rufus and Dana and the views he grew up on, the novel covers many aspects of this period in depth. Dana faces impossible choices and makes very difficult decisions as she tries to balance the needs of time - and the people she's starting to care for - with her modern life and family. It's a compelling and powerful portrait of a terrifying time and place in our story, told in a truly unique way. I want to go back and reread the whole novel. I'm sure someday.

note that. When you get back to the end of the novel, be sure to go back and read the introduction again!

264 pages, Bacon Press

Registered books

This book is suitable for the following 2022 reading assignments :

TBR fitting test

Idea of ​​the Month - Girl Power (No female character is more ferocious than Dana!)

Alphabet soup challenge - K for the family

Challenge to diversity

Literary Escape Call - North Carolina

note that. This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links earn me a small commission (one cent per purchase) to make up for the time I spend writing posts for this blog at no additional cost to you.

 

Visit my YouTube channel for more book fun!

 

Listen to audiobook excerpts from the introduction and beginning of the novel here and / or download it from Audible. This looks good!

 

You can purchase a book through Bookshop.org , where your purchase will support the independent bookstore of your choice (or all independent bookstores), making online shopping convenient while shopping locally!

Or you can order Kindred from Book Depository with free worldwide shipping.

Middle-Grade Review: Ruby Lee and Me

Last month, while waiting for my book group selection to become available, I needed a quick book to weave between books and wanted to stay on my story month theme. I've found the perfect choice on my TBR shelves (since 2016!): Ruby Lee and Me, a temporary novel by Shannon Hitchcock. It's a rich and warm story that blends the family drama, friendship and racial tensions of 1960s Southern integration.

Sarah, 12, is assigned to take care of her younger sister Robin on a summer's day in North Carolina in 1969, but becomes distracted by the book she is reading. Robin runs down the street and gets hit by a car. She was badly injured and Sara and her family were devastated. Sara goes to her grandparents' farm while her parents spend every day in the hospital with Robin. No one knows that Sarah blames herself and is overcome with guilt for what happened. But living on the farm with her grandparents in the summer is always comforting to her, and she's particularly excited to see her friend Rubin, a black girl who lives with her grandmother next door to the farm. Sarah notes that while her grandmothers are good friends at home, they rarely talk to each other when they're in town. Now, the big news in town is that Sarah School will be onboarded for the first time this fall, with its first African American teacher. Sarah is nervous about going to a new school, but reassures her friend Ruby will be around her... until Ruby tells her they can't be friends at school, only at home, like hers Grandmother tired. Their different attitudes create a rift between the two girls and Sarah's summer is only made worse as she worries about Robin and doesn't even have a boyfriend to talk to anymore.

I loved this sweet story with so much emotional complexity intertwined in it. Poor Sara has so many worries about a little girl, and the novel shows how much she (and consequently the other children) thinks about these difficult subjects that many adults would not bother. The author describes a beautiful picture of farm life, unlike anything that went wrong that summer. He explains in an author's note that Sarah's experiences are based on her childhood in North Carolina in 1967, when her sister was injured and schools were integrated, although she was younger than Sarah at the time. Also includes some of her photos on the back. Maybe that's why this story is so touching and authentic, with characters that really feel it. I was really having a great time with Sarah and Rubin and I was looking for them (and the town) to calm things down.

207 pages, scholastic

This book is part of the following Reading Challenges 2022 :

Mount TBR Challenge (Bonus points since this has sat on my shelf for 6 years?)

The Challenge of Reading the Alphabet - R

The Challenge of Reading Diversity

The Challenge of Literary Escape - North Carolina

Discovery: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My rating is my opinion and not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

Note: This post contains companion links. Purchases made through these links give me a small commission (purchase rewards) to make up for the time I spend writing for this blog at no additional cost to you.

 

Visit my YouTube channel for more book fun!

 

You can purchase the book through Bookshop.org , where your purchase will support your choice of standalone bookstore (or any standalone bookstore)—the convenience of online shopping with the convenience of local shopping!

 

Or you can order Ruby Lee and Me from Book Depository , with free shipping worldwide.

It's Monday 3/7! What Are You Reading?

In my weekly posts I try to make things easy, but life has only recently begun. Go to paragraph 2 if you find it too difficult! I’ve been suffering from flu-like pain for a week and it’s a mess with my immune system, although I can’t figure out the exact cause (which drives me crazy!). I adjust the medication and try not to overdo it. My husband says it’s time that can be very frustrating, but it’s true! Today is a nice hot day (around 80!), But it means high blood pressure that bothers me from time to time. So I can’t walk as much as I would like. I'm just sick Last week I celebrated my 20th birthday with a chronic illness, so you think I'll get used to it now, but the unpredictability can sometimes disappoint me.

We also struggle to take care of my honest father, so I know that stress is also part of the problem. Today and tomorrow we had meetings with our doctors and the senior team. This week we are building a shelter. Even at 96 he has a strong heart, but he does not eat or drink. She needs more care and support than can be provided by additional diligent nurses and paramedics, and my husband and I are within our borders and also need support. We both stop there every day (I have lunch and she has dinner). Our doctor explained that palliative care will give a lot as well as provide emotional support.

We promised to take time for ourselves this weekend, so on Saturday we went for a walk in a small (pampering, damn!) Apartment in a beautiful local park. We walked downstream until the sun rose. In the evening we had the usual Saturday dinner and TV. We’re in a hurry to finish “A Handmade Tale” (which is weird!) Because our son’s subscription to Hulu is over this month, and we’re really enjoying Richard - two shows on the book!

The sky is a little clearer!

My husband came to the canal

Oh, and the good news - and there's something to look forward to! Bookotopia returns in person in 2022! This unique “Where Readers and Writers Meet” event takes place every year on the first weekend of May at the award-winning Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, Virginia. My mom and I joined our first Booktopia in 2015 (my resume is linked), and by 2020 we had moved on to three more, and it was stuck. A fun literary event where a group of readers of 100-150 people spend the whole weekend with about 10 authors. There are author discussions that are more like group discussions about books than reading in regular bookstores; Recommended by the bookstore. The “Great Event” Saturday night with all the authors; Also, a really fun Friday lunch with little things and an exchange of Yankee books. It’s a whole weekend of fun books! This is my view on Booktopia 2019 . A lot of the same people come back every year, so it’s a book friends meeting, especially after a two-year break this year. Everyone is welcome, so visit the Northshire Bookstore website for details (click “Events” and then scroll to BookTopia 2022). tell me if you want to go

Last week I only managed to play a short video, but it had a double title: a general weekly summary of what I read, plus what I plan to read in March for junior classes, the #Booktube readathon to help you have fun. enjoy!

Read the middle class on March and Friday 3-4-22

Here’s what we all read last week:

I graduated from Stephen Rowley’s “Editor ” and talked about it with my writers. This is a funny story about an author who received a book from the first publisher in the 90s. Visit their first meeting at James Publishing to find out that their new editor is Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis! With such a premise the book is hilarious ( it came out in the 90s ) but also has great emotional depth. James ’novel is autobiographical and tells of the complex relationship between a mother and her son. His mother is not happy about it, and James still has to work before the novel ends satisfactorily. I really enjoyed it and we had a good discussion.

I then switched from Booktopia to My Best Picks, The Original Land , written by Dahlia Azim. North Edge bookstores always choose great books / authors for events, and this first novel is no exception. It began in Egypt in 1952 when Cairo caught fire and a revolution for independence began. 14-year-old Hala is leaving the British school for girls she attended and has started to feel trapped in her own home. He grew up with special privileges and security and knew very little about the outside world. He fled to New York with a soldier. The novel has different parts in terms of Haley, her husband and their daughter (yet). It’s fun and compelling.

My mid-level career began with a graphic novel I wanted to read, “The Terrible Cases of Margot Malu: Drew Wing’s Tangled Web” . I love this creative and fun series ! I read the first two books in this series, and this is the third. A boy named Charles moved to Echo Town when his parents bought the old building. Charles notices Carlip, who lives in the basement, and offers to call his new friend Kevin, Margot Malo, the Mediterranean Monster. Margot, being a child herself, helps people and monsters (which most adults ignore) to live together in peace. Now Charles is his assistant, and in this third book Margot disappears when a new case appears, so Charles tries to deal with it himself. Love it still, as always!

I’m also releasing a new audiobook for the March for College, Kelly Young’s Room to Dream . Seventh-grader Mia Tang is having a hard time in high school, but she is so excited that she and her parents will finally be able to visit the family in China! It’s been five years since they came back (and were on vacation), so Mia can’t wait to see her cousins ​​and grandparents again. Mia wants to become a writer, and in China she was offered a unique opportunity: she is chasing her dream! I like that the author draws a parallel between the problems of China and California in the 1990s - big problems like the supervision and closure of large department stores where mothers and fathers live, and small problems with middle-aged children. I really enjoyed this book and I can’t wait to see what it turns out to be!

My husband Ken completed Alice Henderson’s “ Blizzard of the Polar Bear ” (seems to be an option for February). Last year he really liked the author’s “ Loneliness Wolverines,” so I gave him this second novel for Christmas. Both books play Alex Carter, a wildlife biologist who studies endangered species, and this second part will take you to the Canadian Arch. I liked it and I enjoy reading it!

So why start Ken Follett’s short film “ Never ” (#Booktube also celebrates mammoth exercises, and this book will qualify!) We were both fans of Follett’s book from the 80s when he started writing thrillers and came back to it here with modern roots and unique races. The author’s note first states that he was thinking about how to control what seemed like a small event for the start of World War I, and thus reflects a similar situation in the world today (with the American president!). Sounds good and wise about Follett’s writing, I’m sure it will also be impressive.

Our 27-year-old son reads his favorite TV series, The Magic of Reclus, Lee Modezit Jr., and reads Book 4 , The War of the Orders , which we gave him at Christmas. There are 22 books in this epic fantasy series, so it should take a while!

Blog post from last week:

Fiction Review : The Means of Octavia Butler is a wonderful and powerful novel about the journey of a modern black woman to a southern farmhouse in 1815.

Middle Class Review: Ruby Lee and I Shannon Hitchcock is a fascinating and poignant story about a friendship between two girls and racial tensions in North Carolina's school integration in the 1960s.

What you read leads Catherine to Monday, so go to her blog and have fun on Monday! You can also join the version for kids / teens / teens posted by Unleashing Readers.

You can follow me on Twitter @SueBookByBook or on my blog page on Facebook.

What are you and your family reading this week?

YA Review: Kent State

Last month, while I was looking for an audiobook to listen to, I spotted Deborah Wiles, a Kent State historical novel, in my audio backlog. I liked part of his 1960s middle-class trilogy , Wiles' Revolution , and I mistakenly thought it might be part of this series. However, focusing more on teenagers and young adults, the book tells the story of four American college students who were shot dead by members of the National Guard while protesting the Vietnam War in the state of Kent. It's not just a historical redirect, but a powerful first-person narrative, told from multiple angles, that was even more impressive on audio. I will not forget

Most people in the United States know the basics of this horrifying historical event, but nothing more than popular music and culture. On May 4, 1970, members of the United States National Guard were called to the Kent State University campus in Ohio to quell student protests against the Vietnam War. Protests were common at the time, but this time the situation got worse when the National Guard opened fire on the students, killing four people. The event made national news and inspired a now famous song by Neil Young ( Four Dead in Ohio ), but Wiles presented it in a whole new light. His book is narrated entirely in first person from various angles, as attendees recall the events of that week leading up to the shooting. The narrative shifts to the stories of Kent State students who knew about the murdered students, Kent City residents who feared escalating violence from this week's student protests, a black student in Ohio state, where protests were taking place the like and also a national security guard. . Who was there? The book is designed in such a way that all of these people were in the same room, each remembering events in their own way and telling their own stories. The result is an underlying narrative from multiple perspectives that provides a detailed and concise account of what happened together. The audio production features different narrators for each different character, each speaking from a first-person perspective, then each telling their own story.

The results, especially in the audio, are impressive, moving and very powerful. I was absolutely mesmerized by these 2 hours of audio production and felt like I heard these stories firsthand. I learned a lot about the specific history of this event, but I also learned a lot about what happened in the United States, in colleges across the country, and after the shooting. The author also added references to songs and other pop cultures that came out of them. I was not at all surprised to see this audio where ALA won the 2021 Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audio Production, that award because it was an audio experience that blew me away. The author's notes at the end give an idea of ​​the depth of Wiles' research by combining these first-person accounts and multiple perspectives. Fifty years later, this event is still relevant and contains lessons that we can and must learn from today. Hearing this description firsthand from many different sources is a powerful way to learn about the past.

144 pages, educational

school audio

This book corresponds to the following 2022 reading challenges :

Challenges of diversity

Literary Escape Challenge - Ohio

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My rating is not influenced by my views and my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

Note: This message contains authorized links. Purchases made through these links earn you a small commission (money per purchase) for taking the time to write for this blog at no additional cost to you.

 

Visit my YouTube channel for more book fun !

 

Listen to an audio sample here and / or upload it to Audible.

 

You can purchase the book through Bookshop.org , where your purchase will be supported by your favorite independent bookstore (or all independent bookstores): the convenience of buying online and continuing to buy locally!

 

Or you can order Kent State from Book Depot , free worldwide shipping.

Middle-Grade Review: Behind the Mountains

I searched for another audiobook for Black History Month and finished my mid-level audio recording because I only had a week to listen to it in February. I chose " Beyond the Mountains" by Edge Dandikat and enjoyed the story of a girl's journey from the Haitian mountains to the concrete jungles of New York.

Celian lives with her mother and older brother in a small village in the mountains of Haiti. They had a small farm, but due to limited resources in Haiti, Celiana's father moved to New York five years ago to raise money to send home to his family. Other family members are waiting for their visas to be approved so they can join. Celian is the best student in her class, but her parents want to give her the best possible education. His brother Mai is studying for a semester, although he wants to become an artist. Celiana and her mother came down the hill to meet Aunt Celiana in Port-au-Prince. As the election draws near and supporters on both sides resort to violence, the city is in danger. One day, Selian and her mother were seriously injured when a bus exploded while they were getting on a bus. Now there are more reasons to leave Haiti and their visas are approved immediately. Three members of the family go to New York to reunite with Celia's father, but Brooklyn is a whole different world than before! Each of them is trying to adjust to their strange new life.

Seliana's teacher gave her a notebook to use as a diary, so the novel was written from Seliana's point of view as she recorded her family experiences in the diary. This first-person story allows readers to experience everything new in New York, like Haiti and Celian. Ella Toure's beautiful voice and the narrator's emphasis on the audio add to this exciting experience. I liked the strange landscape, because I had never read a novel in Haiti before, and the author perfectly described the mountain village and the vibrant and picturesque city. The novel also beautifully depicts how immigrants, even smart students like Selena, feel out of place among many students who struggle with foreign languages ​​and are different from her. New York was a difficult adaptation for everyone. In the author's note, Dandikat explains that the novel is based on his family's childhood experiences and that reality shines through him. It is a great pleasure to accompany Selena on her new life journey.

192 pages, Gramedia

school audio

Note: This novel will be reprinted on April 5, 2022 in print and audio.

This book corresponds to the following 2022 reading problem :

The problem of diversity

Discover the world in the book - Haiti

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest opinion. My opinions are not affected by my own opinions or my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

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