In 1934 the American occupiers have left Haiti, but things are no better for the people ruled by corrupt and brutal section chiefs. When one of them kidnaps 16-year-old Lucille’s best friend and cuts down their favorite mapou tree, Lucille goes down to the police station to inquire. That puts her own family in danger, … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: When the Mapou Sings
How lucky young people are today in their choices of memoirs. Today I'm celebrating that many of our students are able to see themselves, not just in fiction but in the stories that people are willing to share of their lives, their struggles, their memories and their triumphs. Originally I had a place-holder poster up … Continue reading #DecDisplays – Recent Memoirs
The next couple of posts are going to be the country celebration posters of the last few months. Please note these are not an exhaustive list of the literature coming out of those countries, or even the literature in translation, merely what I have to offer our students, including stories of Korean diaspora - mainly … Continue reading #DecDisplays – August celebrations
First published in 2006, this revised and expanded edition of Genocide updates information and case studies through the beginning of 2024. This allows the author to address both the brutal October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israeli communities and a music festival, and the Israeli Defense Force’s bombardment of and withholding of humanitarian supplies from Palestinian … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Genocide, revised & expanded edition
Our Grade 7 students do a dystopian unit in their English Language Arts (ELA) class, and I came across this nifty categorisation in a poster by Jeri Hurd (sans the sub-pages / images). Since I find our students are increasingly stimulated by imagery, rather than just text, I adapted the poster to include 7 sub-posters … Continue reading #DecDisplays – Dystopian sense-making
You know that famous quote of Michael Moore “I really didn't realize the librarians were, you know, such a dangerous group. They are subversive. You think they're just sitting there at the desk, all quiet and everything. They're like plotting the revolution, man. I wouldn't mess with them." well I really try my best to … Continue reading #DecDisplays – Poverty and wealth
Welcome to December Display month where I've been invited to showcase some poster and display ideas for libraries and library promotions. Many of these designs are inspired by the very active librarian communities that I am a part of, and as Austin Kleon says, "Steal Like an Artist". One of the things I aspire to … Continue reading #DecDisplays – UAE National Day
This is a young adult novel that tells the story of Abir Maqsood, a college-going student in Bangalore, who balances her family's expectations of her with her own desires of the direction that she would like her life to take.Abir's entrepreneurial side comes to the fore when she decides to build an app to help … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: The Henna Start-Up
Every two or three years, I usually would have one Taiwanese student who loves to read come to the library occasionally to discuss the books they have read with me. We would recommend books to each other, and thanks to them, I read some fantastic Taiwanese literature while busy catching up with the English YA … Continue reading #TaiwanKidLitMonth: Recommended Taiwanese literature by and for high school students
"Up for smashing the patriarchy?" "Yes!""Yeah!""But... What is the patriarchy, exactly?" So goes the opening dialogue in Smash the Patriarchy, a fabulous graphic novel for upper YA readers. The much-deserving winner of this year’s GLLI Translated YA Book Prize, it describes and defines terms such as “the male gaze,” “slut-shaming,” and, yes, “the patriarchy” with … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Smash the Patriarchy
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 