Author: Kristen Zajac
Illustrator: Jennifer Thomas Houdeshell
Publisher: Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc.
Published: June 2015
Pages: 26
Veterans are often the forgotten people of the war on US soil of homelessness. Through the tightknit family of siblings, Patrick and Hailey, their parents and grandfather, G-man, they unexpectedly meet a homeless Vietnam Veteran, Charlie after church services. Inspired by their love of community and helping others, Patrick and Hailey devise a plan to help veterans throughout their community with a fundraiser, featuring the musical talents of Patrick, his father and G-man along with the artistic drawings of Hailey. What results, will astound even the biggest skeptic.
With love and determination a heartwarming story unfolds wonderfully through the skilled story-telling talents of author, Kristen Zajac. Bringing forth the power of prayer and coming together as one for the better good the reader will feel empowered to organize an event to enrich their community.
Illustrator, Jennifer Thomas Houdeshell outstanding talents of creating illustrations that are true to life, makes the reader feel like they can leap right into the scene.
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Through the combination of the talents of both author and illustrator they have created and brought to life a one of a kind children’s book to inspire community service. Well done!
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Best wishes,
Donna M. McDineMulti Award-winning Children's Author
Ignite curiosity in your child through reading!Connect with
Donna McDine on Google+A Sandy Grave ~ January 2014 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ 2014 Purple Dragonfly 1st Place Picture Books 6+, Story Monster Approved, Beach Book Festival Honorable Mention 2014, Reader's Favorite Five Star Review
Powder Monkey ~ May 2013 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ 2015 Purple Dragonfly Book Award Historical Fiction 1st Place, Story Monster Approved and Reader's Favorite Five Star Review
Hockey Agony ~ January 2013 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ 2015 Purple Dragonfly Book Award Honorable Mention Picture Books 6+, New England Book Festival Honorable Mention 2014, Story Monster Approved and Reader's Favorite Five Star Review
The Golden Pathway ~ August 2010 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ Literary Classics Silver Award and Seal of Approval, Readers Favorite 2012 International Book Awards Honorable Mention and Dan Poynter's Global e-Book Awards Finalist
Kids Collect Jeans for Teens!
Over 1.5 million teens and children are homeless. One of the items they need most is a pair of jeans. YOU can make a difference by helping to clothe homeless youth.
Teens for Jeans is a campaign to help get YOU involved!
- WHAT: Jeans. Check your closet for jeans that don’t fit you anymore. Run a drive at your school, place of worship, or local community center to collect as many pairs of jeans as you can!
- WHERE: Drop off all pairs at your local Aéropostale or P.S. from Aéropostale clothing store.
- WHEN: January 12th through February 16th, 2015
Make a difference! This winter YOU can help collect jeans for kids and teens who really need them!
—Amanda, STACKS Intern
Is this what they call the dog days? Not for me! This is my first summer living in Boston instead of Tucson, and I’m soaking up the beautiful high-80s temps they call “hot” around here and spending as much time outside as possible. But I did manage to go inside and find a few interesting tidbits for your personal interest and professional usefulness.
- Have you ever tried to explain to someone why their offhand comment that “that’s gay” offends you? Or been annoyed when you offer to help carry something heavy and you’re refused because you’re female? Maybe someone made a rude joke about Middle Easterners not knowing you are of Saudi descent? These are called “microaggressions,” and the Microaggressions Project, a collective blog made up of submissions from anyone who wants to share an experience of feeling belittled, ignored, or just frustrated, whether because of their religious beliefs, gender identity, race, victim status, or a variety of other factors. Without resorting to hate speech or angry tirades (and no specific names, locations, or other identifying information is in any of the submissions), this blog would not only be a great resource for teens who feel like their voices aren’t being heard, but you could talk with your advisory group and possibly start your own project, with something as easy as index cards and a locked jar or box.
- Do you do any prevention programs in your library regarding tobacco, alcohol, or substance abuse? Not that you aren’t doing a good job, but you might want to think about asking teens themselves to develop an engaging, innovative program. In a paper published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, researchers found that teenagers were most receptive to anti-smoking ads when they were delivered by peers, not adults, and they were more interested in those ads that stressed the lifelong effects of smoking, particularly the negative ones like money spent on packs per week. Maybe sometimes negativity isn’t such a bad thing.
Latimer, A.E., et al. (2012). Targeted smoking cessation messages for adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 50(1): 47-53.
- I hope it isn’t wishful thinking when I propose this next topic for your thousands of patrons who will be coming in in the next few weeks before heading off to college, maybe to return one last pile of books and DVDs or just to say goodbye and thanks to you, their ally. Make sure your collegebound patrons (as well as those who will be entering the workforce or alternative programs) know that reading doesn’t stop after high school. While the publishing industry makes up its mind on whether or not New Adult is a viable new category, plenty of bloggers are gathering resources for writers and readers who want to graduate from YA but not jump straight into books about 40something divorce(e)s. And the Book Report Network, a set of linked book review sites, recently launched 20Something Reads, a special branch dedicated to that same group. Slowly but surely, books are trickling out that deal with post-high school confusion to post-college drama.
- Weeding a bunch of old magazines? Before tossing them in the recycling bin, check out Ben Heine’s Pencil Vs. Camera Project. First, be wowed. Look up and count how many hours you’ve been at your computer. Then consider tearing out interesting pictures from magazines, printing out or Pinning some of your favorites of Heine’s, and encouraging your patrons to do the same. As someone whose stance on fine art is to enjoy but never partake, I recall a similar assignment in fifth grade art class, and I’m so proud of my drawing of deer that I still have it, more than a decade later. There’s somethin
Thursday, October 6th will be the first-ever National Student Day, created in order to celebrate the volunteer efforts of college students around the country. Here's the scoop from the National Student Day website:
"The goal of this day is to celebrate and promote social responsibility by students across North America! Do you volunteer as a Big Brother or Sister? Help out at a homeless shelter? Are you looking to find ways to give back to society and others? Then this day is for YOU! Your college store wants to recognize the good deeds you do - and encourage your peers who might be looking for a gentle push towards helping others.
"Look no farther. NationalStudentDay.com is your online hub for information about volunteerism, links to social media, and a way to win BIG. College stores will act as the physical location for the main event.
"But that's not all. Students have the opportunity to win huge prizes for the most popular example of volunteerism.
"Click here to create a login to register and post an example of how you give back to your community. Students will be able to submit text, photos, drawings, or video. Then urge your friends to vote for you. Spread the word via YouTube, Facebook and Twitter to capture the most votes and win! The 10 most popular examples of student volunteerism will win prizes ranging from scholarships to iPads."
They are giving away:
A $3,000 Scholarship
A $2,000 Scholarship
A $1,000 Scholarship
7 iPads
Voting will end on Friday, October 14th at 5 PM EST.
Good luck, everyone! Thank you for serving your community and helping your world!
The official start of summer is just a few days away. This summer, LitWorld, a non-profit organization led by Pam Allyn, supports the development of literacy worldwide. LitWorld is putting together a summer book and school supplies drive to benefit children in Harlem and in Kenya. Please take a look at the items on the [...]
Here's a shoutout to YouthNoise, the youth-led movement for real community change. We've connected with the organization before, including our chat + spotlight in June 2007. Fast forward to April 2011, and check out this tidbit from the YouthNoise newsletter:
Digitize Your Activism - Take Action on the Interwebz!
"More young folks are volunteering in America, and more of us are using our social networks and other online tools to organize friends and make a difference in our communities. Check out this sweet new motion graphic that explains how digital activists like us can take action and change the world."
If you missed the buzz (which admittedly hasn't seemed all that buzzy), tomorrow night marks the second annual HALO Awards on TeenNick. Hosted by Nick Cannon, who created and executive produced, the hour-long award award show will honor four real... Read the rest of this post
As any teenager could tell you, college admissions are getting more competitive every year — and increasingly, great grades and SAT scores don't guarantee anything. Interested in the role community service plays in admissions, the folks at... Read the rest of this post
January of 2009 I wrote a post called Teaching our kids: Facts about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a way to celebrate the holiday. In 1994 Congress charged the Corporation for National and Community Service to encourage Americans to use the holiday as a national day of service. Last year, President Obama reminded us of the importance of [...]
Report cards came Friday afternoon. So after spending most of Friday evening "discussing" the importance of doing school work and not spending so much time with video/myspace involvement with my two boys, we decided (meaning I came up with the idea and they silently disagreed) they needed to do more community service. Christopher is still trying to come up with what he wants to do; Philip opted to be a volunteer waiter at a veterans' pre holiday luncheon. He thought it would be a quick and easy way to salvage his weekend plans.
Of course first I had to explain to him the importance of veterans, how his grandfathers and uncles and cousins had all served in various wars. He gave me the "OMG, will she ever stop look," then went off to what he thought, I think, would be a pizza party.
I should say here that Philip is a really sensory kid: he has trouble looking at the "subnormal" folk who frequent certain Walmarts, and any shows involving childbirth or poxes or deformity cause him to lurch from the television. He was the kind of baby who couldn't stand seams in his socks or the touch of wool. Very little has changed in that department over the years.
Ten minutes into the holiday luncheon, I get this text:
MOM SAY I'M SICK COME PICK ME UP FROM HERE
I had his brother calmly text back:
MOM SAYS U HAVE 2 STICK IT OUT
The next SOS came:
I HAVE A BAD HEADAKE
I didn't anwer; I figured I'd tell him the veterans had to stick it out once, too.
When I picked him up, he was flushed and exhausted.
"They're like old pirates," he said, "Oh my God. You have no idea. No idea."
"What happened?" I asked.
"First of all, most of them were missing something. Like an arm or something."
"Right. They were in a war."
Sigh. "And every time I asked them what they wanted to drink, they said, 'how 'bout a Scotch and soda?' Like every one of them and they laughed each time. And they only had soda or water or coffee."
"Okay."
"Then this guy says to me, 'Son, straighten that flag."
"What did you do?"
"I straightened the flag. Then he says, 'Now set me up with those sausages just like you would your best girlfriend.' So I go, What does THAT mean?"
"I think he wanted something extra, right?"
"He winked at me. God. And he had this scooter thing."
"Your sister loves her scooter. What's wrong with that?"
"No, Mom, he had this scooter thing INSTEAD OF LEGS."
He didn't say much after that. I pretty much left him alone and let him spend a few hours cruising myspace.
I think serving that lunch allowed him to learn a whole lot more a whole lot faster than anything he does in school.
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Giving back to the community is so important — and a great way for families to spend time together. Check out Doing Good Together (www.doinggoodtogether.org). This organization is an excellent resource for those who are interested in finding family-friendly service opportunities.