Quote: Mary Pipher

Insomnia sucks. I've had nights when I felt so awake that I couldn't remember what it felt like to be sleepy or to fall asleep. Nights when I've had to remind myself that with one deliberate exception as a kid and once or twice in college, I have in fact succeeded in falling asleep every night of my life.

A few years ago, I was late getting to bed, sitting (in fact, possibly standing) in the dining room leafing through a pile of Advance Reader Copies of soon-to-be-published books. I read a paragraph of one, a hundred pages of another...and then I opened Mary Pipher's upcoming memoir Seeking Peace to the following passage:

"Emotionally we were opposites as well. Jim was as steady and calm as I was easily rattled and changeable. For every decision, I was the gas; he was the brakes. I wanted ten children; he was quite happy with only Zeke. Many years after we married, we had this interaction: I had terrible insomnia, and after several hours, I woke Jim to ask him what he thought about in the two minutes it took him to fall asleep. He said, "Pie." He wasn't joking. Then he asked me what I was thinking about. I answered, "The Holocaust." That about sums us up."

- Mary Pipher, Seeking Peace: Chronicles of the Worst Buddhist in the World

What a revelation! I had certainly lain awake trying not to think of things like the Holocaust, but I hadn't thought of replacing it with something so simple and homey. The next night I told Nif this story and asked her to tell me her recipe for pumpkin pie. Sweet, soothing, and relaxing ... and it worked!

The following night I asked for biscuits.

Exploring the Verse Novel with Cordelia

Thanhha Lai's verse novel Inside Out & Back Again won the National Book Award in 2011 and Karen Hesse's Out of the Dust won the Newbery in 1998. There's a wide controversy concerning how exactly to define a verse novel . . .some poets believe that verse novels betray the poetic form, some novelists think you can't create a powerful story writing in verse, others ask why bother, others say the verse novel is one of the oldest forms of literature. What do you think? Here are five critically-acclaimed verse novels for children and teens to get you thinking about this popular genre.

Street Love by Walter Dean Myers (Amistad, $7.99)

Keesha's House by Helen Frost (Farrar, Strauz & Giroux, $9.99)

Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson (Speak-Penguin, $7.99)

Heartbeat by Sharon Creech (HarperCollins, $5.99)

Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate (Squarefish, $6.99)

Cordelia Jensen, April 2012

Nina’s Five Luminaries for National Poetry Month

Talented poets with a stellar cast, in some cases literally. From top to bottom, Condoleezza's workouts, Captain Ahab's Writing Advice, the Universe's Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, Zeus' goth club jaunt and the most surreal yet pragmatic fatherly advice you'd ever get.

Head Off & Split by Nikky Finney (Northwestern University Press, $15.95)

The Republic of Poetry by Martin Espada (W.W. Norton, $13.95)

Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith (Graywolf, $15)

T-Bone Series by Quincy Scott Jones (Whirlwind Press, $12)

Father Said by Hal Sirowitz (Soft Skull Press, $23)

Nina Jones, April 2012

Janet's Five Answers to the Four Questions

New American Haggadah, edited by Jonathan Safran Foer (Hachette, $29.99)

A Passover Haggadah by Elie Wiesel (Simon and Schuster, $16.99)

What am I? by Anne Margaret Lewis (Albert Whitman and Company, $9.99)

Miriam's Cup by Fran Manushkin (Scholastic, $6.99)

and of course...
Sammy Spider's First Passover and Sammy Spider's First Haggadah by Sylvia Rouss (Kar-Ben Publishing, $7.95, $5.95)

In the interest of those cleaning kitchen, house, car, garage, shower curtains, and long neglected closets, I am forgoing descriptive paragraphs.

Janet Elfant, April 2012

Erica’s Five for the Fest (Mt. Airy Kids’ Literary Festival, that is)

I’m not sure how the Mt. Airy Kids’ Lit Fest started six years ago. I suspect that some exceptionally bright five year old—reading at a tenth grade level, of course—stomped his feet and held his breath until some beleaguered staff person broke down and said, “Alright already, Kid! Cool your jets! We’ll get all of our favorite children’s authors and illustrators together for a weekend of free readings, signings, and crafts! There will be music classes and puppet shows! There will be door prizes and giveaways! There will be food! Did I mention that all of this will be FREE?” And then, that genius kid, whoever he was, dried his crocodile tears and popped the snot bubble that had crusted over his left nostril and walked off into the sunset. And lo, a festival was born.

Here are five books by five authors you can see in person at our sixth annual Kids’ Lit Festival, April 13th – 15th!

The Popularity Papers, Book Four: The Rocky Road Trip of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang by Amy Ignatow (Abrams, $15.95)
Mt. Airy’s own Amy Ignatow kicks off our festival with a reading and pizza party on Friday, April 13th at 7:00pm.

Stop Snoring, Bernard! by Zachariah OHora (Henry Holt, $16.99)
This is Zach’s first children’s book and it was chosen as the PA One Book selection for 2012. He’s taking time out of his busy tour schedule criscrossing the state of PA to read us the tale of Bernard, an otter whose LOUD snoring keeps everyone awake at naptime. Saturday, April 14th at 11:00am.

Seriously Just Go to Sleep by Adam Mansbach. Illustrated by Ricardo Cortes (Akashic, $15.95)
You probably know the adult version of this book, New York Times bestseller Go the F*** to Sleep. Not to worry. Ricardo will stop by to read the brand new G-rated version of the story with a slide show of his illustrations on Saturday, April 14th at noon.

Sasquatch’s Big Hairy Drawing Book by Chris McDonnell (Chronicle, $12.95)
Chris has worked as an illustrator and animator on shows like Yo Gabba Gabba! for Nickelodeon and Tim and Eric Awesome Show for Cartoon Network. He’ll be leading a drawing free-for-all on Sunday, April 15th at noon.

Little Dog Lost: The True Story of a Brave Dog Named Baltic by Monica Carnesi (Penguin, $15.99)
Monica is a local artist, illustrator and librarian who was inspired by the story of a curious dog who wandered out onto a frozen river and ended up lost at sea. She’ll tell us all about his daring rescue on Sunday, April 15th at 1:00pm.

Erica David, April 2012

Sheila's Five Books of Dead Women Talking

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (Penguin, $10.99)
I was excited for this book to come out in paperback and read it right away. The premise is that teenaged Hannah has killed herself and left a box of audio cassettes to be passed along to the people she blames for her death. I came away feeling like Jay Asher is a better writer than a character judge. I didn't like Hannah at all by the end of the book, and while there was room in the text to be angry with her, I think that the author wanted me to like her at least a little bit. But this was a compelling young adult read (for high-school students), the plot was the kind of teenaged trainwreck you can't look away from, and the writing was nicely paced and Clay's anguished night of listening to the tapes was nicely drawn. It got me thinking about other books I've read where, in one way or another, a dead girl or woman is shaping the story.

The principle I used to choose the list gives enough away, so to avoid further spoilers, I'm just listing titles and authors without blurbs, but all of these are suited to adult audiences, and they are all wonderful reads if you like your books smart, engrossing, and at least a little dark.

The Likeness by Tana French (Penguin, $15.00)

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury, $15.95)

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (Back Bay, $14.99)

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger (Scribner, $15.00)

Sheila Avelin, March 2012

Minter's Four Memoir Pairs

Here are some memoirs that can be fun to read in pairs. A number of them will be featured in my Life Stories book group in the next year (which meets the last Wednesday of the month at 7:15pm).

1) Alexandra Fuller's Don't Let's Go To The Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood (RH, $15.00) and Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness (Penguin, $25.95)
The first was Fuller's debut memoir about growing up in Africa in an eccentric family. The book her mother still calls "that awful book." It's not awful, it's very good and shocking in many ways. How could anyone have had this kind of childhood?

The second is a follow-up to her memoir, telling more of a story of her family's history and her parents life in Africa and their relationship.  The latest is written in a more mature voice, with confidence, and humor. Many stories are revealed here that are only hinted at in the first book.

2) Tobias Woolf's This Boy's Life (Grove Press, $15.95) and Geoffrey Woolf's The Duke of Deception (Vintage Books, $14.95)
The memoirs of two brothers, about their father, a notorious deceiver and con artist, and their childhoods (one raised by the mother and one by the father). It is fascinating to read them together, to see the difference in the childhoods of two brothers.

3) Edwidge Danticat's Brother, I'm Dying (Random House, $15.00) and Create Dangerously (Random House, $14.95)
Brother, I'm Dying is Danticat's first memoir about her father's death and her relationship with him, a story of an immigrant's family. It was nominated for the National Book Award and is beautifully written. Create Dangerously is her latest book, the One City One Book selection for Philadelphia in 2012. It's a combination of memoir and personal essays about artists who are exiled from their homelands and the importance creativity in their lives. It was a NY Times Notable Book of the Year.

4) Mira Bartok's The Memory Palace (Free Press, $15.00) and Nick Flynn's Another Bullshit Night in Suck City (W.W. Norton, $14.95)
Both of these memoirs are about homeless, ill parents, and both are told in unique, amazing ways! Bartok combines her mother's journal entries and her own drawings, weaves the story of finding her mother when she's dying after fleeing her most of her life. Flynn works at a homeless shelter in Boston and runs into his father there. It's a story of his own journey to sobriety and living a creative life as a writer. In both of these touching memoirs we see children attempting a relationship with the shattered lives of their parents, ending with redemption of their own.

Minter Krotzer, March 2012

Cordelia's Suggestions for Readers Who Love Eloise and Frances: Spunky Female Main Characters in Today's Picture Books/ Early Readers

Here are five books to get you started. Every one of these books features a main character who is either part of a series or in other books by the same author.

Lilly in Lilly's Big Day by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow, $16.99)

Olivia in Olivia Forms A Band by Ian Falconer (Atheneum, $18.99)

Lulu in Ladybug Girl by David Soman & Jacky Davis (Dial Books, $16.99)

Zelda in Zelda and Ivy: The Runaways by Laura McGee Kvanovsky*** (Candlewick, $4.99)

Nancy in Fancy Nancy and The Posh Puppy by Jane O'Connell & Robin Preiss Glasser (Harper, $17.99)

***One of Cordelia's teachers at Vermont College of Fine Arts

Cordelia Jensen, March 2012

Jen’s Five Books That Micah Loves at Age One

Micah celebrated his first birthday at the end of February, and he now has a bunch of new books to try out! So I took a moment before the influx to record his then-current favorites.

Peek-a-Who? by Nina Laden (Chronicle Books, $6.95)
This was the book that taught Micah to turn pages! Also, we got to see him turn the book over and over, comparing the picture on the back with the picture on the front, which was an exciting development. Excellent cut-outs to peep through. Silly rhymes.

In My Tree by Sara Gillingham and Lorena Siminovich (Chronicle Books, $8.99)
Another board book with cut-outs, this time with an owl finger puppet peering through. The “In My...” books are simply and excellently illustrated, and they follow a lovely progression through the activities of the protagonist, all ending up at home “with my family!” (And the families are nicely non-gender-marked.)

Global Babies, a Global Fund for Children book (Charlesbridge Publications, $6.95)
I switch back and forth when reading this book: sometimes the inspiring text, sometimes just the names of the countries that go with the different babies. Most recently, Micah has begun pointing to their mouths or noses or brightly colored clothing as we go.

Cat by Matthew Fleet (Simon & Schuster, $16.99)
Micah’s first word was “cat”. His second word was the name of one of the cats. His third word was the name of the other cat. Three months later, he’s still working on “Mommy” and “Mummy”. He ... likes cats. And he loves this “multisensory” thick flap book, though it has some fragile bits. He’s allowed to pet the fur and turn the pages, but not to pull on the fold-out flaps.

Moo, Baa, La La La by Sandra Boynton (Simon & Schuster, $5.99)
We get to practice our nonhuman animal sounds with this book! That is, Nif and I do; Micah’s not there yet. He gets a kick out of hearing us, though! And I particularly like the singing pigs. (Which reminds me that I need to get a copy of the Grunt: Pigorian Chant book and CD. It’s my birthday too, and Sandra Boynton is awesome.)

Jennifer Sheffield, March 2012

Janet's Five Titles That the March Winds Blew In

Blowin' in the Wind by Bob Dylan (Sterling Children's Books, $17.95)
For those of you unfamiliar with our three gems written and illustrated by Jon J. Muth, you and your child are in for a visual journey.  Follow the paper airplane as a metaphor for our hearts flying in the wind towards the answers each of us looks for in life.  A CD is included. 

Heart and Soul by Kadir Nelson (Harper Collins, $19.99)
African American history written for age nine and older illustrated with the type of talent that captures a volume in each person's eyes.  The play of light in the portraits makes this a work of art.

Humble Homes, Simple Shacks, Cozy Cottages, Ramshackle Retreats, Funky Forts by Derek "Deek" Diedricksen (Lyons Press, $16.95)
"The new Triple-Caffeinated EXPANDED EDITION".  Tiny home lovers (like me) can dream their way through this book and "No," the wind will not blow your home over.

Making Toast by Roger Rosenblatt (Harper Collins, $12.99)
Taken by the title, I happened to pick up this new arrival one day at the store and kept reading.  It is a simply written memoir by a gifted author about loss, family, and recovery, and, of course, making toast.

Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult, (Atria, $28.00)
Soon to be released, Lone Wolf is a study of the wolf family and a man whose study of that family keeps him hostage from his own family.  A good read when one tires of the tragic...I just happened to pick it up and kept reading.

Janet Elfant, March 2012

Poetic Profile: Monica A. Hand

Join us for an evening of poetry with Monica A. Hand who will be reading from her collection, me and Nina, at Big Blue Marble, Friday, March 30th at 7 pm. 

1) How would you describe your poetry?

I write in many different forms, some traditional, some homegrown. One of my favorite forms are zuihitsu and haibun because they mix prose and verse. I like the narrative poem but not necessarily a linear treatment of the narrative.  I also like writing persona poems.  I identify with what the poet Saeed Jones calls a queer poetics – “queer” according to Jones, “implies a slipperiness, a subversion of expectations and conventions, and inability to sit still, a refusal to obey.”

2) How does poetry fit into your everyday life? 

Poetry is how I sustain my life in the everyday, every day.

3) What poets and/or authors inspire you? 

My legacy poets are Langston Hughes and Lucille Clifton. I enjoy many modern and contemporary poets and who I am inspired by changes.  Currently  I am inspired by the work of Toi Derricotte, Bhanu Kapil, Kimiko Hahn, Terrance Hayes, and Garcia Lorca.

 

4) How does the community of Philadelphia play a part in your poetry? 

From 1971 – 1975, I attended Beaver College, now known as Arcadia, in Glenside, PA.  After college I settled in Philadelphia for several years and was active with Alexandria Bookstore, Hera Feminist newspaper and Rites of Women Theatre Collective.  I served briefly as poetry editor for Hera and I wrote material performed by Rites of Women.

5) What is the last book you have read that you enjoyed? Tell our Big Blue Marble community a little about it. 

The last book I have read that I really enjoyed is Toi Derricotte’s, “The Undertaker’s Daughter.” This is an amazing collection of poems that are honest, soul searing, complex and brave.  It is part memoir and reminds me of Lucille Clifton’s “The Good Woman” in that the first part of the book let’s us look inside of Derricotte and get a glimpse of what she is made of.  We come to know her demons and her overcoming.  Some of the poems are whimsical and playful and in reading this work we get to witness a true master at work. 

Check out Hand performing "Everything Must Change" here:

EVERYTHING MUST CHANGE from David Flores on Vimeo.

Monica A. Hand is a poet and book artist currently living in Harlem, USA.  Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Aunt Chloe, Black Renaissance Noire, The Sow’s Ear, Drunken Boat, Beyond the Frontier, African-American Poetry for the 21st Century, Gathering Ground: A Reader Celebrating Cave Canem’s First Decade and elsewhere.  She holds a MFA in Poetry and Poetry in Translation from Drew University, and is a founding member of Poets for Ayiti.

Nina's Five in a Flash

In honor of our micro-month, five books that truly leap in small spaces.

Haywire by Thaddeus Rutkowski (Starcherone Books, $18)

Variety of Disturbance: Stories by Lydia Davis (Farrar, Straus, Giroux, $14)

Running In the Family by Michael Ondaatje (Vintage, $15)
[Note: the bookstore is holding a discussion of Running in the Family tonight, as part of our Life Stories Book Group!]

House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (Vintage, $11)

Reasons to Live by Amy Hempel (Harper Perennial, $13.99)

February 2012, Nina Jones

Maleka's Five Books of a Dystopian Nature

All of these books show glimpses (or huge perspectives) of where our world can go if we continue on paths of environmental destruction, war, and other sad and oppressing states. Another world is possible!

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (HarperCollins, $14.99)

[Note: Brave New World is also one of Maleka's April Picks and Erica's August 2010 Picks.]

1984 by George Orwell (Signet Classics, $9.99)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, $8.99)

[Note: The Hunger Games is also one of Maleka's October 2010 Picks and the basis for Kate's January 2011 Picks.]

The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman (Random House, $7.50, 11.95, or in omnibus form for $21.99)

Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy (Fawcett Books, $7.99)

February 2012, Maleka Fruean

Cordelia’s Five Books from the School Library Journal's Battle of the Kids’ Books

Successful children's authors, such as Lauren Myracle and Sara Zarr, judge this year’s book battle! Read some of the contenders and join the discussion.

Chime by Franny Billingsley*** (Penguin, $17.99; $8.99 paperback due out in April!)

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (Little, Brown, $18.99)

Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai (HarperCollins, $15.99)

The Grand Plan to Fix Everything by Uma Krishnaswami*** (Simon & Schuster, $16.99)

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick (Scholastic, $29.99)

***One of my teachers at Vermont College of the Fine Arts!

February 2012, Cordelia Jensen

Jen's Five Books to Keep You Afloat

The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (Puffin, $4.99)
“I can't come back! I don't know how it works!” This cry from the Wizard of Oz film is good for a laugh, but in the book the Wizard calls only, “I can't come back, my dear...Good-by!” That's because the Wizard does know how it works, having worked closely with Dorothy to cut and sew together long strips of green silk in different shades, coat the inside of the bag with glue, and then fill it with hot air (which he concedes is not quite as good as gas, but will probably do). I love that I learned stuff like this from the books I read as a kid...

The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène Du Bois (Puffin, $6.99)
I learned even more about hot air ballooning from The Twenty-One Balloons, which my fourth grade teacher read to us in class. Diagrams and descriptions of actual balloon-related inventions punctuate this fanciful story of a lone balloonist, the island of Krakatoa, and the absurd intentional community he finds there in 1883. From this book I also learned what really happened to Krakatoa in 1883.

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld (Simon & Schuster, $9.99)
Steampunk is generally held to contain both gadgetry and dirigibles. There are plenty of gadgets here, as the Central (“Clanker”) Powers in this alternate 1914 have armed themselves with mechanical walking vehicles. The Allied (“Darwinist”) Powers, on the other hand, have developed living dirigibles, spun together from the “life threads” of different species. I know I've already recommended this young adult series twice before (and Nif once); it's really that good. And I've learned a lot about the history of WWI. (The real history, that is.)

The Eyre Affair: A Thursday Next Novel by Jasper Fforde (Penguin, $15.00)
Dirigibles don't have a leading role here, and so it took me a while to find the part of the book where Thursday travels by airship. But I always describe this world as “an alternate 1985, in which the Hindenburg disaster never happened”. There's genetic engineering in this world too, with dodos, mammoths, and neanderthals brought back from extinction. Literature is both more prominent and more of a commodity, with manuscripts (and forgeries) exchanged on the black market, chased by our intrepid hero, Literary Detective and Crimean War vet Thursday Next. (Yes, the Crimean War. In 1985.)

[Note: The Thursday Next series has been previously quoted on the blog, and Jasper Fforde is also one of my August Picks.]

Changeless by Gail Carriger (Orbit, $7.99)
This is book 2 of the Parasol Protectorate series (book 5 is due out in February!), in which Alexia Tarabotti, preternatural (soulless) and working for Queen Victoria, travels the length of England by dirigible, in the company of her sister Felicity and friend Ivy (both human), to investigate the mysterious humanizing affliction of the local supernaturals (carriers of excess soul). If she’s off her dinner and nearly tossed off the airship, will that change how she feels about air travel?

[Note: Changeless has been previously quoted on the blog, and Book 1, Soulless, is one of Erica's October 2010 Picks.]

Some aeronautical runners-up: Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, and James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl.

February 2012, Jennifer Sheffield

Erica’s Five Books: You Just Can’t Trust a House

What is it with houses? You kill someone in one of them and they’re just like elephants—they never forget. They go on about their business providing shelter and whatnot, but they’re irrevocably imbued with some kind of evil. What’s the deal, houses? Can’t we all just get along? Here are five novels starring real estate you definitely don’t want to own.

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (Riverhead, $16.00)
Demented domicile: Hundreds Hall.
“I first saw Hundreds Hall when I was ten years old. I remember its lovely ageing details: the worn red brick, the cockled window glass, the weathered sandstone edgings. They made it look blurred and slightly uncertain—like an ice, I thought, just beginning to melt in the sun.” Downton Abbey, it ain’t.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Penguin, $16.00)
Demented domicile: The Angel of Mist.
“As I neared the mansion I noticed that one of the statues, the figure of an avenging angel, had been dumped into the fountain that was the centerpiece of the garden…The hand of the fiery angel emerged from the water; an accusing finger, as sharp as a bayonet, pointed to the front door of the house.” Nota bene: when avenging angels point in one direction, it's best to walk in the opposite.

Beloved by Toni Morrison (Vintage, $15.00)
Demented domicile: 124.
“124 was spiteful. Full of a baby’s venom.” Dude, angry ghost babies are the pits. And you know what’s even worse than angry ghost babies? Angry ghost babies of ex-slaves.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami (Vintage, $16.00)
Demented domicile: The Hanging House.
“I had never seen a vacant house before, so I didn’t know what an ordinary vacant house looked like, but I guess I figured it would have a sad, beaten sort of look, like an abandoned dog, or a cicada’s cast-off shell. The Miyawakis’ house, though, was nothing like that. It didn’t look 'beaten' at all. The minute the Miyawakis left it got this knowing look on its face…You just can’t trust a house.” Tell me about it, they’re always telling your secrets and airing your dirty laundry in their backyards.

The Shining by Stephen King (Simon & Schuster, $8.99)
Demented domicile: The Overlook Hotel.
“The Overlook was built in the years 1907 to 1909. The closest town is Sidewinder, forty miles east of here over roads that are closed from sometime in late October or November until sometime in April. A man named Robert Townley Watson built it, the grandfather of our present maintenance man. Vanderbilts have stayed here, and Rockefellers, and Astors, and Du Ponts. Four Presidents have stayed in the Presidential Suite.” Guess what? I’m still not booking my next vacation there.

February 2012, Erica David

Sheila’s Five Books of Adventure for Warrior Girls...and Boys

There’s an idea in the publishing industry that girls will read books about boys, but boys won’t read books about girls. These are some books (and series) that disprove that notion! All of these are the first book in a series, so once your kid gets hooked, there are plenty more to keep them going.

The Amulet graphic novel series (Book 1 is Stonekeeper) by Kazuo Kibuishi (Scholastic, $10.99)
Emily finds she has inherited an amulet that will allow her to save her mother, but it also commits her to saving an entire alternate world. First, she must master the power of her stone. Beautifully drawn and full of gorgeous steampunk detail, this will please adventurers, artists, and reluctant readers. First grade and up.

The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens (Random House, $17.99; paperback coming in April for $7.99)
Kate, Michael, and Emma aren’t really orphans, even though only Kate remembers their parents. After they arrive at an orphanage where they are the only wards, they travel through time, escape a villainous countess, and quest through underground realms to find the secret of a powerful book whose destiny is entwined with theirs. Fourth grade and up.

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch (Amulet, $15.95)
Another graphic novel offering, Mirka is an 11-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl who would rather fight dragons than learn to knit--though it may just be that those two activities have more in common than you might think. I love it that Mirka’s stepmother is pretty much the opposite of evil (though she can be a little brusque). For Third grade and up.

The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer (Penguin, $6.99)
When her mother disappears, Enola Holmes, Sherlock and Mycroft’s younger sister, runs away rather than allow herself to be sent to boarding school, and embarks on her own investigations. Every bit as much a master of disguise as her famous brother, these are full of adventure. Fifth grade and up.

Jackaroo by Cynthia Voigt (Simon and Schuster, $6.99)
Gwyn is the innkeeper’s daughter and has heard stories of Jackaroo her entire life, how he rides out of the hills to champion the common folk against the greed and exploitation of careless lords. They’re only tales, though...or aren’t they? Seventh grade and up.

February 2012, Sheila Avelin

Claudia's Love List for February

Soo... its this time of year where common people are bombarded with chocolate hearts, heart decorations, heart cakes, hearts, hearts, hearts.....

That makes me think of the movie Love Actually with the grandiose Bill Nighy. You remember the lyrics: I can feel it in my fingers, I can it feel in my toes. Love (actually Christmas) is all around us...

My list contains only titles that reflect on this hearty time:

Peony in LOVE by Lisa See (Random House; $4.00)

The Forty Rules of LOVE by Elif Shafak (Penguin Books; $16.00)

The I LOVE You Book by Todd Parr (Little, Brown and Company; $9.99)

One LOVE, based on the song by Bob Marley, adapted by Cedella Marley (Chronicle books; $16.99)

Fancy Nancy LOVES! LOVES! LOVES! A reusable sticker book - wow - based on Jane O'Connor (Harper Festival; $6.99)

Happy Valentine!

February 2012, Claudia Vesterby

Poetic Profile: Quincy Scott Jones

1) How would you describe your poetry?

It’s hard to describe one’s own work, but after reading my work, one of my most respected mentors described me as “one odd dude.”

2) How does poetry fit into your everyday life?

I know it sounds cliché, but poetry is life. You breathe it, you hear it, you wear it on your skin. Poetry sends you text messages, e-mail alerts, and somehow gets invited to Sunday night dinner.

The only problem is finding a way for poetry to pay the bills.

3) What poets and/or authors inspire you?

The Usual Suspects:

Sonia Sanchez, Amiri Baraka, Askia M. Toure, Lewis Carroll, Lamont B. Steptoe, Zora Neal Hurston, Gil Scot Heron, Sherman Alexie, Alan Moore, Philip K. Dick (need to read more), Fran Ross, Richard Pryor, Saul Williams, Tracy Morris, Robert Hayden, Nella Larsen, Larry Neal, Biggie – Tupac – Kafka – Whoopi, Robin Williams, William F Van Wert (Bill), Bill Withers, Richard Wright, Steven Wright.

Oh, and the author of the alphabet: whoever wrote that song wrote everything (old Steven Wright joke).

4) How does the community of Philadelphia play a part in your poetry?

For all her conflicts, few mention how Philadelphia, much like America, is a community of communities: the blues of Olde City echo in the rhythm of West Philly, in the funk of South Philly, all while the satellite communities like Arcadia and 69^th Street dance along. Philadelphia is a city of cities, a new discovery every day.

Of course, I was raised in Jersey, so maybe it’s just new to me.

5) What is the last book you have read that you enjoyed? Tell our Big Blue Marble community a little about it.

I’m looking forward to reading this new book, Old News. I forgot the author’s name, but I hear it’s really good.

Quincy Scott Jones earned a bachelor’s degree from Brown University, a master’s degree from Temple University, and $100 once working as a supermarket clown. His work has been or is forthcoming in African American Review, Journal of Pan African Studies, Water~Stone Review, California Quarterly, Let Loose on the World: Celebrating Amiri Baraka at 75, and the anthology From Where We Sit: Black Writers Write Black Youth. Since 2006 he has taught “Poetry on Page and Stage,” a course exploring the idea of poetry as live performance as well as a performance on the page. With Nina Sharma Jones, he co-created the Nor’easter Exchange: a multicultural, multi-city reading series. His first book, The T-Bone Series, was published by Whirlwind Press in 2009.

Quincy Scott Jones and Ryan Eckes will be reading this Saturday, February 18th at 5pm. Please come check them out!

Poetic Profile: Ryan Eckes

1) How would you describe your poetry?

Hard to say since the form’s always changing—quickly in mind, slowly on paper—but in general so far it’s been a poetry of place: Philadelphia, how bodies move through it and what they say. There’s a lot of found/overheard language I try to respond to and hear myself through a mess of, toward some truth. I’ve described my poems before as “motion machines,” like songs you can step into and go for a ride if you want, but that’s not always the case anymore.

2) How does poetry fit into your everyday life?

It’s always on my mind, and I read some every day.

3) What poets and/or authors inspire you?

Most immediately those I meet up with most often: Frank Sherlock, Steve Dolph, Stan Mir, Ian Davisson, Carlos Soto Román, CAConrad. Many in Philadelphia. Many others from a distance, alive and dead. Lately an old standby is Ted Berrigan.

4) How does the community of Philadelphia play a part in your poetry?

Of the many communities in Philadelphia, there’s a poetry one that plays a large part because I’m reading and hearing their work a lot. There’s also my neighbors, past and present, students, all kinds of friends—anyone I’ve ever really listened to moves through me and into the poetry. And sometimes it’s just the sounds of the machinery making me go.

5) What is the last book you have read that you enjoyed? Tell our Big Blue Marble community a little about it.

Well, I just read a bunch all at once over the last month, and it was a great experience. These are all sort of swirling together:

Clearview/Lie by Ted Greenwald

Times Square Red, Times Square Blue by Samuel R. Delany

Mercury by Ariana Reines

“neither wit nor gold” (from then) by Ammiel Alcalay

Hughson’s Tavern by Fred Moten

Where Art Belongs by Chris Kraus

Humiliation by Wayne Koestenbaum

Ventrakl by Christian Hawkey

Scared Text by Eric Baus

Any combination of those’ll work for you, I bet, if you want meaningful criticism of this country we live in, and to see better, if not feel, and serious beauty.

Ryan Eckes was born in Philadelphia in 1979. He's the author of Old News (Furniture Press 2011) and when i come here (Plan B Press 2007). More of his poetry can be found on his blog and in various magazines.

Ryan Eckes and Quincy Scott Jones will be reading this Saturday, February 18th at 5:00pm. Please come check them out!