Last week, the Nerdfighters, brothers John and Hank Green, rocked the OKC Downtown Library. Hank sang songs about Harry Potter and his childhood love, actress Helen Hunt. John talked about his new book Paper Towns, and I tried hard not to wet myself. Over 150 people attended this super awesome event, hosted by some of the coolest librarians in the world (you guys know who you are). And the most awesome thing? Well, yeah, I totally got to go backstage and stare at John and Hank Green in anxiety-induced silence for several minutes while they acted completely awesome. That’s right. And after the show, I went to a bar with them, where I proceeded to drink a screwdriver and try not to have a full-on panic attack. Eat your hearts out Nerdfighter fans!
As a librarian, I was immediately concerned when I read news that vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin once tried to censor library books during her tenure as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. According to Time Magazine, Palin approached a local librarian, Mary Ellen Baker, and asked her how she would go about banning some books that voters found to contain inappropriate language (Read the entire article, Mary Palin: A Rough Record). In addition, a February 1, 1997 article in the Anchorage Daily News reports that Palin threatened to fire Mary Ellen Baker (listed in the article as Mary Ellen Emmons), saying ”I do not feel I have [her] full support in my efforts to govern the city of Wasilla.” This news arrived in a letter to both Mary Ellen Emmons, who served as Wasilla’s library director for seven years, and police chief Irl Stambaugh. Stambaugh was indeed fired, while Emmons was allowed to stay after further conversations with Palin.
This whole situation reminds me of the recent controversy in Oklahoma surrounding representative Sally Kern. In 2004, Kern supported withdrawing funding from public libraries that did not segregate children’s books dealing with homosexuality (like King and King) from the rest of the collection (Read an article from the Oklahoman on this issue). Thankfully, this measure did not pass.
Why do so many politicians continue to try and push their way into public libraries and infringe on our customers’ freedom to read? To all librarians out there, I say stay strong. Politicians bring their own agendas, and the library should not bend to their will. If you need a quick pick-me-up, dig out that graduate school copy of the Library Bill of Rights and give it another read. Or check out a book that I recently picked up for The Big Read, Fahrenheit 451. And if all else fails, why not read the American Library Association’s advice on fighting censorship?
It is our responsibility as librarians to protect our customers’ freedom to read from the special interest groups and the overzealous politicians.
As a reader who has a love-hate relationship with Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga, I was still stunned and disappointed to find out about the recent controversy surrounding Midnight Sun. Midnight Sun, Twilight from Edward’s perspective, was to be Meyer’s next (and possibly last) contribution to the four-part Twilight Saga. Ravenous fans have been looking forward to this book for ages, and now, as of August 28, 2008, Meyer says on her website that she is putting the project “on hold indefinitely.”
Why? A partial first draft of the book was leaked on the Internet recently by someone Meyer describes as a “trusted individual” with “no malicious intent.” Needless to say, things got out of hand. The leaked copy spread like wildfire, and Meyer responded on her website Thursday, clearly hurt by the infringement of her trust (and her legal rights). In answer to the question of what will happen to Midnight Sun now, she says, ”In any case, I feel too sad about what has happened to continue working on Midnight Sun, and so it is on hold indefinitely.”
I can’t say that I’ve ever heard of something like this happening before. Sure, manuscripts are leaked all the time (many of them fake), but I have never heard of a leak actually preventing an author from finishing a book. This will certainly be a cautionary tale for fans. We may never know who leaked the manuscript or exactly why, but it is ironic that one person’s zealousness to get their hands on Midnight Sun will now make it so that millions never get a chance to read the entire story. What a devastating loss for Meyer, her fans and for her story. Now Edward’s perspective will never be told.
This also raises new questions about intellectual property rights and the Internet. As a blogger, I obviously embrace the Web as a dynamic space for idea sharing and community building, but Midnight Sun is just another example of how one dishonest individual can ruin things for the community. Really, this whole fiasco is a sad moment for Twilight fans and for the Internet community as a whole.
*Thanks to Teen Troves for first alerting me to this debacle.
A month ago, I set out to read 30 chapter books in 30 days. I’ve learned a lot from reading these books aimed at early readers (ages five to eight). Obviously, the language is simple, but not as simple as I expected. Three syllable words are not unheard of, and rarely used terms are often included as learning opportunities. The characters in these books are generally stereotypes, like time travelers Jack and Annie in Mary Pope Osborne’s Magic Tree House series. However, some characters can be more fully developed, like Barbara Park’s Junie B. Jones. Like Park, Cherise Mericle Harper uses stream-of-conciousness narrative and diary entries to reveal the quirky personality of her heroine, Grace (from the book Just Grace). This series is a bit unique, though, since it has been marketed to early readers (ages five to eight) as well as readers 9 and up.
Humor permeates much of the chapter book literature. Obvious examples are Dav Pilkey’s outrageaus Captain Underpants series. However, other examples like Junie B. Jones and My Weird School by Dan Gutman can be just as funny.
Another trend is the gross, goth and everything macabre. The perfect example is Jim Benton’s Franny K. Stein, a series about a young mad scientist who prefers bats to Barbie.
My overall favorite books of the entire experiment were definitely the Dragon Slayer’s Academy series. The medieval wit is priceless, the storylines spot-on and the school yearbook at the end a perfect finale to this smart, laugh-out-loud funny series.
Overall, I gained a new respect for chapter books. They were often more complicated, funny and fully-developed than I expected. Though this started as an experiment, I plan to continue reading chapter books long into the future. (And if the guy at Barnes and Noble asks me what I want them for, I can always pretend they’re for my imaginary nephew:)
When J.K. Rowling announced to a packed crowd at Carnegie Hall in New York that beloved Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore was gay, the crowd paused, and then, according to Time journalist Gina Elliott, erupted into applause. Astounded by the outpouring of support, Rowling said, “If I’d known it would make you so happy, I would have announced it years ago!” (Read the entire Time article).
A similar crowd of around 1,500 gathered recently at the Oklahoma State Capitol, not to support Dumbledore’s coming out, but to support Oklahoma representative Sally Kern. Kern recently erupted in the media after a video came out on Youtube, in which she states that homosexuality is a greater threat to America than terrorism.
There’s more. Kern also compares homosexuality to a “cancer in your little toe.” She says that “gays” (who have apparently formed some sort of super-organized secret society according to Kern) promote early education for the sole purpose of furthering the “gay agenda.” And what is this so-called gay agenda (the one that’s supposed to be more dangerous than terrorism)? In the video clip, Kern claims that gay people want to teach children that homosexuality is an acceptable lifestyle choice. Yes, god forbid that we teach acceptance to our children.
Kern says more. For example, she notes that the city council of Eureka Springs, Arkansas is already controlled by the dreaded “gays.” And she names a list of other city councils, also under enemy control. She mentions the evils of having the Gay-Straight Alliance in schools (again, getting along with each other despite our differences, Sally Kern says no!).
So what would our beloved representative Kern have to say about Dumbledore’s coming out? Undoubtedly, a lot. After all, not only did Dumbledore teach the evils of witchcraft to his students, but he taught them that love is the most powerful magic of all. He accepted people even when society condemned them for being different (for example, Hagrid (the half-breed) and Lupin (the werewolf)). At every turn, Dumbledore preaches love over hatred and power (of course, even he had to learn that the hard way as readers find out in Deathly Hallows).
And what would Kern have to say about Dumbledore’s Army? Like Dolores Umbridge, Kern would certainly want to crush this secret society. After all, Harry and his friends are not just training to defend themselves against the dark arts. They’re training for a war against the very kind of values Kern supports (i.e. intolerance and hatred). If Kern had worked for the Ministry of Magic, she would have certainly charged Dumbledore with furthering the “gay agenda” and attempting to overthrow the government. Sally Kern’s paranoia is, frankly, scary. And, like Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, this type of paranoia can have serious consequences. Fudge went to war against Harry and Dumbledore (the very people he should have been supporting). Kern also believes there’s a war at hand. She said in a recent interview, “I told the people when I was running for this office that I was a Christian candidate and that I believed we were in a cultural war for the very existence of our Judeo-Christian values” (read the entire article).
But as much as Kern resembles Umbridge or Fudge, her perspectives also sound strikingly similar to those of another Harry Potter character. Okay, Lord Voldemort is a lot of things Sally Kern is not (i.e. a murderous, snake-like wizard), but despite these surface differences, they do share one essential value. They hate people who were born different from them. Lord Voldemort hates squibs and Muggles, and Sally Kern hates people who are born gay.
Kern would say this is not true. She does not hate gay people, but “the strategy of gay rights supporters to defeat conservative candidates” (read the entire article).
To Sally Kern, I say:
I heard what you said.
I am listening.
I am an Oklahoman.
And I do NOT support your views.
Watch the Youtube video that started the controversy:
Attention all Browncoats. UniversalHD is reshowing all fourteen Firefly episodes in HD starting April 5 at 8pm EDT (see the full schedule here). You can show your support for the Verse (and for any future creative projects involving Firefly/Serenity) by visiting www.universalhd.com just before 8pm on April 5. It’s sure to be one shiny shindig. For more info, check out the original UniversalHD forums post.
Nicholas Brendon (aka Xander Harris from Joss Whedon‘s Buffy the Vampire Slayer) made another guest appearance on Criminal Minds last night. Xander first appeared as computer expert Kevin Lynch in episode 54, “Penelope,” where he had to step in to help the team find suspects while Garcia was in the hospital. In episode 59, “Damaged,” viewers learn that Kevin and Garcia have started a romantic relationship (complete with a steamy shower scene). Could this get any better? Brendon is perfect as the nerdy, but cute computer geek. The scene where he asks to speak to Agent Rossi man-to-man about his relationship with Garcia rocks. This is classic Nicholas Brendon. In my opinion, he is perfect for this role.
Everywhere I look nowadays, I seem to see some mention of my favorite wheeled creatures, the mulefa. The mulefa (singular zalif) are sentient beings who help Mary Malone realize her destiny in the science fiction novel The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman. Mulefa bear some resemblance to antelopes or small elephants in our universe, but they evolved with a diamond-shaped frame rather than a spine. They travel using seed pods from indigenous trees as wheels. The outpouring of web art depicting mulefa probably stems from their otherworldly appearance. Like me, I think Pullman fans want a clearer picture of what these creatures really look like. So, to help answer this question, here’s a sampling of the mulefa art I’ve found on the Web so far.
) from the rest of the collection (Read 
erywhere I look nowadays, I seem to see some mention of my favorite wheeled creatures, the mulefa. The mulefa (singular zalif) are sentient beings who help Mary Malone realize her destiny in the science fiction novel 
