Book Review: Bone Gap

Ok…so…I didn’t love this book, and I’m giving myself permission not to love it...(I mean, it's unrealistic to think I'm gonna love every book I read)…even though apparently I’m the only one on the face of the planet. It’s not because the writing was poor or the idea of the plot wasn’t interesting…

Here’s the thing; I don’t like it when I don’t know what’s going on. I mean, I can handle stream of consciousness or flashbacks or foreshadowing. This non-sci-fi girl can even handle a fair amount of futuristic, techy, apocalyptic fun. But I can’t handle that whole “what the heck is happening…guess I must’ve missed something somewhere” feeling.

I felt the same way at the first Mission Impossible movie. The year was 1996. I was in eighth grade and felt amazing because my brother’s college girlfriend deemed me cool enough to share a girl’s night. In case you’re wondering why we picked such a movie for a girl’s night, let me assure you that when you live in a town of 2500, you just feel lucky even having a movie to go to…so whatever was showing that week was what you were seeing. And it was Tom Cruise, so I mean, how bad could it be, right? Needless to say, we stepped out of that theatre and didn’t say a word for a loooooooooooong time. Finally, she looked at me and said, “Ok…I feel really dumb…but I totally didn’t get that.” I laughed, relieved, because I didn’t get it either. It happened again some years later when I saw The Matrix, but I think that’s only because I slept through imperative parts. At any rate, I digress…

So…Bone Gap…no idea what was going on for about the first 3/4ths of the book. I even appealed to my awesome librarian’s PLN who told me “just.keep.reading.” So I did. I read and I read and I read…until I ran out of pages to read. And then I closed the book, and I thought, “Well…at least the acknowledgements were good.” The best part actually…for me anyway.

So I’m not going to tell you what happens in this book because I honestly don’t know. What I do know is that Finn and Priscilla and Roza are absolutely adorable and easy-to-love characters, but their actions don’t always ring true. Maybe I’m too “in the box” for this one, but I was left with a ton more questions, confusion, and frustration than satisfaction…until the redeeming acknowledgements that is. If magical realism (oxymoron at its best) is your thing, check out Bone Gap by Laura Ruby.

Continue Reading for a Sample of Bone Gap

References: Ferguson, S. (2015). Bone gap book trailer. Retrieved from  
     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9xwdQUFT10.
Ruby, L. (2015). Bone gap. New York, NY: Balzer and Bray.

Back to School @ The Cube

The One True Reason Libraries are Still Relevant in the 21st Century

 I’ve been thinking lately about the role of librarians in the 21^st century—a natural byproduct of attending the Texas Library Association’s annual conference. There’s a lot of talk these days about our field in terms of digital learning, implementing e-resources to supplement our print collection, promoting a print collection in the face of a growing demand for e-resources, utilizing social media, there’s an app for that but I have no idea which one to use, etc. It seems that librarianship these days automatically equals technology expert with a secret book knowledge superpower we call on only when the unsuspecting patron happens to mention something about hating reading or how he/she can never find a good book or how they’ve read all the good books...within earshot of the "tech expert."

One session I (somewhat selfishly) attended was put on by Phil Klein (@philklein) and Chrystie Hill (@itgirl) regarding TED Talks in libraries. I’m a fan of TED Talks personally because I have yet to hear one that doesn’t inspire me. Regardless the specified topic, I typically am left feeling somehow connected…like my experiences are shared experiences…like my story isn’t so different from those told on the TED stage and perhaps…maybe…just as beautiful.

So this idea of story has stuck with me….

……and after some weeks of contemplation (years really, but who’s counting?)….

I’ve decided that the role of librarians in the 21^st century…the weighty role…the role that *really* matters…hasn’t changed all that much from the role of librarians in the 20^th century, the 19^th century, the 18^th…you get the picture. Simply, we share patrons’ stories. Through book selection, frequency of visitations, number of lost items, conversations extended during the circulation process—we share both welcomed and unwelcomed details of our patrons’ lives, and in sharing in what matters to them, we hold a place for them to feel they matter…a place of connection…a place for their beauty.

The last line of my notes from my somewhat selfish attendance at the TED Talks session is a quote from Phil Klein. “People don’t acknowledge how awesome they are.” What better service can we afford our patrons than acknowledging their awesomeness…extending a place to matter…to feel seen…to be connected?

I’m jumping out on a limb here and announcing a small series of upcoming posts regarding how this concept of story sharing has made me a better librarian…a better person, really. I would do it here, but it would be long, and you would quit reading. (SHOCK*GASP*FAINT). In the meantime, please consider sharing how you help others acknowledge their awesomeness. Respond in the comments below or connect @dailyslibrary. You never know who you might inspire…   

Pictures from:

RYAN MCGUIRE AND FREE OF COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS.

Viktor Hanacek on picjumbo.com: totally free photos for your commercial and personal works

The Courage to Brand: The Courage to Connect

Allow me to paint a picture. 5 a.m. on Easter Sunday morning. I’m wide awake…and have been since three. I’ve checked in with every socially-type medium I have available—Twitter, Google+, graduate course message boards, text (apologies to those of you who sleep with your ringer on), email—I’d extinguished my outlets. So I start thinking about this amazing group of people I met yesterday and some of the things I took from them and decided that no time like the present; I might as well go for an early morning walk...the first in over a year. And then I think, “Why stop there?” After downloading a couch25K jogging app and my latest audiobookcheckout from the FortWorth Public Library, I hop out of bed, eagerly shove myself into my latest Under Armor, attach my armband phone holder (complete with phone and earbuds), and fling open my front door….

Rain. Downpour. Not kidding.

As I’m making a numberless lap around my cul-de-sac somewhere along my third cycle of jog-60-seconds-walk-90-seconds—rain-soaked and huffing—the irony of the morning struck me as a perfect metaphor for my recent, two-year personal/professional (whatever) development journey. Isn’t that like most hard things? We eagerly dress the part, prepare as best we can, greet it head on…and then there’s a moment…when it all looks really big and really scary and really daunting…and we think, “Wouldn’t it just be best to go back to bed?”

Last week, I participated in a Digital-Age Learning training with the instructional and technology coaches and fellow librarians in my district. What was designed as a two-day training was packed into a few hours, my favorite of which was devoted to professional branding. Call it dumb luck or Divine Intervention, but in this hour, I happened to pick this TedTalk to watch, summarize, and present to my fellow trainees. What was meant to be a talk about branding for me translated into connection, which is what it’s all about for me.

In the spirit of professionalism and building an audience, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the idea of maintaining multiple online presences, but there’s a part of me—a rather large part actually—that feels like that’s just not authentic. For me, whether its personal or professional (teacher-librarian-counselor-editor-writer), it’s all about connection. For a long time, I’ve not been willing to put that out there professionally. As Brene Brown says in Daring Greatly, the more relatable we are the less credentialed people think we are—but why?

Connection and relationship are what the business of education is all about. (Don’t believe me; try teaching Shakespeare to 25 teenagers without a relationship and see how far you get.) It doesn’t matter how good we look on paper if we’re not teaching students how to connect with the best version of themselves they can possibly be, thereby generating the best possible relationships with others they can possibly have. And if we’re not modeling authentic connection and relationship with others on our campus (students, teachers, admin), how can we hope to meaningfully impact students?    

Connection is hard, especially in the beginning. It’s the rain on an Easter morning when the hope of a new runner emerges. But we.can.do.hard.things. Go on. Measure the benefits. Dare Greatly. Connect… 

Fun Projects in The Cube Today!

The Cube was busy this morning with Mr. Ivey's AP World History students comparing CHS across the decades.  It was fun to see them completely engaged in meaningful group discussion, working on how Castleberry High School has changed and stayed the same since the 1950s.

Mrs. Stansbury's students found the auditorium distracting this morning as it served as the holding room for students whose teachers were benchmarking testing.  They happily found a comfortable place in The Cube and enjoyed the rest of their class period.

I had a great time helping Mrs. Hancock's senior English classes this morning with their fun fairy tale mashup blog assignment. Students were uploading PowerPoint presentations into Emaze and then linking their Emaze presentation to their blog. Students who chose to present their stories in MS Word learned how to access their Gaggle digital locker and import their finished project into their Gaggle blog.

The Cube: Full Throttle

Wow...it's 7th period...passing period actually...and a brief reprieve...a calm before the inevitable storm. We've hosted 13 classes today...THIRTEEN classes!!! Not to mention the 200+ kids who enjoyed lunch here, worked on independent projects, checked out weekend reads, or simply just came to be for awhile. It's been fun...amazing really. One SMARTboard and the conference room TVs have all been utilized as projectors, teaching aides, and make-shift news screens. The MakerSpace supplies constructed 18th century civilizations and drew BabyMamas and Daddys. (I'm not sure what all that's about, so don't bother asking). The FlexLab was a revolving door of students finishing Flowers for Algernon projects and working on math models. A few teachers found a quiet landing space in the Castlebucks Cafe during conference periods, and many have enjoyed the bounty of the Cafe's coffee supply.

My head is spinning...quite literally.

Four times today teachers said to me, "Wow! You really have a full house in here!" as they looked around in wonder.

Kids love it. Teachers love it. I love it.

I'm verklempt actually...sincerely. I've blinked back tears.

This...THIS...is what I dreamed about when I became a school librarian--a revolving door of teachers, students, administrators, and visitors just coming to check it all out. It's fun! It's overwhelming! It's exhausting! It's absolutely amazing!!

Here's a taste...albeit small...of today's happenings in The Cube...

 

Experience New

We just launched our first display in our new space:

Experience New: Walk a Mile in Others’ Shoes!

I thought with the new year and being in a new space and all that theme of new was apropos––be it though somewhat cliché. We’re focusing on memoir and narrative biography—storytelling at its best…storytelling that elicits a “NO WAY!!!” response …but then “yes way…” because it’s totally true...and it's unbelievable!

It seemed like a no-brainer at the time, but now that it’s up--surrounded by generously donated faculty shoes that have obviously walked a mile or two--I think it profound. It is a cliché…think you have it bad? Just walk a mile or two in their shoes…something we as teachers, parents, friends have said to attempt to cheer someone up, pull them out of the pity pit, offer a pat on the back…but the hidden message here is:

E*M*P*A*T*H*Y

Surface-level fun, it’s a weighty display. Filled with struggles for basic human rights; searches to find oneself among a world of imposters; battles with illnesses, families, societies…

It’s a display that calls the reader to enter the struggle, join the search, take up the cause.

It’s a display that, truly embraced, can teach more than what’s contained within the curriculum or tested at the end of the year.

EMPATHY.

We’re all attracted to it; few offer it.

Schedule some empathic practice time. Come to The Cube. Pick some new shoes. And get to walkin’.

empathy.

Walk the road less traveled. In this RSA Short (less than 3 minutes), Dr. Brene Brown offers insight on the differences between empathy and sympathy.