The View from the Leslie Library Windows: Sable Soldiers

Thursday, May 3, 2018

Sable Soldiers

Today I looked at some of our just in diversity books. One was on the new National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. All the thought, planning, and work that went into making a museum of world note. In that book they mentioned the Sable Soldiers. I don’t think I have ever heard that before. I like it. It is on display on our non-fiction side of the rolling rack. Today never seemed to stop. A whirlwind of students, books, helping, putting away a whole side of a cart of non-fiction books and for a student who is on a family vacation. Talking with students, getting the Lightning Thief books settled into hopefully the right hands. Had some mix ups today. It seemed the program had them right, but when I checked them out, no, it didn’t. So confusing! Talked with Mr. M about the superintendent coming to use the library. We talked about how many people would be coming and I mentioned that maybe we didn’t need tables? Maybe just chairs? He liked that idea and was going to check on that. I also had to reunite a Chrome book with its cart. Take on two more Chrome carts that are now locked up in my office. I was so busy I almost didn’t get to the box I picked up yesterday at our meeting to see those new books! Always glad to get new books, and hoping my new order arrives soon! So at least the students get to check some out before we stop check outs for the year. Watched the new books webinar and had one book on my order and added another. They look good and hopefully will get ordered this summer so we come back from summer with new books! Did a little bit of book repair. Some page tipping. Gluing a book from another school into its spine. I just didn’t have the heart to send it back looking so bad. Sent off some Hate that Cat and Love that Dog books to another school. Found a cord for a teacher. Checked out 40 science books this morning and had an aide take them down right away. The teacher was very appreciative. Also had an aide take up math books to Mr. G for his six classes. It was a long crazy day.

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What I'm Reading

The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris was a great non-fiction read! Love a good non-fiction! Joseph Lister worked hard, studied hard, never gave up on his ideas that something outside was causing untold numbers of people to die after surgery. His quest to find the answer was long overdue and he was the one to craft it and make it a medical standard. Brilliant!
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy by Emmanuel Acho was so good. I liked it even better than Stamped. His honest and open look at what is was like for him growing up really brings the issues into focus. Highly recommended!
Verify by Joelle Charbonneau - what if everything went digital which gave the government and people in power a way to change history, past and current. What happened to some words, like the word 'verify' that is no longer in the digital dictionary. Meri has lost her mom and her dad drowns sorrow in liquor. Meri is entranced by her mom's last art pieces and is given a slip of paper (the horror! what about the trees? recycling?) and on it is the word 'verify'. Atlas gives her a dictionary, a paper one and an old history textbook. Meri jumps on the train with him so they can change the world.
Kalahari by Jessica Khoury - what a ride! I even took this home one night to finish! Sarah lives with her dad doing research deep in the Kalahari. A group of students are sent to see if they can qualify for a grant and when her dad goes missing when he heads off after poachers, she is left to take care of them. Her dad doesn't return and the poachers are after them. They come across a white lion stalking them, but wait? It isn't white it's something else. They come across a lab and realize there is a virus, that has been let loose on the Kalahari that could destroy the whole world. So exciting!! Great ending as well!
The Year of the Buttered Cat by Susan Haas with Lexi Haas - Okay. I have to admit that I got this book because of the title. Buttered cats, what an intriguing thought! But the real intrigue is the persistence, the optimism of Lexi. Because of jaundice, she was disabled and this story is about her decision to take a chance on ground breaking surgery to try and get some mobility, speech and live her gifts. She has five she had to find. Read it for Lexi (and maybe to find out about that buttered cat).
Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram. There are spaces only you can fill, and Darius learns this as his family travels to Iran to see his grandfather who is dying. Along the way he deals with his depression, makes a friend, has innumerable Star Trek references and also learns that it's okay, to not be okay. I must admit, I had to look up some of the places he got to visit. What a rich heritage. I thought Zoroastrians were long gone, but no, they are still practicing today in Iran. Great book, totally okay.
The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin - perfect book lover tale of a woman captivated by a man and a bookstore and how she made more impact on her fellow book lovers and the man who got her to read than any bomb that fell during the Blitz. Very lovely!
The Girl From the Channel Islands by Jenny Lecoat - Lovely WW2 story by Jenny who actually grew up on one of the Channel Islands. Hedy fled Austria only to find her island haven invaded by the Germans. And though she is wary, she falls in love with a German officer. The twists and turns of German occupation test them both as each find a way to help the allied forces win.
Ancestor Approved edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith. I loved these short stories that all center around a modern day Native American Powwow. My fave was Rez Dog and they were all a great window into culture that I have rarely seen. I watched some videos on Fancy Dancing because of this and I would love to attend one, but feel a bit like a looky loo if I did. Fun, eye opening and full of information. Loved it!
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams Loved this fictionalized tale of the daughter of one of the lexicographers of the first ever Oxford Dictionary. As Esme goes from hiding under the sorting table, to one day being a lexicographer herself, we see her story unfold along with the people attached to the dictionary. It was really wonderful as we glimpsed her life and how the words she found and rescued formed the backbone of this novel. Really well done. It will stay on my shelves.