How to use this Page

Books tell stories.

That seems pretty simple.

Sometimes, those stories are wild flights of fancy that take readers someplace they never dreamed could exist.

Other times, those stories are based on the lives of real people who did something interesting or extraordinary. That’s where today’s book, Tomás and the Library Lady (Dragonfly Books, 2000), fits in.

It tells the story of a boy named Tomás who is part of a family of migrant workers. They travel the country picking crops. While his parents work one summer in Iowa, Tomás visits the town library and becomes friends with the librarian. She finds books he’ll like. He teaches her some Spanish.

It’s a sweet story. And then, at the very end, we find it’s based on the life of Tomás Rivera, a man who started out as a migrant worker and ended up being an author and chancellor at the University of California at Riverside. Mr. Rivera died in 1984, but the library at the college he led now bears his name.

Publishers Weekly described the book saying, “A gentle text and innovative artwork depict a pivotal summer in a boy’s life.”

What did today’s guest reviewer think? Let’s find out.

—————————–

Today’s reviewer: Gwen

Age: 7

This book was about: This kid named Tomás and the library teacher. He spent a lot of time in the library and they became friends. Then he had to leave. It was sad.

The best part was when: When they met, because it felt like they were going to be friends.

I smiled when: Tomás was imagining the dinosaurs and stuff.

This book taught me: About dinosaurs and stuff. I like science books.

Three words that best describe this book: “Cool.” “Arty.” “Fun.”

My favorite picture in this book is: When he imagined all the dinosaurs.

Other kids reading this book should watch for: The author who made it.

You should read this book because: It’s fun to learn from.

—————————–

Thank you, Gwen!

If you’d like to learn more about author Pat Mora, you can visit her website or watch this video interview with her where she discusses her Mexican culture and how it’s influenced her writing.

If you’d like to learn more about illustrator Raul Colon, visit this website to see examples of his marvelous work. Or, listen to this podcast interview with him on Just One More Book.

In December, I shared a clip of my youngest playing piano at her school concert. To be fair, I am now posting a video of my oldest who sings with the a cappella group at her high school.

The group is co-ed and sings a wide variety of songs. But this clip features just the ladies of the Edgetones delivering a heartfelt tribute to teen singing sensation Justin Bieber. They’ve even copied his iconic fashion sense. Why did they choose to sing a Justin song? It was to honor their director who, it seems, has said he is, let us just say, not fond of Justin Bieber.

Be that as it may, I think you’ll agree that the Lady Edgetones rock this song. They’re all awesome, but because you’re reading my blog, I feel compelled to point out that my daughter has a brief solo later in the song. She’s the one with a black ponytail wearing a turquoise hooded sweatshirt and black pants. (And, because it’s my blog, she’s shown front and center in the video thumbnail below.)

So without further ado:

Now for a note from our sponsor.

If you’ve never seen the real Justin Bieber (and my guess is some of my blog readers have not) then just to stay culturally informed and hip to the trends of the times, you can seem him singing this exact same song in this video clip. You’ll notice that he’s not wearing a hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses here, but rest assured, he certainly has in the past. Note the reaction of the teen girls in the audience to his every nuance.

And, to show how steeped Mr. Bieber has become in our collective consciousness, the fine folks at “Glee” also covered this song last year.

Sam Evans was singing the song hoping to entice Quinn Fabray to stay with him and not go back to her first love, Finn Hudson. Since then, Quinn has dated Finn, gotten mono, been broken up with by Finn, gotten accepted into Yale, gotten into a car accident while texting and driving and is now — while in a wheelchair — showing just a bit of interest in Artie and Joe.

And Sam? He’s moved away, moved back, worked as a stripper, joined the synchronized swim team and is now trying to get together with Mercedes. What can I say? It’s “Glee.”

Anyway, Sam’s version of the song — which I think is a bit nicer than Justin’s — is here.

There. Now you can successfully engage any tween or teen — or me for that matter — in conversation for at least a few moments longer than you otherwise might have been able to.

You’re welcome.

Elvin Lim is Assistant Professor of Government at Wesleyan University and author of The Anti-intellectual Presidency, which draws on interviews with more than 40 presidential speechwriters to investigate this relentless qualitative decline, over the course of 200 years, in our presidents’ ability to communicate with the public. He also blogs at www.elvinlim.com.  In the article below he reflects on last week’s vice-presidential debate. Read his previous OUPblogs here.

Obama supporters were surprised that Sarah Palin didn’t trip up in her debate with Joe Biden; but they nevertheless thought that she was incoherent through most of it. Palin’s supporters were thrilled that she came back after multiple setbacks with her interviews with Katie Couric with a slam dunk. We have become so divided as a nation that we can’t even agree on which is night and which is day.

The reason, I think, is because Sarah Palin did not answer Gwen Ifill’s questions. When a student refuses to take a test, we cannot meaningfully compare her performance with another.

Right at the outset of the debate, Palin announced her contempt for the debate format: “I may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear, but I’m going to talk straight to the American people and let them know my track record also.” Palin’s opponents cried foul, but her supporters applauded her contempt of the media and Washington’s rules.

Here was Gwen Ifill’s first question: “The House of Representatives this week passed a bill, a big bailout bill … was this the worst of Washington or the best of Washington that we saw play out?”

This was Palin’s first non-answer: “You know, I think a good barometer here, as we try to figure out has this been a good time or a bad time in America’s economy, is go to a kid’s soccer game on Saturday, and turn to any parent there on the sideline and ask them, “How are you feeling about the economy?”

Biden did a classic debate pivot, but he did try to answer the question, saying “I think it’s neither the best or worst of Washington, but it’s evidence of the fact that the economic policies of the last eight years have been the worst economic policies we’ve ever had.”

Consider Ifil’s third question: “Governor, please if you want to respond to what he (Biden) said about Sen. McCain’s comments about health care?” and Palin’s petulant non-reply “I would like to respond about the tax increases.”

Or Ifill’s seventh question: “What promises have you and your campaigns made to the American people that you’re not going to be able to keep?” Sarah Palin tried her hand at the pivot trick too: “I want to go back to the energy plan, though, because this is — this is an important one that Barack Obama, he voted for in ‘05.” By pivot I mean, tangent.

In her closing statement, Palin again made clear where her priorities were. “I like being able to answer these tough questions without the filter, even, of the mainstream media kind of telling viewers what they’ve just heard. I’d rather be able to just speak to the American people like we just did.” Speak to the American people she did, but answer these tough questions she did not.

We should stop pretending that debates really happen in American politics; even the four organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates no longer qualify. Masquerading for debate, all we get are solipsistic televised addresses delivered to us in alternating segments. Last Thursday, Gwen Ifill was little more than a two-minute time keeper with no control of how Biden and especially Palin used their time.

Let us remember why we care for debates. Because meaningful exchanges between alternative voices stand at the heart of democracy. By controlling for question, we can see how candidates measure up to each other substantively. Instead, American politics today is deluged by speeches and not debates, asymmetric communications in which politicians talk past each other rather than to each other.

Avoiding the questions and eschewing a debate may be good for a candidate but it is bad for democracy. And we should not allow Sarah Palin or any other candidate to tell us that democracy is only about connecting with people and not also debating the issues. Only demagogues insist on trading directly with the people without the watchful eye - Palin calls it the “filter” - of the media or a dissenting interlocutor. Democracy is best served by reciprocity and deliberation, not one-sided assertions to one’s base with no follow-up questions.

While Palin connected last Thursday, she hardly debated. As supporter Michelle Malkin revealingly put it: “She was warm, fresh, funny, confident, energetic, personable, relentless, and on message.” Seven ayes for style, an aye for substance, and nay to debate. The nays have it.

ShareThis

I generally don't comment on news, but I saw a piece on my Yahoo! page that I simply couldn't ignore. This breaking news story arrested my attention--I even watched the video. Maybe you did, too.

People has announced their list for Sexiest Man Alive! I was glad to see my man Johnny Depp on board and Brad Pitt, too, not to mention the world's biggest sweetheart, John Stamos, but where was Owen Wilson? Where was Adrian Paul of Highlander fame? I feel an injurious oversight has occurred over there in the People offices.

Maybe they want to give Owen a paparazzi break, but how could anyone compose such a list without placing Adrian Paul in the top five? His character, Duncan MacLeod, is half of one of my top favorite TV couples: Duncan and Tessa, and Jesse and Becky (Full House). In fact, I had hoped Adrian (yes, we're on a first name basis) would snag the coveted James Bond role (which went to Daniel Craig). He's so perfect for that type of role: elegant, good-looking, English, and he's an excellent swordsman. Plus, if he'd been given that role, I would finally be able to attend action movies.

If it were up to me, and husbands were excluded, I'd give the crown back to Johnny Depp. I loved Gilbert Grape and Edward Scissorhands and Dead Man and the first Pirates of the Caribbean. Runners up would be Adrian Paul, Brad Pitt, John Stamos, and Owen Wilson. In that order.

And that's the news.