Review: Hero by Perry Moore (2008)

Are superheroes your thing? They used to be almost exclusively contained to the realms of comics and cartoons. Now, superheroes are featured regularly in both hit TV shows and blockbuster movies. However, there is one media that is still relatively superhero-free: the novel. There are a few, sure, but they are few and far between. Hero is one of these magical unicorn books featuring superheroes - oh, and the main character is gay, too.

As a librarian, I understand the critical role that "problem novels" play, but as a reader I'm pretty tired of them. This book is a refreshing change. Thomas Creed is a high school basketball star experiencing the awakening of his sexuality, which he struggles with as an athlete and as the son of a super hero. His father's fall from grace due to a tragic failure and his mother's subsequent abandonment were rough on Thomas, and the mystery of what happened in the past plagues him. He finds himself in drawn into the world of heroes when his own superpowers begin to manifest - just as famous superheroes begin showing up dead all over town. While the novel does address Thomas' sexuality throughout, the main plot driving the story is the mystery of the dead superheroes and Thom's awakening as a superhero.

Hero was written by the late Perry Moore, an openly gay producer and director. Hero was his first and only finished novel. The book has been criticized for choppy writing and thin characterization, but I have to say that I didn't really notice these issues at all when I read it. It's a fast, fun, pulpy read that will satisfy teens and adults alike.

Hero won the Lambda Literary Award in the Children's/Young Adult Fiction category in 2008.

Other YA titles featuring gay male teens:
Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan
Totally Joe by James Howe
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan
The God Box by Alex Sanchez
Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy by Bil Wright

Customer Service in Public Libraries

I'm currently enrolled in a seminar on public libraries where we consider the more philosophical issues of librarianship, along with our place in local politics and the community. When the time came to choose a presentation topic, customer service immediately leapt to my mind. Among my many previous jobs, I have been a customer service supervisor at a movie theater, supervisor at a craft store, and a specialist at a book store - all extremely service-oriented jobs where customer service was not only my top priority, it was my job to make sure it was everyone else's priority, too!

Considering my history, it is not surprising that customer service in public libraries has become an interest of mine, especially in applying retail models of service to public library work. I've been to several libraries where service just isn't a priority - either staff are overworked and cramming to get everything done, or the organization doesn't create a culture of service. I wanted to take a look at the attitudes toward service in libraries, see what others had written, see if there was research proving that retail customer service practices could be successfully applied in libraries.

It turns out that the amount of library-centric service information is smaller than I would have thought, compared to most other research areas in librarianship. After all, we are a service profession at heart! Is it being taken as given that if we become librarians, we automatically care about service and know how best to interact with our customers? It shouldn't be.  It takes awareness, training, and conscious effort to provide world-class customer service, and I personally believe that providing that high level of service should be our number one priority. After all, without the human element of libraries, we are no more than a warehouse of books and computers!

I've compiled some resources on customer service and related topics for my presentation and decided to share them here as well. Much of the best information is in print only, but below I've linked some wonderful web resources to get us thinking about service as an essential part of librarianship.

Best Practices for the Customer-Focused Library
Public Library Customer Service Tips
Love the Customers Who Hate You
Stores and Libraries: Both Serve Customers!
Not-So-Secret Keys to Great Customer Service: perspectives from library professionals.
The Power of Hello: from NPR's This I Believe series.
Am I Obsolete? How customer service principles ensure the library's relevance
Top Ten Customer Service Skills for Library Staff

Sample public library service policies:
North Adams Public Library | Appleton Public Library | Falmouth Public Library | Flagler County Public Library

What else belongs on this list? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Judging the Cover: Cinderella Ate My Daughter

Judging the Cover: 
Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the front lines of the new girlie-girl culture
Author: Peggy Orenstein

Normally I see bright pink frilly covers and immediately run the opposite direction. Yep, I'm an unabashed cover-judger, and it's kept me away from some pretty decent books over the years. I gave this one a second glance, however, because the title seemed to be mocking what the cover was portraying; also, it was in the social sciences area of the dewey decimal section, so I figured there might be an interesting twist at play. It's actually a serious look at the sexualization of young girls through the media, Disney, beauty pageants, and more - a frightening world. How can we help our daughters grow out of the princess phase and love themselves for who they are? Though subject matter is far more intense than the bubblegum pink, lighthearted cover would have us believe. Is it good to have such a stark contrast between cover and content? I don't know, but it caught my eye.

Master Post: Reviews, Lists, & Trailers

I don't post reviews of every book I read, but I try to post as often as I'm able. Here is the master list of all my reviews:

TEEN FICTION:
Across the Universe by Beth Revis (review)
Ash by Malinda Lo
The Floating Islands by Rachel Neumeier (trailer & read-alikes)
Hero by Perry Moore (review)
I Am J by Cris Beam (review)
The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth (review)
Nation by Terry Pratchett (review)
Pink by Lili Wilkinson (review)
Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher (review)

GENERAL FICTION:
The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai (review)
The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister (review)

GRAPHIC NOVELS:
Amulet series by Kazu Kibuishi (review)
T-Minus: The Race to the Moon (review) (listed)
Runaways by Brian K. Vaughan (review)
The work of Ariel Schrag (video)(paper)
Channel Zero by Brian Wood (review)
Local by Brian Wood (review)
Demo by Brian Wood (review)

AUDIO BOOKS:
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (review)
Sabriel by Garth Nix (review)
Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi (review)
Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy (review)

NONFICTION:
Veggie Burgers Every Which Way by Lukas Volger


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Review: The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister (2009)

The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister

Warm. Rich. Satisfying. This book was like a cup of hot cocoa on a chilly fall evening. Erica Bauermeister’s dreamy, succulent prose draws the reader into a place where time stands still and food can heal any soul.

Once every month, Lillian opens her restaurant’s kitchen to the students enrolled in her eight-week cooking class. You won’t find any recipes in this kitchen; in their place is a collection of ingredients of uncompromising quality and the woman who knows how to spin them into magic. Each chapter focuses on one of the students in the class and the dish that Lillian chooses to teach them that evening. Somehow, Lillian always knows what each student needs: a wedding cake for the couple that never had one, a spicy pasta sauce to shake up relationships, or a luscious crab dish to awaken lost parts of the self. Though bittersweet moments abound, each vignette brings a satisfactory conclusion and a healing of old wounds.

If you dislike similes, flowery description, and happy endings for everyone, then stay far, far away from this book. If you want lush prose you can sink into and characters you grow to love, pick up The School of Essential Ingredients.

Review: Nation by Terry Pratchett (2008)

Nation by Terry Pratchett

Nation (2008) is not your typical Terry Pratchett offering. Readers who aren’t familiar with Pratchett’s massive back catalog of works need not worry; this young adult novel is a standalone piece unrelated to his previous series work. The Times Online said of Nation, “Thought-provoking as well as fun, this is Terry Pratchett at his most philosophical, with characters and situations sprung from ideas and games with language. And it celebrates the joy of the moment.”

Nation is an alternate history set in the 1860s, though elements of fantasy are present throughout the book. The primary characters are Daphne, a high-born daughter of British nobility with too many thoughts in her head for society’s taste; and Mau, a young Island man set to complete his right-of-passage to adulthood. When a tidal wave destroys life as they know it, Daphne and Mau are forced to reconsider long-held beliefs and cobble together a community of refugees. They learn from each other, respect each other, achieve great things together — and make the greatest scientific discovery of the century.

The real value of Nation is in its handling of the most difficult issues in life: death, grief, faith, and community. While it may sound exceedingly sad, make no mistake, Pratchett’s dry humor and sense of the joy in life make Nation an inspiring and fulfilling read. No matter what your age, if you love character-driven stories then pick up Nation by Terry Pratchett in the YA Fiction collection.

A Printz Award Honor book.

Review: The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai (2011)

The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai

Books have the wondrous power to free our minds and save us, but life for us is never quite as fanciful and free of consequences as it is for the characters in our books. The Borrower follows Lucy, an accidental children’s librarian with revolution in her blood; and Ian, a 10-year old book lover whose parents heavily censor his reading and force him to attend an anti-gay camp. The two inadvertently kidnap each other and set out on a completely unintended road trip, much to Lucy’s dismay.

Though the premise sounds far-fetched and funny, and there are indeed quite a few funny moments, The Borrower is in fact a challenging read for the ethical dilemmas Lucy faces, her questionable choices, and our view into her slowly crumbling identity. Ian’s sparkling characterization and bright personality shine a bright light into the dark places this novel explores, and the need to see the consequence and resolution for both characters keeps the pages turning. Fans of juvenile and young adult literature will be pleased by the frequent parodies and references to familiar works, though librarians may be offended by gross misrepresentations of library ethics and the profession itself.

You won’t find a rollicking beach read or a neat and concrete ending here, but the character interactions and the exploration of freedom and identity are worth the journey.