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• Current

Type: fiction

Status: liked

Author: Masha Hamilton

Tags: books libraries gender_roles america africa kenya camels librarians female_circumcision

Description: A librarian from NYC decides to go to Kenya to help run a camel bookmobile. Told from variousA librarian from NYC decides to go to Kenya to help run a camel bookmobile. Told from various perspectives -- Fiona the American, Kanika a young Kenyan girl, Neema her grandmother, Matani the village schoolteacher, etc. Women's role in society (including reference to the issue of female circumcision) as well as the influence of the outside world -- represented by books -- is it good or bad for these nomadic people? Opens with a horrific scene of a 3-year-old mauled by a hyena. Scar Boy grows up to be shunned, but when the library arrives he sees illustrations that inspire him. He secretly rips out pages from library books in order to practice his previously unknown talent for drawing. But the missing books spark a crisis in the village -- one of honor. Over everything is the threat of drought. Is it caused by the people's behavior? There is a subplot of romance -- as Matani's wife thinks she loves the drum maker more than the modern schoolmaster -- while Matani and Fiona spend a night "drinking honeyed rain" (i.e., exploring each other other). Yet these all come to nothing. The nomads move on -- and it is Fiona's time to return to her own people. (A six month experiment?) Hard to judge how accurate the portrayals of the Kenyans are. Very much Western woman comes to change and is changed as well. Yet each retreat to their own in the end. Based on a real Kenyan initiative... ...

2007-12-27

  & 1 users

• Current

Type: children's

Status: liked

Authors: Carson Ellis Trenton Lee Stewart

Tags: adventure twins orphans brains good_vs_evil

Description: A mysterious newspaper ads is looking for gifted children and four (all without parents forA mysterious newspaper ads is looking for gifted children and four (all without parents for various reasons) apply -- and pass the series of unusual tests. Reynie Muldoon who is bright and good at figuring out puzzles, Sticky (George) Washington who has a photographic memory, Kate Wetherall whose strength and resourcefulness remind me of Pippi Longstocking, and Constance Contraire who is small and incredibly stubborn. They agree to help Mr. Benedict who is trying to find out how children are being used to transmit messages into the minds of the public as part of the ongoing Emergency which is crippling the country. The four children volunteer to go undercover and pretend to be fodder for the secret communication project, led by a mysterious Mr. Curtain, who ends up being... the evil twin of Mr. Benedict! It's cloak-and-dagger action as the children try to uncover the ultimate plan, all the while transmitting messages back to Mr. Benedict's group via Morse code. Mass brainwashing is the evil goal. And, of course, the children manage to foil the plot and find families for themselves in the final pages. Reminded me of The Demon Headmaster and, especially, of Robert C. O'Brien's The Silver Crown....

2007-12-27

• Current

Type: business

Status: liked

Author: Seth Godin

Tags: marketing business perseverance

Description: A short book that discusses the need to be the best in the million micro-niche markets thatA short book that discusses the need to be the best in the million micro-niche markets that abound today. Forget about the long tail, you want to be the short head in your niche. How dips are there to sort out the winners from losers -- though it can be smart to quit... ...

2007-12-27

• Current

Type: documentary

Status: liked

Author: John Wood

Tags: books libraries global_concerns

Description: An inspiring account of how John Wood came to leave Microsoft to devote his life to foundingAn inspiring account of how John Wood came to leave Microsoft to devote his life to founding the charity Room to Read -- to build and stock libraries for children in remote and underprivileged parts of the world, e.g., Nepal, Cambodia, Vietnam, Africa, etc. ...

2007-01-13

  & 1 users

• Current

Type: documentary

Status: liked

Author: gerrie lim

Tags: sex culture prostitution singapore

Description: A journalistic exploration of the different kinds of sex for sale in Singapore and how theA journalistic exploration of the different kinds of sex for sale in Singapore and how the women involved think and feel about their line of work....

2006-06-18

• Current

Type: children's

Status: liked

Author: Kevin Brooks

Tags: drugs teen prostitution childrens_lit

Description: 2005. 16-year-old Joe Beck tells the story of how he chanced to meet Candy near King's2005. 16-year-old Joe Beck tells the story of how he chanced to meet Candy near King's Cross tube station -- and fell under the spell of her beauty. But she's a prostitute, hooked on heroin, and her pimp, Iggy, is big, black, and dangerous. They have a day out at the zoo and she comes to hear his band play a gig in London -- before Iggy descends and beats her up. Joe manages to find her and rescue her, though Iggy is injured and comes after them. Hiding away in his family's weekend cottage in Suffolk, Candy goes through withdrawal, but Iggy hunts them down -- with Joe's beloved older sister Gina as a hostage. In the showdown, Candy ends up killing Iggy. Epilogue: Candy is in rehab and an adolescent unit and Joe is still in love for her... waiting for her. NB: to counteract the negative image of the big, black Iggy, Gina has a good-hearted, worthy boyfriend Mike -- who is also big and black -- and who helps Joe and Candy. Also there was a subplot about the divorced father started to date his ex-wife -- the kids' mother -- again, yet the mother has not bothered to see her kids in several years. An unusual detail that was never expanded upon -- is it important to Joe's experience with Candy?...

2006-06-07

  & 5 users

• Current

Type: children's

Status: liked

Author: Gabrielle Zevin

Tags: teen death afterlife ya_lit

Description: Liz is 14 and has just died -- though she doesn't realize it for some time as she thinksLiz is 14 and has just died -- though she doesn't realize it for some time as she thinks she's dreaming she's on a boat cruise. When she lands at Elsewhere, the grandmother who died just before she was born is there to welcome her -- and help her get acclimated. But she resists -- and becomes addicted to the Observation Decks, where you can pay 'eternim' coins to watch your past life. In Elsewhere people's ages reverse and they grow young until their birthday when they are released into the river to float off to a new life on Earth. In Elsewhere you have avocations, not vocations. And love can occur, as Liz (and her grandmother Betty) discover. It was a book that grew on me (the concept more than the plot or writing). Interesting to think about, but not gripping....

2006-05-31

  & 19 users

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: liked

Author: Nicole Krauss

Tags: stories holocaust love poland authors

Description: Terribly clever -- well constructed -- the unraveling of a mystery by a 12-year-old (?) girlTerribly clever -- well constructed -- the unraveling of a mystery by a 12-year-old (?) girl trying to understand her dead father -- involving the secrets of an old Polish refugee from WWII who never got to know his own son (who didn't know his true father) -- also involving stories as the means of survival. Supposedly based on stories the author heard within her own New York Jewish family. Admirable, but wouldn't necessarily recommend to anyone. Made me think I should finish reading Zusak's "The Book Thief" as there are similarities....

2006-05-27