Ch-Ch-Changes

At this moment, many of you are drowning in the beginnings of your summer programming. In addition to doing that very thing, and supervising four interns and twenty or so teen volunteers, I am also embarking on a new adventure. As you read this I am preparing to leave my current library position for a new position at a different library. It is a definite step up for me, and I am excited about the prospects of being in a new place, but this does mean my blog will be on a temporary hiatus while I attempt to sort and pack my life and drag my family across the country to start over in a new place. 

While you are awaiting new posts, please feel free to use the links to the right to search through the archives or visit other library-related blogs. 

See you on the other side! 

Book Munchers Book Club: A Color of His Own

The Book Munchers book club discussed Leo Lionni's book A Color of His Own, and then we did some activities. Because the picture book has some misinformation about chameleons, I supplemented our discussion with a nonfiction book about chameleons and we discussed the difference between fiction and nonfiction.

1. Catch a Bug: I gave the kids sticky hands to play with and let them try to "catch" the cards I had set out on the table. Each card had a different item on it, and the kids got to collect the cards that were things chameleons eat (mostly insects) and put back cards that showed things a chameleon would not eat (I generally used large mammals for these, to make it easy to tell apart).

Lesson Learned: Kids like to throw sticky hands at the ceiling. I wasn't bothered by this, but it did take longer to tear down this program at the end as we peeled the hands off the ceiling.

2. Color a Chameleon. The chameleon in the story changes color based on what he's sitting on, so I gave the kids a coloring page with a chameleon on it, and they could color it however they wanted. Some chose to make it like the pictures in the book we read, while others made realistic-looking chameleons.

3. Pony Bead Chameleons: We already have a lot of pony beads at our library, and I was able to find the directions to make a lizard online, so the kids made chameleons out of the beads. The added fun part was that I had UV-reactant beads for them to use, and these beads change color in the sun, so the chameleons they created could change color just like real ones do.

Fluffy Strikes Back

Spires, Ashley. Fluffy Strikes Back. Kids Can Press, 2016.

Fluffy is the head of P.U.R.S.T., a secret organization of pets who are protecting their humans from unwanted alien attacks. As the head of an international organization, he has a very important job, but he also doesn't get to go out in the field very often. When the invasion strikes home, will Fluffy be able to rescue the rest of P.U.R.S.T. and save the day?

This is an adorable addition to the Binky the Space Cat universe, and a quick read as well. Kids who are struggling with reading or who have just learned and don't have a very big vocabulary will be able to fly through this book and enjoy the action-packed story as well.

Recommended for: kids, fans of graphic novels
Red Flags: other than aliens (insects) being killed, there is one panel where one of the cats uses the litter box for its normal purposes
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

The Art of Being Normal

An unbelievable story of two transgender teens who support each other through high school.

Williamson, Lisa. The Art of Being Normal. Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, 2016.

* Because both David and Leo present as male throughout this book, I will be using male pronouns for both, although I realize that David (soon to be Kate) will eventually identify as female.

David is an outsider at school. His family and classmates think he's gay, and he's bullied endlessly at school. But David isn't gay; David is transgender, and he is working up the courage to tell his family that he wants to transition. Leo, on the other hand, has left his old school to start a new school and new life. He's hoping to fly under the radar at his new school, in spite of the rumors about him. David is desperate to be friends with Leo, which would prevent Leo from remaining invisible.

This was an interesting enough story, but it doesn't stand out among novels about trans* teens. David's story was pretty typical: he hid women's clothing in his closet, had already come out to a couple of close friends, and was working up the courage to tell his parents, who ended up being very supportive. Leo, on the other hand, was an oddity: his family was not well-off, he didn't seem to have a good relationship with his mother, but somehow he was able to go stealth and present male at school. He also had regular meetings with a counselor and was on hormone blockers, but his family couldn't afford to have food in the cupboard? Unless Leo had some sort of wonderful government medical assistance, I don't buy it. Hormone blockers are expensive, and there was never any mention of his family choosing to starve so he could transition. That, along with the magical coincidence of two trans* teens meeting at school and not at a trans* therapy group, made this book a bit too Disney-esque to be a good reflection of reality. However, there are few enough books featuring trans* characters, so this one will appear on my library's shelves.

Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: bullying, the teens go to several pubs/bars - nothing graphic is mentioned about anyone's transition; transphobic and homophobic slurs
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

Read-Alike Suggestions: Some Assembly Required: The Not-So-Secret Life of a Transgender Teen, Run, Clarissa, Run,Rethinking Normal: A Memoir in Transition, Beautiful Music for Ugly Children

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley for the purposes of review. 

The Family Fletcher Takes Rock Island

Levy, Dana Alison. The Family Fletcher Takes Rock Island. Delacorte BFYR, 2016.

This is the second installment in the Family Fletcher series. This time the four boys and their dads are headed to Rock Island for their annual vacation. When they arrive, they discover their beloved lighthouse has been cordoned off with chains and a "keep out" sign. Who would do this to their lighthouse, and what will they do with their summer without their favorite place to play? Each boy has his own struggles throughout their vacation, but together the Fletcher family is unstoppable.

This book is just as adorable and delightful as its predecessor. Frog tries to teach the family cat to swim. Sam is cast in a play, which makes him excited until he sees his costume. Eli is shocked to discover that his new friend Alex is a girl, even with short hair, a baseball cap, and an interest in sports. Jax learns some hard truths about people and prejudice. This is a great laugh-out-loud clean read that will delight families. Highly recommended.

Recommended for: kids of all ages
Red Flags: some readers may object to the two dads in this family, but the book is otherwise free of language, violence, or other objectionable content
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars