Jo’s Special Gifts is an incredible picture book about autism. From the little boy point of view, the book describes Jo’s likes and dislikes, focusing mainly on all his accomplishments. It is a wonderful diverse story, inclusive and poetic. I love how Mariam Shapera explains the Autism Spectrum and all the helpful suggestions at the end of the book.
Liz just wants a happy birthday.
Is that too much to ask?
A beautiful antique bed: her birthday present to herself. The nice delivery men set it up in her bedroom, and then all Hell breaks loose. Literally.
When it turns out the bed's former owner isn't basking in the glow of a happy afterlife, Liz must face some nasty adversaries to help him. Why on earth would she risk her life and her sanity to help a ghost? Certainly not because she’s in love with him.
My local #library didn't have a copy of Jordan Mechner's #book Replay: Memoir of an Uprooted Family, so I submitted a purchase request. I'm really looking forward to reading it.
I'll admit it, I got the idea from someone else on Mastodon, and I can't remember who. Hopefully someone reading this will be inspired to check out their own library. They are precious resources and should be supported with our patronage.
"Stranger than science fiction." That's how an ecologist describes a strange fungus that hijacks cicadas’ bodies and behavior, turning them into "zombies."
CNN reports on the the fungus Massospora cicadina and how it's impacting some of the cicadas emerging this year: https://flip.it/cxfw5K
Read THE FRAGILE THREADS OF POWER by V.E. Schwab if you love old friends, new friends, strong tea, being a hero, rebellions, running away, heists, chronic illness, magic items, sacrifices, festivals, markets, crowded shops, mirrors, f**ked up families & seeing what others do not.
ADRIFT IN A NEARLY DESERTED VENICE in the early months of the 2020 pandemic, a writer contemplates his native Nigeria, his life in Detroit, his love of travel, but most of all his complicated family. Beautifully crafted prose, distinctive story. B PLUS
This may be a silly question, but how does one actually read short story collections? Is it the same as if reading a novel? Do you put the book down between every story? Do you look for connections between the stories? Am I supposed to read them linearly?
The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library introduces nonfiction to the beginning reader and serves as a great resource to help teachers make abstract scientific concepts come to life! As the students are entertained by the intriguing stories, they will also learn about fascinating facts that will keep them reading to learn even more.
The Law of Birthdays is a very smart book about free will and the importance of respecting other people’s choices. Using a simple example of a cake, Brenna Jeanneret illustrates how other people feel when their choice is taken away from them. It is a funny and tender story and the illustrations are truly beautiful.
"Affect and the Rise of Right-Wing Populism: Pedagogies for the Renewal of Democratic Education, suggests ideas about affective pedagogies for educators to use (along with recognizing the risks involved) to renew democratic education"
This book has lots of interesting ideas that are helping me refine my thinking of political change, moral panic, citizenship in a democracy, and empathy or compassion as a political emotion (souring into pity).
Gonna think about how to translate this to plainer English...
From the author of the cult hit Boy Parts comes a chilling, brilliantly told story of murder among a group of teenage girls—a powerful and disturbing novel as piercing in its portrait of young women as Emma Cline’s The Girls.
"What a curious, quiet little book. Garner Hayes is a young man, working in an unnamed city as a waiter in an upscale Italian restaurant. Then he becomes aware of a beautiful dark-haired man... I readily embraced the book’s low-key quirky manner. 4 stars."