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Mailbox Monday #230

August 5, 2013 by

Mailbox Monday (click the icon to check out the new blog) has gone on tour since Marcia at To Be Continued, formerly The Printed Page passed the torch.  August’s host is Bermudaonion The Reading Fever.

The meme allows bloggers to share what books they receive in the mail or through other means over the past week.

Just be warned that these posts can increase your TBR piles and wish lists.

Here’s what I bought/received:

1.  Solving the World’s Problems by Robert Lee Brewer, which I purchased.

The “World” in Robert Lee Brewer’s Solving the World’s Problems is a slippery world … where chaos always hovers near, where we are (and should be) “splashing around in dark puddles.” And one feels a bit dizzy reading these poems because (while always clear, always full of meaning) they come at reality slantwise so that nothing is quite the same and the reader comes away with a new way of looking at the ordinary objects and events of life. The poems are brim-full of surprises and delights, twists in the language, double-meanings of words, leaps of thought and imagination, interesting line-breaks. There are love and relationship poems, dream poems, poems of life in the modern world. And always the sense (as he writes) of “pulling the world closer to me/leaves falling to the ground/ birds flying south.” I read these once, twice with great enjoyment. I will go back to them often. -Patricia Fargnoli, former Poet Laureate of New Hampshire and author of Then, Something

2.  Pat the Beastie by Henrik Drescher, which I purchased for my daughter’s potty prize box for her good deeds.

A warning: “You should never monkey around with a Beastie!” Once upon a time a little boy and girl named Paul and Judy had a pet called Beastie. Unfortunately, Paul and Judy weren’t very nice to Beastie. In fact—they were downright naughty. They pulled Beastie’s fur and jiggled Beastie’s eyes. They tickled his feet and plucked his boogers. “Always be kind to your pets!” they were reminded again and again—but Paul and Judy never listened.

3.  Camelot’s Court by Robert Dallek, which came from Harper.

Fifty years after John F. Kennedy’s assassination, presidential historian Robert Dallek, whom The New York Times calls “Kennedy’s leading biographer,” delivers a riveting new portrait of this president and his inner circle of advisors—their rivalries, personality clashes, and political battles. In Camelot’s Court, Dallek analyzes the brain trust whose contributions to the successes and failures of Kennedy’s administration—including the Bay of Pigs, civil rights, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Vietnam—were indelible.

Kennedy purposefully put together a dynamic team of advisors noted for their brilliance and acumen, including Attorney General Robert Kennedy, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, Secretary of State Dean Rusk, National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy, and trusted aides Ted Sorensen and Arthur Schlesinger. Yet the very traits these men shared also created sharp divisions. Far from being unified, this was an uneasy band of rivals whose ambitions and clashing beliefs ignited fiery internal debates.

What did you receive?

Filed Under: mailbox monday, meme Tagged With: , , , , ,

213th Virtual Poetry Circle

August 3, 2013 by

Welcome to the 213th Virtual Poetry Circle!

Remember, this is just for fun and is not meant to be stressful.

Keep in mind what Molly Peacock’s books suggested. Look at a line, a stanza, sentences, and images; describe what you like or don’t like; and offer an opinion. If you missed my review of her book, check it out here.

Also, sign up for the 2013 Dive Into Poetry Challenge because its simple; you only need to read 1 book of poetry. Check out the stops on the 2013 National Poetry Month Blog Tour and the 2012 National Poetry Month Blog Tour.

Today’s poem is from Robert Polito from Doubles:

What the Dead Know

Air here is like the water
Of an aquarium that’s been lived in for a while—clear and still
                             Beyond the rigors
Of glass; appearing cold (and clear) as spring streams
                             Fed by snow and ice,
But unexpectedly warm to feel, and inviting; side-lit—
                             A vitality of shadows
Once you come into it, and long bars of light
                             Burning like spots,
Remarkable for the absence of dust in their sharp crossfires;
                             Heavy, as crystal
Is heavy, as if to move here would mean pushing against a force
                             Palpable, and strong;
Yet rich with prospects of life, comfortable
                             With the idea of life,
As if, put on its slide, every drop is stocked with wonders,
                             Swarming, about to burst—

                             Beautiful in a way,
One element sustaining another, our message brought home
                             So that the living
Might come to see. Harder to say that without them
                             We are nothing—
Water without air; or to speak of our isolation,
                             Or our special loneliness;
Or say as they look right through us, at their plants,
                             Pictures, books,
Windows, reflections, and blank white walls,
                             That we need them,
To orient ourselves and to tell us who we are;
                             Or that with each look
They are swimming to within our sights; or that we are always casting
                             Wider and wider
And that even now they are fighting to avoid our nets.

What do you think?

Filed Under: virtual poetry circle

Gracianna by Trini Amador

August 2, 2013 by

Source: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours
Hardcover, 277 pages
I am an Amazon Affiliate

Gracianna by Trini Amador is based on true events of the author’s great-grandmother’s life.  Gracianna is headstrong and determined to achieve her dream of going to America no matter who she leaves behind.  High in the Pyrenees Mountains among her Basque people along northeastern Spain and southwestern France, women tend to be strong, persevering against all odds, while traditionally, men run in fear or have wanderlust.  Amador chooses a third-person, seemingly omniscient narrative in which readers will see and hear the actions and reactions of Gracianna, Constance, and Juan.  Unfortunately, this method lends itself to more telling than showing, leaving the reader at a distance from the characters.

“Once she decided to engage with anyone on a given subject, they would become transfixed by her confidence, and the grasp and depth of her knowledge.  Her sureness came from her strong core.” (page 7)

While the 1940s through WWII is a tumultuous period full of tension and anguish, readers are likely to be pulled in and out of the story as the points of view shift even within chapters between main and minor characters.  From the French Resistance to the concentration camps in Auschwitz, Amador describes the conditions with aplomb, though there are moments where prisoners are asked by newcomers where they have landed in a way that makes it seem like they’ve arrived at a hotel or paradise resort — thus shifting the tone and diminishing the frightening atmosphere readers may expect.

Through the novel, Amador relies on sometimes obvious, and at other times unnecessary headline-like title breaks in the middle of chapters that often foreshadow the action to come.  Readers could find these distracting.  Gracianna is a character that readers want to love and cheer on throughout the novel, but the unusual structure makes that difficult.

In many ways, the author’s style is too focused on Gracianna’s cultural compass and how it guides her actions and decisions, and does little to shed light on her emotional losses and connections with others.  The relationship she has with her sister is tough to get a handle on given the time lapse between when she last sees her in Basque and when Constance shows up in Paris, and her relationship with her husband seems one-sided, as though she is pressured into marriage by the war.  Gracianna by Trini Amador pays homage to the author’s heritage and great-grandmother, weaving a story of fact and fiction that leaves readers looking for more dynamic characters they can connect with.

About the Author:

Trini Amador vividly remembers the day he found a loaded German Luger tucked away in a nightstand while wandering through his great-grandmother’s home in Southern California. He was only four years old at the time, but the memory remained and he knew he had to explore the story behind the gun. This experience sparked a journey towards Gracianna, Amador’s debut novel, inspired by true events and weaving reality with imagination. It’s a tale drawing from real-life family experiences.  Visit him on Facebook and Twitter.

Gracianna Tour Banner FINAL

This is my 50th book for the 2013 New Authors Challenge.

Filed Under: challenges, fiction, historical fiction, New Authors Challenge, Read in 2013, review copy, reviews Tagged With: , ,

Guest Post & Giveaway: Leanne Lieberman Talks About Author Fan Letters, Books

August 1, 2013 by

Lauren Yanofsky Hates the Holocaust by Leanne Lieberman is about a young woman who is caught up in typical teenage drama, but it’s more than that and told with humor.  According to Amazon’s description, “Lauren Yanofsky doesn’t want to be Jewish anymore. Her father, a noted Holocaust historian, keeps giving her Holocaust memoirs to read, and her mother doesn’t understand why Lauren hates the idea of Jewish youth camps and family vacations to Holocaust memorials. But when Lauren sees some of her friends—including Jesse, a cute boy she likes—playing Nazi war games, she is faced with a terrible choice: betray her friends or betray her heritage.”

Today, I’ve got a giveaway and guest post to share with you from the author, Leanne Lieberman.  Please give her a warm welcome.

When I finish a book I love I often think, I must write a letter to compliment the author. However, by the time I sit down to write the letter, I’ve forgotten what I want to say, or I wonder if the author actually cares what I think. Most of the time, I’m just too busy.

To date, I have only written one fan letter. When I was eight I wrote to Sydney Taylor, the author of the “All-of-A-Kind-Family” series. The books were the first chapter books I read on my own. I was delighted with the tales of a Jewish family of five girls growing up on the lower east side of Manhattan at the turn of the last century. The stories describe the girls going to the library, shopping at the market for the Sabbath, saving their penny allowance for a birthday present for their Papa, and helping their Mama clean the front room. At the end of the five books the girls’ Mama is pregnant with another child. I couldn’t believe the author would leave readers in such suspense and not write another book. When my mother suggested I write Sydney Taylor a letter, I was fascinated by the idea that authors were real people you could write to. I remember leaving the dinner table and rushing to my room to find pen and paper. I needed to know if the baby would be a girl or a boy. Was Taylor going to write another book?

I received a letter back a few months later from Ralph Taylor, Sydney Taylor’s husband. He explained that Sydney had passed away, but that the baby was in fact a boy as Taylor’s All-of-A Kind-Series was based on Sydney’s own family. I treasured that letter. I remember showing it to my teacher and the school librarian and gluing it into my Little Twin Stars diary. I even wrote Ralph Taylor a second letter with a picture of my family tree, assuming he would be as interested in my family as I was in his wife’s.

I didn’t think about Sydney Taylor or the All-of-Kind-Family Books for many years until I published my first novel, Gravity about an orthodox Jewish girl who falls in love with another girl in 2008. The novel was reviewed positively by the American Jewish library, and named a Sydney Taylor Notable Book for Teens. Of all the reviews of my books, having my name linked with Sydney Taylor’s gave me the most pleasure. It allowed me to imagine people reading my books the way I had read Taylor’s works: absorbed in her world. It made me feel like an author, the way I had first dreamed of becoming a writer when I read Taylor’s books as a child.

Since publishing Gravity I have pulled my old copies of All-of-A-Kind- Family out of the dusty box at my parents’ house and started reading them to my two sons. Like me, they are delighted to read about children celebrating Passover and other Jewish holidays the way they do. They are also fascinated by the descriptions of Manhattan Jewish life from a long time ago. At the same time I started reading Taylor’s books to my kids I received an email with the subject: “Are you the same Leanne Lieberman?” The same as whom, I wondered. The email was from June Cummins, a professor of children’s literature at the State University of San Diego. Cummins wrote that she had read Gravity and liked it. She also explained that she was writing a biography of Sydney Taylor and had been going through Taylor’s fan letters. She had found a letter from someone named Leanne Lieberman written in 1983. Was I that same Leanne?

Goose bumps ran down my forearms. I had written to Sydney Taylor when I was eight, which was 1983, and as far as I knew, I was the only Leanne Lieberman. Through subsequent emails with Cummins I learned that Taylor, the middle child of five girls, wrote the All-Of-A-Kind-Family stories for her daughter Jo who was an only child. Cummins was staying with Jo at the time, and offered her regards. Cummins had also met Jerry, Jo’s uncle, who was the unborn child at the end of the series that I had originally wanted to know about. Knowing that the All-of-A-Kind Family was based on real people, people who were still alive, made me feel an even greater kinship to the stories. Even though Sydney Taylor had never received my letter, I was part of her story as she was part of mine.

Eventually Cummins offered to send me a copy of my original letter. My writing in 1983 was more legible that it is now, although my spelling has improved. “Dear Sydney,” I wrote, “I have an important question for you.” I have none of the trepidation that the author will be too busy or think my questions unimportant. I cherish the memory of what I was like at eight: curious, obsessed with stories, full of my own childish self-importance, and my overwhelming secret desire to write my own stories. Despite the eighty plus years between Taylor’s books and my own life, I saw myself reflected in Taylor’s stories. Her characters lose their library books, get their ears pierced, celebrate Shabbat, and dream of being on the stage, all things I experienced. My own books also deal with the Jewish experience, but because I write for teens, they explore more difficult questions: how to be gay and Jewish, what to think about the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and in my recently released book, Lauren Yanofsky Hates The Holocaust, how to deal with anti-Semitism and the legacy of the Holocaust. I like to imagine that somewhere there is a young girl reading my books, feeling them resonate in her life, and dreaming of the books she will write too.

Do you write fan letters to authors?

author photoAbout the Author:

Leanne Lieberman is the author of three YA books: Gravity (a Sydney Taylor Notable Book), The Book of Trees and Lauren Yanofsky Hates The Holocaust. She also writes adult fiction and is working on a collection of linked short stories entitled, Open Your Heart. Leanne is a graduate of The University of Windsor’s MA in in Creative Writing. Originally from Vancouver BC, Leanne now lives in Kingston ON with her husband and two sons.

To enter to win a copy, you must be 18 and older and living in the U.S. or Canada. Please leave a comment below with an email. Deadline to enter is 11:59 pm EST Aug. 8, 2013.

Filed Under: giveaway, guest post Tagged With: ,

On Handling the Truth by Beth Kephart — I’m Still Reading…

July 31, 2013 by

I have not finished reading Handling the Truth by Beth Kephart, and I’ll likely not have it completely read until next week.  But I wanted to share something that has never happened before — at least not to me — when reading a book of writing advice/tips.  I nearly cried; yes, cried!

I’m nearing page 100, and there’s a chapter about food and taste.  Kephart talks about how “a way of eating passes with your mother” following the death of her mother — a series of passages that are written beautifully and with deep honesty.  It is not my mother or her cooking that Kephart reminded me of, but that of my nana — funny, as I just shared a book with Kephart in which I talk a little bit about her.  Her cooking was the stuff of legend and unfortunately with her passing 15 years ago — can it be that long — at the age of 82, she took many of her cooking secrets with her.

How did she make that shake-and-bake stuff on chicken — only ever on chicken — taste so much better than when I make it straight from the box?  How did she get those mashed potatoes so buttery and creamy, there wasn’t a lump to be had or a spoonful that didn’t taste heavenly?  And most of all, how did she get those apple pies to not only be equal parts sweet and — not tart — but just a tad spicy, while ensuring the apples were al dente in a thick, creamy apple-y sauce that made your heart melt?  These are things I can never learn, nor can my mother, but these are the foods that rushed into my mind when I read Kephart’s passages.

Creamy seems to be a recurring theme with the foods I remember her making, and perhaps that’s because of her easy-going way with things, no matter how hard they seemed — even as death neared.  Most of all, I miss nana’s quiet support and encouragement, even when my cooking attempts as a young teen went very wrong and my writing attempts were even worse.  I’ve tried many times to recreate her mashed potatoes, her brownies, her oatmeal cookies, but only my attempts at banana muffins — the one recipe we worked on many times together — comes even close to tasting and being as moist as hers.

Perhaps this is what memoir means…and should be.

Filed Under: announcements Tagged With: , ,

The News from Spain by Joan Wickersham

July 30, 2013 by

Source: Public Library, though Beth Kephart’s review had me seek it out.
Hardcover, 208 pages
I am an Amazon Affiliate

The News from Spain: 7 Variations on a Love Story by Joan Wickersham explores what it means to love in its many forms, and how that emotion can be caught up with and distorted by other emotions and desires.  From the woman whose husband is a serial cheater even as she lays partially paralyzed and dependent upon him to the woman who is drawn again and again to a co-worker who is just out of reach, Wickersham demonstrates the power love has over our bodies and the helplessness we feel as we try to fight off that power.  Each story is titled “The News from Spain,” harkening to the segues used in conversation to divert attention or change the subject from something more personal and deeply wounding, as if calling attention away will make relationships and connections easier to bear or ignore.

“What they had together was pleasant.

But still that word continued to bother her, whenever she thought of it.  The fact that it appeared to be lauding, but the thing that it praised was a limitation.”  (Page 40)

There are characters here who are emotionally detached for a number of reasons, but even they find themselves in the midst of relationships, waffling through the navigation of their emotions.  Each character is seemingly stuck in a pattern of love, and these patterns continue infinitely through time as some of them long separated from these emotional or physical affairs continue to mull them over and remember them either fondly or quizzically.  Wickersham explores what it means to love and be loved, but also what it means to hurt the ones we love, to struggle in the quest for giving and receiving forgiveness, and also what it means to move beyond the hurt and pain to find peace and fondness without the bitterness and regret.

In one story, the narrator talks of unrequited love and the emotions running throughout her body becoming an unruly mob when she tries to rein them in after confessing to the man.  And this frenetic movement within her is reminiscent of those first flushes of love — requited or not — and the passions they inflame, but as she professes to continue to love her husband, readers may begin to wonder if it is love she feels at all for this other man or a want for those feelings of passion to reignite her life.  The News from Spain: 7 Variations on a Love Story by Joan Wickersham is at times an emotional roller coaster and at others a dark comedy on the passions of love, but her characters struggles are brought to life in a way that will leave a lasting impression on readers.

About the Author:

Joan Wickersham was born in New York City and grew up there and in Connecticut. Her new book of fiction, The News from Spain: Seven Variations on a Love Story, will be published by Knopf in October 2012. Her memoir The Suicide Index: Putting My Father’s Death in Order (Harcourt 2008) was a National Book Award Finalist. She is also the author of a novel, The Paper Anniversary.

Please visit her Website and her Facebook page.

This is my 49th book for the 2013 New Authors Challenge.

Filed Under: borrowed copy, challenges, fiction, New Authors Challenge, Publishers/Publicists, random house, Read in 2013, reviews, short stories

Mailbox Monday #229

July 29, 2013 by

Mailbox Monday (click the icon to check out the new blog) has gone on tour since Marcia at To Be Continued, formerly The Printed Page passed the torch.  July’s host is Book Obsessed.

The meme allows bloggers to share what books they receive in the mail or through other means over the past week.

Just be warned that these posts can increase your TBR piles and wish lists.

Here’s what I snagged at Hooray for Books in Alexandria, Va.:

1.  Handling the Truth: On the Writing of Memoir by Beth Kephart

Writing memoir is a deeply personal, and consequential, undertaking. As the acclaimed author of five memoirs spanning significant turning points in her life, Beth Kephart has been both blessed and bruised by the genre. In Handling the Truth, she thinks out loud about the form—on how it gets made, on what it means to make it, on the searing language of truth, on the thin line between remembering and imagining, and, finally, on the rights of memoirists. Drawing on proven writing lessons and classic examples, on the work of her students and on her own memories of weather, landscape, color, and love, Kephart probes the wrenching and essential questions that lie at the heart of memoir.

2.  Imperfect Circle by Debbie Levy

Danielle Snyder’s summer job as a babysitter takes a tragic turn when Humphrey, the five-year-old boy she’s watching, runs in front of oncoming traffic to chase down his football. Immediately Danielle is caught up in the machinery of tragedy: police investigations, neighborhood squabbling, and, when the driver of the car that struck Humphrey turns out to be an undocumented alien, outsiders use the accident to further a politically charged immigration debate. Wanting only to mourn Humphrey, the sweet kid she had a surprisingly strong friendship with, Danielle tries to avoid the world around her. Through a new relationship with Justin, a boy she meets at the park, she begins to work through her grief, but as details of the accident emerge, much is not as it seems. It’s time for Danielle to face reality, but when the truth brings so much pain, can she find a way to do right by Humphrey’s memory and forgive herself for his death?

3.  Love the Beastie by Henrik Drescher for Wiggles, which she picked over a monkey puppet — completely amazing both her parents.

Be kind to your pets! That’s the message of Love the Beastie.  Gross, outrageous, but pure fun in a book, Love the Beastie is a pull and poke, spin and play, and cuddle and kiss Valentine for kids and especially kids with pets. Meet Paul and Judy. And meet their pet, Beastie. Paul and Judy used to be so mean to Beastie. They pulled Beastie’s hair, tickled Beastie’s feet. So, Beastie feastied! Good thing Paul and Judy learned their lesson (stuck inside the belly of the Beastie).

Also, the kind Beth Kephart brought me a book from her collection:

4.  Undercover, which she signed.

Like a modern-day Cyrano de Bergerac, Elisa ghostwrites love notes for the boys in her school. But when Elisa falls for Theo Moses, things change fast. Theo asks for verses to court the lovely Lila—a girl known for her beauty, her popularity, and a cutting ability to remind Elisa that she has none of these. At home, Elisa’s father, the one person she feels understands her, has left on an extended business trip. As the days grow shorter, Elisa worries that the increasingly urgent letters she sends her father won’t bring him home. Like the undercover agent she feels she has become, Elisa retreats to a pond in the woods, where her talent for ice-skating gives her the confidence to come out from under cover and take center stage. But when Lila becomes jealous of Theo’s friendship with Elisa, her revenge nearly destroys Elisa’s ice-skating dreams and her plan to reunite her family.

What did you receive?

Filed Under: mailbox monday, meme Tagged With: , , , , ,

Hooray! An Event of Successful Fiction and Memoir

July 28, 2013 by

IMG_2731Yesterday, we headed down to Alexandria, Va., to attend an event at Hooray for Books with Beth Kephart, whose writing cannot be praised enough, and Debbie Levy, who is as charming in person as I expected.  It has been many years since I’ve been there, but I’ve always loved the waterfront, the Torpedo Factory, and many other things about the shops and restaurants there.  While I did notice some changes, including the movement of Hannelore’s where I got my wedding dress to a side street off of King Street, much of the atmosphere remains the same.  What did we do after the event? We went to our favorite pub, Murphy’s, though after the nauseated morning I had, I did not dare have the Guinness I would have love to have.  And then we took Wiggles around to check out the sights she has never seen.  (pictured here is my favorite tree down by the water).

Due to construction on the lovely George Washington Parkway, I was late to the event and I hate being late!  I abhor it.  My husband kindly dropped me off as he sought parking.  I walked in and was told there were still seats, which was good, though I would have stood for this one.  And stupidly, I became too absorbed in the conversation to take too many photos.  There was talk about memoir and its differences from fiction and autobiography, and how there is still a need for imagination in memoir, but not in making up facts.  We all know those memoirists that have been caught bending or blatantly making up facts — they are not Beth Kephart or Debbie Levy (below Beth on the left and Debbie on the far right).

IMG_2715

There were books galore to be had at the bookstore, and when my husband finally arrived with Wiggles, they sat for a few minutes while the audience — and myself — were engaged in a writing exercise about what friends from our school days would remember about us and what we’d like them to remember — thanks to Debbie Levy.  Earlier we had engaged in a different writing exercise about a first person account of an object, which Beth Kephart dreamt up.  I did share the poem, I will share here at the behest of Beth and Debbie, though I feel it is unfinished.

Ghost in a Book

She was a bean pole
awkward
books hanging from her nose,
from her hands,
in her bag.
Looking down, but
always -- inwardly -- out
to a horizon
beyond four walls,
small town, gossip.
Ready to spring --
jump forward, move
and leave us
wondering if she was here.

I’ve honestly written more poetry than fiction and essay and have never written memoir or nonfiction. It was good to stretch my writing in these exercises, and it was fun to see what others came up with. Some of them were funny and sarcastic, while others were serious. This was a great event for more than one reason — writing exercises, readings, questions and answers — but most of all the genuine awe and support the writers showed for one another, culminating in each buying books from the other’s stacks and signing books to their friends and loved ones. I loved how they bounced questions off of one another and how they interacted. It was like watching two colleagues who have known one another longer than I suspect Beth and Debbie have.

I’ll leave you with my favorite photo from yesterday — thanks to my husband who took the photo — of three lovely ladies.

IMG_2716

Filed Under: announcements, Events Tagged With: , , , , , ,

212th Virtual Poetry Circle

July 27, 2013 by

Welcome to the 212th Virtual Poetry Circle!

Remember, this is just for fun and is not meant to be stressful.

Keep in mind what Molly Peacock’s books suggested. Look at a line, a stanza, sentences, and images; describe what you like or don’t like; and offer an opinion. If you missed my review of her book, check it out here.

Also, sign up for the 2013 Dive Into Poetry Challenge because its simple; you only need to read 1 book of poetry. Check out the stops on the 2013 National Poetry Month Blog Tour and the 2012 National Poetry Month Blog Tour.

Today’s poem is from S/SGT Irvin V. Worden from Korea, The Chosen Place, a view from Old Smokey:

Korea

Korea, the chosen place
Ravished by war, laid to waste
All United Nations there engaged
In another history Page.

Korea, tis not a beauty site
To see by day or by night.
The eye beholds only the gloom
Of a country buried in war's tomb.

Korea, it's been torn up
and torn down;
Marched up
and marched down.

Korea, blood shed, land and mountains
Have been bathed by youthful fountains.
Brave men here have gone to their reward
Perishing 'neath the sword.

Korea, twas not a war they say;
Only a police action day by day,
A testing place
For the human race.

Korea, two ideals clashing
Communism and democracy smashing;
The U.N.'s firm stand
Against the hammer red hand.

Korea, a question of peace there,
A question of peace everywhere
Soon it may be inflamed
Again in blood and war's shame.

Korea, a prayer of the free
That inpeace here we may see
The sword no more to rise
On any land or any skies.

What do you think?

Filed Under: virtual poetry circle

Book News: Hooray for Books!, Indeed

July 26, 2013 by

Hooray for Books! is a children’s bookstore in Alexandria, Va., to which I’ve never been.

I haven’t been to a bookstore in Old Town since Olsson’s closed and my husband and I went to our favorite pub, Murphy’s Grand Irish Pub, and their live music fun.  And it was always great to visit the Torpedo Factory.  In fact, my wedding dress was bought at Hannelore’s, which has the best seamstresses in the world, more than 10 years ago.

On Saturday, July 27 at 3:30 p.m., I’ll head down to Virginia with my small family in tow.  Local author Debbie Levy and Pennsylvania-based author Beth Kephart will talk about the fine line between truth and fiction as they discuss their latest books at Hooray for Books in Alexandria, Va.

Debbie Levy will showcase The Year of Goodbyes and Imperfect Spiral, which was just released, and Beth Kephart will talk about her books, Handling the Truth and Small Damages. The authors will read from each book, discuss its creation, and share their thoughts on workshopping the fine line between truth and fiction. For those interested in participating, Kephart says, “We each have an in-store exercise for those who’d like to try their hands at a bit of writing—and to hear our thoughts about their work.”

Levy’s The Year of Goodbyes is a WWII narrative poem based on an actual book created by her own mother, Jutta Salzberg, who lived in Hamburg, Germany, when the Nazi’s took power and began to ramp up their persecution of Jews in 1938. The book is powerful and a great testament to her mother’s memory, her own family’s past, and the hope generated by that remembering, I said in a recent review. Levy’s new book, Imperfect Spiral, is a young adult novel about how tragedy can affect the life of a babysitter, especially when the boy who’s killed is an undocumented immigrant.

Meanwhile, Kephart has had a string of publications in the last year, including Small Damages (new in paperback), Dr. Radway’s Sarsaparilla Resolvent, and Handling the Truth (due out in August). Small Damages is a young adult novel set in Spain about the adult decisions that children sometimes must make for themselves, especially when they find themselves in situations that are beyond their comprehension. Dr. Radway’s Sarsaparilla Resolvent, on the other hand, is an illustrated, historical fiction, young adult novel that brings to life old Philadelphia in a way that contrasts the opportunities and drawbacks of industrialization in the background as one family struggles to survive when their father is jailed. Kephart’s Handling the Truth, on the other hand, is a book for those interested in writing memoir, which will likely reach the heights of Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird.

I’m ready for this event, are you? What events are on your agenda for the weekend?

Filed Under: announcements Tagged With: , , ,