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Yesterday on Twitter, Annie Pho tweeted this image:
The words in the image she tweeted are a 2016 article by Eric Jennings, titled "The librarian stereotype: How librarians are damaging their image and profession." People on twitter were, appropriately, angry that Jennings used that excerpt in the way that he did. Here's the excerpt Jennings used (shown in the image):
When I was at the 2009 Association of College and Research Libraries conference, I saw Sherman Alexie speak, and one of the things that stuck with me is that there's always some truth to a stereotype. He was talking specifically about how the stereotype for many Native Americans is that they are alcoholics. And, in fact, most of his family members are alcoholics. He even went on record as saying that the whole race is filled with alcoholics and that pretending that alcoholism is a stereotype among Native Americans is a form of denial (Alexie, 2009).
I took a look at the source for that quote. It is a video. I watched it. Alexie did, in fact, say what Jennings says he did. Was it wise for Jennings to use that excerpt in his article about stereotypes of librarians? I think not. Here's why. Most people know a librarian. Most people probably know a lot of librarians, and know that the stereotypes of librarians don't apply. Most people, however, do not know a Native person. So, there's no way for them--in the course of their everyday life--to know that most of us are not, in fact, alcoholics.
Let's think about that a minute.
Alexie said it is a stereotype that Native people are alcoholics.
The truth? Alcoholism is a widespread disease.
Alcoholism is a social disease. It does not exist in higher incidences amongst Native communities. Alexie tells us about his specific family. What he says is not true for my own family. We're not exceptional, either. I'm not saying "Not us" out of a holier-than-thou space. A research study released earlier this year says it isn't true for most Native people in the US either. Holding that view, however, has costs to Native people. The news report about the article included this:
"Of course, debunking a stereotype doesn’t mean that alcohol problems don’t exist," Cunningham said. "All major U.S. racial and ethnic groups face problems due to alcohol abuse, and alcohol use within those groups can vary with geographic location, age and gender.
"But falsely stereotyping a group regarding alcohol can have its own unique consequences. For example, some employers might be reluctant to hire individuals from a group that has been stereotyped regarding alcohol. Patients from such a group, possibly wanting to avoid embarrassment, may be reluctant to discuss alcohol-related problems with their doctors."
And here's another paragraph:
"Negative stereotyping of groups of people who have less access to health care creates even more health disparities," Muramoto said. "Based on a false negative stereotype, some health care providers may inaccurately attribute a presenting health problem to alcohol use and fail to appropriately diagnose and treat the problem."
Several years ago, a dear elder in my tribal nation dealt with that very thing. He wasn't well. He had tests done. Doctors assumed he was alcoholic, and that alcohol abuse was the cause of what they saw in tests. He told them he didn't drink, but, they wouldn't probe further. Now, he's finally been diagnosed with a fatal disease. Just writing those words brings tears to my eyes. Words. As I said on Twitter, words matter. They shape what people think and what people do. Words shaped those doctors who didn't believe this elder. In a recent article in Booklist, Cynthia Leitich Smith wrote this:
I’ve had allied non-Indian librarians tell me, one way or another, that they’re committed to telling stories about “real Indians” and go on to clarify that they mean alcoholics living in reservation communities. As if, say, my tribal town and urban characters were somehow less “real.”
I cringed reading her words because what she's encountering is a belief in that stereotype. They think it is real. I'm seeing it in books I've read in the last year. Writers seem to have an idea that, if they're writing a story about Native people or our communities, they better make sure to have an alcoholic in it. Writers who do that are damaging us, and they're damaging non-Native readers, too. They are taking a social illness and making it a NATIVE social illness. My guess is that they have read Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. That story has alcoholism in it. Because he's got it in his book, I think writers are thinking that they should make sure to include it in their stories, too. Writers: Don't do that. Editors: Don't let your writers do that. Book reviewers and bloggers: Your reviews/posts influence purchasing decisions. Pay attention. See what I see, which is the overrepresentation of alcoholism as a part of Native life. Everyone: Read the study. See for yourself. See the news article: Study Debunks Notions about Native Americans, Alcohol Read the study: Alcohol use among Native Americans compared to whites: Examining the veracity of the 'Native American elevated alcohol consumption' belief
0 Comments on Eric Jennings, Sherman Alexie, and Damaging Perceptions about Alcohol Use Amongst Native Peoples as of 3/23/2016 4:27:00 PM
The US taxpayers fund the overwhelming majority of addiction research in the world. Every year, Congress channels about $1 billion to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). An additional almost $0.5 billion is separately given to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), my own workplace for the past decade.
“In this modern-day Hansel and Gretel story, Saucy and Bubba struggle to get along with Krissy, their alcoholic stepmother. One freezing night, Krissy locks Saucy out of the house and Saucy must sleep in the barn. In a desperate move, Saucy and Bubba run away to their aunt’s house—except Aunt Vivian isn’t home. Trying to take care of Bubba for several days forces Saucy to take charge of her own life and accept a terrible sacrifice in order to find safety for herself. This is the simple story that weaves through the tangled threads of family and
Opening
“Saucy Dillard loved gingerbread days.”
Review
Since Saucy and Bubba’s mother died, daddy has been very lonely. He hired Krissy to babysit the two kids, and then fell for the young alcoholic woman. Daddy married her and has been googoly-eyed for her ever since. Stepmom gets away with her actions because her hubby is in denial of the problem, preferring to blame his oldest child. That is more than enough to topple any eleven-year-old girl. Add acting as Bubba’s guardian—self-appointed—in charge of his happiness in addition to his safety, and the recipe for disaster more than doubles.
Saucy and Bubba would make a good story for social work students. It covers the same ground without the dryness of an adjunct text. In addition to alcoholism, the story involves child abuse and neglect, a mean stepparent, an absentee father, and runaway children. Pattison also throws in a possible pedophile, just in case there is not enough social angst. The pedophile is nothing more than bait, used to unite Krissy and Saucy in battle. I was surprised Saucy told Krissy the problem, given her justified fear of the woman, but the two make an insurmountable team—possibly because they are so similar—while rescuing Bubba from danger.
Saucy and Bubba is a dysfunctional family drama. The father, who I think is the biggest problem, is an absentee father, not because he is gone a lot as a long haul trucker, but because he overlooks most all of what his new bride does to his children, preferring to blame the eldest child instead of the real problem, his wife. In regards to Krissy leaving the kids on an outing (to get gas), going to a bar (getting drunk and driving home) and never picking them up (they walked home in the cold and dark), he says to his oldest, eleven-year-old Saucy,
“Krissy isn’t the problem. You are. Next time, you stay put.”
The best part of the story is during the runaway. All that before then is set-up. The kids have such a long way to go they must take a greyhound and then walk several miles. Bubba is but seven-years-old, naïve, and trusting. He nearly becomes the victim of the same pedophile, twice, all for the want of a cookie. He is also a genius with numbers. The two run into a few colorful characters, like the young teen working the bus station soda counter. He advises Saucy to take care of herself first before trying to care for another. In the end, he is spot on and that is exactly what Saucy must do to save her entire family. The ending did surprise me, but it is a great solution and the best for Saucy. If only all family problems could be solved so easily.
How is this A Hansel and GretelTale? Pattison uses several elements from the original story. Krissy is the wicked stepmother—and the evil gingerbread witch. Bubba is Hansel, using white stone as markers to follow home. Just as in Hansel and Gretel, the father abandons his kids, but instead of leaving them in the woods, he ignores the problems and leaves the kids with the cause.
Middle grade and older kids who like family dramas will enjoy Saucy and Bubba. There is enough angst to sell the story and enough heart to keep the reader interested in what becomes of the two kids. I still do not understand why Pattison had Saucy run and hide near the end, after she was so close to everything she worked for, but it did add one more element of suspense and force the father to open his eyes, maybe for the first time since marrying Krissy. Oh, well, there’s the reason. Pattison is a formidable writer whose work has been translated into numerous languages. Saucy and Bubba is another winner in a long line of winning stories.
TweetThe Infinite Wait by Julia Wertz Koyama Press I have a complicated and knotty relationship with auto-bio comics, beset by apprehension and cynicism. There’s no doubt the genre produces some interesting material- Art Spiegelman, Seth, Robert Crumb, to name but a few, but more recently I’ve found a lot of it to be, quite frankly, boring. The [...]
9 Comments on Review: The Infinite Wait by Julia Wertz: bio, booze and books, last added: 3/5/2013
A huge fan of Wertz and I loved this book. Interesting thought on autobio comics, a much maligned and yet inarguably great comics genre, as well.
Keith said, on 2/19/2013 6:43:00 PM
Thanks for the review. I didn’t even realize Wertz had a new book out. I immediately bought this.
Zainab Akhtar said, on 2/20/2013 2:12:00 AM
Yep, I’m a big fan. I think another(!) thing that bothers me with auto-bio comics -and this may be just my experiences- is that it seems to have become the genre of choice for indie/small press creators, and with diary comics, the net it’s all a bit ubiquitous. I don’t think it helps the image of indies as arty, cliquey and a little self-absorbed. I would love to see more imaginative and ‘original’ work- world building, great characters, story- weaving. People like Wertz are incredible though, she manages to blow away all cobwebs.
RDaggle said, on 2/20/2013 8:12:00 AM
“Interesting thought on autobio comics, a much maligned and yet inarguably great comics genre”
Huh. I thought that, in fact, this was exactly the point the reviewer was arguing.
A bare handful of great works doesn’t constitute a genre, let alone a great genre.
Chris Hero said, on 2/20/2013 8:31:00 AM
@Zainab Akhtar
“I think another(!) thing that bothers me with auto-bio comics -and this may be just my experiences- is that it seems to have become the genre of choice for indie/small press creators, and with diary comics, the net it’s all a bit ubiquitous.”
Hmmm…I have no idea what indie/small press comics you’re reading, and try as I might I can’t read the entire field, but with the exception of Eddie Campbell’s books, I can’t think of an autobio indie/small press book I’ve read in years…unless you count Sammy the Mouse or that How I Made it to Eighteen, but that’s by a woman and not what you were talking about.
I just bought a pile of mini-comics this past weekend and they’re all sci-fi or goofy stories about ridiculous characters. I’m not questioning your assertion, it’s just I haven’t come across much autobio indie/small press stuff in years.
Maybe my library of books by women creators is just too small? I’ve been trying to grow it, but all my favorite women creators do either stuff almost exclusively for the web or mini-comics.
But yeah, I’d be interested to know what books you’re reading that make you feel like it’s the genre of choice, because I honestly thought that genre just about died out.
Zainab Akhtar said, on 2/20/2013 12:03:00 PM
Hey Chris:
Here’s some by female creators of the top of my head(not sure whether you wanted both men and women, couldn’t make it out from your post). Most of these are excellent:
Flocks by L Nichols
Sunday in the Park with Boys by Jane Mai
Single, The Monkey in the Basement (and other minis) by Corrine Mucha
Please God! Find Me A Husband by Simone Lia
Radiator Days (and other books) by Lucy Knisley
Gray is not a Colour by Sally Madden
But I Really Wanted to be an Anthropologist by Margaux Motin
Dotter of her Father’s Eyes (mixture of auto-bio and bio of historical figure) by Mary Talbot
Persepolis, of course, by Marjane Satrapi etc etc
Best,
Z
Chris Hero said, on 2/20/2013 8:57:00 PM
Ooh! Good list! Jane Mai is one of my absolute favorite cartoonists! I’ll look into the rest. I have a bunch of minis by various talented women, but I don’t know how many of them are still making comics. Like the funniest comics I’ve ever read were by a woman named Lauren Burnett. I haven’t come across a comic from her in a while, which is a real shame.
My question was more what are all these autobiographical books you’re reading that make you feel like it’s the genre of choice? Because, honestly, that genre appears near dead to me with the exceprion of a few women cartoonists. But honestly, I could read autobiographical stuff from women all day because they’re better. Women seem to focus more on the emotional connection between people and I like that. Like, they mine the humor out of human interactions much better than men do. I dunno…I could probably word that better.
Chris Hero said, on 2/21/2013 9:55:00 AM
BTW – I forgot to tell you this article was awesome! Please review more stuff! You’re really good at it!
The Infinite Wait and Other Stories on The Comics said, on 3/1/2013 3:12:00 PM
[...] Posted on Mar 1, 2013 in News The Infinite Wait and Other Stories by Julia Wertz (9780987963024 | September 2012 | $15.00 | Trade Paper) has been reviewed by The Comics Beat. “With an internal gaze that’s unflinching and unforgiving, Wertz blows all comers out of the water. Her honesty is searing, caustic, strengthening and yet not without fear. Her truths are coated in an equally zingy humour, a cloak that makes them less scary and more manageable.” – Zainab Akhtar, February 19, 2013. http://comicsbeat.com/review-the-infinite-wait-by-julia-wertz/ [...]
Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A. S. King, Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 2011, 384 pp, ISBN: 0385738590
Recap: Vera Dietz has always been the keeper of Charlie's secrets. Even after his death. Whether they were best friends, a potential love connection, or - more recently - bitter enemies, Vera could always be counted on to keep quiet. But as it turns out, sometimes keeping a best friend's secrets is the absolute worst thing you can do.
Review: Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King is one of those books that I haven't heard a single negative word about. Every single review was absolutely glowing. And did I mention that it won a 2011 Printz Honor? When I found it on the "New Releases" shelf at the library, I snatched it right up.
My verdict? Please Ignore Vera Dietz is certainly a far cry from the dystopias, love triangles, and fantasy creatures that seem to fill the pages of most YA these days. Why was it so different? For one thing, one of the main characters spends the entire book... dead. For another, this book features a wide variety of narrators, including a pagoda. That's right, an inanimate object.
Much of the book was told in flashbacks, so that the reader could get a full picture of what Charlie and Vera's life together had been like, prior to Charlie's death. It was easy to see why Vera had loved Charlie for most of her life. He was strong and vulnerable at the same time, compassionate and adventurous while still managing to pull off that "rebel without a cause" vibe that girls always fall for.
But there was a darker side to Charlie. His family's history of domestic abuse and his own twisted money-making habits made him a figure who Vera wanted to protect, even after he betrayed her.
Even so... I spent most of Vera's story just feeling frustrated with her: with her denial of her family's history of alcoholism, with her mental belittling of her father, and with the exasperating way that she refused to tell the truth about Charlie's death. She had spent so much of her life t
2 Comments on Please Ignore Vera Dietz, last added: 5/22/2011
I liked Vera Dietz, too, but it is not my favorite book this year either. I too found her denial of her ability to "tell" anyone what she was going through as very frustrating. I guess with both of us being teachers we like to think that someone at school should have been available to help. High school kids do like the book if I prod them to read it. But they won't pick it up otherwise.
Anne Brontë is generally less well-known than Charlotte and Emily, but her novels are just as powerful as the more famous work of her sisters, especially The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
Combining a sensational story of a man’s physical and moral decline through alcohol, a study of marital breakdown, a disquisition on the care and upbringing of children, and a hard-hitting critique of the position of women in Victorian society, this passionate tale of betrayal is set within a stern moral framework tempered by Anne Brontë’s optimistic belief in universal redemption. Drawing on her first-hand experiences with her brother Branwell, Brontë’s novel scandalized contemporary readers and it still retains its power to shock.
Below, Josephine McDonagh, who has written the introduction to the Oxford World’s Classics edition of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, discusses the novel and its reception in a series of podcasts recorded by Podularity.
What do you do when your father is arrested and in jail? How do you react to him being a drunk? Rosie and Skate, two sisters, tell the story of their reactions in this first novel for BAB. I was hooked from the first sentence and recognized their true feelings as many readers will. Enjoyable first novel!
No doubt, I am an official Catherine Ryan Hyde fan!
When Bill is taken by their grandparents but she is not, Cynnie is devastated and starts to implode. She sinks farther and farther into an abyss. In her reappearance she discovers how she is like and unlike her mother, a difficult discovery. The ending is perfect!
Another great story from the author of Pay It Forward!
Zach is in rehab with no memory of how he got there. His therapist tells him that he was going through alcohol withdrawal so severe that he could have died, but all of the other details remain hidden in Zach’s mind. As Zach goes through therapy, learning from therapists and others going through rehab, he learns to feel emotions again even though he longs to stay in the cocoon of amnesia that he has built. This powerful novel shows the unpeeling of denial and addiction to reach the essence of memory and humanity.
This book reads like a poem, a prayer. The language is by turns languid and thoughtful and then raging and taut. Readers are not spared from the emotional onslaught of recovery and truth as Zach slowly realizes what has happened to him. The prose is an inner dialogue, a wandering but purposeful journey through memory. It is a stream of consciousness that flows like a raging river, cleansing and correcting as it goes. Zach is an amazing character who even when in denial and doubt, shines like a beacon. He is strong in the face of such overwhelming change and brave as he faces his demons.
This is a book filled with such truth and honesty that it is searing and painful to witness. It is a book that will capture teen readers and not let them loose even when they finish the novel. Highly recommended, this book is appropriate for ages 15-18.
Inspired by the School Library Journal cover controversy, I thought of how often in children's and young adult literature the extreme view of drinking is given. One drink leads to binge drinking and dangerous behaviour; all drinkers are bad, abusive, evil drunks; etc.
So I asked for suggestions of those books where an alcoholic (including recovering alcoholic) is portrayed as something other than the evil, abusive person. The two illustrative books being, The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron (being in the program and recovery is a fact of life) and Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr (alcoholic parent as flawed, needing help, but not portrayed as evil or abusive).
My grandmother recommended "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" to me when I was young as the book that best explained what life was like with her father (who died from alcoholism at 43 - I actually posted about him today!).
You may recall that I was on the cover of November's School Library Journal with some lovely ladies. If you don't recall, dude, it was only last month!
Of course, I was interested in what people had to say about the cover. Heard some very nice things about the photograph. Had some great conversations with people about blogs and blogging inspired by the story. Was even recognized for being on the cover! (OK, it was at a school library conference but it still counts!)
And so it was with great eagerness I saw that yay, it was December, so the December SLJ would be online and I could read the letters!
Um. Yeah.
Here's the link to the letters: Some Readers Couldn't Stand Our November Cover. Now We Need A Drink. I know that people are more inclined to write a letter to complain than to praise, but it would have been nice had there been a positive letter amongst the others. And let me shout a big "THANK YOU" to those who are leaving positive comments to the letters article.
It's a little ironic that on the day I post a book review praising the portrayal of someone with alcoholism for being well-rounded and fair (Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr), I read these letters.
Having a drink in my hand? Really? (For the record... sugar water with colored dye to give the photo a bit of "pop" since we were largely in gray, white and black.) And as I read on, I thought of a line from one of my favorite movies.
"look at you... you have a baby. in a bar."
Being shocked at a baby in a bar? One thing. Being shocked at grown ups in a bar? A bit different; and I don't find anything inappropriate with either a librarian or a blogger being in a bar or having a drink. (Tho, speaking seriously -- don't drink and blog. You'll regret it. The post lives on in RSS).
And as for the "oh no substance abuse! drinking!"
I have friends and family who are Friends of Bill W. So, yeah, it's not something I take lightly. I'm not putting up anything else that will go against what that second "A" stands for. But remember -- keep coming back. It works if you work it!
Those Friends of Bill W. have seen the cover and liked it and got it. Got the Mad Men aspect, the idea of this being a visual representation of online community of people who rarely meet up in person. Anyway. So I asked someone close to me (anonymous, remember?) about this, forwarding the links, and I got this text back: "tell them u love the sober peeps too."
And I do! I love the sober peeps! And the peeps who aren't!
So, let's turn this into something POSITIVE.
Hey, guys, lets do what bloggers do and m
24 Comments on God Grant Me The Serenity..., last added: 12/4/2009
Funny, I thought SLJ was a professional magazine for adults. Some of those letters made it sound as if school librarians were leaving it out on the shelves for their middle school students to peruse. I had no idea the tween set was interested in how blogging and kids' lit is related.
I, for one, think it's a cute cover. I love the Mad Med-inspired look. It shows that libraries and librarians are up-to-date on current trends and fashions, which I always thought was part of our job.
I thought it was interesting that all the letters (at least all those I saw) were from school librarians. One of them even appears to be under the impression that ya'll are all school librarians as well. Reminds me how glad I am to be a public librarian...and to have wonderful (intelligent, logical, cooperative, and practical) local school librarians to work with.
Have to admit, I completely missed all the cool pop culture references; I just assumed it was a "this is bloggers being social" kind of moment.
Hey, why don't you all drop by my library sometime? We're having a wine tasting in January! (srsly, no kidding, it's a fund-raiser sponsored by our board, one of whom owns a local liquor store)
I have to admit that I missed the Mad Men reference because I am simply not that cool. I got a "This One's For You, Bloggers!" vibe out of it. Which, the issue was... one for the bloggers, I mean. At least that's what I thought. But fortunately, the letter writers are here to assure me that all along you were promoting alcohol use in schools. (?!) Who knew.
Oy.
Liz, you're a bigger (metaphorically) woman than I would be about this. Thanks for making it positive. I am now thinking of books for your list.
Is is terrible of me to think the letters are funny? What stupid things people get upset over! I liked the cover and have no problems displaying it in my school library. I can't help but wonder if the librarians who wrote those letters ever censor the cover of Time and Newsweek which also have the occasional controversial cover. I think what really irritates me is the implied assumption that kids are so dumb they will see a picture of adults holding drinks in their hands and immediately go out and become alcoholics.
I posted a similar comment to Monica's blog, but, I am in Atlanta, GA and people down here think teachers shouldn't drink AT ALL - now I do not adhere to those standards, I mean, I am 21 and am allowed by law to have a drink..sometimes even TWO - LOL - but come on - the magazine is aimed at ADULTS - I have yet to see a student pick up SLJ and say, gee I can't wait to read this month's issue. CHEERS to you, I loved the cover, you all looked FABULOUS!
I thought it was a reference to Fuse #8s KidLit Drink Nights. Jeez, people crack me up. I never even thought about it. Well, a little controversy will have more people reading the magazine. Good work, and yes, it's an awesome cover. Thanks for being awesome.
They should have taken the picture with you guys sitting at the reference desk with drinks in your hands. That way, so many people would have blown so many gaskets, the job market would break wide open.
Liz, that is an amazing cover! Those people need to get over themselves. The magazine is aimed at adults not children. Do we need to protect adults from seeing that other adults can enjoy themselves with a drink now and then? So sorry that your good feelings about this are now tainted. For the record - you ROCK!
Wow. Those sensitive SLJ readers. I'm sure there weren't any positive comments in the bunch because the overwhelming majority of us took a look, thought, "Oh, how cute," and then read the freakin' contents without obsessing over the cover. Was it SLJ readers who freaked out over a bustacious superhero librarian on the cover, too, or was that American Libraries?
As for well-rounded portrayals of alcoholics, I really appreciated the portrayal of the mom in Barbara Hall's Tempo Change, who is in recovery and for whom the Program is a really big, positive thing in her life.
Liz, I probably don't need to go there...in fact, I shouldn't...but I'm sure you already know what I would say. You guys are fab, the cover is fab, and SLJ is fab. And so great that you have their support ("Now we need a drink"). Hang in there and keep fighting the good fight!
Hmm. I'm one of the sober ones, and I didn't think anything of the cover other than, "Gosh, I wish I looked that good." It never occurred to me to be offended.
My favorite alcoholic in a book? Uncle Haskell in "Up a Road Slowly."
grannie elbow said, on 12/2/2009 11:55:00 AM
If you had been using up natural resources or eating meat or wearing fur you'd have gotten letters about that!
Chris said, on 12/2/2009 12:20:00 PM
Librarians are real human people - we drink! Some of us even smoke! I sometimes get double takes from customers I see at the gym, because I don't think they think of me as a real person. I think some people in the profession place this self-imposed burden that we have to be perfect little servants - here for the children, no cussin' or shoutin' aloud allowed! And I can't help but wonder if people would be protesting so much if it was guys holding drinks at a bar. Is there some kind of "loose women" double standard being applied here? Just my off the cuff observation.
I'm not a school librarian/media specialist, so I don't understand why students would see the cover of a professional magazine. Wouldn't something like that just be delivered to their mailbox at school?
It's not as if anyone appeared inebriated. I thought it was a nice cover.
(I wonder if some of the letter writers have an issue with a blogger on the cover?)
Gwenda, yes, that's the equivalent of a "but." "I don't mean x, but.." well, yes, you do mean x.
Miss Tammy, Jon, tanita, teacherninja, Ilene, Laura, Jennifer, thanks!
Jennifer, I'm in NJ, so alas, cannot drop by at what seems like a fun event.
Doret, mb, lisa, chelle, thanks for the title suggestions.
Paige, it does indeed raise bigger issues about what other "bad influence" items are not available. I find it especially troubling because while I respect that some peoples values are "no alcohol, ever", I am against one persons values being imposed on another. Which, in a way, is what is going on: "because I think any drinking is wrong, there should be no books/mags/etc that show drinking is anything other than wrong."
Kathy & Chris, it's a little scary how people think they can control the lives of "public servants" especially those who work with children. Teachers especially have a history of their lives being controlled, with teachers being fired for being pregnant, or divorced, or married. I guess that's why it's sad to see that viewpoint coming from within the profession, also. Here, that a person who happens to work with children should not drink in public.
Christine, now that's a strategy to create more jobs. Except the librarians would all be replaced by support staff, or, better yet -- volunteers. And at schools, parent volunteers.
Grannie, I actually had that exact same thought, lol!
lisnwyrk, thanks for the link.
Becky Hall said, on 12/3/2009 12:38:00 PM
I liked Joan Bauer's Rules of the Road and Best Foot Forward. Another is Lush by Natasha Friend. They all give realistic portrayals of the children of alcoholics.
Becky, thanks! Hopefully this weekend I'll be able to put together a post with all the suggested titles.
One other thing: Please think of leaving your comments at the SLJ letters itself. I have no idea if the folks at SLJ click thru to read these posts; but without your comments at their website saying "I liked it, I didn't find it inappropriate" those initial six letters stand unchallenged and give the appearance of being the only feedback SLJ has recieved.
I missed the pop culture reference; I chocked it up to Fuse8's KidLit Drink Night ... not for the drinks but for the social opportunity of talking shop. Does SLJ publish all the letters it receives? I gotta believe that there were some kudos to y'all that deserved mention.
As for books, I'm not sure if it completely fits, but I'd add Albert Borris' Crash Into Me. The other is Thanksgiving at the Inn, which I just recently finished, which is a great father-son story.
The Plot: Samara "Sam" Taylor is not having a good summer.
Everything seems broken or run down, as the heat builds. Her mother's secret drinking is not so secret anymore, thanks to a DUI and court-mandated residential rehab. Her father is more dedicated to his work as a pastor than to being a father. Money problems may mean that Sam doesn't go back to private school. The backyard garden is a pile of dirt; even the air conditioner and fans aren't working properly.
And then thirteen year old Jody Shaw, from her father's congregation, who Sam kinda knows from her Church youth group, disappears.
Sam is having doubts; a crisis of faith. Thinking things, wondering things, that she cannot say aloud because she's a pastor's kid. Everyone thinks they know who she really is; who her family really is; and thinks they have a right to say what she should think, do, believe.
The Good: Zarr delivers both an intensely personal, internal story of faith and belief; and a suspenseful mystery involving a missing teen.
Sam has good reason to question her faith. Her family is falling apart; faith, belief, love have not helped her mother. They don't help her father be a better father. They don't help Jody Shaw's family. Once Was Lost is about more than questioning, though; it's an exploration, with Sam remembering her earlier child-like faith and now looking at others, wondering, how to believe again. What does she want? Is it the faith of her childhood? Zarr handles Sam's spiritual dilemma with respect -- respect for Sam, of course; but also respect for religion, and faith.
The disintegration of Sam's family has brought her to her spiritual crisis. Her mother, Laura Taylor, is an alcoholic. I want to cry from happiness as I read the kind, nuanced portrayal of Sam's mother. It's easy to make an alcoholic parent the bad guy; we've all read tons of books where drinking = abuse = evil. But the reality is more complex than that. For this reason alone, it's on my list of favorite books read in 2009.
As Sam's father responds to some need of his congregation, Sam thinks, "sober, tipsy, drunk, whatever, [my mother is] the one who's been here, and she's the one who really knows me." The perfect illustration of how little Sam's father sees what is going on in his own household? He has no idea just how lost Sam is feeling. Just like Sam's mother isn't "teh evil" because she drinks, neither is Sam's father "teh evil." Neither of these parents are portrayed as bad, terrible, no-good people; rather they are real people, not perfect, with flaws, people who try and do the best they can.
As Sam looks back at the last three years, at what her family is now as compared to then, she wishes "there was a way to put your finger on the map of life and trace backwards, to figure out exactly when things had changed so much: when we started getting the dregs of Dad, if that was before or after the drinking getting bad. ... Still, it doesn't explain how on
4 Comments on Once Was Lost, last added: 12/3/2009
I really enjoyed your website! Your book reviews are wonderful reading. Have you heard of Danny the Dragon? It’s worth a review: http://DannyTheDragon.com Please let me know if you are interested in reviewing this nominee for Best Children’s Book of 2009! [email protected] Thank you, Rosie
I couldn't agree more about the portrayal of Sam's mother - Zarr did an astonishingly good job on that. (And everything else!) I think she's one of my favourite ever flawed-but-trying parents.
Shannon, I've added your blog to my bloglines & look forward to getting to know you rblog better.
Lady S., Zarr is good at that, and it's not easy. I know how adults, esp parents, are portrayed in YA lit gets commented on a lot. I love how Zarr continually delivers well rounded parents (as you say, flawed but trying) but the teen and the teen's story always remains front and center.
Scott, Kieran. Geek Magnet: A Novel in Five Acts. 2007
KJ is the stage manager of her school's Spring Musical and she has one big problem-- she is a geek magnet. She doesn't lack for male attention but she seems to get all the guys she DOESN'T want, while the one guy she wants doesn't seem to know she is alive. There is Fred, her neighbor who has been following her around for years. Then there is Andy, her Assistant Stage Manager. Then there is Glenn, the kid on the light crew who stares only at her boobs and touches her inappropriately.
Tama, one of the popular girls who happens to have a lead in the play is friends with Cameron, the love of KJ's life. Tama manages to get Cameron interested in KJ. She also offers to help KJ get rid of her guy problem by teaching her to be mean. She manages to get the geeks to back off, but she ends up hurting a lot of feelings along the way and also manages to alienate herself from her best friend and most of the cast in the process.
Meanwhile, KJs father is an alcoholic. He drinks every day and is often mean. The entire family is on eggshells trying to keep him from flying off the handle. Her younger brother Chris is a mess all the time and her mother seems to be oblivious. The alcoholism seems to take a backseat to the whole drama of the musical and doesn't get the treatment it might deserve. I guess the point of the novel was to be fun, so the focus was more on the musical drama and not on the social issues. It makes me wonder if it really needed to be in there to begin with, but that's just a small criticism and it doesn't take away from the novel at all.
I enjoyed the book, but the whole premise was so wacky that I had a hard time buying it. First of all, the author states that this is really a true story and that he had their permission to tell it. The story is rather implausible so I would have had issues with it anyway, but saying it is a true story made me even more annoyed because I really doubt this could have happened.
Ted was on his way to a full ride scholarship at a great school. His only problem was his alcoholism, which lead him to crash his car into a tree, busting up his knee. He was ordered to AA and lost his scholarship too. Erica is a rich girl from NYC. She is a bulimic who is supposed to be in recovery but she keeps slipping. Her father and therapist don't think she should go away to school because she isn't totally recovered yet, but she insists she is going. Her father pays an associate of his, Michael, to find someone that needs money, and hire him or her to spy on Erica for them. The job pays full tuition for 4 years, and the only job is to live near her in the dorm and report her activities to Michael. Ted needed the money since he lost his scholarship. Predictably, he ends up falling in love with her and telling her that he was hired to spy on her.
The book was fast paced and I am sure most teens will enjoy it. My only reservation with it, as I stated above, is that it seems totally unrealistic. But, many teens may not care, and just enjoy the story for what it is.
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by Susan Patron (being in the program and recovery is a fact of life) and 
by Debby Dahl Edwardson
by Benjamin Alire Saenz
by Sherman Alexie
by Barbara Hull
by Irene Hunt
by 
A huge fan of Wertz and I loved this book. Interesting thought on autobio comics, a much maligned and yet inarguably great comics genre, as well.
Thanks for the review. I didn’t even realize Wertz had a new book out. I immediately bought this.
Yep, I’m a big fan. I think another(!) thing that bothers me with auto-bio comics -and this may be just my experiences- is that it seems to have become the genre of choice for indie/small press creators, and with diary comics, the net it’s all a bit ubiquitous. I don’t think it helps the image of indies as arty, cliquey and a little self-absorbed. I would love to see more imaginative and ‘original’ work- world building, great characters, story- weaving. People like Wertz are incredible though, she manages to blow away all cobwebs.
“Interesting thought on autobio comics, a much maligned and yet inarguably great comics genre”
Huh. I thought that, in fact, this was exactly the point the reviewer was arguing.
A bare handful of great works doesn’t constitute a genre, let alone a great genre.
@Zainab Akhtar
“I think another(!) thing that bothers me with auto-bio comics -and this may be just my experiences- is that it seems to have become the genre of choice for indie/small press creators, and with diary comics, the net it’s all a bit ubiquitous.”
Hmmm…I have no idea what indie/small press comics you’re reading, and try as I might I can’t read the entire field, but with the exception of Eddie Campbell’s books, I can’t think of an autobio indie/small press book I’ve read in years…unless you count Sammy the Mouse or that How I Made it to Eighteen, but that’s by a woman and not what you were talking about.
I just bought a pile of mini-comics this past weekend and they’re all sci-fi or goofy stories about ridiculous characters. I’m not questioning your assertion, it’s just I haven’t come across much autobio indie/small press stuff in years.
Maybe my library of books by women creators is just too small? I’ve been trying to grow it, but all my favorite women creators do either stuff almost exclusively for the web or mini-comics.
But yeah, I’d be interested to know what books you’re reading that make you feel like it’s the genre of choice, because I honestly thought that genre just about died out.
Hey Chris:
Here’s some by female creators of the top of my head(not sure whether you wanted both men and women, couldn’t make it out from your post). Most of these are excellent:
Flocks by L Nichols
Sunday in the Park with Boys by Jane Mai
Single, The Monkey in the Basement (and other minis) by Corrine Mucha
Please God! Find Me A Husband by Simone Lia
Radiator Days (and other books) by Lucy Knisley
Gray is not a Colour by Sally Madden
But I Really Wanted to be an Anthropologist by Margaux Motin
Dotter of her Father’s Eyes (mixture of auto-bio and bio of historical figure) by Mary Talbot
Persepolis, of course, by Marjane Satrapi etc etc
Best,
Z
Ooh! Good list! Jane Mai is one of my absolute favorite cartoonists! I’ll look into the rest. I have a bunch of minis by various talented women, but I don’t know how many of them are still making comics. Like the funniest comics I’ve ever read were by a woman named Lauren Burnett. I haven’t come across a comic from her in a while, which is a real shame.
My question was more what are all these autobiographical books you’re reading that make you feel like it’s the genre of choice? Because, honestly, that genre appears near dead to me with the exceprion of a few women cartoonists. But honestly, I could read autobiographical stuff from women all day because they’re better. Women seem to focus more on the emotional connection between people and I like that. Like, they mine the humor out of human interactions much better than men do. I dunno…I could probably word that better.
BTW – I forgot to tell you this article was awesome! Please review more stuff! You’re really good at it!
[...] Posted on Mar 1, 2013 in News The Infinite Wait and Other Stories by Julia Wertz (9780987963024 | September 2012 | $15.00 | Trade Paper) has been reviewed by The Comics Beat. “With an internal gaze that’s unflinching and unforgiving, Wertz blows all comers out of the water. Her honesty is searing, caustic, strengthening and yet not without fear. Her truths are coated in an equally zingy humour, a cloak that makes them less scary and more manageable.” – Zainab Akhtar, February 19, 2013. http://comicsbeat.com/review-the-infinite-wait-by-julia-wertz/ [...]