LUCY Update

Hi, I am going to borrow my blog to talk about our LUCY conference again. For those of you who are not part of the LUCY facebook or LUCY twitter, here's another way to update. Many of us on the Advisory Board were thrilled to find The Red Umbrella last summer Thrilled also that the publisher saw fit to share this book with us. Anyway, we all loved it. We followed up and invited Christina Diaz Gonzalez to our conference. She said YES! I am so looking forward to this conference. Last Friday I had a wonderful chat with one of our authors, Cheryl Hudson. Her publisher also sent a book to LUCY. " My Friend, Maya" had a bit of surprise ending which is great for kids. Such a beautiful book! Janet Wong, another of our authors, has been delightful to work with. A gardenia lover, we have enjoyed some fun exchanges. Lastly, we not the least of our visiting authors by any means, is Jacqueline Jules. We are most grateful to her publisher as well. We now have several different copies in our LRC. One of her books was also one of my review books for Linworth, "Duck for Turkey Day ". I have to admit, the first time I read it, I was not as familiar with multicultural literature as I am now so my review would concentrate on that aspect more now. I hope you will all register for our conference. We will have book signings for you. Bedford Falls has agreed to secure the books we are eligible to sell. This is very exciting!!

Huck Finn

Everyone knows the kind of boy Huck was. So why are folks surprised at his colorful and sometimes inappropriate language, both in his time and ours? I read there is a publisher who is planning/has planned/has executed, just can't remember, to take out some of Huck's words. What do you think about that? Would Mark Twain be rolling over now or what? Or perhaps he would say go for it? What about you? What do you say? Are your students offended when they see inappropriate language in old books, classic or not? Can we change the culture we lived in by rewriting books??? Can't we look at it as look how far away from that we are now??? I want you opinion!

LUCY Conference Day

Almost everyone is talking about new beginnings right now. I guess January does that to us, along with spring time! January is a very motivating month for me. Once I get the house back together I feel such a sense of accomplishment which just rolls over to the rest of my life (note two posts very close together!). In January the entire year is out in front of you just for taking! I see some interesting things on the horizon and thought you might like to hear about them. This month is chock full of short trips. My husband, an avid UVA sports fan, and I met some friends for dinner and a game in Charlottesville last weekend. She and I will be taking an artisan bread making class later this month! Now that really is something to look forward to. Also this month I have TWO overnight trips to Williamsburg. One with friends and one for my 33rd wedding anniversary! Feb. is a little sparse, but in March I will be presenting at VSRA with a dear friend. The big deal for me this year is in August when LUCY is having a one day multicultural conference and as grant manager, I will be putting it together with our team. The author of Red Umbrella will be one of speakers. Christina Gonzalez's first novel is getting a lot of press and has shown up on numerous Top 10 lists! I am very excited. Tomorrow I will share some of the other authors who will be with us.
Take a minute and look at 2011 and all the blessings that are on your horizon!

ereaders

I am so excited! My husband gave me a Nook for Christmas. Before you get too excited,know that I had it on my list. He was really convinced Nook was the way to go. Those Kindle commercials were looking very good to him. The Nook Color can't be beat though for my purposes. The trusty librarians at LM NET had a great discussion which also helped me make my decision. Did any of you get an ereader for Christmas? I have downloaded several free books( Mostly Jane Austin stuff) and multiple sample books as well as a 14 day trial of Woman's Health magazine at a mere $1.19 an issue delivered right to my Nook! the web access is way fun as well. Lastly, I love my downloaded cookbooks! I have bookmarked several recipes which come right up. Technology-- so fun!

I'm Back!

To all of you who are willing to sit through and read my blog, I apologize! Life just got caught up with me and I am been like a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. ( I just love that expression!). One of the things I have been doing is working my part time job. And that is what has brought me back ot my blog. We need your help. We have an awesome bibliography and a wonderful schedule of workshops but no one, I mean no ONE, is coming. What do you think we can do to get the word out? I am sure part of it is staff dev. monies have dried up. To combat that we offered free workshops. Still we are having a hard time getting the word out. Is no one interested in multicultural items??? Please let us know. You can follow us on facebook or on twitter!

Summer is almost here!

I have been reading alot of children and young adult books, but I have a problem! I am presenting my titles during a webinar this month. My dilemna is obvious. If I share all my books here, then you won't be excited or engaged about the books I share on the webinar. So I decided to talk about summer reading. Most folks think beach, backyard, good book, (though I do my best reading in January and February when I can't go outside at all AND it gets dark early. When it stays light I do not settle down till late!) So anyway, here is a list of books I hope to get to this summer! I hope you will share some of your summer reading ideas with me.
I have already started NO TIME TO WAVE GOODBYE by Jacquelyn Mitchard. I know that rings a bell. This book is the sequel to DEEP END OF THE OCEAN. This is proving to be a very unique mystery with all the characters from the first book.
My dear friend, Carol, gave me a B& N gc for my birthday and I also bought THE MAN WHO LOVED PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. I have been in a Jane Austin period lately so this caught my eye. It is set in modern times using a bit of Austin thrown into the love affair. I have a couple more but I shall save those for later, thanks for reading!

Funding

Is everyone worried about funding? Funding of every kind. My god-daughter is worried about losing funds for the arts. She works at a college and it will hit their department hard. Two years ago I was worried about book budgets disappearing but now I feel like we need to worry about real, live jobs. Will someone have to be split between libraries? Will be lose money to pay assistants and secretaries? Where will money come from? If you have not responded to the VEMA budget survey, PLEASE do it. Only 111 people have pushed the click here button. I urge you to participate. With the proposed cuts in state budgets, localities are left with little choices. Please post what you are hearing. I am very curious about how other districts are handling the shortage of funding!